Basic Concepts of Personality Development

Personality
❑ Early established behavior patterns related to how one thinks, feels and relates to the
environment and to others.
❑ The sum total of one’s behaviors (John Watson)

❑ It is complex, dynamic and unique

General concepts
❑ Behaviors have meaning and can be understood.

❑ All behavior is goal-oriented.

❑ Emotionally painful experience/anxiety motivates behavior.

❑ The early years of life are extremely important to personality development.

Factors that influence personality
❑ Heredity

❑ Environment

❑ Training

Theories of Personality Development

❑ Different theories view the life cycle through their own discipline and individual theories of
personality development.

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

❑ An Austrian psychiatrist and the founder of psychoanalysis.

❑ He also stressed that early childhood experiences are important in the development of
personality.

4 Major Components of Personality Development

❑ Levels of awareness

❑ Personality structure

❑ Concept of anxiety and defense mechanism

❑ Psychosexual stages of development

Levels of awareness

Conscious
❑ Part of the mind which functions when the person is awake and that makes a person a thinking
being.
❑ Focus on the here and now

❑ Past experiences are recalled without exerting effort.

❑ Corresponds to the ‘ego’ or ‘self”

❑ It is logical and regulated by the reality principle.

Preconscious/ Sub conscious

❑ Part of the mind in which ideas and reactions are stored and partially forgotten
 ❑ Acts as a watchman, it prevents unacceptable, disturbing unconscious memories from reaching
the conscious mind
❑ Thoughts and experiences can be recalled at will.

❑ This is manifested during “tip of the tongue” experience.

Unconscious
❑ Largest part of the mind which exerts greatest influence in one’s personality. It is the storehouse
for all experiences, memories and feelings experienced by the individual in his entire life.
❑ The memories can not be recalled at will only through hypnotism, psychoanalysis or drugs
(hallucinogens)
❑ The unconscious part of the mind can be expressed as: dreams, slips of the tongue (Freudian
slip), unexplained behavior, jokes, lapses of memories

Components/ Structure of Personality

ID
❑ Unconscious part of the person which serves as the reservoir of primitive and biologic drives and
urges (libido-sexual drives).
❑ It is primitive, it demands immediate satisfaction.

❑ Functions according to pleasure principle

Ego “self”
❑ Begins to develop during the 4th and 5th month.

❑ Known as the integrator of personality

❑ Operates on reality principles

❑ Controls and regulates instinctual drives.

❑ Mediates between id drives and demands of reality.

❑ Evaluates and judges external world.

❑ Stores up experiences in ‘memory’

❑ Solves problems

❑ Uses defense mechanisms to protect self

Super-ego “the conscience”

❑ Internal representative of the values, ideals, and moral standards of society.

❑ The ‘moral arm’ of the personality

❑ Develops at 3 to 5 years (phallic) pre-school age

❑ It strives for perfection rather than pleasure and represents the ideal rather than the real

❑ Strict super ego- leads to rigid, compulsive, unhappy person

❑ Weak/defective super ego- leads to antisocial behavior, hostility, anxiety or guilt

Theory of Psychosexual Development

Oral (0 to 1 1/2 years old

❑ Erogenous zone/pleasure and gratification- MOUTH

❑ Narcissistic-self love

❑ Behaviors: dependency, eating, crying, biting, sucking

❑ Primary conflict is weaning

❑ Tasks: mastery of gratification of oral needs, beginning of ego development

❑ Desired outcomes: trust in the environment develops with the realization that needs can be
met.
Possible personality traits:
❑ fixation at the oral stage is associated with passivity, gullibility and dependence, the use of
sarcasm and the development of orally focused habits e.g. nail biting and smoking

