Idea: What makes you different from the next person?

Why does Peter tend to help more than Paul?

Chapter 1: What Is Personality?

Chapter 1: What Is Personality? The Person and the Situation 1. Question: Is our behavior shaped by the situation we are in or by the type of person we  are? a. Answer: Both the situation and the person contribute to behavior. 2. Quote: “There are few differences between people, but what differences there are really  matter.” a. E.gWe also discuss several other topics like What does the constitution say about free speech?
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. Why does Peter tend to help more than Paul? 3. Idea: What makes you different from the next person? – that is your personality. Defining Personality 1. Personality – Consistent behavior patterns and intrapersonal processes originating within  the individual. a. “Consistent Patterns of Behavior” = “Individual differences” i. Point: Personality is consistent. b. “Intrapersonal Processes” = “Emotional, motivational, and cognitive processes  that go on inside of us that affect how we act and feel.” i. Point: Behavior is not solely a function of the situation; the different ways  we each express or deal come from within. Six Approaches to Personality 2. Question: What are the sources of consistent behavior patterns and intrapersonal  processes? a. Answer: It depends on which of the six approaches you adopt.  3. Six Approaches: a. Psychoanalytic Approach b. Trait Approach c. Biological Approach d. Humanistic Approach e. Behavioral/Social Learning Approach f. Cognitive Approach4. Definitions: a. Psychoanalytic Approach - Unconscious mind is largely responsible for important  differences in behavior styles. b. Trait Approach - Identifies where a person might lie along a continuum of various  personality characteristics. c. Biological Approach – Inherited predispositions and physiological processes to  explain individual differences in personality. d. Humanistic Approach – Identifies personal responsibility and feelings of self acceptance as the key causes of differences in personality. e. Behavioral/Social Learning Approach – Consistent behavior patterns are the  result of conditioning and expectations. (Positive/Negative re-enforcers,  Reward/Punishment) f. Cognitive Approach – Differences in the way people process information explain  differences in behavior.  5. Two Examples: Aggression and Depression a. Example 1: Aggression i. Psychoanalytic Approach: 1. Explanation 1: We have an unconscious desire to self-destruct.  These impulses may be unconsciously turned outward and  expressed against others in the form of aggression. 2. Explanation 2: Aggression results when we are blocked from  reaching our goal. ii. Trait Approach: 1. Explanation 1: Focus on individual differences and the stability of  aggressive behavior. That is, those who were measured as  aggressive at 8 years old were also likely to become aggressive at  30 years old.  iii. Biological Approach: 1. Explanation 1: Genetic predisposition to act aggressively  (inherited). 2. Explanation 2: Evolutionary Theory. Men tend to be more  aggressive than women because of a man’s inherited need to  exercise control over rivals to survive and pass along his genes. 3. Explanation 3: The role of hormones and neurotransmitters in  aggressive behavior. iv. Humanistic Approach: 1. Explanation 1: Optimistic viewpoint: people are inherently good  given an enriching and encouraging environment. The reason for  aggression is that during growth, basic needs were not met. a. E.g. Come from homes where they are abused or neglected;  they then develop a poor self-image and strike out in  frustration.v. Behavioral/Social Learning Approach: 1. Explanation 1: Aggressive behavior is learned, just like all other  behaviors. a. E.g. Playground bully finds that aggressive behavior is  rewarded. Interpretation: rewarded behavior will be  repeated. vi. Cognitive Approach: 1. Explanation 1: Focus is on the way aggressive people process  information.  a. E.g. Images of guns and fighting trigger a network of aggressive thoughts and emotions. When aggressive  thoughts are highly accessible, people are more likely to  interpret situations as threatening and respond to the  perceived threat with violence. b. Example 2: Depression: i. Psychoanalytic Approach: 1. Explanation 1: People suffering from depression hold unconscious  feelings of anger and hostility. Anger turned inward is depression.  Process takes place at an unconscious level. ii. Trait Approach: 1. Explanation 1: A person’s general emotional level today is a good  indicator of that person’s emotions in the future. There is a high  correlation between depression levels at two different times in a  person’s life (now, and 30 years from now). iii. Biological Approach: 1. Explanation 1: People inherit a genetic susceptibility to depression. iv. Humanistic Approach: 1. Explanation 1: Depression is in terms of self-esteem. People who  suffer from depression are those who have failed to develop a good  sense of self-worth. v. Behavioral/Social Learning Approach: 1. Explanation 1: Depression is a result from a lack of positive re enforcers in a person’s life. Person sees few activities in life worth  doing. vi. Cognitive Approach: 1. Explanation 1: Depression is a result of how people interpret their  inability to control events. a. E.g. I didn’t get a promotion because… interpretation:  economic recession vs. I suck. 2. Explanation 2: Some people interpret and process information  through a “depressive filter.” That is, they see the world in the  most depressing terms possible. a. I.e. People are depressed because they are prepared to  generate depressing thoughts.Personality and Culture 1. Idea 1: People and their personalities exist within a cultural context. 2. Individualistic Cultures – People place great emphasis on individual needs and  accomplishments. People think of themselves as independent and unique. a. E.g. U.S., Northern European countries. 3. Collectivist Cultures – People are more concerned about belonging to a larger group,  such as a family, tribe, or nation. People are more interested in cooperation than  competition. a. E.g. Asian, African, Central American, and South American countries. 4. Idea 2: Western notion of self-esteem is based on assumptions about personal goals and  feelings of uniqueness that may not make sense to citizens of other countries. Therefore,  be aware of cultural limitations when attempting to apply universality of behavior  phenomena. The Study of Personality: Theory, Application, Assessment, and Research 1. Theory: a. Idea: Each theory explains the mechanisms that underlie human personality and  how these mechanisms are responsible for creating behaviors unique to a given  individual. b. Most important questions considered… i. Genetic vs. Environmental Influences: 1. Idea 1: To what extent are our personalities the result of inherited  predispositions, and to what extent are they shaped by the  environment in which we grow up? 2. Ranking: a. (Genetic Influence) i. Biological ii. Trait iii. Psychoanalytic iv. Humanistic, Behavioral/Social Learning, Cognitive b. (Environmental Influence) ii. Conscious vs. Unconscious Determinants of Behavior: 1. Idea 1: To what extent are people aware of the causes of their  behavior?  2. Ranking: a. (Unconscious/Unaware of Determinants) i. Psychoanalytic ii. Behavioral/Social Learning, Biological iii. Humanistic, Trait, Cognitive b. (Conscious of Determinants)iii. Free Will vs. Determinism: 1. Idea: To what extent do we decide our own fate, and to what extent  are our behaviors determined by behaviors outside our control? 2. Ranking: a. (Determinism) i. Behavioral/Social Learning ii. Psychoanalytic iii. Trait, Cognitive, Biological iv. Humanistic b. (Free Will) iv. Application: 1. Idea: The application of psychotherapy reflects the assumptions the  therapist makes about the nature of personality. v. Assessment: 1. Idea: How a psychologist measures personality depends on which  of the six approaches they adhere to. 2. Summary: a. Personality psychology is concerned with the differences among people. Although  there is no agreed-upon definition, personality is defined here as “consistent  behavior patterns and intrapersonal processes originating within the individual.” b. There are six theories: psychoanalytic, trait, behavioral/social learning, cognitive,  humanistic, and biological. They can be thought of as complementary models,  although occasionally they present competing accounts of behavior. c. There is a need to consider culture from which an individual comes:  individualistic or collectivist. d. A thorough understanding of human personality requires more than the study of  theory. You must also study how each of the approaches is applied to practical  concerns, how each deals with personality assessment, and some of the research  relevant to the issues and topics addressed by the theories.Chapter 9: The Biological Approach:  Theory, Application, and Assessment Introduction 1. 3 Theoretical Perspectives in the Biological Approach: a. Hans Eysenck’s Theory b. General Dispositions (temperaments) c. Evolutionary Personality Psychology Hans Eysenck’s Theory of Personality 2. The Structure of Personality: a. 3 Basic Personality Dimensions (all traits fit into – P-E-N): i. Extraversion-Introversion ii. Neuroticism iii. Psychoticism b. Specific Response Level ???? Habitual Response Level ???? Trait Level ???? Super trait Level c. Specific Response Level: Consists of specific behaviors. d. Habitual Response: Repeated specific behaviors. 3. Super-traits: a. Extraversion-Introversion: i. Extraversion – Outgoing, impulsive, uninhibited, sociable, likes parties,  has many friends. ii. Introversion – Quiet, retiring, introspective, fond of books over people,  reserved. b. Neuroticism: i. High Neuroticism – Unstable, highly emotional. Easily angered, excited,  depressed. ii. Low Neuroticism – Less prone to large swings in emotion. c. Psychoticism: i. High Psychoticism – Egocentric, aggressive, impersonal, cold, impulsive. ii. Low Psychoticism – Empathetic, non-aggressive, personal. 4. Physiological Differences: Stimulation Sensitive and Behavioral Systems: a. Eysenck’s Theory: i. Extraverts have a lower level of cortical arousal than Introverts. Extraverts  seek out highly arousing social behavior because cortical arousal is well  below their desired level when doing nothing. ii. Introverts have an above-optimal cortical arousal level. Extraverts select  solitude and non-stimulating environments in an effort to keep their  already high arousal level from becoming too aversive. b. Recent Research: i. Introverts are more sensitive to stimulation than Extraverts (e.g. Parties,  caffeine, music).5. Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory: a. Human brain has 2 systems: i. Behavioral Approach System (BAS) ii. Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) b. Behavioral Approach System (related to Extraversion-Introversion): i. High BAS – Motivated to seek out and achieve pleasurable goals.  Experience more anger and frustrated when they fall short of reaching  their anticipated pleasure. c. Behavioral Inhibition System (relates to Neuroticism): i. High BIS – More apprehensive than others, approach new situations  warily, on the constant lookout for signs of danger, and are quick to retreat  from a situation that they sense might lead to problems (more likely to  experience anxiety). d. Correlations: i. High BAS = Extraversion ii. High BIS = High Neuroticism 6. A Biological Basis for Personality: a. Eysenck’s Argument: i. Consistency of Extraversion-Introversion over time. ii. Similar results in cross-cultural research. iii. Results of studies indication genetics plays an important role in  determining a person’s level on each of the 3 personality dimensions. Temperament 1. Temperament – General patterns of behavior and mood that can be expressed in many  different ways that develop into different personality traits depending on one’s  experiences. a. I.e. General behavioral dispositions. 2. Temperament and Personality: a. 3 Temperament Dimensions: i. Emotionality – Intensity of emotional reactions. ii. Activity – A person’s general level of energy. iii. Sociability – General tendency to affiliate and interact with others. b. Temperaments are largely inherited. c. Gender differences: i. Girls:  1. Effortful Control Temperament - Focus attention and exercise  control over impulsive urges. ii. Boys: 1. Surgency Temperament – High levels of activity and sociability. d. Temperament points to the development of personality in a certain direction, but  that development is also influenced by the child’s experiences. e. Temperament influences the environment (parent treatment of a naturally high  activity level child vs. a low activity level child), and the environment then  influences the way temperament develops into stable personality traits.3. Inhibited and Uninhibited Children: a. Inhibited Children – Controlled and gentle. i. Anxiety to Novelty (“Fear of the Unfamiliar”) – Cautious and at times  fearful of new people and new situations. b. Uninhibited Children- Excitable and high energy. c. Physical Differences: i. Body build ii. Susceptibility to allergies iii. Eye color (inhibited children more likely to have blue eyes) Evolutionary Personality Psychology 1. Evolutionary Personality Theory – Use the process of natural selection to explain  universal human characteristics. 2. Natural Selection and Psychological Mechanisms: a. Through the process of Natural Selection, mechanisms that increased the chances  of human survival and reproduction have been retained, and those that failed to  meet the challenges to survival have not. b. Mechanisms: i. Innate fear of strangers (meet the problem of attack by those not belonging  to the group or tribe). ii. Anger (assisted ancestors in survival behaviors such as asserting authority  and overcoming enemies). 3. Anxiety and Social Exclusion: a. Primary cause of Anxiety is Social Exclusion: i. Humans have a strong need to belong to groups and to be in relationships. b. Primitive people who lived together in small groups more likely to survive and  reproduce than those living alone. 4. “Human Nature” thought of as a large number of psychological mechanisms that have  allowed humankind to survive. Application: Children’s Temperaments and School 1. Teachers’ approach to learning has changed, knowing that each child has a different  temperament. 2. 3 Basic Temperament Patterns (among children): a. Easy Child – Eagerly approaches new situations, is adaptive, and is generally in a  positive mood. b. Difficult Child – Tend to withdraw from new situations, difficulty adapting to  new environments, and is often in a negative mood. c. Slow-to-warm-up Child – Tend to withdraw from unfamiliar situations and are  slow to adapt to new academic tasks and new activities.3. Temperament and Academic Performance: a. Children with Difficult or Slow-to-warm-up pattern tend to perform more poorly  than students with the Easy Child pattern. b. NOTE: Temperament is not related to Intelligence. c. So how does Temperament affect academic performance? i. Attentive, adaptable, and persistent children are likely to do better because  these temperaments are more compatible with the requirements of the  typical classroom. ii. Students’ behavior evokes responses from the teacher. iii. Teachers sometimes misinterpret temperamental differences in students. 1. E.g.: a. Slow-to-warm-up children may be seen as unmotivated. b. Highly active student seen as a troublemaker. 4. The “Goodness of Fit” Model: a. Goodness of Fit Model – How well a child does in school is partly a function of  how well the learning environment matches the child’s capabilities,  characteristics, and style of behaving. i. E.g.: 1. “What temperament characteristics contribute to better school  performance?” vs. “What kind of environment and procedures are  most conducive to learning for this student, given his or her  temperament?” Assessment: Brain Electrical Activity and Cerebral Asymmetry 1. Measuring Brain Activity: a. EEG (electroencephalograph) to measure alpha waves. 2. Cerebral Asymmetry: a. Cerebral Asymmetry – Different activity in left and right hemispheres of the brain  in the same region. i. Left Hemisphere: Positive emotions ii. Right Hemisphere: Negative emotions 3. Individual Differences in Cerebral Asymmetry: a. People naturally have higher activation in one hemisphere than in the other, even  when in a non-emotional resting state. Strengths and Criticisms of the Biological Approach 1. Strengths: a. Link between personality and biology.  b. Identified realistic parameters for behavior change (not “blank slate” approach). c. Advocates are academics that test ideas through research. 2. Criticisms: a. Inherent limits on the ability to test some ideas (argue from analogy and  deduction). b. No agreed-upon model on Theory and Temperament.c. Offers few suggestions for personality change.Chapter 10: The Biological Approach: Relevant Research Introduction 1. Hesitations to accepting the role of Biology in Human Personality: a. “Blank Slate” View provided limitless possibility for change. Biology means less  degree for change. b. Concern about inappropriate and offensive interpretations. Argument against  social equality based on racial and biological factors. Heritability of Personality Traits 2. Idea:  a. The question is not: Is it genetics or environment? b. The question is: To what extent and how are our personalities shaped by both? 3. Genetic Influence Regarding: a. Stable abilities and aptitudes have a genetic component. i. E.g. Intelligence (we are born with an intelligence potential) b. Psychological disorders 4. Separating Environmental from Genetic Influence: a. Investigation on the question of the similarity between parents and children  (sibling similarity). i. Genetic? Or Environmental? They share genes and environment. b. Twin-Study Method – A procedure for separating the role of genetics from the  role of environment.  i. Logic: Assume two same-sex monozygotic (single egg -identical) and  dizygotic (two eggs – fraternal) twins living in the same environment. The  extent to which the environment is responsible for their personalities is  going to be about the same for both types of twin pairs. However, if there  is a genetic influence on personality, the monozygotic twins will be more  like each other than the dizygotic twins because the monozygotic twins  have identical genes, and the dizygotic twins do not. ii. Estimate: 40% - 50% of stability in personality is attributable to inherited  genes from parents. c. Adoption Situation 1: i. Compare an adopted child with a biological child raised by the same  parents.  ii. Biological child has more personality in common with parents than the  biological child. iii. Estimate: 20%-25% of stability in personality is attributable to inherited  genes from parents.d. Adoption Situation 2: i. Compare an adopted child to biological mother. ii. Adopted child has more in common with biological mother than adoptive  parents. e. Adoption and Twin-Study Method: i. Compare monozygotic twins that were raised in 2 different environments. ii. Result: Twins tend to be similar to each other regardless of whether they  are raised with or separated from the other. Problems with Genetics Research 1. Twin-Study Research: a. Strongest and most consistent evidence in favor of genetic influence comes from  Twin-Study Research. b. Critique: 2 Key Assumptions: i. Assumption 1: Twin pairs can be accurately identified as monozygotic or  dizygotic. Many “identical twins” may in fact be dizygotic.  