Unit 11 – Intelligence and PersonalityHumanistic and Trait Perspectives to Personality

Humanistic Perspective

1960’s

•Freud was so negative•Skinner was so mechanical

•There must be some other way to describe us in a positive light…

• If Freud and psychoanalysis asks, “Why are you sick?” – then Humanistic psychology must ask what?

Maslow and the Self-Actualizing Person

•Humans are motivated by what?• Came up with idea by studying the healthy

• Humanistic psychology strives to study those that are self-determined and self-realized

What do Thomas Jefferson, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt all have in common?• Share common characteristics

• Self-aware, self-accepting, open and spontaneous, not paralyzed by opinions of others

Maslow’s studies

• MY MISSION IN LIFE IS…

•People who are moved by peak experiences (spiritual or personal) reach self actualization

• Which arousal theory works best here?• Conclusion?

Bandura and Social-Cognitive Perspective• Emphasized the interaction of our traits with our situations

• Self-efficacy

Carl Rogers and the Person Centered Perspective

•Believed people were born good with self-actualizing tendencies (meaning he agreed with whom?)

•Growth according to 3 key areas

Personal Growth1. Genuineness

•Open about feelings, self disclosing

• Unconditional positive regard for life

• Grace• Knowing our failings,

accepting them • Speak in “I”

statements

2.

3. Empathy

• Sharing and mirroring our feelings with our truths• Aka – LISTENING and not just hearing

Rogers cont’d

• Idea of the self concept

Self-concept

• Positive self-concept: we act and perceive our world positively (can reach and be satisfied with goals)

• Negative self-concept: we fall short of our ideal self• Examples with grades?

• Conclusion: be true to yourself and you’ll be happy• When you feel heard, you’re more likely to listen

How do you calculate self-concept?

• Rogers used interviews, questionnaires, and conversations

• Questionnaires alone are not personal enough

•Concluded that a positive self concept occurs when your ideal self and your actual self are closely related by score

Humanistic Perspective is…

• EVERYWHERE • Pervasive in society

• Examples?

Criticisms of Humanistic Psychology

• Focus too much on the positive• Go back to TJ, FDR, Eleanor… are there any others that are self-

actualized according to Maslow that may come from the other side of the spectrum?

Other criticisms

• Culture: collectivist vs. individual• Self-actualization and self-concept have to deal with the self• What happens in your life is based on the whole?

• Humanistic psych is IDEALIST, what about those who identify as REALIST?

•Perspective encourages hope without reality of evil in the world

Trait Perspectives in Personality

Gordon Allport• Used labels – less explaining, more

describing

• Central traits• Reliable, silly, smart

• Secondary traits• “You can’t take him to a restaurant”• “She gets angry when you try to tickle

her”

Raymond Cattell

• Used Allport’s adjectives• Factor analysis• People rate themselves• 16PF – 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire

Eysenck and Eysenck • Biological trait theory

• Introversion and extroversion• Unstable and stable• psychoticism

Most normal people will fall somewhere in the middle

Biological Perspective (minor)

• Sheldon – somatotypes (personality based on genetics)• Endomorphs: social, amiable• Mesomorphs: assertive, adventurous• Ectomorophs: emotionally restrained, secretive

MBTI• Declared preferences• Not a research instrument (not linked to performance) – not

conclusive• Can be used as a counseling and coaching tool

http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/the-16-mbti-types.asp

The Big 5 Model• Costa and McCrae

• Personality is organized around only 5 basic factors

The Big 5

•Answer to Eysenck’s dimensions•Big 5 is used more today than anything else•Take inventory -

CANOE in an OCEAN

(neuroticism)

Reciprocal Determinism

Assessing Traits: MMPI

•Personality inventories•MMPI

•Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory•Assesses abnormal personality tendencies rather than normal traits

• Empirically derived – data based on discrimination among groups

Assessing the trait perspective

•Personality changes over time, yet consistent thru social development

•Not predictable•Scores on inventories mildly predict•Useful as descriptive OF behavior, does not offer explanation of the DEVELOPMENT of personality