Anal 11/2 – 3 years old

 ❑ Anus- site of tension and sensual gratification

❑ Terrible twos

❑ Pleasure through elimination or retention of feces

❑ Behaviors: control of (defiance) or letting go

❑ Primary conflict: toilet training

Cues to readiness for toilet training
❑ Can stand alone

❑ Can walk steadily

❑ Can keep themselves dry in an interval of at least 2 hours

❑ Can demonstrate awareness of defecating and voiding

❑ Is able to use words and gestures regarding toilet training and toilet needs

❑ Has desire of pleasing the primary care giver

❑ Age at which toilet training is achieved:

bowel control- 18 months
daytime bladder control- 21/2 years
night time bladder control- 3 years
Possible personality traits:
❑ Fixation associated with anal retentiveness: stinginess, rigid thought process/patterns,
frugality
❑ Anal expulsive character: messiness, destructiveness, cruelty, temper tantrums

Phallic- 3 to 6 years old

❑ Genital region: source of pleasure/ erogenous zone

❑ Behaviors: touching of genitals (masturbation) erotic attachment to the parent of the opposite
sex. Sexual identity with parent of the same sex
❑ Beginning of super ego development

❑ Boys develop castration anxiety

❑ Major conflict is Oedipus/ Electra complex

❑ Unresolved outcomes may result to difficulties with sexual identity and difficulties with authority
figures.
❑ Fixation: masturbation

Latency (6-12 years)

❑ Stage of development marked by expanding peer relationship

❑ Libidinal energy is not focused on any one area in the body

❑ Libido is channeled into school, home, organization activities, hobbies, relationship with peers

❑ Time to increase intellectual activity

❑ They are very modest. They refuse to expose their bodies for physical examination.

❑ Significant others are the schoolmates and neighbors.

 ❑ Fixation may result to feeling of inadequacy and inferiority

Genital (13 to 20 years)

❑ The period of storm and stress

❑ Sexual pleasure through genitals (sexual intercourse)

❑ Behaviors: becomes independent of parents, responsible for self, develops sexual identity,
ability to love and work.
❑ Fixation: emotional and financial dependence, inability to form satisfying and intimate
relationship

Erik Erikson - Psychosocial Stages of Development

❑ Founded by Erik Erikson- an American psychoanalyst and a close follower of Freud.

❑ Born in Frankfurt, Germany

❑ Each stage is confronted with a major problem that is really

❑ Emphasized on psychosocial than psychosexual

Trust vs. mistrust (0 to 18 months)

❑ Needs are met unconditionally

❑ Mother plays a crucial role

❑ Learns to trust self and others vs. withdrawal

❑ Time when a child would most likely develop separation anxiety

.
Autonomy vs. shame and doubt (18 months to 3 years old)
❑ Fear of being unacceptable to others
 ❑ It is characterized by clear assertions of ego which may result to non-compliance behavior

Initiative vs. guilt (3-5 years)

❑ Development of super ego

❑ Learns to influence the environment

❑ Evaluates one’s behavior vs. fear of doing wrong, lack of self-confidence, over restricting actions

Industry vs. inferiority (5-13 years old)

❑ Creative

❑ Develop sense of competency vs. sense of inadequacy

❑ An apprentice in the art of learning the tasks of adulthood

Identity vs. role diffusion (13 -21 years)

❑ The search for identity

❑ Develop a sense of self, planning for adult roles vs. doubts relating to sexual identity,
occupation/ career
❑ Emancipation from family, heterosexual relationship, develops ideology and philosophy in life

❑ Highest incidence of schizophrenia

Intimacy vs. isolation (21 to 39 years)

❑ Early adulthood

❑ Develop intimate relationship with others, commitment to career vs. avoidance of choices in
relationship or life style
❑ The ability to love and be compassionate

Generativity vs. stagnation (40-65 years)

❑ Middle age

❑ Willingness to assume responsibility for others.

❑ Productive; use of energies to guide next generation vs. lack of interest, concern with own self

Integrity vs. despair (65 years old to end of life)

❑ Later years

❑ Feelings of self-acceptance

❑ Sense of dignity, worth and importance

❑ Wisdom is achieved

❑ Fear of death

❑ Period of reminiscence

Harry Stack Sullivan (1892-1949)

Interpersonal Model
❑ American born theorist in Dynamic Psychiatry
 ❑ Behavior motivated by need to avoid and satisfy needs.