1. Fortunately, biological advances have allowed for accurate  determination. Zygosity can be determined through blood tests. ii. Assumption 2: Researchers assume monozygotic and dizygotic twins have  equally similar environment. However, evidence shows that monozygotic  twins share more of their environment than dizygotic twins (monozygotic  twins may be treated more alike than dizygotic twins). 1. E.g. Dressed alike, similar gifts, etc. c. Conclusion: We cannot be certain if the higher correlations between monozygotic  twins are caused by greater genetic similarities or greater environmental  similarities (may explain why data from Twin-Study Research suggests a larger  role for genetic influences than is found with other procedures). 2. Adoption Studies: a. Critique: 2 Key Assumptions: i. Assumption 1: Adoptions are not random events. Families who adopt are  typically older, more affluent, more stable, and without many of the  problems found in families that do not adopt. 1. Therefore, although separated twins may be placed in different  homes, the homes typically selected for placement are very similar. ii. Assumption 2: Parents treat an adopted child the same way they do their  biological child. 3. Non-additive Effects – Personality traits may not be seen unless a unique combination of  more than one gene is inherited. a. Monozygotic twins have identical genes and share unique combinations of genes  that influence personality. Dizygotic twins do not have identical genes and thus  do not share identical combinations. 4. Non-additive Effects can be a reason why Twin-Studies Research finds evidence for a  larger influence on personality than studies using other methods. 5. Conclusion: There is still a relatively strong case that genetics has an influence on  personality.Extraversion-Introversion 1. Few personality variables have received as much attention from researchers as  Extraversion and Introversion. a. Recap: Extraverts are less sensitive to stimulation than Introverts. 2. The Heritability of Extraversion: 3. Questions: a. Is it possible for an extravert to become permanently more introverted? b. Can you raise your child to be less introverted or more extraverted? 4. Idea 1: a. Extraversion-Introversion remains fairly constant throughout life.  b. Research supports that Extraversion-Introversion has some heritability. 5. Twin-Study Research: a. Finds that there is a strong genetic influence regarding heritability of  Extraversion-Introversion. 6. Study 1: a. Procedure: i. Researchers gave an Eysenck Personality Inventory to 12,898 twin pairs in  Sweden (virtually all contactable twins in the country at the time). ii. Researchers gave an Eysenck Personality Inventory to 7,144 twin pairs in  Finland (virtually all contactable twins in the country at the time). b. Advantage: i. Large samples. ii. Represents nearly every twin in these two countries, meaning researchers  don’t have to worry about only certain kinds of people volunteering (self selection bias). c. Findings: i. When within-pair correlations for MZ and DZ twins were compared,  considerable evidence for a genetic component for extraversion introversion was uncovered: MZ twins were more like each other than DZ  twins. 7. Study 2: a. Procedure: i. Located 95 pairs of MZ twins reared apart. ii. Located 220 pairs of DZ twins reared apart. b. Findings: i. A relatively strong correlation between the scores of MZ twins reared in  separate environments, albeit not as strong as that for MZ twins reared  together. 8. Conclusions: a. Extraversion appears to have one of the strongest genetic components of any  personality variable studied. b. The degree of Extraversion-Introversion you are is probably strongly influenced  by the set of genes you inherited.9. Extraversion and Preferred Arousal Level: a. Study Location: i. Extravert – Noisy, open room. ii. Introvert – Quiet, isolated room. b. Consistent with the theory that Introverts are more sensitive to stimulation: i. Introverts in a loud room will be so disturbed that they will have a difficult  time studying. ii. Extraverts in a quiet room will find it boring and take many breaks, look  around for distractors, and will generally have a difficult time keeping his  or her mind on the task. c. Explains why some students study with the TV on, while others find a quiet room. 10. Extraversion and Happiness: a. Researchers find that on average, Extraverts report higher levels of happiness than  Introverts. b. Reasons: i. Reason 1: Extraverts tend to socialize more than Introverts. 1. Social contact is closely tied to feelings of well-being. ii. Reason 2: Extraverts may be more sensitive to rewards than Introverts. c. Question: Are Extraverts always happier than Introverts? i. Answer: Not necessarily. Extraverts are more likely to act on the spur of  the moment, and this impulsivity can create problems. d. Introverts may not always reap the benefits of social interactions, but they avoid  the price of lapses in judgement. Evolutionary Personality Theory and Mate Selection 1. Study 1: Online Mate Selection: a. Findings: i. How people describe themselves and the kind of person they are looking  for in these situations depends largely on whether they are male or female. ii. Females: 1. Describes themselves as physically attractive and is looking for  someone older and can provide financial security. iii. Males: 1. Describes themselves as someone who can provide financial  security and is looking for someone who is younger and physically  attractive. 2. Parental Investment – Concern about reproducing and passing genes along to the next  generation. a. Implication: We select mates who are likely to be a part of successful  reproduction and effective child raising. 3. Evolutionary Analysis: a. Women are more selective with whom to mate because they bear and in most  cases raise the offspring. b. Men frequently mate with many females in order to increase the probability that  one will pass along the male’s genes to the next generation.c. Therefore: The investment in selecting a mate is larger for women than for men. 4. When Men Look for in Women: a. Evolutionary Perspective: Men can best serve the needs of the species by  reproducing as frequently as possible. i. Men should look for women with “high reproductive value” (someone  who can give him many children).  b. Study: i. Findings: 1. Couples more likely to be composed of an older man and a  younger woman. 2. Husband more like than wife to rate “physically attract” and “good  looking” as features sought in a marriage partner. c. Intra-sexual Selection – The competition among members of one gender for  mating access to the best members of the other gender. 5. What Women Look for in Men: a. Evolutionary Perspective: Women prefer to mate with men who can provide for  their offspring. b. Study: i. Findings: 1. Women more likely than men to give up “attractive look” than  “financially dependable.” 6. Conclusions and Limitations: a. Limitations: i. Researchers limited in their ability to make strong tests of causal  relationships because they cannot manipulate variables like gender and  physical attractiveness. 1. Alternative Explanation: a. The differences in age between men and women may be  due to the fact that women become physically and  emotionally mature more quickly than men. b. Inconsistent Findings: i. Evolutionary Personality would argue that men should be more upset than  women when discovering spouse’s sexual infidelity and women more  concerned about losing their partner’s emotional fidelity. 1. However, studies fail to support these predictions.Chapter 2: Personality Research Methods The Hypothesis-Testing Approach 1. Theories and Hypotheses: a. Theory – A general statement about the relationship between constructs or events. i. Larger theories such as Freud’s are “collections of more specific theories  that share certain assumptions about the nature of personality.” 2. 2 Characteristics of a “Good Theory”: a. Parsimonious: i. Law of Parsimony – The simplest theory that can explain the phenomenon  the best. b. Useful: i. Theory can generate testable hypotheses; idea must lend itself to scientific  investigation. 3. Hypothesis: a. Theories are never tested. Hypotheses derived from the theory get tested. b. Theories are never proven or disproven. Theories are “less supported” or “more  supported” by research. c. Hypothesis – A formal prediction about the relationship between two or more  variables that is logically derived from the theory. i. E.g.: 1. Theory: Lonely people lack social skills necessary to develop and  maintain satisfying relationships: a. Hypothesis (“Prediction”)1: Consistently lonely people  make fewer attempts to initiate conversations than those  who are not lonely. b. Hypothesis (“Prediction”) 2: Lonely people make more  socially inappropriate statements than non-lonely people  during conversations. 4. Theory ???? Prediction ???? Experiment 5. Experimental Variables: a. Two Types of Experimental Variables: i. Independent Variable (“Treatment Variable”) – Determines how groups in  the experiment are divided. 1. E.g. Amount of drug each group receives, how much anxiety is  created, the type of story each group reads. ii. Dependent Variable (“Outcome Variable”) – Measured by the investigator  and used to compare the experimental groups. 1. E.g. The number of questions a group asks.iii. Example: 1. Hypothesis: People reduce anxiety about upcoming events by  obtaining as much information about the situation as possible. 2. Independent Variable: Anxiety a. High Anxiety Group b. Moderate Anxiety Group  c. Low Anxiety Group 3. Dependent Variable: The Average Number of Questions Asked a. High Anxiety Group: 5.44 b. Moderate Anxiety Group: 3.12 c. Low Anxiety Group: 1.88 iv. Interaction – How one independent variable affects the dependent variable  depends on the other independent variable. 1. E.g. Whether anxiety leads to an increase in questions depends on  whether the participant is high or low in shyness. 6. Manipulated vs. Non-Manipulated Independent Variables: a. Manipulated Independent Variable – A large number of participants randomly  assigned to experimental groups. i. “Random Assignment” to control for unknown variables: Are people who  watch violent TV shows more aggressive than those who don’t? Or are  people who watch violent TV shows watch these shows because they are  already aggressive? (Causation) ii. By randomly assigning to experimental groups, there should be the same  average level of aggressiveness. iii. Idea 1: The two groups are nearly identical on average at the beginning of  the experiment. b. Non-Manipulated Independent Variable (“Subject Variable”) – No researcher  intervention. i. E.g.: 1. High self-esteem, low self-esteem. 2. First-born, middle-born, last-born. 3. Participants determine which group they belong to without any  action on the researcher’s part. ii. Idea 1: The two groups are NOT nearly identical on average at the  beginning of the experiment. iii. Idea 2: Difficult to determine cause-and-effect relationships with Non Manipulated Independent Variables. iv. Idea 3: Vast majority of personality research relies on Non-Manipulated  Independent Variables 7. Prediction vs. Hindsight: a. Prediction in a study must be made before the data are in.  i. Explaining everything after the results are in explains nothing. 8. Replication: a. The more often an effect is found in research, the more confidence we have that it  reflects a genuine relationship. b. “File Drawer” Problem – Researchers do not publish failures at replication.The Case Study Method 1. Case Study Method – An in-depth evaluation of a single individual (or a few individuals). a. Usually descriptive of an individual in psychotherapy. 2. Limitations of the Case Study Method: a. Generalizing from a single individual to other people (usually case study  participants seek out psychotherapy because they feel different from others). b. Determining cause-and-effect relationships. c. Researcher’s subjective judgements can interfere with scientific objectivity. 3. Strengths of the Case Study Method: a. Able to accomplish things other research methods might not (conducting a case  study on Dodge Morgan, a 54-year-old man who sailed around the globe by  himself) b. Useful in 4 Situations: i. Rare Case (study the personality of political assassins). ii. Individual studied is no different from all normal people on the dimension  of interest (“split-brain” patients – disconnect of left and right hemisphere  as treatment for severe epilepsy. iii. To illustrate a treatment (describe procedure used to treat a particular  client). iv. Demonstrate possibilities (easily hypnotizable people able to change skin  temperature on one part of the body but not on another). Statistical Analysis of Data 1. Statistical Significance: a. Statistical Significance – Difference in results large enough that in all likelihood it  was not caused by chance. 2. Correlation Coefficient – A number between 1 and -1 calculated to represent the linear  dependence of two variables or sets of data. a. Positive Correlation. b. Negative Correlation. c. No Correlation. Personality Assessment 1. Reliability: a. Reliability – The extent to which a test measures something consistently. b. Internal Consistency – All items on the test measure the same thing. 2. Validity: a. Validity - The extent to which a test measures what it is designed to measure3. Construct Validity: a. Construct Validity – The extent to which a measurement tool actually measures  the psychological concept being studied. b. Face Validity – The extent to which a procedure appears effective on its face. i. E.g.: 1. Measuring social anxiety: “Do you feel nervous interacting with  others?” or “Are you uncomfortable meeting new people?” c. Congruent Validity (“Convergent Validity”) – The extent to which scores from  the test correlate with other measures of the same construct. i. I.e. High correlation between two tests that measure the same thing. d. Discriminant Validity – The extent to which a test score does not correlate with  the scores of theoretically unrelated measures. i. E.g.: 1. Give a creativity test and intelligence test to two groups: a. High correlation of test scores: Someone could argue that  the creativity test does not measure creativity, but simply  intelligence. b. Low correlation of test scores: Evidence that the two tests  measure different constructs. e. Behavioral Validation – The test scores must predict relevant behavior. i. E.g.: 1. Using scores on an assertiveness scale to predict how people  respond when they receive poor service at a restaurant.  a. Question: What if people with low scores acted just as  assertively as those with high scores?  b. Answer: The test scores were unrelated to the behavior. f. NOTE: A person can have Face Validity, Congruent Validity, and Discriminant  Validity, and still have questionable Construct Validity if test scores do not have  Behavioral Validation.Chapter 3: The Psychoanalytic Approach: Freudian Theory, Application, and Assessment Freud Discovers the Unconscious 1. Background: a. Patient affected by hysteria was being studied. i. Most physicians treated hysteria as a physically based illness. ii. Freud and Breuer developed another interpretation. b. Anna O.: i. Situation: 1. A woman studied for hysterical symptoms: hallucinations,  paralysis of left arm, ability to speak only in English although her  native tongue is German. ii. Treatment: 1. Hypnosis: a. Talked about daydreams, hallucinations about a black  snake, traumatic events, experiences with dying father. iii. After Hypnosis Session: 1. Paralysis in her arm was gone and can once again speak German. iv. Writings: 1. First not accepted by the medical and academic community.  2. Freud and other scholars began the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. v. Timeline: 1. Gradually, Freud’s ideas gained acceptance within the growing  field of Psychology. c. Result: Freud developed the first comprehensive theory of personality. 2. Free Association – The mental process of discovering previously hidden material that  seemed related to the causes and cure of hysterical symptoms. Freudian Theory of Personality 1. The Topographic Model: a. Original Model: i. Divided personality into 3 parts: 1. Conscious 2. Preconscious 3. Unconscious b. Conscious – Contains the thoughts you are currently aware of (changes constantly  as new thoughts enter your mind and others pass out of awareness). c. Preconscious – Large body of retrievable information (e.g. What did you have for  breakfast? What was your GPA last quarter?) d. Unconscious – Material to which you do not have immediate access (most  important of the 3 parts from the Psychoanalytic point of view). i. Freud: You cannot bring unconscious thoughts into consciousness except  under extreme situations. Nonetheless, is responsible for behavior. 2. The Structural Model: a. Added the Structural Model: i. Divided personality into 3 parts: 1. Id (Unconscious) 2. Ego (Conscious, Preconscious, Unconscious) 3. Superego (Conscious, Preconscious, Unconscious) b. Time: At birth, there is only one personality structure – the Id. c. Id – Selfish part of you, concerned with only satisfying your personal desires. i. Actions taken by the Id are based on the Pleasure Principle. ii. Pleasure Principle – The Id is only concerned with what brings immediate  personal satisfaction regardless of physical or social limitation. iii. Reason for Id at birth: Babies will grab the thing they want (“reflexive  action”). iv. The Id does not disappear in adults – it is only kept in check by other parts  of a healthy adult personality. v. The Id uses Wish Fulfillment to satisfy its needs. vi. Wish Fulfillment – If the desired object is not available, the Id will  imagine what it wants. vii. The Id is entirely buried in the Unconscious. d. Time: 2 years old, the second part of personality gradually develops – the Ego. e. Ego – The job is to satisfy Id impulses, while taking into consideration the  realities of the world. i. Actions taken by the Ego are based on the Reality Principle. ii. Reality Principle – Satisfy the impulses of the Id, but in a manner that  takes into consideration the realities of the world. iii. Because Id impulses tend to be socially unacceptable, they are threatening  to us. The Ego’s job is to keep these impulses in the unconscious. iv. The Ego moves freely among the Conscious, Preconscious, and  Unconscious.  f. Time: 5 years old, third part of the personality structure is formed – the Superego g. Superego – Represents society’s – in particular, the parents’ – values and  standards. i. The Superego places more restrictions on what we can and cannot do. ii. Primary weapon to enforce restrictions: Guilt. iii. Superego is sometimes roughly translated as the “conscience.” iv. With poor child-rearing practices, some children fail to fully develop their  Superego. As adults, will have little restrain from stealing or lying. v. With too strong child-rearing practices, the Superego can become too  powerful, or super-moral, and burden the ego with impossible standards.  