Development of Personality
Personality; the term is derived from-persona- the face mask-or profile. defined as-the sum total of all the ways of acting, thinking, and feeling that are typical for that person and make that person different from all other individuals.-typical-in that-an individual's personality is composed of all the relatively unchanging psychological characteristics that are typical of that person. e.g. i.e .being generous, impulsive, or shy etc.- different-each person has a unique pattern of acting, thinking and feeling differentiates each one from other.Theories of Personality---5 main theories in personality development-{ Trait theory. B-Psychoanalytic theory, C-Social learning theory. D-Humanistic theory. E-Evolutionary theory.}
A-Trait Theory:
Traits are defined as a relatively enduring patterns of behavior that are relatively consistent across situations. eg friendly, aggressive, flirtatious, and fearful.
Unlike other theories trait theories are more concerned with describing traits than explaining their origins.it focuses on the best ways to describe the consistencies and organization of personality.----3 main theories
Allport's Trait theory:---Allport believed that the most important traits were those motivational traits related to our values. i.e. the best way to understand people and predict how they will behave in the future is to find out what they valuethe things that they will strive to attain. Traits could be ranked in terms of their importance as --- cardinal, central, or secondary.---cardinal-those tha t dominate a person's life.eg quest of knowledge for Einstein and social justice for Mahatma Gandhi.central-more common, important traits that influence and organize our behavior. eg obtaining intimacy and sex gratification in one person and a strong desire for power and prestige in another personsecondary traits are much more specific eg being rude to door-to-door salespeople.----no fixed list of cardinal or central traits because they differ from person to person.
2-Cattell's Trait theory; ----Cattell -made extensive use of sophisticated statistical techniques to identify traits.believes that motivational traits related to valueshe calls them Dynamic traitsare important in understanding personality.also emphasizes 2 other types of traits.---Ability traitsrelate to our effectiveness in satisfying motives, as intelligence and social skills---Temperament traits.---describe largely inherited aspects of our behavior, as energy level, speed of action, and emotional reactivity.. he described Surface traitsrelatively unimportant clusters of behaviors that appear to go togetherSource traitsare the more important underlying traits on which the surface traits are based. Cattell has identified 16 source traits and developed a personality test to measure them
3-The Five-Factor Model of Personality Traits
Considered by most trait theorists as providing a complete description of our personalities.also called - big five- personality traits-as follow:
Brief Description of The :"Big Five" Personality Traits:
1-Neuroticism------------ -
Calm ---- versus ---Worrying
At-ease-- vs ----- Nervous
Relaxed vs High-stung
Secure -- vs ----- Insecure
Comfortable-vs- Self-conscious
2-Extroversion
Retiring vs Sociable
Sober vs Fun loving
Reserved vs Affectionate
Quiet vs Talkative
Loner vs Joiner
3-Openness
Conventional vs Original
Down-to-earth vs Imaginative
Uncreative vs Creative
Narrow interests vs Broad interests
Unadventurous vs Daring
4-Agreeable
Irritable vs Good-natured
Ruthless vs Soft-hearted
Selfish vs Selfless
Callous vs Sympathetic
Vengeful vs Forgiving
5-Conscientiousness
Negligent vs Conscientious
Careless vs Careful
Undependable vs Reliable
Lazy vs Hardworking
Disorganized vs Well organized
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In the above table the most important adjectives that describe each trait are listed under the overall label of the trait .the adjectives are listed in opposites, personality tests have been developed to measure these five traits .information taken from the person about each trait.overall score is generated to yield a description the person on that trait and the other traits.
There is a strong evidence that animals have personalities. and the five-factor model describes the personalities of nonhuman mammals pretty well.
Experimental validation of personality traitshave been conducted. Mainly on the extroversion trait by Eysenck who described the extroversion-introversion dimension and conducted a test to examine validity.found introverts have a high cortical arousal which facilitates classical conditioning.
Other dimensions of personality have been tested less extensively.