Infancy (0-18 months)

❑ Others will satisfy needs

❑ Type of play: solitary play

Toddlerhood (11/2 -3 years)
❑ Headstrong and negativistic

❑ Favorite word is “NO”

❑ Naturally active, mobile and curious which make them vulnerable to accident

❑ Temper tantrums are common

❑ Type of play: parallel play

Pre-schooler
❑ Known as later childhood

❑ Love to watch adults and would imitate them

❑ They are creative and curious

❑ Favorite word is “WHY”

❑ They love to tell ‘lies’, to brag and boast in order to impress others

❑ Very imaginative; imaginary playmates are common

❑ Love offensive language

❑ Questions about sex should be answered honestly at the level of their understanding

❑ Type of play: associative or cooperative play

Schooler
2 period or era
❑ Juvenile era (6-10 years old)
 ▪ they turn away from their parents and would look to peers of the same sex to fill the functions
of providing him sense of security and companionship.
▪ Period of gang loyalties

▪ Child acquires the very important interpersonal tools:

ability to compete
ability to compromise
❑ Pre-adolescence (11-12 years old)

▪ Ability to develop the ability to experience intimacy

▪ Chum relationship- an intense love relationship with a particular person of the same sex whom
the child perceives to be very similar to himself
▪ Learns to put other need of his need
Adolescence (12-18 years old)
❑ Establish relationship with the opposite sex

❑ Experience sexual urges termed by Sullivan (lust)

❑ Development of heterosexual relationship

Young adulthood or late adolescence
❑ There is an incorporation of lust (which developed in early adolescence with a chum in
heterosexual relationship

Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

Theory of Cognitive Development
❑ A Swiss psychologist.

❑ After earning a doctorate in Zoology in his hometown in Switzerland, he went to explore the
field of psychology because according to him humans like living organisms adapt to their
environment.
❑ He used the word SCHEMATA to refer to the child’s cognitive structure or framework of thought.

❑ Cognition is the process of thinking, knowing and perceiving

The child’s interaction with the environment comprises:

❑ assimilation- involves taking in the experiences the from the environment.

❑ Accommodation- occurs when what is taken in from the environment does not match the
existing structure and thus changes the structure to match the new information.
❑ Organization- is the process of placing one’s ideas into a coherent state of order.
These processes are constantly working together to produce changes in the growing child’s
understanding of the world.

4 Major Stages in the Cognitive Development

❑ Sensorimotor period (0-2 years old)- self-exploration of objects

❑ Pre-operational period (2-7 years old)- at the end of this stage, reasoning becomes intuitive.

✔ The child begins to work with problems of weight, length, size and time

❑ Period of Concrete Operations (7-11 years old)

✔ sort, classify, order and organize facts of the world.

 ✔ Collects everything and classify

❑ Period of Formal Operations (11 years through adulthood)

✔ Able to deal with abstract symbols

✔ solve problems, develop hypotheses, test them and reach conclusion.

❑ No stage is ever skipped

❑ The stages are somewhat related to chronological age

❑ Each individual reaches each stage according to his or her own time table.

Other theories of Personality

Carl Gustav Jung
❑ A Swiss psychiatrist

❑ He believed that libido was broadly derived from life energy not just from sex
Otto Rank
❑ Austrian psychologist/ Psychotherapist

❑ first student of Freud

❑ ‘birth trauma’ causes primal anxiety

Adolf Meyer
❑ Swiss born American psychiatrist.

❑ Originator of the word ‘mental hygiene’

❑ Emphasizes on considering the total individual from all points of view ‘HOLISM’
Alfred Adler
❑ Austrian Psychologist

❑ Coined the word ‘inferiority complex’

❑ Emphasized ego rather than sexuality.