The person suffers from relentless Moral Anxiety. vi. Moral Anxiety – An ever-present feeling of shame and guilt for failing to  reach standards no human can meet.h. Example: i. Assume: $5 bill sitting on a table at a friend’s house. ii. Id: Impulse to take the money. iii. Ego: Aware of the problems taking the money might cause, attempts to  figure out how to get the $5 without getting caught. iv. Superego: Even if there is a way to get the money without being seen, the  Superego will not allow the action. i. Interpretation: i. The Id, Ego, and Superego are like three corners that form a triangle that  complement and contradict each other. ii. There is a battle below our awareness with an eternal state of tension  between a desire for self-indulgence, a concern for reality, and the  enforcement of a strict moral code. 3. Libido and Thanatos: a. Visually, so far: i. The Topographic Model provides the playing field. ii. The Structural Model provides the characters. b. Question: What sets Freud’s system in motion? i. Answer: Triebe – drives or instincts. c. 2 Major Categories of Instincts: i. Libido ii. Thanatos d. Libido – The life or sexual instinct. i. Used in a very broad sense: Not only for obvious erotic content, but also  nearly any actions aimed at receiving pleasure. e. Thanatos – The death or aggressive instinct. i. Rarely expressed in the form of obvious self-destruction. Often, the death  instinct is turned outward and expressed as aggression against others. The  wish to die remains unconscious. f. Psychic Energy – The energy that powers the psychological functions. 4. Defense Mechanisms: a. Neurotic Anxiety – Vague feelings of anxiety sparked by the sensation that  unacceptable unconscious thoughts are about to burst through the awareness  barrier and express themselves in consciousness. b. Defense Mechanisms – Ego techniques used to deal with unwanted thoughts and  desires.c. Defense Mechanisms: i. Repression – An active effort by the Ego to push threatening material out  of consciousness or to keep such material from ever reaching  consciousness (e.g. Boy telling police he did not see his father assault his  mother). 1. Freud: Everyone uses repression. Because it is a constant and  active process, it requires the Ego to constantly expend energy. ii. Sublimation – The Ego channels threatening unconscious impulses into  socially acceptable actions (e.g. aggressive impulses sublimated by  focusing it toward working out in the gym or playing football). 1. Freud: Unlike Repression, the more we use Sublimation the more  productive we become (the only “successful defense mechanism”). 2. “Productive” because the Id is allowed to express its aggression,  the Ego doesn’t have to use energy holding back the impulses, and  the athlete is admired for aggressive play. iii. Displacement – Involves channeling our impulses toward non-threatening  objects (e.g. as a result of abuse, a woman might carry a great deal of  unconscious anger that is expressed toward her coworkers or children). 1. Like Sublimation, it involves channeling impulses toward non threatening objects. 2. Unlike Sublimation, displaced impulses don’t lead to social  rewards. 3. Freud: Many of our irrational fears or phobias are merely symbolic  displacements (fear of horses as a displaced fear of father).  iv. Denial – The refusal to accept that certain facts exist. In other words, the  insistence that something is not true despite all evidence to the contrary.  (e.g. a widower who loved his wife deeply acting as if she were still alive  long after her death – telling her friends that she is just visiting a relative). 1. A charade is more acceptable than consciously admitting the truth. 2. This is an extreme form of defense. The more we use this defense,  the less in touch with reality we are and the more difficulty we  have functioning. v. Reaction Formation – Hide from a threatening unconscious idea or urge  by acting in a manner opposite to our unconscious desires (e.g. a woman  constantly telling people how much she loves her mother could be  masking strong unconscious hatred for her). 1. The unconscious thought is so unacceptable the Ego must prove  how incorrect the notion is. vi. Intellectualization – Considering something in a strictly intellectual,  unemotional manner in order to bring difficult thoughts into consciousness  without anxiety (e.g. under the guise of pondering the important of  seatbelts, a woman might imagine her husband in an automobile accident). vii. Projection – Attribute an unconscious impulse to other people instead of to  ourselves, freeing us from the perception that we hold the thought (e.g. the man who thinks everyone in her neighborhood is committing adultery may  be harboring sexual desires for the married man next door). d. Psychosexual Stages of Development: i. Psychosexual Stages of Development – The development of personality in  which the primary characteristic of each influential stage is the erogenous  zone. ii. Freud’s Argument: 1. Adult personalities are heavily influenced in the first 5 or 6 years  of life.  2. Each child in these years is said to progress through a series of  developmental stages. 3. Children face specific challenges as they pass through each of the  psychosexual stages and that small amounts of psychic energy are  used up resolving these challenges. If all goes well, most of us still  have adequate psychic energy when we become adults. 4. Sometimes all does not go well: some have difficulty moving  through a particular stage, or find the stage satisfying and wish to  stay there. Result: Fixation. iii. Fixation – The tying up of psychic energy that leaves less energy available  for normal adult functioning. It is said that the adult expresses behaviors  characteristic of the stage at which the energy is fixated. iv. Stage 1: Oral Stage 1. Age: First 18 months of life.  2. Primary Erogenous Zones: Mouth, lips, and tongue. 3. Potential Difficulties: Traumatic weaning or feeding problems. 4. Result: Oral Personality. 5. Oral Personality – Dependent on others, excessive levels of  aggression, and often expresses an infantile need for oral  satisfaction (e.g. smoke, drink excessively, put hands in mouth). v. Stage 2: Anal Stage 1. Age: 18 months to 3 years old. 2. Primary Erogenous Zone: Anal region. 3. Potential Difficulties: Traumatic toilet training. 4. Result: Anal Personality. 5. Anal Personality – Orderly, stubborn, or generous, depending on  how the toilet training progressed. vi. Stage 3: Phallic Stage 1. Age: 3 - 6 years old. 2. Primary Erogenous Zone: Penis or Clitoris. 3. KEY EXPERIENCE: Oedipus Complex. 4. Oedipus Complex – The development of sexual attraction for the opposite-sex parent. 5. Boys develop Castration Anxiety; Girls develop Penis Envy. 6. Castration Anxiety – A fear that their father will discover their  thoughts and cut off their penis.7. Penis Envy – A desire to have a penis, coupled with feelings of  inferiority and jealousy because of its absence. 8. Result: Reaction Formation (identify with same-sex parent) and  Repression. vii. Stage 4: Latency Stage 1. Age: After the resolution of the Oedipus Complex. 2. Description: Sexual desires abate. Boys and girls fairly  uninterested in each other. viii. Stage 5: Genital Stage: 1. Age: Puberty and Post Puberty. 2. Description: Erogenous urges return and are focused in the adult  genital regions. If a child has progressed to this stage without  leaving large amounts of libido (life or sexual instinct, psychic  energy) fixated at earlier stages, normal sexual functioning is  possible.  Getting at Unconscious Material 1. Question: If the most important psychological material is buried in the unconscious and  therefore outside of our awareness, how can psychologists study it? a. Answer: Id impulses do not disappear. They are expressed in a disguised or  altered form. Therefore, if psychologists know what to look for, they can catch a  glimpse of unconscious thoughts by observing seemingly innocent behaviors. 2. The following are 7 techniques used to get at unconscious material. 3. Dreams: a. Freud: Dreams are the “royal road to the unconscious.” b. Freud’s Argument: i. Dreams provide Id impulses with a stage for expression. ii. Dreams are a type of Wish Fulfillment – they represent the things we  desire. iii. That is not to say we want our nightmares to come true: distinction  between Manifest Content and Latent Content. iv. Many of our unconscious thoughts and desires are represented  symbolically. v. “The dreamer does know what his dream means. Only he does not know  that he knows it, and for that reason thinks he does not know it.” vi. Freud’s long list of dream symbols mainly interpreted sexually. c. Manifest Content – What the dreamer sees and remembers. d. Latent Content – What is really being said or represented in the dream. 4. Projective Tests: a. Project Tests – Present test takers with ambiguous stimuli and asks them to  respond by identifying objects, telling a story, or perhaps drawing a picture. b. Argument: i. The responses are projections of material in the perceiver’s unconscious  mind.5. Free Association: a. Free Association – Allowing whatever comes into your mind to enter.  6. Freudian Slips: a. Freudian Slips – Unconscious associations that momentarily slip out (e.g. a guy  telling a girl that her personality is her “breast” feature). 7. Hypnosis: a. Freud: Ego is believed to be put in a suspended state during a deep hypnotic  trance. 8. Accidents: a. Freud: Many apparent accidents are in fact intentional actions stemming from  unconscious impulses (e.g. a friend “accidentally” knocking off an irreplaceable  statue ???? unconscious desire to hurt the friend). 9. Symbolic Behavior: a. Symbolic Behavior – Behaviors can be interpreted as symbolic representations of  our unconscious desires (e.g. a man with an unconscious hostility toward his  mother buys a doormat with an image of a daisy. Not coincidentally, the mother’s  favorite flower is a daisy. The daisy represents the mother, and the man enjoyed  rubbing his feet and stomping on the daisy every time he entered the house). Application: Psychoanalysis 1. Psychoanalysis – A system of psychotherapy. 2. Psychoanalysis: a. Primary Goal: To bring the crucial unconscious material into consciousness where  it can be examined in a rational manner. b. Once the unconscious material surfaces, it must be dealt with in a way such that it  does not manifest itself in some new disorder. c. In a sense, the therapist and the client are like explorers searching through the  client’s mind for crucial unconscious material. d. However, the therapist is also like a detective who must evaluate cryptic messages  as the client unconsciously works to mislead the therapist. 3. Resistance – Unconscious actions taken in order to keep crucial material from being  discovered (e.g. missing appointments, returning to old topics, describing trivial detail). a. Resistance is a sign that the therapist is getting close to the crucial material. 4. Transference – Emotions associated with people from past situations are displaced onto  the therapist (e.g. a client might talk to a therapist as if they were a deceased parent). 5. Countertransference – Therapists displace their own feelings toward other individuals  onto the client. a. Freud cautioned against such practice.  6. Conclusion: a. Psychoanalysis has been controversial and studies finding it effective have been  met with skepticism.Assessment: Projective Tests 1. Projective Tests: a. Procedure: i. Present individuals with ambiguous stimuli. ii. Individuals respond by describing what they see, telling stories about the  pictures, or somehow react to the material. iii. Psychoanalysts interpret the responses are projections from the  unconscious. 2. Types of Projective Tests: a. Rorschach Inkblot Test ((RIT”): i. Procedure: 1. Consists of 10 cards, each containing nothing more than a blot of  ink. 2. Individuals are instructed to describe what they see in the inkblot. 3. Psychoanalysts analyze recurring themes and unusual answers. b. Thematic Apperception Test (“TAT”): i. Procedure: 1. Consists of a series of ambiguous pictures. 2. Individuals are asked to tell a story about each picture – who they  are, what is going on, what has led up to the scene, and what the  outcome is going to be. 3. Psychoanalysts interpret the story that the individuals create. c. Human Figure Drawing Test (“HFDT): i. Procedure: 1. Ambiguous stimulus is a blank piece of paper. 2. Individuals are asked to draw a picture for the psychologist (e.g. a  person, a family, or a tree). 3. Psychoanalysts view the person drawn as a symbolic  representation of the self. 4. Also used to measure intelligence. 3. Evaluation of Projective Tests: a. Evaluation: i. Psychologists disagree on how to interpret this type of research. b. Critics: i. Low reliability. ii. Failures to find evidence of validity. c. Proponents: i. Critics need to separate good studies designed to test appropriate  predictions from poor studies that attempt to tie test responses to any and  all behaviors. ii. When looking at results from sound studies making reasonable  predictions, evidence for the usefulness of the test exists.iii. Newer, more rigorous systems for coding Rorschach responses have  proved far more reliable than earlier methods. Strengths and Criticisms of Freud’s Theory 1. Strengths: a. Freud’s Theory was the first comprehensive theory of human behavior and  personality. b. Freud created the first system of psychotherapy. c. Freud credited with popularizing and promoting important psychological  concepts. d. Freud set the direction and influenced the subject matter of personality research. 2. Criticisms: a. Historians point out that Freud probably had access to writings about different  levels of consciousness, free association, and infantile sexuality, and therefore  Freud’s ideas may not be so original after all. i. Freud’s Defense: 1. Freud often cited earlier works on topics similar to the ones he was  introducing. 2. Freud was the first person to organize many loosely related ideas  into one theory of human behavior (there’s a difference between  introducing an idea and organizing, integrating, and developing  many ideas into a comprehensive model of human behavior). 3. Freud initiated a lifelong program of investigating the various  concepts in his theory. b. Many of the hypotheses generated from Freud’s theory are not testable; therefore, is considerably less useful to scientists who want to un-support/support his theory. c. Heavy reliance on case study data. Side Articles 1. Repressed Memories: a. A 1990 murder case that convicted a man for murder based on “repressed  memories” testimony. The supposed memories resurfaced 20 years after the 8- year old’s death, and thus the trial happened 20 years later. The man was released  after several years in prison. b. The verdict provides an example of how psychological principles can be misused.  Throughout the 1990s, a huge number of adults going through psychotherapy  suddenly “recalled” childhood members of being victimized by parents, etc. after  the verdict.Chapter 4: The Freudian Approach: Relevant Research Dream Interpretation 1. Question 1: What do people Dream about? 2. Question 2: Why do people Dream? 3. The Meaning of Dream Content: a. Freud: The content of our dreams provides clues about what’s in our unconscious. b. Later Psychoanalytic Theorists: Dreams represent unconscious preoccupations. i. i.e. Unresolved conflicts surface during our sleeping hours. c. Procedure to Record Dream Content: i. Procedure 1: Sleepers awakened when physiological measures indicate  they are dreaming. ii. Procedure 2: Participants record their dreams first thing in the morning in  diaries they keep next to their beds. iii. Procedure 3: Simply ask participants to describe a recent dream or a  current dream. iv. Findings: 1. Investigators find that the content of our dreams is NOT random. 2. Dream Content is often influenced by fears, problems, and issues  that capture our thoughts before we go to bed. d. Palestinian Children Study: i. Procedure:  1. Compare children living on the Gaza Strip vs. Galilee, Israel. ii. Findings: 1. Dream reports revealed that the children living under constant  stress (Gaza Strip) had more dreams than the other children. 2. A higher percentage of the stressed children’s Dreams included  threatening events. e. Male and Female Characters Study: i. Procedure: 1. Compare how many more male or female characters appear in an  individual’s Dreams. ii. Findings: 1. Males = 65% Male Characters 2. Females = 50% Male Characters iii. Psychoanalytic Reasoning: 1. Oedipus Complex conflict at an unconscious level for males  surface in the form of male characters in their Dreams because  males will displace these Oedipal feelings toward other males.f. Recurrent Dream: i. Recurrent Dream – A repeated Dream. ii. Psychoanalytic Reasoning: 1. The Dream reappears night after night because the conflict  expressed in the Dream is important yet remains unresolved. 2. Researchers find that recurrent Dreamers are more likely to suffer  from anxiety and poor adjustment during waking hours than people  not experiencing recurrent Dreams. 4. The Functions of Dreams: a. Question: Why do people Dream at all? b. Freud: Unconscious impulses cannot be suppressed forever. Therefore, one of the  major functions of Dreams is to allow the symbolic expression of these impulses. c. 1950s Research: i. Discovery: 1. Mammals experience two distinctly different kinds of sleep: a. REM Sleep (“Rapid Eye Movement” “Paradoxical Sleep”) b. Non-REM Sleep 2. REM Sleep is filled with Dreams. 3. Non-REM Sleep has significantly fewer Dreams. d. REM Research: i. Early Researchers: 1. REM Sleep was necessary for psychological health and that  depriving someone of REM Sleep might create serious  psychological disturbances. ii. Current Researchers: 1. Challenged the previous conclusion of Early Researchers. 2. But Dreaming does seem to have some psychological benefits. e. REM Autopsy Study: i. Procedure: 1. Participants shown a gruesome autopsy film in order to create high  levels of anxiety in viewers. 2. Compare REM-Deprived and REM participants after a second  showing. ii. Findings: 1. Participants allowed to Dream between showings of film were  significantly less disturbed by the second time they saw it. 2. Participants deprived of REM had a difficult time coping with their  anxiety. 3. Individuals deprived of REM Sleep one night typically respond by  increasing their amount of REM Sleep the next night. iii. Inference: 1. The “Rebound Effect” of the last finding suggests that REM Sleep  serves some important function. f. Other Support for Freud’s Theory: i. Trauma victims who avoid thinking about their experience during the day  Dream about the traumatic event at night.5. Interpreting the Evidence: a. Question: What can we conclude about the experimental support for Freud’s  Theory of Dream Interpretation? b. Answer 1: On one hand, researchers have produced a number of findings  consistent with Freud’s speculations - Dream Content is not random and Dreaming appears to serve some positive psychological functions.  