Introduction to Psychology

Introduction to Psychology

Chapter Nine: Personality Learning Objectives After completing this unit, you should be able to: 1. Discuss how unconscious factors determine our behavior 2. Discuss how psychological defenses determine our behavior 3. Discuss how childhood factors influence adult personality 4. Describe the structure of personality 5. Discuss how evolution influences personality development 6. Discuss how biological factors influence personality development 7. Discuss how social-cognitive theories account for the inconsistencies of behavior across situations 8. Discuss how cultural influences and gender roles account for differences in personality development 9. Discuss how modern perspectives and trait theories approach are used to assess personality 9.1 Theories of Personality The concept of personality arises from the fascinating spectrum of human individuality. We observe that people differ meaningfully in the ways they customarily think, feel, and act. These distinctive behavior patterns help define one’s identity as a person. The concept of personality also rests on the observation that a given person seems to behave somewhat consistently over time and across different situations. From this perceived consistency comes the notion of personality traits that characterize and individual’s customary ways of responding to his or her world. Combining these notions of individuality and consistency, we can define personality as the distinctive and relatively enduring ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that characterize a person’s responses to life’s situations. Scientifically useful personality theories organize existing knowledge, allow the prediction of future events, and stimulate the discovery of new knowledge. Psychodynamic Approaches- The first formal theory of personality was advanced by Sigmund Freud. Psychodynamic theorists look for the causes of behavior in a dynamic interplay of inner forces that often conflict with one another. Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis describes people as having two fundamental needs or motives: sex and aggression. Unbridled sex and aggression are not generally accepted among the general population, so there are social pressures on children to restrain themselves from acting on these needs. A child’s personality develops as it figures out how to get basic needs met while still making mom and dad happy.

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