Chapter 6- Personality

5-7% of the AP exam will come from this chapter!

Important People for Personality

Walter Mischel

His contribution include:

1) People act in consistent ways across different situations, reflecting an underlying consistency of personality traits is a myth; behavior is shaped largely by the needs & demands of a given situation.

2) Decision-making, self-control, willpower, personality signatures; Studies: marshmallow experiment

Sigmund Freud

He is the father of the psychoanalytic perspective. Within the topic of personality, he created the idea that the human psyche has three parts: id/ego/superego that all function on the reality and pleasure principles. He also created the idea of defense mechanisms (expanded by Anna Freud) in regard to how our psyche defends us. Within the field of psychoanalysis, therapy may include transference occurring along with the discussion of manifest and latent content. He is also known for his psychosexual stages of development.

Paul Costa & Robert McCrae

Together they created the "Five Factor Model" (big five) - simplest of all trait theories - 5 factors that encompass all others; Openness - open to fantasies, feelings, aesthetics, ideas, values; Conscientiousness - competent, prefers structure, dutiful, disciplined; Extroversion - assertive, warm, positive, active, seek excitement; Agreeableness - trusts others, honest, cooperative, sympathetic; Neuroticism - anxiety, depression, hostility, self-conscious, act impulsively, experience a sense of vulnerability

Karen Horney

She was a Neo-Freudian who criticized Freud and stated that personality is molded by current fear and impulses, rather than being determined solely by childhood experiences and instincts, neurotic trends. She battled against Freud's "penis envy" theory and suggested, while that doesn't exist, "womb envy" does.

Hans Eysenck

He asserted that personality is largely determined by genes, used introversion/extroversion

Carl Rogers

Rogers is a key figure in the Humanistic Perspective and founded person-centered therapy, theory that emphasizes the unique quality of humans especially their freedom and potential for personal growth, unconditional positive regard, fully functioning person.

Carl Jung

Jung was a Neo-Freudian who claimed that people have conscious and unconscious awareness; He also created the idea of archetypes and the collective unconscious; He build upon Freud's verbiage about libido is all types of energy, not just sexual; His studies focus on dream studies/interpretations.

Alfred Adler

Adler was a Neo-Freudian who studied the idea of inferiority/superiority complexes and childhood influences on personality formation; He is also known for his theories Birth Order and personality.

Abraham Maslow

Maslow is a key person in the Humanistic Perspective. He in most known for his hierarchy of needs - needs at a lower level dominate an individual's motivation as long as they are unsatisfied; self-actualization, transcendence

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