c. Answer 2: However, in almost all cases, psychologists can account for the  findings without relying on Freudian concepts. d. Answer 3: Moreover, researchers have uncovered results that are difficult to  explain within Freudian Theory (e.g. Why do newborn babies experience as much  as 8 hours of REM sleep per day?) Defense Mechanisms 1. Introduction: a. Freud identified the defense mechanism repression as the cornerstone of  psychoanalysis. b. Freud’s Daughter identified 10 defense mechanisms depicted directly or vaguely  in Freud’s writings She also identified 5 additional mechanisms on her own. c. Subsequent psychoanalytic writers have added to the list. d. Therefore, the Ego has many tools at its disposal to fend off anxiety and guilt. 2. Identifying and Measuring Defense Mechanisms: a. Researchers use projective tests (Rorschach Inkblots, Thematic Apperception Test  “TAT”) b. Thematic Apperception Test Study: i. Procedure: 1. Picture on the card features a boy and an un-played violin. 2. What the boy is feeling or thinking and his connection to the  musical instrument is deliberately left unclear. ii. Patient Response (Story): 1. “There’s something wrong with this boy physically and mentally.  He’s unhappy. He wants to play the violin, and he can’t. Maybe  he’s deaf…” iii. Findings: 1. Researchers have developed detailed coding systems to turn this  kind of response into numerical values. They derive scores from  the stories to indicate the extent to which test takers use various  defense mechanisms. 2. In this case: a. There’s evidence of Denial: “He’s not the kind of person  who would pick it up and break it.” b. There’s evidence of Projection: “Something’s wrong with  this boy physically and mentally.”c. College Students Masculinity and Femininity Study: i. Procedure: 1. College students given threatening information about their  masculinity and femininity after creating stories from TAT Cards  (feedback was “high femininity” or “high masculinity”). 2. Because gender-related behavior is a particularly important aspect  of identity for young men and women, the investigator predicted  that students would deal with this anxiety by using the Defense  Mechanism Identification. 3. Identification – Associate oneself with powerful and successful  individuals. ii. Findings: 1. The next round of TAT Cards stories after the feedback resulted in  more Identification Use with presumably masculine men. iii. Reasoning: 1. By unconsciously identifying with powerful others, we fend off  feelings of inadequacy and helplessness. iv. Conclusion: 1. When one’s masculinity or femininity is threatened, the Ego is  likely to turn to identification to defend against the resulting  anxiety. 3. Developmental Differences: a. Developmental Differences: i. Adults have many defenses they can use to ward off anxiety. ii. Preschool children may have no way to deal with their emotional reactions  other than to simply deny the events through the Defense Mechanism  Denial. iii. As children get older, they find that Denial of facts is increasingly  ineffective. Older children often rely on Projection to alleviate anxieties  and inward fears. iv. In fact, the use of Defense Mechanisms other than Denial and Projection is  sometimes used as an indicator of emotional maturity. b. Studies show young children rely heavily on Denial. c. Sad Children Study: i. Procedure: 1. Ask kindergarteners if they had ever felt like a sad and crying boy  in a drawing. ii. Findings: 1. Few of the children acknowledger EVER feeling sad. d. Different Aged Children Study: i. Procedure: 1. Compare TAT Stories from children at age 6 and 9. ii. Findings: 1. Children’s use of Denial decreased and use of Projection increased  as children got older.4. Defensive Style: a. Defensive Style – Consistent reliance on some Defense Mechanism more than  others. b. Anna Freud: Defense Mechanisms are maladaptive past an appropriate age (5  year olds using Denial, “I didn’t do that,” may still continue to function well. But  adults who use the same Defense Strategy will probably find it more difficult to  interact with others or to make sense of their own behavior).  c. Question: Why do some adults continue to rely on immature Defense  Mechanisms like denial despite their ineffectiveness? d. Answer: According to Freud, adult defenses are related to early childhood  experiences. e. Adult Immature Defense Mechanism Study: i. Procedure: 1. Measure the amount of stress experienced by a group of 3-year olds. 2. 20 years later, contact the participants again and examining the  kinds of Defense Mechanisms used by the now 23-year-old adults. ii. Findings: 1. Men who experienced the highest levels of stress in their early  childhood frequently relied on Denial as their Defense Strategy. iii. Reasoning: 1. The men relied heavily on the age-appropriate Defense Mechanism  of Denial when they were young. Because it helped them deal with  their psychological distress as boys, they continued to rely on this  Defense Mechanism as adults. iv. Inference:  1. Investigators find that the use of immature defenses is associated  with problems in psychological functioning. They were more like  to have more problems with hostility, depression, and alcohol  abuse than adults who use more effective Defense Mechanisms.Humor 1. Fred’s Theory of Humor: a. Tendentious Jokes – Jokes that provide insight into the unconscious of the joke  teller as well as the person who laughs (e.g. dead baby jokes). b. 2 Types of Tendentious Jokes: i. Jokes dealing with Hostility. ii. Jokes dealing with Sex. c. Question 1: Why do we laugh at another person’s humiliation or embarrassment? d. Freud: Aggressive jokes allow the expression of impulses ordinarily held in  check. Insulting jokes allow us to express aggressive desires in a socially  appropriate manner. e. Question 2: What is it about insults and biting satire that attracts and amuses us? f. Question 3: Why do we laugh even though sexual jokes often contains very little  humor? g. Freud: Our actions are in terms of tension reduction, or Catharsis. We do not get  pleasure from many jokes because they are witty, but because they reduce tension  and anxiety. h. Catharsis – The process of releasing strong or repressed emotions. i. Clarify: i. Descriptions of aggressive or sexual behavior create tension. ii. The punch line allows a release of that tension. 2. Research on Freud’s Theory of Humor: a. High School Joke Study: i. Procedure: 1. Ask high school students to write a funny caption to otherwise  innocent pictures. ii. Findings: 1. Students wrote things such as, “I was late because I was with your  wife.” 2. The students were filled with sexual and aggressive themes. “They  used Freud’s techniques as if they had read his writings.” iii. Conclusion: 1. Freud seems correct when he said that people find aggressive and  sexual themes funny.  b. Additional Findings: i. Prediction: 1. If hostile humor allows us to satisfy aggressive impulses, we  should find a joke funnier when it pokes fun at a group or person  we don’t like. ii. Finding: 1. Men laugh more at jokes targeted at women, and women laugh  more at jokes putting down men.3. Reducing Aggression with Hostile Humor a. Question: If you were confronted with an angry person and wanted to defuse the  situation with a joke, what kind of joke would you tell – one with hostile content  or an innocent, non-hostile joke? b. Answer: Common sense tells you to try the non-hostile joke. Freud made the  opposite prediction. c. Freud: Hostile humor provides a cathartic release of tension. If that is the case,  hostile humor might do the trick better than non-hostile humor. d. Hostile Humor Study Insulting Investigator: i. Procedure: 1. Investigator insults the participant and then reads a series of hostile  or non-hostile jokes. ii. Findings: 1. Participants who read the hostile jokes were less angry than those  who read the non-hostile jokes. e. Hostile Humor Study Electric Shock: i. Procedure: 1. Participants read cartoons that expressed hostility toward women. 2. Later, the participants were given the opportunity to administer  electric shocks to a woman under the guise of a learning  experiment. ii. Findings: 1. The participants given the hostile jokes gave less intense and  shorter shocks than angry participants who had not seen the  cartoons. f. Conclusion: i. Conflicting studies show different results. Therefore, hostile humor  sometimes reduces aggressiveness, yet other times it increases it. 4. Level of Tension and Funniness: a. Freud: The more tension created before a punch line, the funnier people will find  the joke. b. Inference: i. A nervous and slightly frightened person is more vulnerable to a funny  joke than someone who is calm and tensionless. c. Rat Joke Study: i. Procedure: 1. Participants told in a low-tension condition were asked to hold the  rat for 5 seconds. 2. Participants told in a moderate-tension condition were asked to  take a small sample of the rat’s blood. 3. Participants told in a high-tension condition were asked to take 2  cubic centimeters of blood from the rat and that the rat might bite. 4. The punch line: The rat was fake. ii. Findings: 1. High-tension group participants found the situation funnier.  iii. Conclusion: Consistent with Freud’s Theory.5. Interpreting the Findings: a. Interpretation: i. Although inconsistencies exist, researchers have uncovered evidence in  support of Freud’s Theory of Humor: 1. People often find jokes funnier when they contain sexual and  aggressive themes. 2. People enjoy hostile humor more when it is aimed at someone they dislike. 3. Hostile humor may reduce tension, although not necessarily reduce  hostility. 4. Jokes are funnier when the listener’s tension level is built up  before the punch line. b. Problems: i. Alternative explanations are also possible (e.g. in terms of incongruity – humor results from an inconsistency between what we expect in a  situation and what happens in the joke). c. Other Findings: i. Research suggests laughter serves important psychological functions (e.g.  laughter is an effective means to combat daily tension and stressful  events). d. Conclusion: i. We can say that some research supports Freud’s Theory; however, it is  best to conclude that much more needs to be learned about what people  find funny and why. Hypnosis 1. Useful Applications: a. Many people have dental work performed under hypnosis without the aid of  painkillers. b. Police investigators sometimes use hypnosis to help witnesses remember crime  details. 2. What is Hypnosis? a. Recent Researchers: i. Hypnosis explanations are along a continuum: 1. (Extreme End - Freudian Explanation): Hypnosis taps an aspect of  the human mind that is otherwise difficult to reach. Hypnotic  participants fall into a trance or that they experience an altered  state of consciousness, like sleeping. 2. (Extreme End – Skeptical Explanation): Reject the notion that  hypnotized people operate under an altered state of awareness.  Things people do under hypnosis can be explained in terms of  psychological processes applicable to hypnotized and non hypnotized people.3. Psychoanalytically Influenced Theories: a. Freud:  i. Hypnosis is a passkey to a highly hypnotizable patient’s unconscious  mind. The barrier to the unconscious is weakened during hypnosis,  allowing easier access to crucial unconscious material. b. Another Group of Researchers:  i. Proposed that the Ego forms a new subsystem during hypnosis. The Ego  creates a kind of pocket in which the formerly unconscious material that  surfaces during hypnosis is stored. The Ego monitors this pocket of  information during hypnosis but keeps it out of conscious awareness once  hypnosis is terminated. c. Recent Researchers: i. Neodissociation Theory – Deeply hypnotized people experience a division  of their conscious. Part of their conscious enters a type of altered state, but  part remains aware of what is going on during the hypnotic session (second part is said to act as a “hidden observer” monitoring the situation). The hypnotized part of the conscious is unaware of the observer part. d. Neodissociation Theory Experiment: i. Procedure: 1. Use of pain analgesia to demonstrate how the “hidden observer”  works. 2. Highly responsive participants in one study were hypnotized and  told they would not experience pain. Their arms were then lowered  into ice water for several seconds.  ii. Findings: 1. When not hypnotized, they reported severe pain. 2. When hypnotized, they appeared to withstand the icy water with  little evidence of suffering. iii. Additional Procedure: 1. Automatic writing or automatic talking.  iv. Additional Findings: 1. People could keep one arm in the cold water while writing with the  other arm that the experience is quite painful. v. Advocate Statement: 1. These findings demonstrate the division of the consciousness that  occurs under hypnosis.  2. The hypnotized part denies the pain, but the “hidden observer” is  aware of what is going on.4. Sociocognitive Theories of Hypnosis: a. Sociocognitive Theorists: i. Challenged the notion that hypnosis participants experience a state of  consciousness different from being awake.  ii. There is nothing that a person can do under hypnosis that cannot be done  without hypnosis (e.g. people who are relaxed but not hypnotized, and are  asked to imagine a weight pulling their arms down, will experience  increased heaviness in their arms). iii. Also critical of “hidden observer” demonstrations (e.g. when researchers  told participants that their “hidden observer” would experience less pain,  the hidden observers indeed reported less, not more, pain). iv. Argue that the psychoanalytic position can become circular: 1. Question: Why are hypnosis participants running around making  chicken noises? 2. Answer: Because they are hypnotized. 3. Question: How can we tell people are hypnotized? 4. Answer: Because they are running around making chicken noises. b. Conclusions: i. The debate continues. ii. Nonetheless, recent research shows a growing consensus that the hypnotic  trance notion alone does a poor job of explaining why hypnosis  participants act the way they do. c. Question: Why do people forget what they did when hypnotized? d. Answer: i. Psychoanalytic Theorists:  1. The experience either has been repressed out of consciousness or  has been recorded in a part of the mind not accessible to the  consciousness (e.g. pocket of the mind created by the Ego during  hypnosis). ii. Sociocognitive Theorists Argue: 1. Hypnosis participants expect not to recall what happens to them  and therefore make no effort to remember.  2. In a Lie Detector Study, participants were told they were under a  lie detector. After hypnosis, even though they were told not to  remember, those under the “lie detector” condition remembered significantly more than people in a control condition. e. Conclusion: i. People are responding to normal social-psychological influences. ii. Just as you act the way you believe a student is supposed to act when in  school, hypnosis participants behave the way they believe people are  supposed to when under hypnosis.5. Hypnotic Responsiveness: a. Question: Why are some people more responsive than others? b. Answer: Highly responsive people respond to anyone they perceive to be a  legitimate hypnotist. c. Techniques to Increase Responsiveness: i. The greatest difference between hypnotists for the most part is  showmanship. ii. People are more responsive to hypnotic suggestions when the situation is  defined as hypnosis and when their cooperation is secured and trust  established before the beginning. d. Findings: i. Evidence shows that hypnosis is a participant variable and is a fairly stable  individual difference. ii. People who are highly responsive to one hypnotist will probably be  responsive to another hypnotist. iii. How responsive you are today is an excellent predictor of how responsive  you will be years from now. 1. Research: a. 0.71 Correlation between hypnotic responsiveness scores  taken 25 years apart. e. Question: What kind of person makes the most responsive participant? f. Answer: Personality traits that are high on sensation seeking, imagination, or  intelligence and low on dogmatism, independence, and extraversion. i. NOTE: Few correlations between personality scores and hypnotic  responsiveness have been found. No measure has been found that reliably  predicts responsiveness to hypnosis. g. Later Researchers: i. Found that a person’s ability to become immersed in a role predicts  hypnotic responsiveness (e.g. drama students). ii. Prediction of hypnotic responsiveness comes from the personality trait  called Absorption. iii. Absorption – Degree of sensory and imaginative experiences, openness to  new experiences, and proneness to fantasies and daydreams.  iv. High Absorption = High Responsiveness v. 3 Variables Affecting Responsiveness (other than Absorption): 1. Attitude (Positive Attitude = More Responsive). 2. Motivation (More Motivation = More Responsive). 3. Expectancy (High Hypnotic Expectancy = More Responsive). vi. In short, people tend to act under hypnosis the way they think they are  supposed to act.Chapter 5: The Psychoanalytic Approach: Neo-Freudian Theory, Application, and Assessment Introduction 1. Metaphor: Tree a. It’s like a giant oak. It’s the oldest and most formidable of the many  psychoanalytic approaches to understanding personality. 2. Neo-Freudians – Theorists who were all influenced by Sigmund Freud, but who extended  his theories, often in social or cultural directions.  3. Neo-Freudian contributions were elaborations of Freud’s theory rather than radically new  approaches to personality. 4. Neo-Freudian Theories – Different perspectives within the general psychoanalytic  approach to personality. Limits and Liabilities of Freudian Theory 1. 3 Limits and Liabilities: a. Neo-Freudians rejected the idea that the adult personality is formed almost  entirely in the first 5o r 6 years of life. b. Neo-Freudians challenged Freud’s emphasis on instinctual sources of personality,  and not enough attention to social and cultural influences. c. Neo-Freudians disliked the generally negative tone of Freudian Theory. Alfred Adler 2. Background: a. First member of the psychoanalytic group to break with Freud. b. Began new approach: Individual Psychology 3. 3 Adler Contributions: a. Striving for superiority b. Parental influence on personality development c. Effects of birth order 4. Striving for Superiority: a. Differences in Human Motivation: i. Freud: Libido and Thanatos  ii. Adler: Striving for Superiority b. Adler: Everything we do is designed to establish a sense of superiority over life’s  obstacles (e.g. get good grades, excel at athletics, reach a position of power). c. Excessive feelings of inferiority can lead to the opposite effect – Inferiority  Complex. d. Inferiority Complex – A belief that they are vastly inferior to everyone else  (helplessness rather than drive to accomplish).e. Example: Analysis of successful businesspeople. i. Freud:  1. Achievements are misplaced unconscious impulses (Sublimation). 2. Defeating business rivals satisfies an unconscious desire to  compete with and defeat one’s father (Oedipus Complex). ii. Adler: 1. Achievements are an expression of superiority striving. 