Psychology 2000 Study Guide

Theories of personality Tuesday, April 08, 2014 905 AM Personality Individual differences in how one thinks, behaves and feels Every adult personality is a combination of temperaments, personal history of family, culture, and the time during which they grew up. Hippocrates believed the personality dealt with the four physical humors of the body blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm. Character Value judgments of a persons moral and ethical behavior Personality in the context of how healthy, moral or adaptive it is Temperament Genetic component of personality Traits Distinct components of personality (i.e., building blocks) Importance of personality Some view it as the bedrock of humanity -- the wellspring of human activities Highly linked to mental and physical health and well being Highly linked to satisfaction and quality of life Associated with occupational and social success Freuds contemporaries focused more on relationships with early caregivers and on defense mechanisms people use to exist in the world Psychodynamic Perspective Personality is driven by activity between mental processes -- designed to satisfy basic drives in society Focuses on the role of the unconscious mind in the development of personality. Heavily focused on biological causes of personality differences. Id, ego, superego generally arent considered meaningful constructs. More meaningful to use more precise, neurobiological terms (e.g., executive functions) Personality is molded by early childhood experiences, which are characterized by universal developmental milestones Early life is important, but there are no known universal developmental milestones and personality continues to develop well into late adulthood Personality is largely unconscious Not particularly useful because it is difficult to test Sigmund Freud (1856--1939) Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis. Born in the Victorian Age, where sex was looked down upon for satisfaction, he escaped the Nazis