B-Psychoanalytic Theory:y
Sigmund Freud:--he is the founder of the psychoanalytic theory. Freud-was a young physician building a medical practice in Vienna in the late 1800s.particularly interested in treating patients with emotional problems. studied disorders of brain and nerves .disappointed in the lack of knowledge and his little help in treating patients .change interest to study and treatment of mental illness. developing his own methods starting with study of conversion disorder. ----including the famous case ofAnna OBertha Pappenheim and Dr. BreuerFreud's Levels of Consciousness: Conscious, Preconscious and Unconscious mind.----1-the Conscious mind ---- referred to ordinary consciousness.---- 2-thePreconscious mind----consists of the memories that are not presently conscious but can be easily brought into consciousness .it is the vast storehouse of easily accessible memories. its contents were once conscious and can be returned to consciousness once needed.----further down from consciousness lies the 3-the Unconscious mind .---it stores primitive instinctual motives plus memories and emotions that are so threatening to the conscious mind that they have been unconsciously pushed into the unconscious mind through the process of- Repression . the content of the unconscious mind normally not accessible to consciousness. The evidence to the unconscious --is indicated by-a-dreams b-artistic creativity c-tongue slip.
Also content of the unconscious can be disclosed by the procedure of--- Free association
Freud's Parts of Mind:
1-Id: The Selfish Beast
Freud views the mind as composed of 3 parts-each with different functions: the Id ,the Ego, and the Superego.-
When the infant is born, the mind has only one part, the Id. The id is composed primarily of two sets of instincts---Life Instincts and Death Instincts. Freud believed that aggression and even suicidal urges arose from the death instincts.---Life instinctstermed Libido-by Freud, give rise to motives that sustain and promote life, such as hunger, self protection, and sexual desire. to Freud the sexual and aggressive urges, are by far the most important of these motives. sex and aggression are used by Freud to explain
A vast range of personality characteristics, from kindness to shy ness to cruelty. Freud believed that ,from birth on, every person's life is dominated by these two motives---the desire to experience sexual pleasure and the desire to harm others. we are not aware of these motives because the Id is operated at unconscious level. Freud tells us that there - lives within each of us-a selfish cruel beast. the beast-the Id-operates according to the Pleasure Principle. the Id wants to obtain immediate pleasure and avoid pain ,regardless how painful it might be to others. the Id is totally out of touch with reality. It attempts to satisfy its needs using what Freud callsPrimary Process Thinkingby simply forming a wish-fulfilling mental image of the desired object
e.g. day dreaming about having sex ,thinking about eating a favorite sweet or angrily plan how to get revenge on a person who embarrassed us yesterday. dreams are also a primary process means of fulfilling motives. primary process satisfy motives through imaginations rather than in reality .fortunately, during infancy, the period when we have only an Id. our needs are satisfied by the adults around, in a safe and a realistic way.
2-Ego:---The Executive Personality
the ego is formed because the Id has to find realistic ways of meeting its needs and avoiding trouble caused by selfish and aggressive behavior. the ego operates according to the Reality Principle this means that-it holds the Id in check until a safe and realistic way has been found to satisfy its motives. the ego's goal is to help the Id fulfill its needs. it opposes the id's wishes only long enough to find realistic way to satisfy them. ego considered as the executive of personality because it use sits cognitive abilities to manage and control the id and balance its desires against the restrictions of reality and the superego.
3-Superego:---The Conscience and Ego Ideal
The id and ego has morals, the ego tries to be realistic about how those motives are satisfied, but as long as the needs are safely met, it does not care if rules are broken, lies are told, or other people are wronged. Restrictions are placed on the actions of the id and ego when the Superego develops. this the part of the mind that opposes the desires of the id by enforcing moral restrictions and by striving to attain a goal of 'ideal' perfection. parents are the main agents in society in creating the superego. they teach moral principles to their children by punishing transgressions and rewarding proper behavior. these experiences become incorporated into the child's mind as the two parts of the superego. according to Freud, parental punishment creates the sets of moral inhibitions known as the Conscience ( the person you ought to be ). whereas their rewards set up a standard of perfect conduct in the superego called the Ego Ideal ( the person you want to be ). These two parts of the superego work together by punishing behavior that breaks the moral code guilt, and rewarding good behavior through pride. as the superego develops strength, children are able to control themselves and behave in ways that allows society to function smoothly.
Displacement and Identification: Helps the individual becoming a member of society. Displacement-an ego defense mechanism. in which there is a substitution of the unacceptable ideas and actions by a socially acceptable ones. the best kind of displacement that is in interest of society is Substitution in which a socially desirable goal is substituted for a socially harmful goal e.g. competing in school or sports is a sublimation of aggressive motives, or painting a nude portraits is a sublimation of sexual motives. Freud believed that all of cultural and economic achievements of society were the result of sublimation. while in Identification the individual tends to base the way he thinks, acts and feels on other individuals who are successful in gaining satisfaction from life by incorporating the other person's goals, actions, and values in his personality. To Freud identification is the key step in the development of the superego. we do not fully incorporate the morals and goals of society until we identify with the parent and internalize his or her values and ideals.