2. Each increase in salary provides another reminder that one is not  inferior. f. Adler: Achievement alone is not indicative of mental health. i. Gemeinschaftsgefuhl – Social interest. ii. People achieve a sense of superiority and personal satisfaction through  their accomplishments, but only if they reach these goals with  consideration for the welfare of others. 5. Parent Influence on Personality Development: a. 2 Problematic Parental Behaviors: i. Pampering – Give their child too much attention. 1. Problem: Robs the child of independence and adds to feelings of  inferiority. 2. As Adults: Struggle living on their own, making decisions, and  dealing with daily hassles and frustrations. ii. Neglect – Give their child too little attention. 1. Problem: Child will grow up cold and suspicious. 2. As Adults: Uncomfortable with intimacy and ill at ease with  closeness or touching. 6. Birth Order: a. Birth Order Assessment: i. Firstborn: Excessive attention and pampering (and then “dethroned” for  middle-born child). 1. Result: Develop strong inferiority. 2. As Adults: Neurotics, criminals, drunkards, and perverts. ii. Middle-born: Never afforded luxury of pampering (there is now more than  1 child).  1. Result: Develop strong superiority striving. 2. As Adults: Not as strong, fast, or smart as older siblings.  Therefore, they are always looking at the person a little ahead of  them in school or in office. Consequently, middle-born children  are the highest achievers. iii. Last-born: Pampered throughout childhood by all members of the family. 1. Result: Vulnerable to strong inferiority because everyone around  them is older and stronger. 2. As Adults: Dependent, no personal initiative. 7. Conclusion: Most likely the impact of birth order on personality and intellectual  development is far more complex than Adler imagined.Carl Jung 1. Background: a. Most bitter of the defectors. b. Began new approach: Analytic Psychology. 2. 2 Jung Contributions: a. Collective Unconscious b. Important Archetypes 3. The Collective Unconscious: a. Differences in the Unconscious: i. Freud: Personal Unconscious ii. Jung: Personal Unconscious and Collective Unconscious b. Collective Unconscious – Consists of thoughts and images that are difficult to  bring into awareness. However, these thoughts were never repressed out of  consciousness. Instead, we are all born with this unconscious material, and it is  the same for all people. Just as we inherit physical characteristics from our  ancestors, we also inherit unconscious psychic characteristics. i. Collective Unconscious is made up of Primordial Images. c. Primordial Images – Images in terms of a potential to respond to the world in a  certain way (e.g. newborns react quickly to mothers because the collective  unconscious holds an image of a mother for each of us. We react to the dark or to  God because of unconscious images inherited from our ancestors). i. Primordial Images as Archetypes. d. Archetype – A typical example of a certain person or thing. i. “There are as many Archetypes as there are typical situations in life.” 4. Some Important Archetypes: a. List: i. Anima ii. Animus iii. Shadow b. Anima – The feminine side of the male. c. Animus – The masculine side of the female. i. Purpose: The function of these Archetypes is to guide the selection of a  romantic partner. We look for a romantic partner by projecting our Anima  or Animus onto potential mates. ii. “A man, in his love choice, is strongly tempted to win the woman who  best corresponds to his own unconscious femininity – a woman, in short,  who can unhesitatingly receive the projection of his soul.”  iii. In other words, we have an unconscious image of the man or woman we  are looking for. d. Shadow – The unconscious part of ourselves that is negative, the dark side of our  personalities. The evil side of humankind. i. The shadow is partly in the personal unconscious as well as in the  collective unconscious.5. Evidence for the Collective Unconscious: a. Criticism: Ideas in his theory are difficult to examine with scientific research. b. Jung: Lifelong study of modern and ancient cultures, and through his career as a  psychotherapist. Erik Erikson 1. Background: a. Worked in a school established for the children of Freud’s patients and friends. b. Began a new approach: Ego Psychology. 2. 2 Erikson Contributions: a. Description of the Ego b. Model of Personality Development throughout the Life Cycle 3. Erikson’s Concept of the Ego: a. Differences in the Functions of the Ego: i. Freud: Ego is the mediator between Id impulses and Superego demands. ii. Erikson: Ego is a relatively powerful, independent party of the personality  that works towards establishing one’s identity and satisfying a need for  mastery over the environment. b. Erikson’s Concept of the Ego: i. Function: Establish and maintain a sense of identity. ii. Identity Crisis – The confusion and despair we feel when we lack a strong  sense of who we are. 1. Experienced by young and middle-aged people. 4. Personality Development Throughout the Life Cycle: a. Differences in Personality Development: i. Freud: Personality development for the most part ends when the Superego  appears at about age 6. ii. Erikson: Personality development continues throughout a person’s  lifetime. b. Erikson’s Personality Development Model: i. 8 Stages. ii. Metaphor: A path with 8 forks. Each point is a crisis, and how we resolve  each crisis determines the direction of our personality development and  influences how we resolve later crises. 1. At each fork, one road is adaptive, the other is not.5. Erikson’s 8 Stage Personality Development Life Cycle Model: a. Basic Trust vs. Mistrust: i. Age: First year of life (Infancy). ii. Challenge: Newborns are at the mercy of those around them. Whether  infants are given loving care and have their needs met or whether their  cries go unnoticed is the first turning point.  iii. Turning Point:  1. Child whose needs are met develops a sense of Basic Trust (the  world is a good place and people are loving and approachable).  2. Child whose needs are not met develops a sense of Basic Mistrust  (children begin a lifelong pattern of suspicion about and  withdrawal from other people). b. Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt: i. Age: Second year of life (Toddler). ii. Challenge: Children want to know who they are relative to the rest of the  world. Is the world something they control or something that controls  them? iii. Turning Point: 1. Child allowed to manipulate and control what they encounter  develop a sense of Autonomy (feel powerful and independent and  strong sense of personal mastery). 2. Child not allowed to explore and exercise influence over the  objects and events in their world develop feelings of Shame and  Doubt (are unsure of themselves and become dependent on others). c. Initiative vs. Guilt: i. Age: Early childhood. ii. Challenge: Interaction with other children and the challenges that arise  from living in a social world. iii. Turning Point: 1. Child who seeks out playmates and learn how to organize games  and other social activities develop a sense of Initiative (learn how  to set goals and tackle challenges with conviction. Develop  ambition and purpose). 2. Child fails to develop a sense of initiative develops Guilt and  Resignation (lack sense of purpose and show few signs of initiative  in social or other situations). d. Industry vs. Inferiority: i. Age: Elementary school age. ii. Challenge: Children find themselves in competition with other children  (grades, popularity, sports). iii. Turning Point: 1. Child who experiences success develops feelings of Industry  (competence, belief in strengths and abilities). 2. Child who experiences failure develops feelings of Inferiority (lack  of appreciation for talents and skills).e. Identity vs. Role Confusion: i. Age: Teenage years (Adolescence) ii. Challenge: Who am I? iii. Turning Point: 1. Teen who successfully answers the question develops a sense of  Identity (make decisions about personal values and religious  questions. Understand who they are and accept and appreciate  themselves). 2. Teen who fails to develop a strong sense of identity fall into Role  Confusion. In search of identity, adolescents join cliques, commit  to causes, or drop out of school. f. Intimacy vs. Isolation: i. Age: Young adulthood ii. Challenge: Developing intimate relationships. iii. Turning Point: 1. Adult finds a special relationship that allows them to develop  Intimacy and grow emotionally. 2. Adult who fails to develop intimacy face Emotional Isolation.  They mass pass through many superficial relationships without  finding the satisfaction of closeness promised by genuine  relationships. g. Generativity vs. Stagnation: i. Age: Middle years (Adulthood) ii. Challenge: As adults get older, they develop a concern for guiding the  next generation. iii. Turning Point: 1. Adults who find enrichment by raising children or getting involved  in youth groups develop a sense of Generativity. 2. Adults who do no find this enrichment develop a sense of  Stagnation – a feeling of emptiness and questioning one’s purpose  in life. h. Ego Integrity vs. Despair: i. Age: Old age. ii. Challenge: Reflections on past experiences and the inevitability of life’s  end. 1. Person who looks back on their life with satisfaction will develop a  sense of Integrity. 2. Person who does not develop a sense of integrity will fall into  Despair. They realize time is now too short, and the opportunities  available to younger people are no longer there. They will express  their despair through disgust and contempt for others.Karen Horney 1. Background: a. Was not a student of Freud. b. Instead, studied Freud’s work indirectly and later taught psychoanalysis. c. Began new approach: Feminine Psychology 2. 2 Horney Contributions: a. Neurosis b. Feminine Psychology 3. Differences on Men and Women Personality: a. Freud: Men and women were born with different personalities. b. Horney: Cultural and social forces are far more responsible than biology for the  apparent differences between genders. 4. Neurosis: a. Differences in Neurosis: i. Freud: Fixated energy and unconscious battles between various aspects of  the personality. ii. Horney: Disturbed interpersonal relationships during childhood. b. Neurotic – People who are desperately fighting off feelings of inadequacy and  insecurity and eventually drive people away with their behavior. i. Key Characteristic: Self-defeating interpersonal style (the way they  interact with others prevents them from developing the social contact they  unconsciously crave).  c. Horney’s Argument: i. Children raised in an environment filled with anxiety grow up with a lack  of self-worth, unsure of how to deal with their parents, and fear unjust  punishment from their parents they can’t understand. They are confused,  afraid, and anxious. ii. Children grow up developing strategies for dealing with the anxiety.  Positive: Strategies succeed in alleviating anxiety in the short run.  Negative: They rely on these strategies of interacting with other people  outside the family. They learn that social relationships are a source of  anxiety. d. 3 Neurotic Interaction Styles: i. Moving Toward People ii. Moving Against People iii. Moving Away from People e. NOTE: You should see a little of yourself in each. Neurotics rely only on one of  these styles.5. 3 Neurotic Interaction Styles: a. Moving Toward People: i. Child: Deal with anxiety by emphasizing helplessness. They become  dependent, compulsively seeking affection and acceptance from parents  and caregivers.  ii. Adult: Have intense need to be loved and accepted. They often believe  that only if they can find love, everything else will be alright. They  discriminately attach themselves to whomever is available, believing any  relationship is better than loneliness. iii. Result: They don’t love, they cling. They don’t share affection; they can  only demand it.  b. Moving Against People: i. Child: Deal with anxiety with aggressiveness and hostility. They  compensate feelings of inadequacy and insecurity by pushing around other  children. ii. Adult: Take advantage of business partner or lash out at others with  hurtful comments. Ever-present need to exploit other people. iii. Result: Only enter into relationships when there is something to be gained. iv. Neurotic style is characterized by Externalization. 1. Externalization – Similar to Freud’s Projection. They learn that  people are hostile and respond to this perception by doing unto  others before others can do unto them. c. Moving Away from People: i. Child: Deal with anxiety by tuning out the world. “Who needs them?” The  child’s desire for privacy and self-sufficiency can be intense. ii. Adults: Seek out jobs requiring little interaction with other people. They  avoid love, affection, and friendship. Because emotional attachment might  lead to the kind of pain they remember from childhood, they develop a  numbness to emotional experiences. iii. Result: Affection cannot be returned because it is not even experienced. 6. Feminine Psychology: a. Context: i. Horney found herself a woman in a man’s world.  ii. Countered Freud’s Penis Envy with Womb Envy (not to argue that men  are dissatisfied with themselves that they cannot bear children, but rather  that each gender has attributes that the other admires). b. Horney’s Argument: i. If a woman in that era wished she were a man, it was probably because of  the restrictions and burdens placed on her by culture, not because of  inherent inferiorities.Application: Psychoanalytic Theory and Religion 1. Question: Why do so many people believe in a religion? a. Freud: Religious behavior represents a form of neurosis. It begins with the baby’s  feelings of helplessness and longing for a powerful protector. Freud calls religion  a type of collective Wish Fulfillment. To protect ourselves in a threatening world,  we project our imagined savior from this predicament outward in the form of a  God. Essentially, religion is a delusion. b. Jung: Each of us inherits a God Archetype in our Collective Unconscious.  c. Fromm: People turn to the powerful authority of the church to escape a sense of  powerlessness and loneliness. “People return to religion… not as an act of faith  but in order to escape an intolerable doubt. They make this decision not out of  devotion but in search of security.” i. Authoritarian Religions – Emphasize that we are under the control of a  powerful God. ii. Humanistic Religions – God is seen as a symbol of our own power. Assessment: Personal Narratives 2. Measuring Personality with Personal Narratives: a. Personal Narratives – Participants are asked to describe scenes from their life.  Describe: “This is the kind of person I am, and this is how I got to be that person.” b. Procedure: i. Record and transcribe interview. ii. Judges review the transcripts and code the stories according present  criteria. c. Criticism: i. Personal narratives are selective presentations. 3. Generativity and Life Stories: a. Studies show that life stories reflecting a Generativity theme peaked during the  midlife decades. b. Question: What enables some people to develop a sense of generativity while  others do not? c. Answer: Those who face hardship have an increased sensitivity to suffering and  therefore would be concerned about helping and nurturing the next generation.Strengths and Criticisms of Neo-Freudian Theories 1. Strengths: a. Elaboration of important concepts that Freud had ignored or de-emphasized. i. Social and cultural factors. ii. Personality development beyond the first 5-6 years of life. iii. More optimistic and flattering picture of humankind. iv. Positive functions of the Ego. b. Introduced new concepts into the psychological literature. c. Influence on later theorists and psychotherapists. i. Paved the way for many Humanistic Personality Theories (positive tone). ii. Paved the way for many Social Learning Theories (social aspects). 2. Criticisms: a. Like Freud’s Theory, some Neo-Freudian theories are supported with  questionable evidence. i. Jung’s conclusions about the nature of the Collective Unconscious. b. Oversimplified or ignored important concepts. i. Erikson’s superficial treatment of anxiety’s role in the development of  psychological disorders. ii. Adler’s attempt to oversimplify many complex behaviors in terms of a  single concept, the Striving for Superiority.Chapter 6: The Neo-Freudian Theories: Relevant Research Introduction 1. Topics discussed: a. Anxiety and Coping Strategies b. Psychoanalytic Concepts and Aggression c. Attachment Style and Adult Relationships Anxiety and Coping Strategies 2. “Age of Anxiety” a. Average children from the 1980s report higher levels of anxiety than child  psychiatric patients in the 1950s.  3. Freud’s 3 Types of Anxiety: a. Reality Anxiety (“Objective Anxiety”) – A response to a perceived threat in the  real world (followed by a stranger, narrowly escape a car accident). Above all,  you are aware of the source of your emotional reaction and therefore conscious of  these thoughts. b. Neurotic Anxiety – Experienced when unacceptable Id impulses are dangerously  close to breaking into consciousness. It’s the type of anxiety that leads the Ego to  use Defense Mechanisms. c. Moral Anxiety – Experienced as a response by the Superego to Id impulses that  violate the Superego’s strict Moral Code. Generally, is experienced as Guilt. 4. Copying with Anxiety: a. Generally, people often respond to stress-provoking situations with calculated  efforts to reduce anxiety. b. Example: i. Stress Situation: A film showing a gruesome and bloody film regarding  industrial safety. ii. Strategy 1: Remind themselves that they are seeing this as a film, not a  real accident. iii. Strategy 2: Focus on the technical aspects of the production rather than the  gruesome content. iv. Freud: Denial and Intellectualization c. Coping Strategies – Efforts to cope with anxiety in the face of a perceived threat.  i. Women report more Coping Strategies than men. d. Coping Style – A person’s general approach to dealing with stress.5. Types of Coping Strategies: a. Historical Research: i. Personality Dimension (Continuum): Repression-Sensitization 1. Repressors – Respond to threatening situations by avoiding them. 2. Sensitizers – Deal with stressful situations by finding out as much  as possible, as soon as possible, and thereby put themselves in a  position to take the most effective action. b. Current Research: i. 3 Strategies: 1. (Active Strategy) Problem-Focused Strategies – Intended to take  care of the problem and thereby overcoming the anxiety (if the  problem is financial, the person will seek out to earn more money  or reduce expenses. If the problem is grades, the person will make  extra time to work on assignments). People employing Problem Focused Strategies find that simply making plans to deal with the  problem makes them feel better than sitting back and doing  nothing at all. 2. (Active Strategy) Emotion-Focused Strategies – Designed to  reduce the emotional distress that accompanies the problem (a  student not accepted to law school might consider how the setback  could be for the best, a divorced couple might talk about their  feelings with friends). 