Personality

Introduction and
Psychodynamic Theory
 What is Personality?
• Personality refers to those relatively enduring features of an individual which account for their
characteristics and ways of behaving.
• Literary definition- This word is derived from Latin word-Persona, which means mask used by actors in
Roman theatre to perform their roles.
• Layperson’s definition–The word “personality” has been derived from the Latin word “persona” which
means a mask worn by an actor while performing a character on the stage.
• Example: We often assume that Good looking person also has a charming personality
• Psychology definition: Personality refers to our characteristic ways of responding to individuals and
situations. Personality refers to unique and relatively stable qualities that characterize an individual’s
behaviour across different situations over a while.
• People can easily describe how they respond to various situations. Eg- Shy, sensitive, quiet, warm, nervous...)
 Characteristics of Personality
• It consists of both physical to psychological components
• Expression of personality in form of behaviour is unique for each individual
• Its main features do not easily change with time.
• Though some features may change due to internal or external situational
demands, making personality is also adaptive to situations.
Some similar meaning words/terms to Personality are
often used as synonyms but differ in meaning
 Temperament: Biologically based characteristic way of reacting
 Traits: Stable, persistent and specific way of behaving, in most situations.
 Disposition: Tendency of a person to react to a specific situation
 Character: The description based on the overall pattern of regularly
occurring behaviour
 Habits: Over-learned modes of behaving, become involuntary
reactions/actions.
 Values: Goals and ideals that are considered important and worthwhile to
achieve.
Different Approaches to studying Personalities and
behaviours

 Type approach
 Trait Approach
 Interactional Approach
 Psychodynamic approach
 Behavior approach
 Cultural Approach
 Humanistic approach
 Psychoanalytic Approach:
Psychoanalytic Theory
• The earliest approach to the formal study of personality was psychoanalysis, the creation of
Sigmund Freud, who began his work in the closing years of the 19th century.
• Nearly every personality theory developed in the years since Freud’s work owes a debt to his
position—either building on it or opposing it.
• Psychoanalysis as Freud conceived emphasized unconscious forces, biologically based drives of
sex and aggression, and unavoidable conflicts in early childhood.
• These were considered the rulers and shapers of our personality.
 Psychoanalytic Approach:
Psychoanalytic Theory
 The Structure of the Mind
Freud’s Divisions of the Personality-ID, Ego and The Superego
Psychological Defense Mechanisms
Stages of Personality Development-Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency and Genital
 According to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, personality develops through a series of stages, each
characterized by a certain internal psychological conflict.
 Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality argues that human behaviour is the result
of the interactions among three parts of the mind: the id, ego, and superego. This theory, known
as Freud’s structural theory of personality, places great emphasis on the role of unconscious
psychological conflicts in shaping behaviour and personality.
 Dynamic interactions among these fundamental parts of the mind are thought to progress through
five distinct psychosexual stages of development. Over the last century, however, Freud’s ideas
have since been met with criticism, in part because of his singular focus on sexuality as the main
driver of human personality development.
Freud’s Structure of the Human
Mind
• Freud believed that the mind was divided into three parts: The Preconscious, Conscious and
Unconscious.
• The conscious, as Freud defined the term, corresponds to its ordinary everyday meaning.
• It includes all the sensations and experiences of which we are aware at any given moment. As you
read these words, for example, you may be conscious of the sight of the page, a message you
want to send to a friend, and someone playing loud music next door.
• More important, according to Freud, is the unconscious, that larger, invisible portion below the
surface. This is the focus of psychoanalytic theory.
• Its vast, dark depths are the home of the instincts, those wishes and desires that direct our
behaviour. The unconscious contains the major driving power behind all behaviours and is the
repository of forces we cannot see or control.
• Between these two levels is the preconscious. This is the storehouse of all our memories,
perceptions, and thoughts of which we are not consciously aware at the moment but that we can
easily summon into consciousness.
• For example, in the unlikely event your mind strays from this page and you begin to think about
what you did last night, you would be summoning up material from your preconscious into your
conscious.
• We often find our attention shifting back and forth from experiences of the moment to events
and memories in the preconscious.
Tip of the Iceberg: Freud
 Freud’s Division of the Personality
• According to Freud, our personality develops from the interactions among what he proposed as
the three fundamental divisions of the personality: the id, ego, and superego.
• Conflicts among these three structures, and our efforts to find balance among what each of them
“desires,” determines how we behave and approach the world.
• What balance we strike in any given situation determines how we will resolve the conflict
between two overarching behavioural tendencies: our biological aggressive and pleasure-seeking
drives vs. our socialized internal control over those drives.
 ID: If it feels good, do it
 Source of a person’s instinctual energy—deals with the immediate gratification of primitive
needs, sexual desires and aggressive impulses.
 Works on the pleasure principle, which assumes that people seek pleasure and try to avoid pain.
• The Id is the primal, instinctual part of our mind.
• It operates on the "pleasure principle," meaning it seeks immediate gratification of desires and
urges, like hunger, thirst, and sex.
• The Id is present from birth and is entirely unconscious.
• Primary process thinking
• Example: Imagine a baby who is hungry. The baby doesn’t think about waiting or asking nicely
—it just cries until it gets fed. That’s the Id in action, demanding instant satisfaction.
 EGO: The Executive Director
• The Ego is the rational, conscious part of the mind. It operates on the "reality principle,"
meaning it tries to satisfy the Id's desires in realistic and socially acceptable ways.
• The Ego develops as we grow and learn how the world works.
• Example: Think of a person who is hungry but is at work. The Ego would recognise that eating in
the middle of a meeting is inappropriate.
• Instead, it might plan to get food during lunch break.
• The Ego balances the Id’s desires with reality.
• Freud called these abilities secondary-process thought.
 Superego: The Moral Watchdog
• The Superego is the moral and ethical part of the mind.
• It represents our ideals and the standards we learn from parents and society.
• The Superego strives for perfection and judges our actions, leading to feelings of pride or guilt.
• Example: If that same person is on a strict diet, the Superego might kick in and say, “You
shouldn’t eat that donut, even at lunch, because it’s unhealthy.”
• The Superego pushes the person to follow their moral or ethical beliefs, even if it means denying
the Id's desires.
 Example
• Imagine you’re walking by a bakery and smell fresh cookies