Ego Defense Mechanisms:
The ways the ego finds, and used unconsciously, to satisfy the motives of the id, and to avoid the moral restrictions of the superego. according to Freud, they are unrealistic ways to discharge tension. the ego makes a compromise between the unacceptable wishes of the id and the moral prohibitions of the superego. defense mechanisms can be effective in the short run in helping us feel better, but they inhibit long term solutions to stress if they distort reality to great extent. the main defenses are
1-Displacement:- Substitution the expression of aggressive or sexual feelings toward unsafe to a safe person. as when it is unsafe or inappropriate to express such feelings toward the person who is creating the stress e.g. a boss, that feelings can be directed toward someone safe as a friend. or a child who would really like to kick his father, he may slug his little brother or his teddy bear instead.
2-Sublimation: Stressful feelings over dangerous feelings or motives are reduced by converting the impulses into socially approved activities ,such as schoolwork, literature, and sports. as explained above.
3-Projection :One's own dangerous or unacceptable desires or emotions are seen as not as one's own but as the desires or feelings of others. A person who has a stressful conflicts about sex might perceive himself as having little sexual desire but might view other people as being obsessed with sex.
4-Reaction formation: Conflicts over dangerous motives or feelings are avoided by unconsciously transforming them into the opposite desire .A married man with a strong desire for extramarital sex might start a campaign to rid his city of massage parlors and prostitutes. A woman who wishes her hateful mother would die might devote herself to finding ways to protect her mother's health. or a religious man with high sexual desire might possess a large number of pornography and sex magazines and start to criticize their publication.
5-Regression:Stress might be reduced by returning to an earlier pattern of behavior. e.g. a business executive who has a stomping , screaming temper tantrum when her company suffers a major setback.
6-Rationalization: Stress is reduced by 'explaining it away' in ways that sound logical and socially acceptable. e.g. a man who is rejected by his lover might decide that he is glad because she has so many faults or he really did not want to give up the single life.
7-Repression:Potencially stressful, unacceptable, desires and psychologically painful events and conflicts are kept out of consciousness into the unconscious mind without the person being consciously aware that the repression is occurring.
8-Denial:Upseting or threatening thoughts and emotions related to stressful events are not allowed into conscious awareness. e.g.denial the occurrence of the death of a close relative or a woman who find that she has a high blood pressure on routine medical checkup may never again think about that upsetting fact, and ignoring her physician instructions of changing her habits of diet ,exercise and taking medication.
9-Intellectualization: The emotional nature of stressful events is lessened by reducing it to cold, intellectual logic .e.g. the person who learns that he has lost a large sum of money in an overly risky investment may think about it in a detached way as a temporary debit in a successful lifelong program of investment, rather than a financial mistake that should be avoided in the future through a more careful planning.
10-Conversion: The mechanism through which unacceptable psychological events or painful conflicts are converted into physical or mental symptoms for which there is no organic basis e.g. paraplegia, blindness or psychogenic amnesia.
Freud's Stages of Psychosexual Development:
To Freud these developmental stages result from shifting of the primary outlet of primarily sexually libido energy of the id from one part of the body to another .these parts of the body are termed erogenous zones i.e. a part of the body that releases sexual energy when stimulated. Freud called them psychosexual stages because they are based on changes in the release of sexual energy. they are;
1-Oral stage- ( birth to1 year )
The infant's earliest source of id gratification is the mouth, he gets pleasure from sucking and swallowing. later when he has teeth, the infant enjoys the aggressive pleasure of biting and chewing .if the infant enjoys swallowing too much, he may fixate on this stage and become an oral receptive personality who continue to seek pleasure through the mouth by overeating and smoking.
If the infant's oral pleasures are frustrated as by the mother who sticks rigidly to a feeding schedule regardless of the infant's desire to eat ,he may grow up to be a fixated oral aggressive personality who seeks aggressive pleasure through the mouth e.g. by being verbally hostile to others.
2-Anal stage- ( 1 to 3 years )
The child gets gratification and pleasure from retention and expulsion of faeces he learns how much control they can exert on others through this holding and expulsion. According to Freud excessive punishment of failures during toilet training may create a fixated personality that is either stingy, obstinate, stubborn, and compulsive ( anal retentive ) or cruel, pushy, messy, and disorderly ( anal expulsive ).
