Psychology Around Us SECOND EDITION Ronald Comer Elizabeth

PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO READ THE ASSIGNED PAGES IN THE COMER AND GOULD TEXTBOOK IF YOU WANT TO DO WELL ON THE EXAMS AND THE FINAL

PERSONALITY (chapter 13) WHAT ARE YOU LIKE? WHAT IS YOUR SISTER LIKE? WHAT IS YOUR BEST FRIEND LIKE? Funny? Nervous? Ambitious? Brave? Sweet? Outgoing? Lazy? Dishonest? Bad tempered? Kind? Introverted? Suspicious? Manipulative? Aggressive? Sparkling?

PERSONALITY HOW DID WE GET THIS WAY? ARE WE EACH JUST BORN WITH A CERTAIN PERSONALITY? DO THE EVENTS OF OUR LIVES MAKE US WHO WE ARE? DO WE DECIDE TO BE HOW WE ARE? DOES OUR BASIC PERSONALITY EVER REALLY CHANGE?

PERSONALITY NATURE VERSUS NURTURE THIS IS AN OLD USELESS DICHOTOMY BUT LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT IT

PERSONALITY NATURE = GENES = INHERITED I just am this way. I came out this way right from the start. I am always this way and will never be any different. Do you seem to be a blend of bio mom and dad? A carbon copy of one or the other? Does it matter if they raised you? REMEMBER – For each trait we get one set of chromosomes from biological mom and one from biological dad

PERSONALITY NATURE = GENES = INHERITED Why is it that the ELEPHANT drinks and also snorts water from its nose (trunk)? While, in contrast, human beings (other than sixth grade boys) do not do this? Is it NATURE? (elephants have elephant genes and humans have human genes) Is it nurture (elephants are raised differently from humans) REMEMBER – For each trait we get one set of chromosomes from biological mom and one from biological dad

PERSONALITY NURTURE = ENVIRONMENT = PARENTING AND EARLY CIRCUMSTANCES I am the way I am because I had a painful childhood. I am the way I am because my parents raised me right. I am the way I am because I was born rich and never had to learn to do anything for myself. Our brains are infinitely plastic (capable of learning). At first we When I was born I was a TABULA RASA have no particular tendencies, but (clean slate) and could have turned out then our world shapes us up. At to be any way birth we are a blank slate (TABULA RASA) waiting to be written on.

"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select--doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and, yes, even beggarman and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. I am going beyond my facts and I admit it, but so have the advocates of the contrary and they have been doing it for many thousands of years. " –John B. Watson, 1930 REMEMBER JB WATSON TRAINIING THE BABY?

DID JB WATSON COME DOWN ON THE SIDE OF NATURE OR NURTURE? WAS JB WATSON A BEHAVIORIST OR A HUMANIST? REMEMBER JB WATSON TRAINIING THE BABY?

NATURE VERSUS NURTURE • THIS IS A FALSE DICHOTOMY • Without genes we are not alive. We are nothing. The genes we have absolutely set the stage for what is possible. • The most important trait provided by our genes is susceptibility to being changed by the ENVIRONMENT • SO, IT IS ALWAYS AN INTERACTION!!!

NATURE VERSUS NURTURE • THIS IS A FALSE DICHOTOMY • Every unique set of human genes careens through its environment like a special, unique ping pong ball bouncing down an endless spiral staircase. • • IT IS ALWAYS AN INTERACTION!!! IT IS COMPLETELY UNPREDICTABLE!!!

NATURE VERSUS NURTURE: INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE • • 1. I was born a good-looking, outgoing baby (NATURE) 2. Because of this, people gave me a lot of attention and I felt confident and well loved (NURTURE) 3. This enabled me to take advantage of my natural talent for singing (NATURE) • 4. I became a huge rock star. I traveled the world and had millions of fans. (NURTURE) 5. I was constantly exposed to wild women and drugs and alcohol. • • 6. My inherited predisposition to alcoholism surfaced, and I became a hopeless alcoholic and died at the age of 27. (NATURE) (NURTURE)

NATURE VERSUS NURTURE: INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE • 1. I was born a funny-looking, introverted baby (NATURE) • 2. Because of this, a worker at my daycare took a special interest in me and taught me to read by age three. (NURTURE) • 3. This enabled me to develop my natural talent for writing, which was a good job for me, since I am so shy. (NATURE) • 4. I eventually fell in love with and married the editor who helped me with my novels (NURTURE) • 5. Since we are both shy, we live quietly • together on a wooded lot and are completely • content with this life of seclusion. (NATURE) •

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Psychodynamic Humanistic Trait

THE PSYCHODYNAMIC PERSPECTIVE ON PERSONALITY • PSYCHODYNAMIC = Our mind is made of several different interacting forces

REMEMBER SIGMUND FREUD? • He started the PSYCHODYNAMIC idea • 1. ID • 2. EGO • 3. SUPEREGO

REMEMBER Sigmund Freud and the Unconscious? The seething, bubbling unconscious which sometimes rears its ugly head? Remember the Uncle Ernie example?