The Id might say, "I want that cookie now!“

The Ego might respond, "Let's wait until after dinner; we can have
dessert then.
"The Superego might chime in, "You shouldn't eat that cookie at all;
it's not good for your health!"
 Defense Mechanisms
• Unconscious distortions of a person’s perception of reality that reduce stress and
anxiety.
• Although defense mechanisms vary in their specifics, they share two
characteristics in common:
(1) They are all denials or distortions of reality—necessary ones, but distortions
nonetheless, and
(2) They all operate unconsciously. We are unaware of them, which means that on
the conscious level, we hold distorted or unreal images of our world and
ourselves.
 Defense Mechanism Example
Denial: Refusal to recognize or acknowledge a Renata refuses to acknowledge her son was
threatening situation. killed during his recent military deployment.

Repression: “Pushing” threatening or Regan, who was sexually abused as a child,

conflicting events or situations out of cannot remember the abuse at all.
conscious memory.
Rationalization: making up acceptable If I don’t have breakfast, I can have that piece
excuses for unacceptable behaviour. of cake later on without hurting my diet.

Projection: place one’s own unacceptable Maria is attracted to her sister’s husband but
thoughts onto others, as if the thoughts denies this and believes the husband is
belonged to them and not to oneself. attracted to her.
Reaction Formation: forming an emotional Kyle is unconsciously attracted to Cian but
reaction or attitude that is opposite of one’s outwardly voices an extreme hatred of
threatening or unacceptable actual thoughts. homosexuals.