3-Phallic Stage : ( 3 to 6 years ).
The genitals become the primary source of pleasure. the child begins to enjoy touching her or his own genitals and develop a sexual attraction to the parent of the opposite sex. Freud believed that the shift to genital pleasure goes on in the unconscious mind, so we are not consciously aware of the touching or the incestuous urges, instead, the child merely feels an intense love for the opposite-sex parent: daughters become 'daddy's girl' and sons become 'mommy's boy. These sexual attractions bring about the unconscious conflict that Freud calls the Oedipus complex for boys and the Electra complex for girls. Freud borrowed the term Oedipus complex from the ancient play Oedipus Rex Sophocles which tells the mythical story of Oedipus who without knowing killed his father and married his mother. according to Freud, all males unconsciously want to kill their fathers and sexually possess their mothers. these unacceptable aggressive and incestuous desires are blocked from the consciousness and remain in the unconscious id. where they cause considerable discomfort .the child unconsciously senses that,if these hidden impulses ever become unleashed, he will enrage his father. a fear arises in the immature mind of the boy that his father will punish his sexual desires toward his mother by removing his genitalsa fear called castration anxiety. This fear eventually leads the boy to repress desires for his mother and to avoid angering his father by identifying with him. this step of identification with father is crucial for the development of the superego to Freud because the boy incorporates the moral values and ideals of the father when he identifies with him in the resolution that ends the Oedipus complex. the Electra complex of girls derived from a Greek myth. In Freud theoryElectra complex begins with the girl's upsetting-discovery that she does not have a penis. she unconsciously concludes that she has been castrated and blames the mother for letting this happened as a result she transfers her love and sexual desire from her mother to her father. in doing so, she hopes to share the father's valued penis because she has lost hers. the desire to possess a penis is termed penis envy by Freud. the girl's sexual and emotional attachment to father are dangerous and prohibited and Electra complex resolved by identifying with mother and transforming her feeling to the father into wholesome affection. she accept her role in society and develop her superego by incorporating the values of her mother. According to Freud, failure to resolve the phallic stage results in a phallic personality characterized by egocentric selfish ,impulsiveness, and lack of genuine feeling for others.
4-Latency Stage : ( 6 to 11 years ).
Sexual interest is relatively inactive. sexual desire --- strongly repressed through the resolution of the Oedipal or Electra complexsexual energy sublimated and converted into interest in doing school work, riding bicycles, play house, and participating in sports. to pass successfully this developmental must develop a certain degree of competence in these areas.
5-Genita Stage: ( 11 years on ).
Starts with puberty, there is renewed interest in obtaining sexual pleasure through the genitals. Masturbation frequent. sexual and romantic interest in others becomes a central motive. with resolution of Oedipus and Electra complex parents successfully ruled out as a sex objects.the new sex objects are peers of about the same age. usually the individual is able to care about the welfare of the loved one as much as or more than himself.this is the basis for lasting relationships that characterized the genital stage and extended through out adulthood.sublimation continues to be important during this period as sexual and aggressive id motives become transformed into energy for marriage, occupations, and child rearing.
Theories Derived From Psychoanalysis- {The New Freudians }
Psychoanalytic thinking continues to be important in clinical and counseling psychology, but mostly through revised versions of Freud's theory of personality. some modern psychologists adhere to an orthodox version of psychoanalysis. the newer versions criticized Freud's views for: 1- giving much emphasis on unconscious sexual motivation and aggression, 2-gives too little importance to positive aspects of personality. 3-underemphasized the importance of adequate social relationships and .4-was highly prejudicial toward women.
Carl Jung:--( 1875-1961 ).
Differed with Freud on his emphasis on sexual motivation. main features of Jung theory include:1-although he thought that the unconscious mind did contain selfish and hostile forces, he believed that it also contained positive, even spiritual motives. a fundamental characteristic of the human mind was that all important elements came in the form of opposites, we possess the potential to be both good and evil, feminine and masculine , mother and father. The question is how much of each we manifest in our personalities.
2-the concept of extroversion and introversion. each of us posses the desire to be friendly, open the things happening in the world, and concerned about others.(extroversion) but each of us also possesses a tendency to focus our attention on ourselves, to be shy and to meet our own needs (introversion).he believed it is important to allow a balance of these two opposing tendencies. 3-he believed that we possess both personal and collective unconscious.