3. (Avoidance Strategy) Avoidance Strategies – Deal with their  emotions by pushing the anxiety-provoking situation out of  awareness (a person who fears about law school acceptance might  drink excessively or go out with friends). 6. SPECIAL NOTE: Review Table 6.1 Page 127 before the Exam. i. Findings: 1. In 98% of cases, people use Emotion-Focused Strategies, Problem Focused Strategies, or both.  7. How Effective Are Coping Strategies? a. Question 1: Does Active or Avoidance Strategies work better in alleviating  anxiety? i. Answer: In almost all cases, Active Strategies are more effective in  helping people cope with stressors than Avoidance Strategies. b. Question 2: Are Avoidance Strategies ever effective? i. Answer: Perhaps occasionally (ignoring relationship problems while  studying for finals). The caveat is that it only helps in the short run and  delays dealing with the problem. ii. Typically, Avoidance Strategies are limited to relatively mild stressors that  are at least partially under the individual’s control. These individuals may  also be at risk for alcohol problems.c. Question 3: We know Active Strategies are preferable to Avoidance Strategies.  What about Emotion-Focused Strategies versus Problem-Focused Strategies? i. Answer: It depends on the situation. Can the situation be corrected, or  does it have to be accepted? ii. If the situation cannot be controlled, then the only thing that can be  controlled is your emotional reaction to the situation (FBI Hostage Study – those with Emotion-Focused Strategies had lower levels of anxiety). d. Coping Flexibility – The ability to adjust Coping Strategies to fit the realities of a  given situation. Psychoanalytic Concepts and Aggression 1. Background: a. There’s a relationship between Frustration and Aggression. 2. Freud: a. Initially: Aggression is the result of frustrated Libido. When our pleasure-seeking  impulse is blocked, we experience a “primordial reaction” to attack the obstacle.  However, because the Ego will not let us assault anyone and everyone who ruins  our pleasure, we displace that aggression. b. Revised: After witnessing World War I, Freud introduced the concept of a Death  Instinct: Thanatos. Claim: We all have an instinctual desire to destroy ourselves.  However, because the Ego does not allow self-destruction, the instinct is turned  outward toward others. 3. Psychologists: a. Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis – Aggression is always a consequence of  frustration… that the occurrence of aggressive behavior always presupposes the  existence of frustration and, contrariwise, that the existence of frustration always  leads to some form of aggression. i. Simply put: the argument is that there is one cause of Aggression – Frustration, and one response to Frustration – Aggression.  b. The psychologists proposed that the aggression ceases when we experience  Catharsis. c. Catharsis – A release of tension. d. Counterpoint: i. With all of the frustrating experiences in our lives, why don’t we spend  more of our time acting aggressively? e. Psychologists’ Modified Position: i. Frustration leads to indirect expressions of aggression. For example,  displacing the aggression to a new target. Or be passive aggressive. Or use  Sublimation.4. Frustration and Aggression: a. Children Study: The most aggressive children were those who experiences the highest levels of stress at home. b. Adult Study: Those who had been laid off were 6 times more likely to engage in  an act of violence. c. Social Conditions Study: Increases in stressors correspond with increases in  violent crimes. d. Aggression as a Function of Place in Line Study: Those cut at the front of the line  expressed more aggression than the less frustrated people toward the end of the  line. Research shows greater frustration the closer people are to their goal. e. Recent Argument for Aggression and Frustration: i. The original Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis is too limited. Things that  frustrate us are unpleasant, and it is the unpleasantness that we respond to  when frustrated (higher temperatures, cigarette smoke, loud noise). ii. The question then is not whether the event is frustrating, but rather how  unpleasant the accompanying emotion is.  f. Advantages to Recent Argument for Aggression and Frustration: i. The new model explains why frustration does not always lead to  aggression. Frustration facilitates aggression only to the extent that it is  perceived as unpleasant. ii. The new model clarifies why certain thoughts increase or decrease the  likelihood of acting aggressively (doing poorly on a test because your  sibling drove home for the weekend with your textbooks in the back of  their car. Knowing that your roommate was unaware of the textbooks will  have a different reaction than thinking that your roommate deliberately  drove off with them). Thoughts that create negative feelings make the  whole experience more unpleasant and increase the chances for  aggression. 5. Displacing Aggression: a. Findings: Research supports the notion that we sometimes displace aggression  from a frustrating source to an innocent target. b. Displaced Aggression Anagram Shock Study: i. Procedure: 1. Persistently annoy a participant working on an anagram to induce  frustration. 2. Then, tell participant to grade another individual on a creativity  task. The means of grading the task was an electric shock. ii. Findings: 1. Those who were told that the receiver of the shock was the person  who earlier annoyed them gave more shocks than non-frustrated  participants. 2. Frustrated participants overall gave more shocks than non frustrated participants.3. Therefore, these people displaced their aggressive tendencies onto  an innocent bystander. c. Displaced Aggression Business World Study: i. Procedure: 1. Measure the amount of frustration supervisors experienced at work  (no promotion, feeling of unfair treatment). ii. Findings: 1. The more frustration experienced by the supervisors, the more the  employees below them felt that they were abused by the  supervisor. 2. The more the employees felt abused by their supervisor at work,  the more unpleasant they were to their families. 3. Therefore, Displaced Aggression may not simply disappear, but  may get passed down to the next person in the hierarchy. 6. Triggered Displaced Aggression – The target of Displaced Aggression does something to  annoy the person attacking them. However, the problem is that the person’s reaction is  often way out of proportion to the relatively small offense. a. Research finds that displaced Aggression is most likely to occur when we  encounter a minor source of annoyance that we otherwise would easily tolerate or  ignore. 7. Catharsis and Aggression: a. Conventional wisdom is wrong: Letting off steam does not reduce aggression. b. Harsh Essay Grader Study: i. Procedure: 1. Negative feedback on a written essay to provoke anger. 2. Some were asked to hit a punching bag as many times as they want  while thinking of the grader, others were asked to hit a punching  bag while thinking of the exercise they’ll get, and the rest were  given no opportunity to hit anything and simply sat quietly for a  few minutes. ii. Findings: 1. Participants who were asked to hit the bag while thinking of the  grader were the angriest and also the most aggressive when later  given a chance to do something that would hurt the person they  were mad at. 2. Contrary to convention wisdom, those who calmly sat alone were  the least angry and least aggressive. 3. Therefore, these findings contradict the original Frustration Aggression Hypothesis which maintained that aggression leads to a  tension-reducing Catharsis that reduces the need for aggression.  4. To the contrary, studies find that acting aggressively often  increases the tendency to aggress.8. Reasons: a. Acting aggressively may lead to a kind of disinhibition. That is, most of us have  strong reservations about physically hurting other people. However, once we  violate that rule, we may find it easier to attack in the future. b. The presence of aggressive cues often increases aggression (tap into memories). c. Because Cathartic release of tension feels good, it may reinforce aggressive acts. Attachment Style and Adult Relationships 1. Question: What is it that allows some people to enter relationships easily, whereas for  others it is such a chore? a. Answer: How we relate to significant others as adults is a reflection of the  relationships we had with our parents. 2. Object Relations Theory and Attachment Theory: a. General principles: i. Place great emphasis on early childhood experiences. ii. The child develops an unconscious representation of significant objects in  his or her environment. The way the child internalized the parent’s image  serves as a basis for how the child thinks of others when he or she enters  into future relationships. b. Attachment Theory: i. 3 Types of Parent-Child Relationships: 1. Secure: a. Mothers: Attentive and responsive to their child. b. Infants: Understand that the mother is responsive and  accessible even if she is not physically present. c. Child: Happy and self-confident. 2. Anxious-Ambivalent: a. Mothers: Not particularly attentive or responsive to their  child. b. Infants: Break into tears as soon as separated. Are not  easily calmed by other adults. c. Child: Anxious whenever mother leaves. Afraid of  unfamiliar situations. 3. Avoidant: a. Mothers: Not particularly attentive or responsive to their  child. b. Infants: Reacts by developing a type of aloofness or  emotional detachment from the mother. c. Child: Not anxious when mother leaves and not interested  in her attention when she returns. ii. Argument: 1. If our parents were caring, we come to see others as sources of  love and support. 2. If our parents were not caring, we become suspicious and  mistrusting.3. Adult Attachment Styles: a. Secure Attachment Style: i. Relatively easy to get close to others. ii. Comfortable depending on them, and having them depend on me. iii. Don’t often worry about being abandoned, or someone getting too close. b. Anxious-Ambivalent Style: i. Others are reluctant to get as close as I would like. ii. Often worry that partner doesn’t really love or won’t want to stay with me. iii. Want to merge completely with another person, and this sometimes scares  people away. c. Avoidant: i. Somewhat uncomfortable being closer to others. ii. Find it difficult to trust them completely, and difficult to allow myself to  depend on them. I also find it difficult to allow myself to depend on them. iii. Get nervous when anyone gets too close, and often partners want me to be  more intimate than I feel comfortable being. d. Findings: i. Secure = 56%-59% ii. Anxious-Ambivalent = 11%-19% iii. Avoidant = 25% 4. Alternate Models and Measurement: a. Recent Model: i. 2 Dimensions: 1. Fear of Abandonment: People who are and are not fearful that their  romantic partner will abandon them. 2. Fear of Closeness: People’s comfortability with closeness and  dependency. ii. Result - 4 Category Model: 1. Low Fear of Abandonment, Low Fear of Closeness = Secure 2. Low Fear of Abandonment, High Fear of Closeness = Avoidant 3. High Fear of Abandonment, Low Fear of Closeness = Anxious Ambivalent 4. High Fear of Abandonment, High Fear of Closeness =  Disoriented/Fearful 5. Attachment Style and Romantic Relationships: a. Question: Do attachment styles really affect romantic relationships? i. Answer: Studies find that adults with a Secure Attachment Style tend to be  more satisfied with their relationships. b. Marriage Rate as a Function of Attachment Style Study: i. Findings:1. Those who were classified as Secure Attachment Style were more  likely to get married and stay married. c. Reasons: i. People with Secure Attachment Style are more likely to characterize their  relationships with a great deal of love, strong commitment, and large  amount of trust. d. Undergraduate Study: i. Secure: Relationship is loving, committed, and trusted. ii. Avoidant: Rarely fall in love. iii. Anxious-Ambivalent: Fall in love many times but have difficulty finding  the long-term happiness they desperately seek. More likely to fall in love  with someone who does not love them back and are less likely to break up  with a partner who fails to meet their needs. 6. Conclusion: a. Do not be fearful. Attachment Style can change.Chapter 7: The Trait Approach: Theory, Application, and Assessment Introduction 1. Question: Who are you? a. Answer in 2 ways: i. Describe the type of person you are (e.g. quiet type, independent type, outgoing  type). ii. Describe your characteristics (e.g. ambitious, pragmatic, friendly). 2. In either case, you are describing relatively stable features of your personality – the use of the  Trait Approach. 3. Previous attempts: Typologies a. General physique: endomorphic, mesomorphic, ectomorphic 4. Problem with previous attempts: A typology assumes that each of us fits into one personality  category and all people within that category are basically alike. The types are mutually exclusive.  5. Recent psychologists replaced the Type Approach with the Trait Approach. The Trait Approach 1. Personality as Trait Dimensions: a. Characteristics of the Trait Approach: i. Trait Psychologists identify a wide range of behaviors that can be represented  along the continuum. 1. E.g. “Achievement Motivation” can range from “Highly Driven” to  “Indifferent.”  ii. Trait Psychologists maintain that any given person can be placed somewhere  along the continuum. 1. I.e. we are all more or less aggressive, more or less friendly, etc. iii. Trait psychologists argue that if we measure a large group of people and places  their scores at appropriate points on the continuum, the scores would probably be  Normally Distributed. 1. I.e. Relatively few people score extremely high or extremely low, and  most people will fall somewhere toward the middle of the distribution. b. Trait – A dimension of personality used to category people according to the degree to  which they manifest a particular characteristic.c. Assumptions of the Trait Approach (“Individual Differences”): i. Trait Psychologists assume that personality characteristics are relatively stable  over time. 1. There are times when a sociable person wants to be alone, but that person  would still be sociable tomorrow, the week after, and a month later. 2. This is not to say that personality does not change, it changes gradually  and evolves over a period of many years. ii. Trait psychologists assume that personality characteristics are stable across  regions. 1. There are times when an average aggressive person will act more  aggressively in some situations than in others, but over many different  situations, a relatively stable average degree of aggressiveness can be  determined. 2. That is, an aggressive person should exhibit higher-than-average  amounts of aggression during family disagreements as well as when  playing football. d. NOTE: “Trait” is used broadly. Can be used in concepts such as needs and strategies. In  all cases, Trait Psychologists are interested in relatively stable patterns of behavior that  can be measured and categorized along a Normal Distribution. 2. Special Features of the Trait Approach: a. Differences with other approaches: i. The Trait Approach is not interested in predicting on person’s behavior in a given  situation. Instead, they want to predict how people who score within a certain  segment of the trait continuum typically behave. 1. E.g. Compare low-scorers and high scorers of “social anxiety” in order to  identify differences between the typical behavior of someone who falls  into one of the two groups. ii. The Trait Approach places less emphasis on identifying the mechanisms  underlying behavior. Rather than explaining why people behave the way they do,  many Trait Theorists focus on describing personality and predicting behavior.  1. Caveat: It is incorrect to conclude that Trait Theorists are interested only  in describing personality. They also examine the processes behind the  behaviors associated with a particular trait. b. Advantage of the Trait Approach: i. Researchers can easily make comparisons between people because a trait  description places people on a personality continuum relative to others. 1. Example: a. “That person is feminine” means that the person is more  feminine than most people.  b. “People in high self-consciousness have difficulty making  friends” means that these people have a more difficult time  making friends than people who score at the lower end of the  continuum. Important Trait Theorists1. Personality psychologists from almost every approach use Traits and Trait measures in their work  (showing the wide acceptance of the Trait Concept in Personality Psychology). 2. Gordon Allport: a. Contribution: i. First recognized work on Traits. ii. Taught the first college course on personality in the U.S. iii. Published Personality Traits: Their Classification and Measurement iv. Unlike Freud, Allport acknowledged the limitations of the Trait Concept from the  beginning: traits are influenced by environmental factors and physical  components. Traits cannot predict what a single individual will do. v. 2 Strategies for Research: 1. Nomothetic Approach – Assumes that all people can be described along  a single dimension according to their level of a particular Common Trait. a. Common Traits – Traits that apply to everyone. 2. Idiographic Approach – Identifies the unique combination of traits that  best accounts for the personality of a single individual. a. Central Traits – The 5 to 10 traits that best describe an  individual’s personality (Allport: If you want to understand a  person, then you must first know their Central Traits and where  they fall on each continuum). b. Cardinal Trait – A single trait that dominates a personality. 3. Disadvantage of the Nomothetic Approach: a. Traits selected by the researcher might be Central Traits for  some people, but only Secondary Traits for others. 4. Advantage of the Idiographic Approach: a. The person, not the researcher, determines what traits to  examine. 3. Henry Murray: a. Contributions: i. Blended Psychoanalytic Theory with Trait Concepts. ii. Created the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). iii. Called his approach “Personology.” b. Personology – Identified needs as the basic elements of personality. i. NOTE: Not “Viscerogenic Needs” such as food and water, but Psychogenic  Needs. c. Psychogenic Needs – A readiness to respond in a certain way under certain given  conditions. i. Arrived at a list of 27 Psychogenic Needs. ii. These needs are largely unconscious. iii. Each of us can be described in terms of a personal hierarchy of needs. 1. E.g. A strong need for a lot of close friends means you have a high need  for Affiliation.2. The idea is not how much it compares with the Affiliation needs of other  people, but how intense your Affiliation needs is compared to your other  needs. a. E.g. An exam tomorrow and a party tonight. If your  Achievement need is higher than your Affiliation or Play need,  then you’ll study. If your Achievement need is high, but not as  strong as the other needs, then you’ll go to the party. d. Press – The situation in which a need is or is not activated. i. Example: 1. Your need for Order won’t affect your behavior without an appropriate  mess, like a messy room. Or your life.  2. If you have a high need for Order, then you probably make time to clean  your room even when it is only slightly disheveled. 