Summary Psychology of Personality

Problem 1:
Basic Assumptions About the Theory
 Why theories were developed, behaviour is not accidental but has underlying desire to behave
certain way
o Psychological tem from biological models
 Psychic energy
 Limited amount of energy
o Energy is used for action, that energy can not be used for another action.
 Personality is set of dynamic processes
 Energy system
Topographical Model
 Conscious
o Thoughts available to us
 Preconscious
o Stuff we can remember. Preconscious and conscious interact accessible thoughts
 Unconscious
o Thoughts we are unaware of, processes must be made to be aware of these
o Where urges reside, are hidden (e.g. having romantic feelings for family)
 Unconscious motivation  Drive
o Lack of food  biological need for food  psychological I
o Biological and psychological components
Hydraulic model  Repress urges and drive but they stay in system, these will have to be released
through catharsis
- After catharsis, denying cathartic outburst happened -> leads to future outburst

Structural Model
1. Id  Part of our unconscious, contains every inherited elements e.g. instincts. Is root of ego
and superego
- Innermost core of personality
o All humans have this
- Seeks immediate gratification,
- Pleasure principle
- Making mage of desire
- Produces irrational behaviour
- Unaware of morals and social norms
2. Ego Does not want Id to suppress desires, aims to delay them and expresses them in a safe
way which does not harm individual
- Concerned with safety and health of individual
- Reality principle
- Desire will be filled with reality testing, associating pleasure with mental image
- Works in conscious and preconscious
- Mediates between Id and Ego  controls the Id
3. Superego
- Considers moral values
o Taken from parents
o Superego strength can vary with people

, - Does not want Id urges to be released
- Works in conscious, preconscious and unconscious
Interaction between the three
 Human behaviour is a conflict between all models
 Situational factors are taken into account whether id, ego or superego dominates behaviour
Instincts
 Eros = sexual instincts and life drive
o Concerned with keeping person alive through
 Thanatos = death instinct
o Results from life instincts (Fight or flight response)
o Repressed from life instincts as they are stronger
 Must be let out  catharsis
o Reflects unconscious drive to go back to non conscious state (Dead)
Psychosexual stages of development (FREUD)
1 Oral  from 0 to 18 months
 Desire for food and drinks
 Reliant on parent for pleasure
o No oral sexual gratification results in future adult behaviour fixated from this
stage
o e.g. no more breastfeeding, will trust less and be more pessimistic
 2 stages: (1) Sucking & (2) Biting
o Inflicting pain
o If fixated on this, will become more verbally aggressive and have ticks related
to mouth: nail biting, smoking, drinking etc...
2 Anal  from 18 months (1.5yrs) to 3 years
 Pleasure comes from defecation
o Potty training: external constraints placed on child on defecation
 Potty training approach will influence later behaviour
o Punishment: Messy, cruel, hostile
 Will determine future relationship with authority
o Reward: Organised
 Child can willingly withhold urine or feces
o Results to stinginess, cleanliness
 Ego will develop as you are learning to restrict yourself
3 Phallic  from 3 to 6 years
 Observing difference between females and males
 Oedipus complex arises - Male
o Love and sexual desire for mother and hate father
o Fear castration from father
 Internalised fear and desire to be like father to receive gratification from
like mother person
 Electra complex (disproved) - Female
o Penis envy
 Resents parents for not receiving a penis
 Superego develops
o eg. Male takes values of father and therefore develops morals from him - origin
of superego

,  Criticism: Libido shifts to opposite sex parent, not generalisable to many family situations
4 Latent  from 6 to puberty
 Sexual and aggressive drives are less active
o During puberty will become more active
 More attention to intellectual and social pursuit
o Further development of Ego and Superego
o Ego develops to use reality principle
5 Genital  during puberty (after all the stages are completed, no fixations)
 Focus on own and sharing of sexual desires
o Capability of love and caring for another
 Early fixations can be caused by overindulgence (enjoyment of stage) and trauma

Anxiety
 Object anxiety - Reality anxiety
o Rooted in real life dangers which affect physical health
 Neurotic anxiety: unconscious anxiety that Id will take over Ego and that impulses become
uncontrollable
 Moral Anxiety: scared of violating moral codes – Superego
o Punished by guilt and shame
 No anxiety: if Ego is perfect, which according to Freud is impossible
o Crucial for survival

Defence mechanisms  Efforts to protect from anxiety
1. Repression
 Result of constant repressing will lead to cathartic episode
 Push negative thoughts out of consciousness, leads to using too much psychic energy
 Passive repression
○ stimulus is in precocious
 Lead to anesthesia  result to physical repercussions e.g. not being able to move hands
 If repression is conscious is called suppression
 Works with denial
2. Denial
 Not admitting that something happened
○ Works with repression
○ E.g. Mother denying obtrusive nature of child
 More used by children
3. Displacement
 Shifting impulse from one target to another
○ If someone in power annoys you, will let out their anger with someone else e.g.
family
4. Sublimation
 Unacceptable Id urges change to be released in socially acceptable ways
○ If you fall in love with someone else’s behaviour, will write love poems
5. Rationalization
 Think rationally about problems rather than impulsively acting on them
○ Breaking down problems, gain insights, find solutions
○ Finding excuses to maintain self esteem