REMEMBER Sigmund Freud and the Unconscious? Both preconscious and unconscious elements are in LONG-TERM memory. But the ones in UNCONSCIOUS store remain there because they are too painful and scary to bring into working memory

REMEMBER Sigmund Freud and the Unconscious? BUT WHY? WHY ARE SOME THINGS TOO PAINFUL OR THREATENING? THE WORST THINGS THAT HAPPEN ARE DEATH OF LOVED ONES AND HARM TO OURSELVES AND OTHERS. YET, WE USUALLY DO CONSCIOUSLY REMEMBER THESE EVENTS. WHAT ARE THINGS WE SIMPLY CANNOT REMEMBER CONSCIOUSLY? WHY ARE THESE SO UNTHINKABLE?

REMEMBER Sigmund Freud and the Unconscious? TO UNDERSTAND THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION WE MUST UNDERSTAND FREUD’s division of mental forces into THREE PARTS. 1. ID 2. EGO 3. SUPEREGO THESE ARE THE DYNAMIC ELEMENTS OF FREUD’S PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY

REMEMBER Sigmund Freud and the Unconscious? ID WARNING: To discuss ID I must discuss things which are BEYOND X-rated. They will make your flesh crawl. You will want to hide. You may report me to the dean for inducing psychological trauma. You may never return to class. My only question is…. Why does this make you so nervous?

REMEMBER Sigmund Freud and the Unconscious? ID Think about little gushygooey, innocent(? ) babies.

REMEMBER Sigmund Freud and the Unconscious? ID Freud was influenced by Darwin and believed that we are born with POWERFUL instincts to survive. These are all mixed up in our GENOME. FREUD believed the desire for food and comfort was all mixed up with SEXUAL DESIRE. LIBIDO! (sexual energy)

REMEMBER Sigmund Freud and the Unconscious? ID SEXY BABIES!! WAS HE CRAZY? ? ? But think about it…… How does a baby get food? How does a baby stay safe and comfortable? How does a baby develop the ability to be close, intimate, comforted, connected, in love?

REMEMBER Sigmund Freud and the Unconscious? ID FREUD believed that the infant is filled with a mix of sexual and other desires which have evolved for our survival as an affiliative species He believed that the first person we fall in love with is our mother. SEXUALLY AND POSESSIVELY

REMEMBER Sigmund Freud and the Unconscious? ID SOUNDS AWFUL!!!!!! DISGUSTING!!!! But, think about it. If we are lucky …… WE are helpless, but MOM comes when we call, she smiles and coos. She holds us close. She nurses us. We are needy, sexual little humans. Of course we fall in love. This is our ID driven by sexual energy (libido)

REMEMBER Sigmund Freud and the Unconscious? ID SO – the innocent little sexy baby is happy falling in love and living happily ever after with wonderful MOM HOWEVER………. .

REMEMBER Sigmund Freud and the Unconscious? SUPEREGO Problems arise……. The baby begins to get the idea that this happy arrangement will not work out in the long run In fact, there are big problems The baby begin to get the sense that this relationship with mom is somehow unacceptable and dangerous THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF SUPEREGO

REMEMBER Sigmund Freud and the Unconscious? SUPEREGO According to Freud, the first indicator of danger is likely to come from DAD (or step dad or mom’s boyfriend) Dad resents our intrusion Dad also attracts mom’s attention And…Dad is really big and scary We know we cannot win this competition

REMEMBER Sigmund Freud and the Unconscious? SUPEREGO Superego is the part of the mind that begins to realize that there are SERIOUS RULES AND REGULATIONS that govern SEX and PLEASURE and INTIMACY We become fearful and ashamed SUPEREGO is the voice in our head that reminds us of all the rules and moral obligations

REMEMBER Sigmund Freud and the Unconscious? SUPEREGO Superego develops as needed protection against our own urges It is the INTERNALIZATION of society’s rules Through SUPEREGO we are able to punish and control ourselves rather than waiting for someone else SUPEREGO can get too powerful and leave us with self-loathing

REMEMBER Sigmund Freud and the Unconscious? EGO also develops during childhood EGO is a rational capability that works to take reality into account as we try to meet our desires SO – a functional EGO will help us to move away from any romantic feelings for our parents and move toward a more suitable relationship