3. If you have a low need for Order, then you might wait until the room is  too messy to move around in before you clean up. Factor Analysis and the Search for the Structure of Personality 1. Raymond Cattell: a. Contribution: i. Factor Analysis – A statistical technique used to discover the structure of human  personality. That is, using Factor Analysis to determine how many basic  personality traits there are. 1. Source Traits – The basic traits that make up the human personality. 2. Unfortunately, data from Factor analysis are not clear cut and we do not  know how many Source Traits there are. ii. Disadvantage of Factor Analysis: 1. The procedure is confined by the type of data chosen for analysis. That  is, what would happen if you change the test for a trait to measure  another trait? iii. Originally discovered 16 Basic Traits. 2. The Big Five: a. Researchers have found evidence for five basic dimensions of personality using large sets  of data and Factor Analysis. They did not begin with a theory about how many they  would find; rather, they let the data do the talking. b. Big 5 (“OCEAN”): i. Openness ii. Conscientiousnessiii. Extraversion iv. Agreeableness v. Neuroticism c. Neuroticism: i. The dimension that places people along a continuum according to emotional  stability and personal adjustment. ii. High Neuroticism: Frequent emotional distress and wide swings in emotion.  Tend to become more upset over daily stressors than those low on Neuroticism. iii. Low Neuroticism: Calm, well adjusted, and not prone to extreme emotional  reactions. iv. Characteristics: 1. Worried vs. Calm 2. Insecure vs. Secure 3. Self-pitying vs. Self-satisfied d. Extraversion: i. Extraverts: Sociable, energetic, optimistic, friendly, and assertive. ii. Introverts: Reserved rather than friendly, independent rather than followers,  even-paced rather than sluggish (incorrect to say Introverts are asocial or without  energy). iii. Characteristics: 1. Sociable vs. Retiring 2. Fun-loving vs. Sober 3. Affectionate vs. Reserved e. Openness (“Intellect”): i. The dimension that places people along a continuum according to openness to  experience rather than openness to other people. ii. High Openness: Active imagination, willingness to consider new ideas, divergent  thinking, and intellectual curiosity. Unconventional and independent thinkers. iii. Low Openness: Prefer familiar thinking rather than seeking out something new. iv. Characteristics: 1. Imaginative vs. Down-to-earth 2. Preference for variety vs. Preference for routine 3. Independent vs. Conforming f. Agreeableness: i. High Agreeableness: Helpful, trusting, and sympathetic. Prefer cooperation over  competition. More pleasant social interactions and fewer quarrelsome exchanges. ii. Low Agreeableness: Antagonistic and skeptical. Prefer fighting for interests and  beliefs over cooperation. iii. Characteristics: 1. Softhearted vs. Ruthless 2. Trusting vs. Suspicious 3. Helpful vs. Uncooperative g. Conscientiousness (“Will to Achieve” or “Work”): i. The dimension that places people along a continuum according to how controlled  and self-disciplined they are (live longer). ii. High Conscientiousness: Organized, plan oriented, and determined.iii. Low Conscientiousness: Careless, easily distracted from tasks, and undependable  (higher automobile accidents). iv. Characteristics: 1. Organized vs. Disorganized 2. Careful vs. Careless 3. Self-disciplined vs. Weak Willed 3. Criticism and Limitations of the Big Five Model: a. Criticism and Limitations: i. There is no consensus on what the 5 Factors mean.  1. They could simply represent 5 dimensions built into our language.  Therefore, personality in reality may have a very different structure but  our ability to describe personality traits is limited to the adjectives  available to us. 2. Counter-Response: Researchers cross-culturally in different languages  have found results that indicate the 5-Factor Model does not merely  reflect the structure of the English language but appears to be a universal  pattern for describing personality. ii. There is disagreement about the structure of the 5-Factor Model. 1. Some researchers find 3 or 4; others find 6 or 7 factors. 2. Eysenck promoted 3 Factors, and resulted in a reference to “The Big 5,  plus or minus 2.” 3. Traits such as: Special, Immoral, Religiousness, Youthfulness, Humor,  and Cunning do not fit well within the 5-Factor Model. iii. The 5-Factor Model is atheoretical. 1. That is, researchers did not make a prediction ahead of time about how  many factors they would generate from their factor analytic studies or  what those factors might be. 2. Because the hypotheses were generated after the results of research were  seen, researchers have no evidence to explain why these particular  factors emerge in their research. 3. However, that does not mean researchers should only study the 5  Dimensions and not the hundreds of traits they currently study. The Situation vs. Trait Controversy 1. Criticism of the Trait Approach: a. Trait Measures Do Not Predict Behavior Well i. Question: Does personality or situation determine behavior? ii. Answer:  1. Some argue behavior is almost exclusively determined by situation and  individual differences is merely “error variance.” 2. Others argue stable individual differences are the primary determinants  of how we act. iii. Historical Answer: Information on personality or situation will predict people’s  behavior because they are related. 1. For example, knowing a person has low self-esteem will predict how  they will react to criticism. 2. Weakness: Results are limited by the type of situation and the kind of  personality variable determined.a. There are situations in which nearly all people will react the  same. For example, a person with a high-level and low-level  self-esteem will react the same when a building catches fire. iv. Recent Answer: The person and the situation interact to determine behavior. 1. Person-by-Situation Approach – Knowing both personality and situation  will predict people’s behavior. a. For example, knowing a person is high on aggressiveness lets us  know that this person will be more prone to act aggressively than  those low on aggressiveness. Furthermore, it helps knowing a  frustrating situation is more likely to produce aggression than  non-frustrating situations. However, we can best predict that the  highest amount of aggression will result when an aggressive  person is placed in a frustrating situation. v. Arguments still remain over the validity of using personality trait scores to  predict behavior. 1. Personality Trait Scores rarely correlate with measures of behavior above the 0.30 or 0.30 coefficient level (“Personality Coefficient”). 2. The Personality Coefficient only accounts for about 10% of the variance  in behavior. b. There is Little Evidence for Cross-Situational Consistency i. The measurement of honesty in 23 ways (lying, cheating, stealing, etc.) found an  average inter-correlation of only 0.23. 1. Therefore, knowing a person is honest in one situation, such as telling the  truth to a parent, may not reveal about whether the person will cheat on a  test. ii. Because personality traits are assumed to show some consistency across  situations, the findings pose a challenge to the Trait Approach. 2. In Defense of Personality Traits: a. Measuring Behavior i. On the surface, denying the existence of personality traits is absurd.  1. If behavior were completely inconsistent over time and across situations,  how would we know whom to marry or whom to hire? Without  predictable behavior patterns, we might as well marry someone at  random since people would change from day to day depending on the  situation. ii. Traits Theorists argue that researchers fail to produce strong links between  personality traits and behavior because they don’t measure behavior correctly. 1. The typical investigation held up by critics uses trait scores to predict  only one measure of behavior. A behavior scored based on one item or  one measure is so low in reliability it would be almost impossible to find  a correlation with any test score higher than the 0.30 to 0.40 “Personality  Coefficient” (NOTE: “Personality Coefficient” is a derogatory term). 2. The logic is similar as to why a Final Exam would never consist of a  single true-false question. a. A student who understands the material might miss a single  question for any number of reasons, but over the course of 50  questions, the student who knows the material is likely to score  higher than the student who does not. iii. Therefore, researchers should use aggregate data (over the course of time) rather  than data at a single point in time. 3. Identifying Relevant Traitsa. Another reason personality trait measures usually fail to break the 0.30 to 0.40 barrier is  because researchers may be looking at the wrong traits. i. A trait is more likely to predict behavior if that trait is a Central Trait for the  person. ii. Therefore, researchers should compare “Traited” and “Un-Traited” people for  whom the trait measured is Central and Secondary. b. The Importance of 10% of the Variance i. Importance is a subjective judgement. The Aspirin Study had only less than 1%  variance and was ended early because research showed it was so clear that it  reduced heart attacks. ii. The goal of most studies is to account for some of the variance, and we should be  impressed personality psychologists can even explain 10%. Application: The Big Five in the Workplace 1. Question: If you have 5 applicants each scoring highest in Openness, Conscientiousness,  Extraversion, and Agreeableness and low in Neuroticism, who would you pick? 2. Answer: Although a case can be made for each of the 5 Traits, research shows that  Conscientiousness may be the best predictor of job performance. a. Why? Look at the characteristics that make up this personality dimension: organized,  planned, careful, thorough, dependable, persistent, hardworking, and achievement oriented. b. From the beginning, highly Conscientious people set higher goals for themselves and had  their eyes on fairly ambitious endgame goals. They are also more committed to reaching  their goals than everyone else. 3. Similarly, highly Conscientious people do better in college and in their careers than those low in  this dimension. 4. CAVEAT: It would be an oversimplification to always hire the person highest in  Conscientiousness. Assessment: Self-Report and Inventories 1. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory: a. Original Version: MMPIi. Purpose: Measure psychological disorders. b. Revised Version: MMPI-2 i. Purpose: Form an overall profile of the test taker. ii. 567 True-False items. 2. Problems with Self-Report Inventories: a. Researchers must depend on participants’ ability and willingness to provide accurate  information about themselves. b. Faking i. Test takers may intentionally give misleading information on self-report  inventories. ii. “Fake good” in order to present themselves as better than they really are (think  employment decisions). iii. “Fake bad” in order to present themselves as worse than they really are (think  someone in prison who wants to escape to a “safe” hospital environment --- they  might try to come across as someone with psychological problems). iv. Failsafe: 1. Do not rely on test data alone. 2. Add “filler” questions. 3. Design scales to detect faking. c. Carelessness and Sabotage i. Research subjects may not take the test as seriously as the researchers  administering the test. ii. Researchers may receive a lack of cooperation from those who resent medical  personnel or law enforcement officials. iii. Failsafe: 1. Explain instructions thoroughly, express the importance of the test, and  maintain some kind of surveillance throughout the testing session. 2. Construct the test to detect carelessness (for example, including repeated  questions to determine if the test taker is answering consistently). d. Response Tendencies i. Social Desirability – The extent to which people present themselves in a  favorable light.  1. This is not similar to Faking, in which people answer test items in a  manner they know is inaccurate. 2. People high in Social Desirability unintentionally present themselves in a  way that is slightly more favorable than the truth. ii. Usefulness: 1. Social Desirability scores can be used when testing Discriminant  Validity. If your new “Friendliness” inventory does not correlate with  scores on a Social Desirability measure, then you would have evidence  that your new inventory is genuinely testing a person’s “Friendliness.” iii. Failsafe:1. Measure Social Desirability tendencies directly, and then adjust the  interpretation of the scores accordingly. In cases where Social  Desirability is especially high, drop the participant from the study. iv. Acquiescence (“Agreement”) – The tendency for some people more than others to agree with test questions.  1. If the score on the scale is dependent on the number of “true” or “agree”  responses, then those who are high on Acquiescence would score higher  on the scale regardless of the content of the items.  v. Failsafe: 1. Word half the items in the opposite manner in which sometimes “agree”  is indicative of the trait, and other times “disagree” is indicative of the  trait. Strengths and Criticisms of the Trait Approach 1. Trait Theory Differences Compared to Other Approaches: a. Trait Theorists tend to be academic researchers instead of therapists. b. Trait Theorists focus on describing and predicting behavior rather than on behavior  change or development. c. Trait Theorists rarely try to understand the behavior of just one person. 2. Strengths: a. Trait Theory is empirical in nature. Rather than rely on intuition and subjective  judgement, Trait Theorists use objective measures to examine their constructs. i. Cattell allowed data to determine the theory, which was then subject to further  empirical validation. ii. This reduces subjectivity and biases that plague other approaches. b. Trait Theory has many practical applications. i. Mental health workers use it when evaluating clients. ii. Psychologists working in industrial or organizational settings often use  personality trait measures in hiring and promoting decisions (thought there are  tendencies to abuse the scores or use them incorrectly). c. Trait Theory has generated a large amount of research. i. Investigations on hundreds of personality traits. 3. Criticisms: a. Trait Theory leaves out an explanation for how Traits develop or what can be done to  help people who have extreme Traits.i. People are described in terms of traits, but there is no explanation on how these  traits develop or what can be done to help people who suffer from extreme  scores. b. Trait Theory lacks an agreed-upon framework. i. All Trait Theorists use empirical methods and are concerned with the  identification of Traits, but there is no single theory or underlying structure that  ties all of the theories together. ii. For example, how many Traits are there? 1. Murray reduced personality to 27 Psychogenic needs. 2. Cattell found 16 basic elements of personality 3. Recent research found 5 basic elements of personality. 4. And even more recent research claims 3 to 7 basic elements of  personality (though evidence tends to support a 5-Factor Model). Chapter 8: The Trait Approach: Relevant Research Introduction 1. Topics in this section: a. Achievement and Achievement Motivation b. Type A, Hostility, and Health c. Social Anxiety d. Emotions e. Optimism and Pessimism 2. The Trait Approach is so entrenched in personality research that many psychologists consider  personality research as synonymous with measuring and examining traits. Achievement Motivation 1. Need for Achievement – The desire to accomplish something difficult; to master, manipulate, or  organize in order to overcome obstacles and attain a high standard; to excel one’s self. a. This Need can be measured through the Thematic Apperception Test (both Needs and  TAT are contributions from Henry Murray) or Self-Report Inventories. Sometimes the  scores on these two measures differ. b. The difference suggests we have 2 kinds of Achievement Motivation: i. Implicit Motive – Motivation we are not aware of (TAT). 1. Example:a. Spontaneous actions such as accepting a dart-throwing challenge  at a party. ii. Explicit Motive (“Self-Attributed Motive”) – Motivation we can readily describe. 1. Example: a. Deliberate investment of time to ponder achievement options and  decisions. 2. High Achievement Motivation Characteristics: a. Question: What are people with high Achievement Motivation like? b. Original Researchers: i. Interested in Entrepreneurial Behavior. ii. That is, they wanted to understand and predict behavior in the business world  rather than, for example, arts or sciences.  iii. Findings: 1. People whose Need for Achievement is high does not always fit the  stereotype of the highly successful businessperson. a. Example: i. A person who takes huge risks and whose goal is to  succeed against high odds is not behavior indicative of  a high Need for Achievement. 2. One of the prominent features of high Need Achievers is that they are  moderate risk takers. They want to succeed, but also are highly  motivated to avoid failure. They would avoid highly speculative  investments despite potentially large payoffs. They would prefer secure  investments with moderate chance of failure. 3. People with strong Achievement Motivation are optimistic that their  decisions are correct and that they will succeed. However, their desire to  achieve prevents them from taking a large chance on failure.iv. People with a high Need for Achievement tackle their work with a lot of energy,  but they do not work hard at everything. They limit their enthusiasm for tasks  with a potential for personal achievement. Jobs that require creativity and  provides an opportunity to demonstrate what they can do is very appealing. v. These people prefer jobs that give them personal responsibility for outcomes:  credit for success and blame for failure. vi. Particularly, they want concrete feedback about their performance in order to  compare how good they are and how they compare to others. vii. These factors explain why people with high Need for Achievement choose  careers in the business world: sales, productivity, and profit figures satisfy their  need for immediate feedback of their performance. viii. High Achievers have a need for immediate feedback that is complemented with  the desire to anticipate future possibilities and make long-range plans. ix. They look ahead, anticipate courses of action with possible pitfalls, and thereby  increase their chances of reaching their goal. 3. Predicting Achievement Behavior: a. Question 1: Why do some people become highly successful entrepreneurs, whereas  others show little interest in making millions in the business community? b. Question 2: Is there something parents can do to create high Achievement Motivation in  their children? c. Original Researchers: i. Parentings practices: 1. Parents can promote Achievement Motivation by providing support and  encouragement long enough to enable the child to develop a sense of  personal competence, but not so long that the child is robbed of  independence and initiative.  