Displacement: expressing feelings that would Sandra gets reprimanded by her boss and
be threatening if directed at the real target goes home to angrily pick a fight with her
onto a less threatening substitute target. husband.

Regression: falling back on childlike patterns Four-year-old Blaine starts wetting his bed
as a way of coping with stressful situations. after his parents bring home a new baby.
Identification: trying to become like someone else to Samantha really admired Emily, the most popular girl
deal with one’s anxiety. in school, and tries to copy her behaviour and dress.
Compensation (substitution) : trying to make up for Ethan is not good at athletics, so he puts all of his
areas in which a lack is perceived by becoming super energy into becoming an academic scholar.
in another area.
Sublimation: turning socially unacceptable urges into Ryder, who is very aggressive, becomes a mixed
socially acceptable behaviour. martial arts fighter.
Stages of Personality/Psychosexual Development (Five Stage
Theory of Personality)
Life Instinct, Death Instinct and
Libido
• Life Instinct (Eros): The life instinct drives survival, growth, reproduction, and
pleasure. It encompasses behaviours that preserve life and promote love,
cooperation, and creativity. Eros is associated with fulfilling basic needs like
hunger, thirst, and sexual desires. It's responsible for positive emotions like love
and affection.
• Death Instinct (Thanatos): Freud introduced the death instinct to explain the
darker aspects of human behaviour. It is the unconscious drive towards
aggression, destruction, and ultimately death. Thanatos can manifest in self-
destructive behaviours, violence, or aggression towards others. Freud believed it
was a counterbalance to Eros.
• Libido: Libido refers to the energy of the life instinct, particularly the
sexual drive. Freud saw it as a form of psychic energy that fuels
human motivation and behavior, especially related to pleasure-
seeking activities and relationships. It represents the driving force
behind many behaviours and is central to the development of
personality according to Freud's psychosexual stages of development.
 Oral Stage 0-18 months
• During this period, the infant’s principal source of pleasure is the
mouth.
• The infant is dependent on the mother or caregiver who becomes
the primary object of the child’s libido. In more familiar terms, we
might say the infant is learning, in a primitive way, to love the mother.
• How the mother responds to the infant’s demands, which at this time
are solely id demands, determines the nature of the baby’s small
world.
• The infant learns from the mother to perceive the world as either a
good or bad, satisfying or frustrating, safe or perilous place to be.
 Types of Oral Behaviour
• There are two ways of behaving during this stage: Oral incorporative
behaviour (taking in) and Oral aggressive or sadistic behaviour
(biting or spitting out).
• The oral incorporative mode occurs first and involves the pleasurable
stimulation of the mouth by other people and by food.
• Adults fixated at the oral incorporative stage become excessively
concerned with oral activities, like eating, drinking, and smoking.
• Oral Aggressive or Oral Sadistic Behavior (Biting or Spitting Out):
• As the infant grows, they might also derive pleasure from biting or
spitting out, which reflects a more aggressive form of oral pleasure.
• Fixation at this later part of the oral stage could result in traits like
sarcasm, hostility, or aggression in adulthood, often expressed
through verbal means.
 Anal Stage (15 months-3 years)
• Freud believed that the experience of toilet training during the anal stage had a
significant effect on personality development.
• Defecation produces erotic pleasure for the child, but with the onset of toilet
training, the child is put under pressure to learn to postpone or delay this
pleasure.
• For the first time, the gratification of an instinctual impulse is interfered with as
parents attempt to regulate the time and place for defecation.
• Developmental Conflict: The primary conflict here is between the child’s need
to achieve control (independence) and the parent’s demands.
• Anal Retentive Personality: If parents are too strict during toilet
training, the child may develop an overly orderly, stubborn, and
perfectionist personality.
• Anal Expulsive Personality: If parents are too lenient, the child may
become messy, wasteful, or destructive.
 Phallic Stage (3-6 Years)
• During this stage, the child's libido (sexual energy) is concentrated on the genital
area, and it is during this time that children begin to identify with their same-sex
parent. This process plays a crucial role in developing their gender identity and
social behaviours.
