2. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Defining Some Terms
• Personality: A person’s unique and relatively stable
behavior patterns; the consistency of who you are, have
been, and will become
• Character: Personal characteristics that have been
judged or evaluated
• Temperament: Hereditary aspects of personality,
including sensitivity, moods, irritability, and adaptability
• Personality Trait: Stable qualities that a person shows in
most situations
• Personality Type: People who have several traits in
common
3. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Figure 10.1
FIGURE 10.1 Personality types are defined by the presence of several specific traits. For
example, several possible personality traits are shown in the left column. A person who has a
Type A personality typically possesses all or most of the highlighted traits. Type A persons are
especially prone to heart disease (see Chapter 11).
4. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Personality Theories: An Overview
• Personality Theory: System of concepts, assumptions,
ideas, and principles proposed to explain personality;
includes five perspectives:
– Trait Theories: Attempt to learn what traits make up personality
and how they relate to actual behavior
– Psychodynamic Theories: Focus on the inner workings of
personality, especially internal conflicts and struggles
– Behavioristic Theories: Focus on external environment and on
effects of conditioning and learning
– Social Learning Theories: Attribute differences in perspectives to
socialization, expectations, and mental processes
– Humanistic Theories: Focus on private, subjective experience
and personal growth
5. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Trait Theories
• Trait theorists aim to describe personality
with a small number of traits or factors
• Personality trait—stable quality a person
shows across most situations
6. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Table 10.1 Adjective Checklist
7. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Raymond Cattell and Traits
• Surface Traits: Features that make up the visible areas
of personality
• Source Traits: Underlying traits of a personality; each
reflected in a number of surface traits
• Cattell also created 16PF, personality test
– Gives a “picture” of an individual’s personality
8. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
the “Big Five” Personality Factors
(McCrae & Costa, 2001)
• Openness to Experience
• Conscientious
• Extroversion
• Agreeableness
• Neuroticism
9. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Figure 10.4
FIGURE 10.4 The Big Five. According to the five-factor model, basic differences in personality
can be “boiled down” to the dimensions shown here. The five-factor model answers these
essential questions about a person: Is she or he extroverted or introverted? Agreeable or difficult?
Conscientious or irresponsible? Emotionally stable or unstable? Smart or unintelligent? These
questions cover a large measure of what we might want to know about someone’s personality.
10. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
True or False?
1. I believe my parents have been one of the most
influential forces in my development.
2. Events that occurred in childhood still affect me today.
3. I sometimes experience a struggle from within myself.
4. Sometimes I am not aware of my own motivations and
desires.
5. Sometimes when I am in an argument, I feel they
assume that I am upset, when I am actually fine.
11. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Psychoanalytic Theory and Sigmund Freud, M.D.
• Freud was a Viennese physician who thought his
patients’ problems were more emotional than physical.
• Freud began his work by using hypnosis and eventually
switched to psychoanalysis.
• Freud had many followers: Jung and Adler, to name a
few.
• Freud used cocaine and tobacco and died from oral
cancer.
• More than 100 years later, his work is still influential and
very controversial
12. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Some Key Freudian Terms
• Psyche: Freud’s term for the personality
• Libido: Energy
• Eros: Life instincts
• Thanatos: Death instinct
13. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Figure 10.6
FIGURE 10.6 The approximate relationship between the id, ego, and superego, and the levels
of awareness.
14. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory: The Id
• Innate biological instincts and urges; self-serving,
irrational, and totally unconscious
• Works on Pleasure Principle: Wishes to have its desires
(pleasurable) satisfied NOW, without waiting and
regardless of the consequences
15. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory: The Ego
• Executive; directs id energies
– Partially conscious and partially unconscious
– Works on Reality Principle: Delays action until it is
practical and/or appropriate
16. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory: The Superego
• Judge or censor for thoughts and actions of the ego
– Superego comes from our parents or caregivers; guilt
comes from the superego
• Two parts
– Conscience: Reflects actions for which a person has
been punished
– Ego Ideal: Second part of the superego; reflects
behavior one’s parents approved of or rewarded
17. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Freudian Personality Development
• Develops in stages; everyone goes through same stages
in same order
• Majority of personality is formed before age 6
• Erogenous Zone: Area on body capable of producing
pleasure
• Fixation: Unresolved conflict or emotional hang-up
caused by overindulgence or frustration
18. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Table 13.1
Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development
19. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Figure 13.5
Freud believed that psychoanalysis could bring parts of the unconscious
into the conscious mind, where the client could deal with them.
20. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Freudian Defense Mechanisms:
Psychological Defenders of You!
• Defense Mechanisms: Habitual and unconscious (in
most cases) psychological processes designed to
reduce anxiety
– Work by avoiding, denying, or distorting sources of
threat or anxiety
– If used short term, can help us get through everyday
situations
– If used long term, we may end up not living in reality
– Protect idealized self-image so we can live with
ourselves
21. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Freudian Defense Mechanisms:
Some Examples
• Denial: Most primitive; refusing to believe, denying
reality; usually occurs with death and illness
• Repression: When painful memories, anxieties, and so
on are held out of our awareness
• Projection: When one’s own feelings, shortcomings, or
unacceptable traits and impulses are seen in others;
exaggerating negative traits in others lowers anxiety
• Rationalization: Justifying personal actions by giving
“rational” but false reasons for them
• Reaction Formation: Impulses are repressed and the
opposite behavior is exaggerated
22. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Describe Your Behavior
1. On a date
2. At home with parents
3. In class
4. At a sporting event
5. Reading a book
6. In dining hall at mealtime
7. Talking with a good friend
Choose 2 for each: Selfish Energetic Demanding Polite Reserved Helpful
23. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Learning Theories and Some Key Terms
• Behavioral Personality Theory: Model of personality that
emphasizes learning and observable behavior
• Learning Theorist: Believes that learning shapes our
behavior and explains personality
• Situational Determinants: External conditions that
influence our behaviors
24. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Humanism
• Approach that focuses on human experience, problems,
potentials, and ideals
• Human Nature: Traits, qualities, potentials, and behavior
patterns most characteristic of humans
• Free Choice: Ability to choose that is NOT controlled by
genetics, learning, or unconscious forces
• Subjective Experience: Private perceptions of reality
• Self-Actualization (Maslow): Process of fully developing
personal potentials
• Peak Experiences: Temporary moments of self-
actualization
25. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Carl Rogers’ Self Theory
• Fully Functioning Person: Lives in harmony with his/her
deepest feelings and impulses
• Self: Flexible and changing perception of one’s identity
• Self-Image: Total subjective perception of your body and
personality
• Incongruence: Exists when there is a discrepancy
between one’s experiences and self-image
• Ideal Self: Idealized image of oneself (the person one
would like to be)
• Positive Self-Regard: Thinking of oneself as a good,
lovable, worthwhile person
• Unconditional Positive Regard: Unshakable love and
approval
26. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Figure 10.8
FIGURE 10.8 Incongruence occurs when there is a mismatch between any of these three
entities: the ideal self (the person you would like to be), your self-image (the person you think
you are), and the true self (the person you actually are). Selfesteem suffers when there is a
large difference between one’s ideal self and self-image. Anxiety and defensiveness are
common when the self-image does not match the true self.
27. Psychology: A Journey, Second Edition, Dennis Coon
Chapter 10
Personality Assessment
• Interview: Face-to-face meeting designed to
gain information about someone’s personality,
current psychological state, or personal history
– Unstructured Interview: Conversation is
informal, and topics are discussed as they
arise
– Structured Interview: Follows a prearranged
plan, using a series of planned questions
• Direct Observation: Looking at behavior
