Personality: an individuals unique
and relatively consistent group of
characteristics that determine
patterns of thoughts, feelings and
behaviors when alone and with
others
Character: one aspect of your personality
on which others judge you as being right or
wrong as an individual and a social being
Temperament: our tendency
to emotionally respond to
people or events. Is
observable at birth and is
assumed by some
psychologists to be inherited
Mood: an emotional state that colors our
perceptions of the world and influences the
way in which we interact with others
Psychological Theory: an approach to
describing and explaining the origins and
development of personality, focusing on how
people are similar, how they differ and why
every individual is unique
Side note*: each theory is developed to
attempt to understand, explain and interpret
the complicated patterns of people's thoughts
feelings and behaviours
Theories of Personality
Psychodynamic Theories
ICEBERG THEORY
Freud believed there were 3
dimensions that make up
someones behaviour
Conscious
Images, thoughts and feelings
being experienced right now
Preconscious
Memories and sensations that can easily
be brought into conscious at any
moment
Unconscious
Desires, impulses and wishes
that would cause considerable
anxiety if allowed into
consciousness
The unconscious level of the mind is
thought to be the most important in
determining behavior because this
consists of our desires, wishes and
impulses which is important because this
is what we are always striving to achieve
Structure of Personality
Three interrelating systems of personality that help
explain the reasoning behind the huge diversity of
human behaviour
Id
Operating Principle - the pleasure principle
Description: removed from reality, not concerned with
right and wrong, present from birth, primal instincts
and basic needs.
Thanatos: instincts that
potentially cause death
such as aggression
Eros: Instincts that
help to preserve life
such as hunger thirst
and sex
What it Wants: hunger, thirst, sleep and sex
Ego
Description: Reason and self control, making Id's wants
socially acceptable
Operating Principle: the reality principle
What it Wants: to deal with Superego and Id's demands
Superego
Description: Quest for perfection, moralitistic and idealistic, antonym of Id
Operating Principle: the moral principle (right and wrong)
What it Wants: for you to make the moral decision/right choice
Defense Mechanisms
Unconscious psychological
response in which the ego defends
and protects itself against anxiety
arising from psychological conflicts
Examples
Denial: refusing to believe
whatever it is that would
cause anxiety
Repression: preventing
unacceptable thoughts and
feelings from entering
conscious awareness, therefor
preventing anxiety
Reaction-formation:
thinking, feeling and behaving
in a manner that is opposite to
how you really think, feel and
behave
Psychosexual Development
Erogenous Zone
The area of the body
where pleasure is
obtained
Stages of Development
Oral Stage: Birth to 2 years
Description:Pleasure
centred around the
mouth and sucking,
biting and chewing
Conflict about
the role of the
mouth
Fixations
Oral Receptive:
Preoccupied with
eating,drinking and the
mouth. Passive, needy
and sensitive to rejection.
Swallow other peoples
ideas
Oral Aggresive:
Hostile and
verbally abusive
to others, using
mouth-based
aggression
Anal Stage: 2-3 years
Description: Pleasure
centred around the
anus and passing
stools