2. There’s a fine line between too much parental involvement and not  enough. Parents should encourage Achievement, reward then, and show  enthusiasm for their accomplishments. d. People with a high Need for Achievement are more likely than others to find economic  prosperity. e. High Need for Achievement double-edged sword: High level of motivation helps some  succeed, but can interfere with effective performance. i. Example: 1. A manager too concerned about their own accomplishments might have a  difficult time relinquishing control over details and effectively relying on  subordinates.2. American Presidents whose inaugural speeches indicate a high Need for  Achievement are usually rated by historians as relatively ineffective  leaders.  4. Gender, Culture, and Achievement a. Caveat: Much of the original work on Need for Achievement was conducted with only  male participants (1950s). i. Reasons: 1. Few women entered the business world and fewer had high managerial  positions. Because Original Researchers were concerned with  entrepreneurs, it was reasonable to limit their studies to men.  ii. However, as with men, recent research shows a high Need for Achievement  predicts success in the business world for women. b. Differences between Men and Women: i. Men and Women tend to think differently about achievement. ii. Men and Women tend to think differently about the definition of success. 1. Men: External standards – prestige, recognition. 2. Women: Internal standards – Did they accomplish what they set out to  do? c. Differences between Cultures: i. Researchers find that the meaning of Achievement varies as a function of culture. 1. Individualistic Cultures: Personal accomplishments. 2. Collectivist Cultures: Cooperation and group accomplishments. 5. Attributions: a. Question: If you failed a test, how do you respond? b. Answer: The way you respond – not enough investment in studying, personal inability – reflects how you will do in Achievement situations.  c. Psychologists are interested in the explanations people generate for why they do well or  poorly in Achievement situations.  d. According to this approach, we ask ourselves why we failed or succeeded. Our attribution  determines how we feel about the performance and how we perform in similar situations  in the future. e. 3 Attribution Dimensions: i. Stability. ii. Locus. iii. Control. f. Stability – Explaining performance by pointing to stable causes, such as intelligence, or  to unstable causes, such as luck. g. Locus – Explaining performance by attributing internally or externally. An attribution  may by internal, such as the amount of effort put in, or external, such as a difficult test. h. Control – Explaining performance by attributing whether we can control or not control  the cause of the success or failure. i. Research indicates most people attribute losses to unstable sources, thereby keeping alive  hope of winning the next time.  j. Stability: i. Stable Attributions: 1. Good coordination. 2. Poor math aptitude. ii. Unstable Attributions: 1. Good luck. 2. Illness. k. Locus:i. Internal Attributions: 1. Extra effort. 2. Poor skills. ii. External Attributions: 1. Easy test. 2. Difficult competition. l. Control: i. Controllable Attributions: 1. High motivation. 2. Not enough practice ii. Uncontrollable Attributions: 1. From a wealth family. 2. Weak national economy. 6. Achievement Goals: a. Achievement Goals – Provide targets that individuals aspire to in achievement situations. b. 2 Categories of Achievement Goals (Intrapersonal vs. Normative): i. Mastery Goals  ii. Performance Goals c. Mastery Goal – Concerned with developing competence. i. Example: 1. A student motivated by strong Mastery Goals work hard to thoroughly  understand the subject matter in a course.  2. Satisfaction comes from feeling they understand the material and a sense  of proficiency. d. Performance Goals – Concerned with demonstrating accomplishments to others. i. Example: 1. A student motivated by strong Performance Goals want to obtain a high  grade, possibly the highest grade in the class. 2. Satisfactions comes from receiving the recognition that accompanies the  achievement. e. Illustration: i. 2 types of students who achieve similar grades: 1. Mastery Goal Student: Wants to learn the material and relishes the  sensation of overcoming challenges to obtain a sense of competence. 2. Performance Goal Student: Determines what is needed for a good grade  and arranges his or her study time to get the desired outcome. f. 2 Categories of Motivation Goals (Positive vs. Negative):  i. Approach Goals ii. Avoidance Goals g. NOTE: Essentially, does a personal want to achieve an Intrapersonal or Normative goal  (Mastery, Performance), and are they motivated by a Positive Approach for success or a  Negative Avoidance of failure (Approach, Avoidance)? h. 2 by 2 Achievement Goal Model: i. Mastery Goal: Student trying to learn difficult material. 1. Approach Goal: Desire to achieve a sense of mastery. 2. Avoid Goal: Wish not to feel incompetent. ii. Performance Goal: Student trying to get a good grade in the class. 1. Approach Goal: Desire to gain recognition for performance. 2. Avoid Goal: Avoid the embarrassment of a poor performance. i. Mastery Goal vs. Performance Goal Study: i. Findings: 1. Mastery Goals lead to high achievement. 2. Students motivated by Mastery Goals often choose more challenging  tasks and are more interested in their classes than students who rely on  Performance Goals (Performance Goals students are more likely to ask,  “Will this be on the test?”). 3. People motivated by Mastery Goals are likely to retain the information  and skills they learn longer than those driven by Performance Goals. ii. Caveats: 1. Reliance on Performance Goals is not all bad.  2. Both Mastery and Performance goals can lead to achievement, and it is  possible to aspire to both a sense of mastery and recognition for  accomplishments. 3. Researchers find a combination of Mastery and Performance Goals can  be particularly effective. 4. However, the advantages of focused on performance appear to be limited  to Performance-Approach goals.  j. Achievement Goals and Education Study: i. Studies show that higher levels of motivation and learning occur when teachers  emphasize mastery and improving skills, not grades and competition. ii. Although some students respond well to these incentives, a focus on performance  rather than learning can often lead to a decrease in academic motivation. Type A, Hostility, and Health 1. Origin: a. Medical researchers and physicians were frustrated in their inability to identify which  patients were likely to suffer from cardiovascular problems. b. However, they noticed that their heart attack patients seemed to act different than other  patients. They were more active, more energetic, and more driven than those without  cardiovascular problems.  c. In short, they seemed to have different personalities.  d. Identified as “Coronary-Prone Behavior Pattern” because it seemed to consist of a  combination of behaviors associated with coronary disease. Later, this dimension was  called Type A-Type B or just Type A.  e. Strictly speaking, the name is inappropriate because it is not a true typology. Instead of  identifying two types of people, A and B with two different continuums, we instead think  of one trait continuum with extreme Type A at one end and extreme Type B at the other.  2. Type A vs. Type B: a. Type A people are strongly motivated to overcome obstacles and are driven to achieve.  They are attracted to competition, enjoy power and recognition, and are easily aroused to  anger and action. They dislike wasting time and do things efficiently. Specifically, they  often have a sense of urgency and like to do more than one thing at a time. They often  find more easygoing people a source of frustration. b. Type B people are relaxed and unhurried. They may work hard on occasion, but rarely in  the driven, compulsive manner of type A people. They are less likely than Type A’s to seek competition or to be aroused to anger or action.  3. Type A as a Personality Variable: a. 3 Major Components of Type A Personality: i. Type A people have a higher competitive Achievement Striving than Type B. 1. In other words, Type A people work harder at achievement tasks  regardless of outside pressure, such as deadlines. ii. Type A people show a sense of Time Urgency. 1. In other words, Type A people feel time is important and shouldn’t be  wasted. Whereas a Type B might procrastinate, a Type A would jump  right in.  2. Studies show Type A students volunteer for experiments earlier in the  term than Type B students and they show up earlier to participate. iii. Type A people are more likely to respond to frustrating situations with Anger and  Hostility. 1. The third component is the most significant. b. Differences in Type A and Type B: i. Question 1: Are differences in Type A and Type B behavior in terms of a  motivation for control? 1. That is, Achievement Striving, Time Urgency, and Hostility reflect the  Type A individual’s desire to exercise effective control over the people  and situations they encounter.  2. Type A’s are more likely than Type B’s to dominate a group discussion. 3. Type A’s are less likely to give up control over a task, even to someone  who might do a better job. 4. Type A’s are more likely to want something after being told they can’t  have it.  ii. Question 2: Do Type A or Type B individuals achieve more? 1. Studies show Type A participants typically outperform Type B  participants.  a. Reason: Type A people tend to set higher goals for themselves.  iii. Question 3: What is the relationship between Type A individuals and  competition? 1. The biggest motivator for Type A is competition. What is a greater threat  to a sense of control than to be told there can only be one winner?  2. Type A’s have a physiological (blood pressure, heart rate) response just  by being told they are competing against another person. 3. Not only do they respond to competition, they are attracted to it. a. One study showed they were more confident in their ability to do  well in a game when told they were competing against another  participant.  iv. Question 4: What are the differences in academic performance between Type A  and Type B college students? 1. Type A students tend to take more classes than Type B students and  expect to do better in those classes. 2. Type A students receive more academic honors and participate in more  extracurricular activities than Type B students. Broadly, they seem to do  more of everything, even in high school – sports, athletic awards, and  social activities. 4. Hostility and Health: k. Original Research: i. Findings: 1. Type A was a good indicator of heart disease. Type A men had more  than twice the incidence of heart disease than Type B men.  l. Subsequent Research: ii. Findings: 1. Low or nonexistent relationships between Type A behavior and coronary  disease. m. Recent Research: iii. Procedure: 1. Because of conflicting findings, researchers broke up the Type A  personality into its components since Type A is actually a collection of  several behavior tendencies that tend to go together. 2. When we measure Type A, we are measuring more than one trait, and it  is possible that only one or two of these components are responsible for  health problems.  3. The idea then is to look for the “toxic component” of Type A behavior. iv. Findings: 1. The “Hostility” component is the toxic component. a. Hostility is not necessarily violent or bossy, but rather strong  reactions to daily frustrations and inconveniences. b. They respond to minor annoyances with “expressions of  antagonism, disagreeableness, rudeness, surliness, criticalness,  and uncooperativeness.” c. These people are “quick-tempered” and become highly irritated  over minor inconveniences. 2. Scores on Hostility and Anger measures do a good job of predicting  coronary artery disease.  v. Question: Why is Hostility related to cardiovascular problems? 1. Studies show people high in Hostility frequently exhibit the kind of  physiological reactions associated with cardiovascular problems such as  high blood pressure. 2. Men high in Hostility showed elevated levels of blood pressure when  interacting with other people. Interestingly, high-hostility women did not  have this reaction.  b. Good news: i. Programs designed to reduce anger responses can be effective. ii. Those who are Type A but lack the Hostility component are not at risk. Type A is  not necessarily bad for your health.  Social Anxiety 1. Social Anxiety (“Shyness”) – Anxiety related specifically to social interactions or anticipated  social interactions. 2. NOTE: Social Anxiety is not the same as Introversion. a. Introverts choose to be by themselves. Socially Anxious people do not like their shyness.  3. Characteristics of Socially Anxious People: a. Socially Anxious people tend to report feeling awkward and nervous when they talk to  others, particularly when interacting with people they don’t know.  b. They are concerned about what others will think of them.  c. Often, they think about what they are doing wrong, how stupid they sound, and how  foolish the must look. They are extremely self-conscious and nervous during a social  encounter. d. The people they interact with also identify shy people as more tense, inhibited, and  unfriendly than non-shy people. e. They often assume incorrectly that other people simply are not interested in getting to  know them. f. In short, people high in Social Anxiety expect their social interactions to go poorly and  look for evidence that the other person is rejecting them. g. Socially Anxious vs. Introverts: i. Socially Anxious people would like to have a larger network of friends than they  currently have, whereas Introverts prefer being alone. 4. Explaining Social Anxiety: a. Evaluation Apprehension – The fear of what other people think of them. Specifically,  negative evaluation.  b. Dealing with the Fear of Negative Evaluation: i. Given the chance: 1. Simply avoid social encounters altogether. 2. Avoid eye contact to signal an unwillingness to engage in social  interaction. 3. In doing so, they limit the opportunities for others to evaluate them.  ii. When social interaction is unavoidable: 1. Keep conversations short and nonthreatening. c. “Get Acquainted” Study: i. Findings: 1. Socially anxious participants were more likely to agree with that the  other person said and to merely restate or clarify their partner’s remarks  when it was their turn to talk.  ii. Reason: 1. Create an image of politeness and interest without becoming too  involved in the conversation in order to minimize the amount of  evaluation by their conversations partners and, in particular, reduce the  chances that this person will find something objectionable about them. d. Culture Differences: i. There are higher rates of shyness in cultures that emphasize concern for what  others think of you and the importance of avoiding criticism.  ii. Recall that Collectivist Cultures are more concerned about fitting in with the  community whereas Individualistic Cultures are more interested in drawing  attention to themselves. iii. Individualistic Cultures: Less shyness. iv. Collectivist Cultures: More shyness. e. Conclusion: i. The shy person’s interaction style is a type of self-protective strategy. Because  they are so concerned with negative evaluations, socially anxious people do what  they can to control the impressions others have of them.  f. Recent Research: i. Socially anxious people may not be as incapable of conversation as they seem.  ii. At least for some shy people, it’s initiating the conversation that is the obstacle.  iii. It could be that Socially Anxious people just lack a confidence in their ability to  make a good impression. Emotions 1. Question: Why is a topic about Emotions in a chapter on personality traits?  a. After all, traits are consistent characteristics, whereas emotions fluctuate. 2. Answer: Researchers are able to identify relatively stable patterns on emotions that distinguish  each person from the people around him or her.  3. 3 Consistent Patterns: a. Affectivity b. Intensity c. Expressiveness 4. Affectivity - The extent to which we typically experience positive and negative emotions. 5. Intensity - The typical strength of the emotions we experience. 6. Expressiveness - The way we express our emotions. 7. Emotional Affectivity: a. Emotional Affectivity – Individual differences in the tendency to experience Positive and  Negative Affect. b. Research Findings: i. Factor Analysis reveals that different emotions are connected to one another  along a few major dimensions.  ii. 2 General Dimensions: 1. Positive Affect 2. Negative Affect iii. Positive Affect: 1. (High Extreme): Active, Content, Satisfied, Excited, Strong 2. (Low Extreme): Sad, Lethargic, Drowsy, Dull, Sluggish, Sleepy iv. Negative Affect: 1. (High Extreme): Nervousness, Anger, Distress, Fearful, Hostile2. (Low Extreme): Calm, Serene, Placid, Relaxed v. Individual tendencies to experience Positive Affect and Negative Affect are  relatively stable over time.  c. Relationship Between Positive and Negative Affect: i. Research Findings: 1. Initial Research: a. Positive and Negative Affect are relatively independent from one  another. 2. Subsequent Research: a. Being high in one of the dimensions means being low on the  other.  b. That is, the more I experience Positive Emotions such as  happiness, the less likely I am to experience anger and anxiety. 3. Conclusion: a. The relationship is more complex than recognized.  d. Individual Differences in Positive and Negative Affect: i. People who are high in Positive Affect tend to be in better health than those who  are low in Positive Affect.  ii. Behavior consistently associated with high Positive Affect is Social Activity. 1. Example: a. People who are high in Positive Affect tend to engage in more  social activities and tend to enjoy those activities more than  people who score low on this trait. 2. Question: Why is Positive Affect related to Social Activity? a. Answer: It could be that Social Activity causes Positive Affect.  iii. Positive Affect and Social Activity Study: 1. Findings: a. Students who engaged in more social activities had higher  Positive Affect.  b. People who are high in Positive Affect are generally more  pleasant and engaging and therefore act in ways that make more  friends. 2. Conclusion: a. This study is correlational. It could also be that Positive Affect  causes a person to engage in more Social Activities.  iv. Behavior consistently associated with high Negative Affect is Psychological  Distress. 1. Example: a. We are more likely to find people high in Negative Affect in a  doctor’s office than people low on this dimension.  2. Question: Do people high in Negative Affect really suffer from more  health problems, or do they simply complain more? a. Answer: It could be that people high in Negative Affect simply  think about their symptoms more than most people.  v. Negative Affect and Psychological Distress Study: 1. Findings: