Human Development (Part 2)

SHDS2291 Introduction to
Psychology 1
Objectives
Familiarize with the following perspectives
concerning personality theories
– Big 5/ Five-Factor Model
– Psychodynamic
– Behavioral
– Humanistic
– Biological

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PERSONALITY THEORIES

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Personality
• Personality
– an individual's unique set of consistent behavioral traits
– Consistency
• stability in a person's behavior over time and across
situations
– Distinctiveness
• behavioral differences among people reacting to the same
situation

• Personality trait
– durable disposition to behave in a particular way in a
variety of situations
– E.g., honest, anxious, domineering
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Personality
• Different perspectives concerning
personality theories
– Big 5/ Five-Factor Model
– Psychodynamic
– Behavioral
– Humanistic
– Biological

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Five-factor Model of Personality Traits
• “Big Five” (McCrae & Costa, 2008)
– Openness to experience
– Conscientiousness
– Extraversion
– Agreeableness
– Neuroticism

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7
Psychodynamic Perspectives
• Psychodynamic theories
– Include all theories that descended from the work of
Sigmund Freud, focusing on unconscious mental
forces

• Freud’s psychoanalytic theory

– Attempts to explain personality by focusing on the
influence of unconscious conflicts, early childhood
experiences, and sexual urges
– Suggests addressing the following areas:
• Structure of personality
• Defense mechanisms
• Psychosexual stages
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Psychodynamic Perspectives
• Personality structure—three components
– Id
• Primitive, instinctive component; biological urges
• Operates according to the pleasure
____________ principle
Immediate
• Demands ______________ gratification
______________

– Ego
• Decision-making component
reality
• Operates according to the _____________ principle
• Seeks to delay gratification of the id’s urges until
appropriate outlets are found
• Tries to avoid negative consequences, i.e. staying
out of trouble
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Psychodynamic Perspectives
• Personality structure—three components

– Superego
Moral
• ________ component
• Incorporates social standards about what is right
and wrong

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The Freudian Tip of Iceberg Model

Conscious
Ego Preconscious
Reality Principle
Secondary-process Thinking

Superego
Moral
Imperatives Id
Pleasure Principle
Primary-process Thinking
Unconscious

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Conflict

Holds Urges
EGO in Check With Reality

Gratify Urges Holds Urges in

Immediately Check With Morality

ID Superego

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Psychodynamic Perspectives
• Defense mechanisms
– Largely unconscious reactions that protect a
person from unpleasant emotions such as
anxiety
• Anxiety can result from unconscious conflicts
between the id, ego, and superego

– Work through self-deception

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Anxiety and Defense Mechanisms

Intrapsychic
Conflict Reliance on
(Between Anxiety Defense
Id, Ego, and Mechanisms
Superego)

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Defense Mechanisms

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Defense Mechanisms

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Psychodynamic Perspectives
• Freud’s stages of psychosexual
development
– Freud claimed that the basic foundation of an
individual’s personality has been laid down by
the age of 5

– Psychosexual stages
• Developmental periods with a characteristic sexual
focus that leave their mark on adult personality
– Freud claimed that the basic foundation of an individual’s
personality has been laid down by the age of 5

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Psychosexual Stages

Approximate Erotic Key Tasks

Stage
Age Focus and Experience

Oral 0-1 Mouth (Sucking, Biting) Weaning (From Breast or Bottle)

Anus (Expelling
Anal 2-3 Toilet Training
or Retaining Feces)
Identifying with Adult Role Models;
Phallic 4-5 Genitals (Masturbating)
Coping With Oedipal Crisis
None
Latency 6-12 Expanding Social Contracts
(Sexually Repressed)
Genitals (Being Establishing Intimate Relationships;
Genital Puberty Onward
Sexually Intimate) Contributing to Society Through Working

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Psychodynamic Perspectives
• Freud’s stages of psychosexual
development
– Fixation
• Failure to move forward from one stage to another
as expected
• Fixation at the
– Oral stage—obsessive eating or smoking later in life
– Anal stage—too rigid or too disordered later in life
– Phallic stage—difficulties in developing psychosexual
identity
– Latency stage—the child’s sexuality is largely
suppressed
– Genital stage—sexual urges reappear

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Psychodynamic Perspectives
• Strengths
– Unconscious forces and early childhood
experiences influencing behavior and personality
– Internal conflict leading to psychological distress

• Limitations
– Testability?
– Representative samples?
– Over-reliance on case studies
– Sexism?

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Behavioral Perspectives
• Skinner’s operant
conditioning
– Personality
development as a
continuous,
lifelong journey

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Behavioral Perspectives
• Bandura’s observational learning
– “human behavior is learned by observation
modeling
through ______________”

• Social cognitive theory

– Self-efficacy
• one's belief about one's ability to perform behaviors
that should lead to expected outcomes
• A personal factor or aspect of personality governing
behavior
• When self-efficacy is high, individuals feel confident
that they can execute the responses necessary to earn
reinforcers
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Behavioral Perspectives
• Strengths
– Extensive empirical research
– Shed light on the influence of environmental
influences

• Limitations
– Dehumanizing
– Insufficient model of human functioning

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Humanistic Perspectives
• Abraham Maslow
• Self-actualization
– People must satisfy their basic needs before
moving on to satisfy higher needs

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 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Abraham Maslow (1908—1970)
• Hierarchy of needs
– Physiological
» Hunger, thirst, breathing
– Safety
» Survival, stability, security
– Love/ belongingness
» Acceptance, affiliation, friendship,
family
– Esteem
» Confidence, respect, self-esteem,
gaining of recognition
– Cognitive
» Knowledge, understanding
– Aesthetic
» Order, beauty
– Self-actualization 25
Humanistic Perspectives
• Carl Rogers
– Person-centered theory
• Self-concept
– a collection of beliefs about one's own nature, unique
qualities, and typical behavior
– Mental picture of oneself

• Incongruence
– degree of disparity between one's self-concept and one's
actual experience

• Unconditional positive regard

– Love, respect, etc. to foster congruence

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Humanistic Perspectives
• Strengths
– Optimistic, growth- and health-oriented
approach
– Roots for positive psychology

• Limitations
– Testability?
– Realistic view of human nature?
– Quantify human experience? Empirical?

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Biological Perspectives
• Hans Eysenck
– “personality is determined to a large extent by a
person’s genes
___________”

• Behavioral genetics
– provided evidence consistent with Eysenck’s
assertion that personality is molded by heredity
• Identical twins reared together were more similar
than fraternal twins reared together
• And, identical twins reared apart were found to be
more similar to each other than fraternal twins
reared together
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 .60

.50
Correlation of Scores

.40

.30

.20

.10

0
Altruism Empathy Aggressiveness
Type of Interfering Material

Identical Twins Fraternal Twins

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Biological Perspectives
• Strengths
– Biological factors have considerable influence
over personality

• Limitations
– Genetic and environmental influences on
personality are intertwined

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Summary
Perspectives concerning personality theories
– Big 5/ Five-Factor Model
– Psychodynamic
– Behavioral
– Humanistic
– Biological

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