Personality

· What is?

· The way we act, think, and feel

· But, we don’t act, think, and feel the same way all the time

· Definition

§ The way we typically act, think, and feel

How do we develop?

· Theories

§ Psychodynamic theory

§ (Social)learning theory

§ Humanistic theory

§ Traits theory

Psychodynamic theory

· Developed by Sigmund Freud

· He was a physician

· Frustrated with the lack of knowledge about how “neurosis” develop

· E.g., Bertha Pappenheim

§ Showed a number of strange symptoms

§ Including false labor

Freud’s conclusion

· “Early childhood experience has a profound effect on adult personality.”

· “It shapes how three components of out personality would behave.”

Three Components

· Id

· Ego

· Superego

ID

· Very primitive component of our personality

· Already present at birth

· Made of tow instincts

§ Eros (life)

§ Thanatos (death)

· Fueled by –libido

· Ugly component – too embarrassing to admit

§ “I want to have sex.” “I want to kill.”

· Follows “pleasure principle”

§ Always demanding immediate gratification

§ “I want it now”

· Pressure cooker

Luckily

· It is in our unconscious mind.

· We ar not aware of it

· We can take an indirect look

§ Freuadian slip

§ Dream

· But, the true nature is much uglier than that

· Reason why we are capable of committing atrocities

Egen

· But, we annot survive with “id” alone

· Soon , we develop “ego” to deal with reality

· E.g.,

§ Id – “I want to kill!”

But….

· Soon, superego emerges to make ego’s job more difficult

Superego

· Moral part of personality

· Tries to block id from getting gratification

· But, that’s irrational

· Id’s energy is always building up whether you like it or not

· By blocking – may cause explosion

Two components of superego

· Conscience

§ Internalized prohibition

§ “You should not.”

· Ego-Ideal

§ Internalized ideal

§ “You should.”

Conflict

· Id: “I want to have sex.”

· Superego: “Never. It’s immoral. Just say not. God will never forgive you.”

· Creates extreme anxiety

· Ego: How can we compromise?

Defense mechanisms

· Ego has a number of defense mechanisms to deal with the conflict

1. Repression

§ Vanish it to unconscious

2. Displacement

§ Find safer objects to channel your anger

3. Sublimation

§ Find more socially desirable activities

4. Projection

§ Project your anxiety on someone else

5. Rationalization

§ Crate a convenient excuse

6. Reaction Formation

§ Go to the opposite

Psychosexual Development

· Go through 5 stages to develop your personality

· Each stage – erogenous zone (different parts of your body where id releases its energy)

· Often you won’t make it to the end

§ Fixation

§ If you get too much pleasure or to enough pleasure is bad

1. ORAL STAGE (0-1)

§ Erogenous zone – mouth

§ Pleasure though mouth – eating, biting, sucking, chewing

§ Fixation

· Oral receptive personality – continue to seek pleasure: overeating, smoking, being gullible

2. ANAL STAGE (1-3)

§ Erogenous zone – anus

§ Learn to control elimination

§ “Toilet training” becomes obsession

§ Fixation

· Anal retentive – stingy, obstinate, stubborn, and compulsive

· Anal expulsive – cruel, pushy, messy, and disorderly

3. PHALLIC STAGE (3-6)

§ Erogenous zone – genital

§ Important stage

§ Boy – Oedipus complex

· Sexual desire for his mom

· But, dad will get mad – castration anxiety

· Try to identify with dad – I want to be like him

§ Girls – Electra complex

· Sexual desire for her father

· But, mom will get mad

· Try to identify with mother – I want to be liker her