ID EGO AND SUPEREGO…. . • These forces work DYNAMICALLY throughout our lives • To the extent that EGO can arrive at satisfying, yet safe and productive solutions, we will have a good life

HOW CAN A FREUDIAN PSYCHOLOGIST EXPLAIN THIS TYPE OF COMMON RELIGIOUS PAINTING? These paintings were pulled from the religious website for Christ’s Bride Ministries

HOW CAN A FREUDIAN PSYCHOLOGIST EXPLAIN THIS PAINTING? 1. 2. 3. ID --- the artist still has sexy memories/urges from his own toddlerhood – this is unconscious, built up energy SUPER EGO -- the artist is deeply ashamed of these impulses and cannot allow them into consciousness EGO -- Ego provides a solution which is acceptable to consciousness and society in general THIS IS A RELIGIOUS PAINTING OF A BIBLICAL SCENE: Not sexy but virginal

ID EGO AND SUPEREGO…. . • These forces work DYNAMICALLY throughout our lives • To the extent that EGO can arrive at satisfying, yet safe and productive solutions, we will have a good life • EGO must find ways to satisfy both ID and SUPEREGO

WHAT ABOUT FREUD’s UNCONSCIOUS? • Much of the work of ID, EGO, and SUPEREGO takes place in the unconscious • Some of the things that ID and SUPEREGO come up with are too horrid to allow into consciousness

EXAMPLES OF THINGS TOO HORRIBLE TO THINK ABOUT • Early childhood abuse • Do people find it comfortable to remember and think of these incidents? • Does the perpetrator find it possible to remember and think about these incidents? • Do SUPEREGO and EGO play a role in this pain?

Freud’s psychosexual Stages

Freud’s Defense Mechanisms Ways that people behave strangely when avoiding bringing unacceptable thoughts into consciousness

FREUD SAID WE DEVELOP PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS (NEUROSES) IF WE DO NOT FIND APPROPRIATE SOLUTIONS TO THE SUPEREGO vs ID DILEMMAS AT EACH DEVELOPMENTAL STAGE GOOD PARENTING CAN HELP

FREUD BELIEVED THAT PEOPLE COULD BE HELPED THROUGH A BAD PERSONALITY PROBLEM BY “TALK THERAPY” (PSYCHOANALYSIS) This boy may grow up to be inexplicably angry And frightened. Unable to form decent relationships or function at work. Through talk therapy he can bring these ideas into consciousness. Understand his own feelings, and then move on.

FREUD RECAP • 1. We have powerful innate urges and desires (ID) • 2. We also have powerful rules (taboos) surrounding these urges (SUPEREGO) • 3. Ideas and feelings in both ID and SUPEREGO often remain unconscious, because they are too painful to acknowledge. But, they can surface in the form of weird behavior. • 4. Rational thought (EGO) develops to try to manage the competing forces of ID and SUPEREGO and try to generate realistic solutions. • 5. If we cannot find reasonable solutions at each developmental stage, we wind up with neuroses. Often observed as defense mechanisms.

HOW HAVE FREUD’s IDEAS HELD UP OVER THE CENTURY? • Much criticism • Can’t test ideas • Can’t predict outcome • Too much emphasis on sex • • (there are other equally important drives) Too sexist and heteronormative

HOW HAVE FREUD’s IDEAS HELD UP OVER THE CENTURY? • BUT…. . FREUD LEFT BEHIND MANY ENDURING VERY IMPORTANT IDEAS • 1. Parenting is important and sets the stage for full development • 2. Much of cognition is UNCONSCIOUS • 3. Different inner forces and drives compete to control behavior (psychodynamic theory) • 4. Suppressed emotions and thoughts • will resurface in funny ways

SOME FOLLOWERS OF FREUD BRANCHED OFF TO CREATE THEIR OWN SCHOOL OF THOUGHT • These are NEOFREUDIANS • They retained the PSYCHODYNAMIC idea • But emphasized different drives, needs and aspects of the unconscious

NEOFREUDIANS • ALFRED ADLER • Social needs and conscious processes are more important • Feelings of inferiority from childhood are important • Results in need to mask, • compensate, gain power

NEUFREUDIANS • Carl Jung • Added the COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS to Freud’s INDIVIDUAL UNCONSCIOUS (archetypes) • Added drives for JOY, CREATIVITY, HARMONY • We seek to find inner harmony of conscious and unconscious elements (self) • • DO JUNG’s Archetypes remind you of any ancient philosopher?