Personal unconscious, as in Freud theory, contains the repressed motives, conflicts and memories, the collective unconscious is the unconscious mind with which all humans are born. and its contents are the same for all humans. That every culture expresses the same sorts of unconscious motives in very much the same symbolic ways. As in medals. e.g. the sexual symbol of the phallus-(penis)appeared in many cultures through out history in the form of totem poles. Scepters held by kings to symbolize authority, and structures such as the Washington Monument. 4- Art therapy in the form of Psychodrama, drawings, and other forms of art creativity in the treatment of mental illness.
Alfred Adler (1870-1937)
His work included 1-Emphsizing the importance of interpersonal relationship in personality development; .he believed that the primary struggle in personality development was the effort to overcome feeling of inferiority in social relationships and develop feeling of superiority, one way to overcome this feeling was by compensation. first studied children born with physical defects then the physically normal individuals. felt that the role of parents and other caretakers was so important in this crucial process of outgrow children of their inferiority. He devoted much time to the development of preschool program that he thought fostered proper personality development. Later in his career, Adler de-emphasized the importance of this struggle and focused on two other factors as most important in personality development. first, he felt that all human beings are born with positive motive ,i.e. social interest, to establish loving, helpful relationships with other people. second, Adler felt that people's are governed by their goals. Often are unrealistic, they regulate our actions as we strive to achieve them. Thus he is giving high importance to a cognitive ego function which is in sharp contrast to Freud. 2-he coined the term psychosomatic medicine, he was the pioneer in studying
And practicing these disorders.
Karen Horney :-- ( 1885-1952 .
A leader in the revisions of psychoanalysis, and the most influential. --- her work is distinguished by 1- felt that Freud placed too much importance on sexual conflicts---delivered that conflicts was not inevitable result of inborn motives in the id. believed that conflicts developed only as a result of inadequate child-rearing experiences-
If the child feels loved and secure, no conflicts will develop, and positive aspects of personality will dominate. If however, the child loses confidence in parental love-because of the parent's indifference, harshness, or overprotection or for other reasonsthe child becomes anxiously nsecure. and this anxious insecurity is the source of all conflicts,2-was an important critic of Freud's view of women. rejected Freud's notion that penis envy is the central feature of the feminine psychological makeup. she felt that the issue was not envy of penis or masculinity per se but of power and privilege of the male role in society.
Erich Fromm, Harry Stack Sullivan, and Erik Erikson;- continued to develop the new Freudian view of personality.1- they revise Freud's image of women,2- deemphasize the importance of sexual and aggressive motives, 3- emphasize positive aspects of personality, 4-assert the importance of adequate social relationships.
C-Social Learning Theory;
Emphasized the role of environment in the development of personality in contrast to the biological and instinctual factors that characterized the psychoanalytic theory. It relied on the effect of learning on behavior. the theory has its roots in both the behaviorist and the cognitive approaches. a-Behaviorist approach:- emphasizes the importance of environmental, or situational, determinants of behavior .in this view, behavior is the result of a continuous interaction between personal and environmental variables. environmental conditions shape behavior through learning ; a person's behavior, in turn, shapes the environment. persons and situations influence each other. to predict behavior, we need to know how the characteristics of the individual interact with those of the situation.
The behaviorist theory is bases on the principles of learning the conditioning-both operant and classical. Operant conditioninghere the effects of other people's actionsthe rewards and punishments they provide are important influence on an individual's behavior.operant conditioning is the type of learning that occurs when we learn the association between our behaviors and certain outcomes. basic to the behaviorist theory -1-is that people behave in ways that are likely to produce reinforcement, and that individual differences in behavior result primarily from differences in the kinds of learning the person encounters in the course of growing up. 2-although individuals learn many behavior patterns through direct experiencesby being rewarded or punished for behaving in a certain mannerthey also-- 3-aquire responses through observational learning, people can learn by observing the actions of others and noting the consequences of those actions.--- reinforcement that controls the expression of learned behaviors may be- 1- directby tangible rewards, social approval, or disapproval, or alleviation of aversive conditions. 2-. vicariousobservation of rewarding or punishing other people behaviors. 3- self-administeredevaluation of one's own performance with self-praise or self-reproach.
Classical conditioningthe type of learning that occurs when specific situations become associated with specific outcomes.---added by behaviorists to account for emotion or affect in personality development.here conditioned stimulus being paired with unconditioned stimulus to obtain a conditioned response .e.g. when a child is punished for engaging in a forbidden activity, the punishment elicits the physiological responses that we associate with guilt or anxiety, subsequently the child's behavior may itself elicit those responses, and the child will feel guilty when engaging in the forbidden behavior.
b-The cognitive approach:-it is a general empirical approach and a set of topics related to how people process information about themselves and the world. to the cognitive theorist, differences in personality stem from differences in the way individuals mentally represent information
According to the social learning theorists, internal cognitive processes influence behavior, as well as observations of the behaviors of others and the environment in which the behavior occurs.
Julian Rotter: in 1954-introducing cognitive variables into ach .Rotter proposed the concept of behavior potential, meaning the likelihood of a particular behavior occurring in a particular situation- e.g. staying up all the night to study for an exam. the strength of behavior potential is determined by two variables: expectancy and reinforcement value. expectancy if student expect to receive a higher grade as a result of staying up all night. which depends on the grade he obtained last time. reinforcement value depends on the degree to which we prefers one reinforcer over another. E.g. prefers sleer receiving the high grade.
Albert Bandura : one of the leading contemporary theorists in this area, has taken this approach even further, developing what he calls social-cognitive theory ,his theory emphasizesreciprocal determinism, in which external determinants of behavior ( such as beliefs, thoughts, and expectations ) are part of a system of interacting influences that affect both behavior and other parts of the system. In Bandura's model, not only can the environment affect behavior but also behavior can affect the environment. in fact, the relationship between environment and behavior is a reciprocal one: the environment influences our behavior, which then affects the kind of environment we find ourselves in, which may in turn influence our behavior, and so on. Bandura notes that people use symbols and forethought in deciding how to act. When they encounter a new problem, they imagine possible outcomes and consider the probability of each. Then set goals and develop strategies for achieving them. this is quite different from the notion of conditioning through rewards and punishments. Of course, the individual's past experiences with rewards and punishments will influence his decisions about future behavior. Bandura also points out that most behavior occur in the absence of external rewards or punishments .most behavior stems from internal processes of self-regulation. According to Bandura, our learned cognitions are the prime determinant of our behavior. He places particular emphasis on our cognitions about our ability to handle the demands of life. in his theory, self-efficacy is the perception that one is capable of doing what is necessary to reach one's goals-both in the sense of knowing what to do and being emotionally able to do it. e.g. people who perceive themselves as self-efficacious accept greater challenges, expend more effort, and may be more successful in reaching their goals as a result. and the reverse is true Bandura's other notion is the self-regulation which results from learning our personal standards from observing the personal standards from observing the personal standards that other people model and from the standards that others use when rewarding or punishing us. we actively use these standards to govern our behavior.
Bandura,s social-cognitive theory thus goes behind behaviorism. rather than focusing on how environment affects behavior, it examines the interactions among environment, behavior, and the individual's cognitions. In addition to considering external influences such as rewards and punishments, it considers internal factors such as expectations. And instead of explaining behavior simply in terms of conditioning, it emphasizes the role of observational learning.
3-Walter Mischel : another prominent social -learning theorist, attempted to incorporate individual differences into social- learning theory by introducing the following set of cognitive variables:
Competencies:-What can you do? competencies include -intellectual abilities, social and physical skills, and other special abilities.
2-Encoding strategies: How do you see it? people differ in the way they selective attend to information, encode(represent) events and group the information into meaningful categories, an event that is perceived by one person as threatening may be seen by another as challenging.
Expentecies:What will happen? expectations about the consequences of different behaviors will guide the individual's choice of behavior. Expectations about our own abilities will influence behavior.
Subjective values: What is worth? individuals who have similar expectancies may choose to behave differently because the assign different values to the outcomes.
Self-reguIatory systems and plans: How can you achieve it? people differ in the standards and rules they use to regulate their behaviors well as in their ability to make realistic plans for reaching a goal.
All these person variables interact with the conditions of a particular situation to determine what an individual will do in that situation
Kelly's Personal Construct Theory :
George Kelly: (1905-1966) was another of personality psychologists to first suggest that cognitive processes play a central role in an individual's functioning .Kelly noted that personality psychologists typically characterized an individual on dimensions that they themselves had constructed, he proposed instead that the goal should be to discover personal constructs- i.e. the dimensions that individuals themselves use to interpret themselves and their social worlds. These dimensions constitute the basic units of analysis in Kelly's personal construct theory. Like scientists trying to make predictions about events, people want to understand the world so that they can predict what will happen to them. Kelly argued that each individual uses a unique set of personal constructs in interpreting and predicting events. Those constructs tend to take an-[either- or ] form :a new acquaintance is either friendly or unfriendly, intelligent or unintelligent, fun or boring, and so on. but two people meeting the same individual may use different constructs in evaluating that individual-someone who seems friendly and intelligent to one person may seem unfriendly and unintelligent to another, these differences leads to differences in behavior-one person will respond positively to the new acquaintance while another may avoid him or her. these differences in behavior produce differences in personality. Kelly devised his own test for eliciting a person's personal constructs the Role. Construct Repertory Test- or "{ Rep Test }_"in this test, the individual is asked to assess people important to him listed on a grid or a matrix, on how are alike or different in characteristics from each other, thus indicating their personal constructs about people, by looking at the entire set, the investigator or therapist can explore a number of themes that seem to characterize the individual's interpretation. SELF-SCHEMAS:. A Schema- is a cognitive structure that helps us perceive, organize, process, and utilize information, through the use of schemas ,each individual develop a system for identifying what is important in his or her environment while ignoring everything else, schemas also provide a structure within which to organize and process information, e.g. most people develop a mother schema, through which it is easier to describe the mother than any woman else the one
heard about but never met. self schemaperhaps the most important
schema, which consists of " cognitive generalization about the self, derived from past experience, that organize and guide the processing of self related information " . from an early age we all develop a cognitive representation of who we are. the resulting self-schema is made up of the aspects of our behavior that are most important to us, and it plays a central role in the way we process information and interact with the world around us. the core of the self schema is basic information, such as the person's name, physical appearance, and relationships with significant people, and more important, the particularistic features of the self schema, self schemas also provide a framework fo^ organizing and storing, and readily memorizing it .e.g. test on students by Rogers et al 1977. a
Situations and interactions:
Behaviorist Skinner 1953-argued strongly against the concept of traits, he suggested that behavior is determined by the situations people find themselves in, not traits inside the person.-this is known situationism, which suggests that our behavior is consistent only as long as our situations remain constant. This is not consistent with the principles of the trait theory, social learning theorists found a compromise between the trait and situationism positions, this solution is known as person situation interaction, suggests that our behavior is influenced by a combination of characteristics of the person and situation.
D-Humanistic Theory :
The humanistic theory of psychology often referred to as the third force in psychology, the other two are( the psychoanalytic and the behaviorist theory) the founders of humanistic psychology in Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, Victor Frankl, Virginia Satir, Fritz Perls, and Rollo May and others, humanists believe that humans posses an internal force, an inner-directedness, that pushes them to grow, to improve, and to become the best individuals they are capable of being, this inner-directedness is the primary force behind the development of personality, this development is only understood the concept of subjective reality, i.e. everyone views life in somewhat different, highly personal terms, what is real for me may be not real for me, and each person's personality is a direct reflection of the individual's subjective view of reality. Carl Rogers: (1902-1987)Rogers was impressed with what he saw as the individual innate tendency to move towards growth, maturity, and positive change, he came to believe that the basic force motivating the human organism is the actualizing tendency- -a tendency toward fulfillment or actualization of all the capacities of the organization, a growing organism its potential within the limits of its heredity. Rogers belief in the primacy of actualization, forms the basis of his non-directive or client-centered therapy. The Self Concept: the central concept in Rogers's theory of personality is the self , or self concept, the self (or real self) consists of all the ideas, perceptions, and values that characterize " I " or " me "; it includes the awareness of "what I am: and " what I can do." this perceived self, in turn, influences both the person's perception of the world and his or her behavior, the self-concept does not necessarily reflect reality, according to Rogers, the individual evaluates every experience in relation to his or her self-concept, people want to behave in ways that are consistent with their self-image, and experiences and feelings that are not consistent are threatening and may be denied entry into consciousness. Rogers distinguished between two self-concepts, the Real Self the person I think I am.and the Ideal selfthe person I wish I were, the closer the ideal self to the real self, the more fulfilled and happy the individual become, a large discrepancy between the ideal self and the real self results in an unhappy, dissatisfied person, thus two kinds of inconsistency can develop: between the self and the experiences of reality, and between the real self and the ideal self. Rogers believed that people are likely to function more effectively if they are brought up with unconditioned positive regard being given the sense that they are valued by parents and others even when their feelings, attitudes, and behaviors are less than ideal. if parents offer only conditional positive regards valuing the child only when he or she behaves, thinks, or feels correctly the child's self concept is likely to be distorted. Abraham Maslow:
( 1908- 1970 )-His psychology overlaps with that of Rogers in many ways. Maslow proposed that there is a hierarchy of needs, ascending from the basic biological needs to the more complex psychological motivations that become important only after the basic have been satisfied, the needs at one level must be at least partially satisfied before those at the next level become important motivators of action, when food and safety are difficult to obtain, efforts to satisfy those needs will dominate a person's actions, and higher motives will have little significance, only when basic needs can be satisfied easily will the individual have the time and energy to devote to aesthetic and intellectual interests. Artistic and scientific endeavors do not flourish in societies in which people must struggle for food, shelter, and safety. The highest motiveself actualizationcan be fulfilled only after all other needs have been satisfied. Maslow decided to study self- actualizers me and women who had made extraordinary use of their potentials began by studying the lives of eminent historical figures such as Spinola, Lincolin, Einstein, Roosevelt etc. then extended study to college students, many people experience what Maslow called peak experiences^ transient moment of self-actualization.-it is characterized by happiness and fulfillment.temporary, non-striving, non-self-centered state of goal attainment, they occur in various contexts as creative activities, appreciation of nature, intimate relationship, aesthetic perceptions, or athletic participation. Maslow's hierarchy or pyramid of needs, from down up1-Basic- physiological needs hunger, thirst, sex etc. 2- Safety needsto feel secure and safe, out of danger. 3-Belong ing and love need- to affiliate with others, be accepted, and belong. 4-Esteem needs to achieve, be competent, and gain approval and recognition. 5h Cognitive needs- to know, understand and explore. 6- Aesthetic needs- symmetry, order, and beauty. 7-Self-actualization needs- to self-fulfillment and realize one's potential, characteristics of self actualizes-^ 1- Perceive reality effetely and can tolerate uncertainty, 2-Accept themselves and others for what they are,3- Spontaneous in thought and behavior, 4-Problem-centered rather than self centered, 5-Have a good sense of humor,6- Highly creative, 7-Resistant to enculturation, although not purposely unconvential,8- Concerned for the welfare of humanity,9- Capable of deep appreciation of the basic experiences of life, 10-Establish deep satisfying interpersonal relationships with a few, rather than many, people, 11-Able to look at life from an objective viewpoint.}
E- Evolutionary Theory
One of the newest and most controversial theories.an application of a very old theory-.evolutionary theory as proposed by Darwin (1859), Darwin ventured some ideas about the evolutionary psychology began with the work of Wilson- 1975-on 'sociobiology'. The basic premise of sociobiology and, later, evolutionary psychology is that behaviors that increased the organism's chances of surviving and leaving descendants would be selected for over evolutionary history and would become aspects of humans' personalities.-evolutionary psychology attempts to explain human behavior and personality in terms of the adaptive ness of certain characteristics for survival and reproductive success over human history.1-Evolutionary theory is consistent with some observed sex differences in mate preferences.2- Other evolutionary psychologists found that the differences between males and females are the result in differences in their reproductive strategies.women who are interested in mating should emphasize their youth and beauty because these are signs of their fertility, but should be choosier than men about what partners they mate with, in contrast, men who are interested in mating should emphasize their ability to support their offspring and should be less choosy than women about their mating partners. 3the theory provides an explanation for why older men often seek women who are much younger than they are. One proxy for fertility is youth, and one proxy for economic resources is older age. Evolutionary theory suggests that men will be interested in mating with younger women, whereas women will be interested in mating with older men.4- Some theorists have extended evolutionary predictions far beyond mating preferences, arguing that men are more individualistic, domineering, and oriented toward problem solving than women because these personality characteristics increased males' ability to reproduce often over history and thus were selected for. in contrast, women are more inclusive, sharing, and communal because these personality characteristics increased the chances of their offspring and thus were selected for. 5Evolutionary theorists also have argued that because of sex differences in mating strategies there should be sex differences in both Sexual infidelity and the sources of jealousy.6When competition among males for available females become fierce, it can lead to violence, particularly among males who have fewer resources to compete with, such as unemployed males. Wilson and Daly found that homicides between non-relatives are most likely to be among young males, whom they were fighting over 1 face' and status, they found that homicides within families are most often husbands killing wives and argued that these killing represent the male's attempt at controlling the fidelity of the female partner.