• In the phallic stage, children's primary source of pleasure shifts to the genitals.
They become more curious about their bodies and the bodies of others, leading
to an increased interest in genitalia.
Oedipus Complex (in Boys): Freud proposed that during this stage, boys
experience the Oedipus complex.
• This involves developing unconscious sexual desires for their mother and feeling
rivalry and jealousy toward their father, who is seen as a competitor for the
mother's affection.
• The resolution of the Oedipus complex comes when the boy begins to identify
with his father, internalizing his father’s values, morals, and gender identity,
which leads to the development of the superego.
Electra Complex (in Girls): Similarly, Freud suggested that girls experience the
Electra complex during this stage, where they develop unconscious desires for
their father and see their mother as a rival.
The Electra complex is thought to resolve when the girl begins to identify with
her mother, leading to the development of the superego and the adoption of
feminine gender roles.
 Castration Anxiety-Oedipus
Complex
• It refers to the unconscious fear experienced by a young boy during the phallic
stage of psychosexual development (ages 3-6) when he becomes aware of
anatomical differences between the sexes.
• During the phallic stage, a boy develops unconscious sexual desires for his
mother and views his father as a rival for her attention. The boy fears that his
father will punish him for these desires, potentially by "castrating" him—
removing his genitals.
Examples of Phallic Stage Behaviors
• Children might start exhibiting curiosity about differences between
the sexes, including asking questions about where babies come from
or why boys and girls are different.
• Role-playing games, where children imitate the roles of mother or
father, can be a sign of the identification process with the same-sex
parent.
 Latency Stage ( 6 Years to
Puberty)
• The three major structures—the id, ego, and superego—have been formed
around the age of 5, and the relationships among them are being solidified.
• During this stage the libido is dormant and no further psychosexual development
takes place (latent means hidden).
• Freud believed and is temporarily sublimated in school activities, hobbies, and
sports and in developing friendships with members of the same sex.
• Much of the child's energy is channelled into developing new skills and acquiring
new knowledge, and play becomes largely confined to other children of the same
gender.
The Genital Stage (Puberty to
Adolescent)
• The body is becoming physiologically mature, and if no major fixations have
occurred at an earlier stage of development, the individual may be able to lead a
normal life.
• It is a time of adolescent sexual experimentation, the successful resolution of
which is settling down in a loving one-to-one relationship with another person in
our 20s.
• Sexual instinct is directed to heterosexual pleasure, rather than self-pleasure like
during the phallic stage.
• For Freud, the proper outlet of the sexual instinct in adults was through
heterosexual intercourse.
 Assessment in Freudian Theory
• Freud considered the unconscious to be the major motivating force in life. It is the repository of
all of our childhood conflicts which have been repressed out of conscious awareness.
• The goal of Freud’s system of psychoanalysis was to bring those repressed memories, fears, and
thoughts back into conscious awareness.
• Over the course of his work with patients, Freud developed two methods of assessment: free
association and dream analysis.
 Free Association
• A technique in which the patient says whatever comes to mind. In other words, it is a kind of
daydreaming out loud.
• Lying on a couch (a position imposing a certain state of relaxation), the patient speaks freely of
anything that may cross his/her mind, without searching for some specific subject or topic.
• The flow of his/her thoughts is free and followed with no voluntary intervention. The important
thing is that the critical mind does not intervene to censor spontaneous thoughts.
• We truly have the drive to censure the products of our thinking, starting from various criteria:
moral, ethical, narcissistic, cultural, and spiritual.
• The method of free associations demands us to temporarily give up intellectual censorship and
freely speak about any thought.
 Dream Analysis
• Freud believed that dreams represent, in symbolic form, repressed desires, fears, and conflicts. So
strongly have these feelings been repressed that they can surface only in a disguised fashion
during sleep.
• He argued that there were two aspects of dreams: the manifest content, which refers to the
actual events in the dream; and the latent content, which is the hidden symbolic meaning of the
dream.