NEUFREUDIANS • Carl Jung - archetypes • archetypal events: birth, death, separation from parents, initiation, marriage, the union of opposites; • archetypal figures: great mother, father, child, devil, God, wise old woman, wise old man, the trickster, hero • archetypal motifs: the • apocalypse, the deluge, the • creation.

NEUFREUDIANS • Karen Horney • Basic anxiety – due to childhood isolation and helplessness • Causes later neurosis • Cultural influences

THE HUMANIST PERSPECTIVE • PSYCHODYNAMIC theorists (Freud and the gang) say personality develops due to forces beyond our control • HUMANISTIC theorists (Maslow and the gang) say personality develops under our free will, consciousness and creativity

Abraham Maslow’s Theory of HIERARCHY OF NEEDS This is a HIERARCHY of needs because the lower ones must be met before the higher ones can be pursued REMEMBER ABRAHAM MASLOW?

Abraham Maslow’s Theory of SELF ACTUALIZATION • • "Self-actualizing persons' contact with reality is simply more direct. And along with this unfiltered, unmediated directness of their contact with reality comes also a vastly heightened ability to appreciate again and again, freshly and naively, the basic goods of life, with awe, pleasure, wonder, and even ecstasy, however stale those experiences may have become for others. " (Toward a Psychology of Being, 1968)

WHICH IS IT? Psychodynamic Humanist Desire and internal punishment battle Human potential flourishes

MY THEORY MASLOW NEEDS TO ADD ANOTHER LEVEL: Freedom from our neurotic patterns and hang-ups Only then can we begin to work on self-actualization

YOUR THEORY? ?

YET ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE ON PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT • THE TRAIT PERSPECTIVE • TRAIT: a tendency to behave in a certain way which is relatively constant across situations • Traits describe our general disposition • This disposition shapes our behaviors

YET ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE ON PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT • THE TRAIT PERSPECTIVE • TRAIT THEORISTS BELIEVE OUR PERSONALITY IS MADE OF A BUNCH OF TRAITS • No need to get all deep and analytical like psychodynamic theory

Hans Eysenck – FACTOR ANALYSIS Certain trails cluster together ANY ONE PERSON HAS ALL OF THESE TO THE SAME EXTENT

Hans Eysenck – FACTOR ANALYSIS If someone is highly SOCIABLE, they are also highly ASSERTIVE, ACTIVE, EXCITEMENT-SEEKING, IMPULSIVE

FACTOR ANALYSIS • SOCIABLE: • QUESTION 1: When I feel down, I would rather sit quietly and listen to music than go out to a party • • • ____ Strongly Agree ____ Somewhat Agree ____ Neutral ____ Somewhat Disagree ____ Strongly Disagree

FACTOR ANALYSIS • ASSERTIVE: • QUESTION 2: When I feel left out of a situation, I find out who is in charge and I make sure I am included. • • • ____ Strongly Agree ____ Somewhat Agree ____ Neutral ____ Somewhat Disagree ____ Strongly Disagree

Hans Eysenck – FACTOR ANALYSIS Someone who answers strongly agree to Question 1 would answer strongly disagree to Question 2

Five Factor theory has gained empirical support and is very popular now

EVALUATING TRAIT THEORIES: • 1. Do the same traits apply for all cultures (some data suggest yes) • 2. How powerful are the traits? (some data suggest we cannot overcome our basic traits) • 3. Are traits stable across situations? Are they really traits? (some data suggest no) • 4. Are traits stable over time? (not necessarily) • 5. Do traits have predictive value? (some data suggest yes) • 6. Are traits inherited (some say yes)

ALTERNATIVES TO TRAIT THEORY • 1. Situationist View (Walter Mischel – B. F. Skinner? ) • 2. Interactionist View (Bandura)

ALTERNATIVES TO TRAIT THEORY • Disposition-Situation consistency (a form of the interactionist perspective): • AT the football game – body paint and screaming • IN class -- never says a word

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Psychodynamic Humanistic Trait Situationist Interactionist

WHAT IS THE POINT OF THEORIES OF PERSONALITY? Do they help with anything? Do we need them? Should scientists keep working on them?

Are personality traits inherited? (NATURE versus NURTURE) • MINNESOTA STUDY OF TWINS REARED APART AND TWINS REARED TOGETHER (Bouchard)

• MINNESOTA STUDY OF TWINS REARED APART (Bouchard) • Bob and Bob • Separated at birth and raised separately • Graduated with engineering degrees in the same year • Both married teachers named Brenda • Both have glasses, mustaches, and smoke a pipe

• MINNESOTA STUDY OF TWINS REARED APART (Bouchard) • OVERALL DATA • Is this half nature? • Is this half nurture? • Is it compatible with • interaction?