CHAPTER -2

SELF AND PERSONALITY

Introduction and Explanation of the topic:

Self and personality is an effort to understand the totality of a person’s existence. Self
is considered as an organized cognitive structure based on the experience of our
being, learned in the course of social interaction with significant others. Personality
refers to characteristics of a person that are stable across situation over time and make
the person unique. Personality can be studies through many approaches. The
typological approach describes personality in terms of types and traits. There are
three main approaches to personality assessment:
a) Observer’s Report
b) Projective Techniques
c) Self report measures

SOLVED EXAMPLES

Q1. Explain the concept of self ?

Ans. Self is an organized cognitive structure. It refers to the totality of one’s
experiences, ideas, thoughts and feelings with regard to himself. It can be
understood in terms of subject and object.

Q2. What is trait approach to personality ? How does it differ from type
approach?
Ans. Trait Approach:
a) Trait are stable and persistent characteristic pattern of behaviour
b) They are the “building blocks of personality”
c) E.g. Friendly, excitable, dominant

Type Approach: Psychologists consider in terms of broad behavioral patterns

of personality.
e.g. Introvert and extrovert
Brief Explanation of the chapter

SELF & PERSONALITY

Definition : “Self” refers to the totality of an individual conscious experiences,

ideas, thoughts and feelings about herself or himself”

We are not born with self. We learn the idea of self due to our interactions and
experiences with parents, friends, teachers and other related persons.

PERSONALITY & SELF

o Self and Personality

Different people behave differently in a given situation, but the

behaviour of a particular person from one situation to another
generally remains fairly stable.

Concept of Self

➢ A newly born child has no idea about himself.

▪ As a child grows older, the idea of self emerges and its

formation begins. Parents, friends, teachers, etc help in this.

▪ Our interaction with other people, our experiences, and the

meaning we give to them, serve as the basis of our self is
modifiable in the light of our own experiences and the
experiences we have of other people.

➢ Personal Identity refers to those attributes of a person that make her/him

different from others.

▪ When a person describes herself/himself by telling her/his name, like I

am Sanjana or Karim,

or

▪ her/his qualitites or characteristics, like I am honest or a hardworking

person,

or

▪ her /his potential or capabilities, like I am a singer or dancer,

or
 ▪ her/his beliefs, like I am a believer in God or destiny,
▪ she/he is disclosing his/her personal identity.

➢ Social Identify refers to those aspects of a person that link her/him to a

social or cultural group or are derived from it.

▪ When someone says that

▪ she/he is a Hindu or a Muslim, a Brahmin

or

▪ an Adivasi or a North Indian or a South Indian,

▪ She/he is trying to indicate her/his social identity.

➢ Self refers to the totality of an individual’s conscious experiences, ideas,

thoughts and feelings with regard to herself or himself.

Self as Subject and Self as Object:

o When describe ourselves either as an entity that does something

(e.g. I am a dancer). Or as an entity on which something is done
(e.g. I am one who easily gets hurt).

o In the former case, the self is described as a ‘subject’ (who does

something); in the latter case, the self is described as an ‘object’
(which gets affected).

o This shows that self can be understood as a subject as well as object.

As a subject (actor) the self actively engages in the process of knowing
itself. As an object (consequence) the self gets observed and comes to
be known.

Kinds of Self :

Several kind of self are formed as a result of our interactions with our physical and
socio cultural environments.

A distinction is made between ‘personal’ and ‘social self’

▪ The personal self leads to an orientation in which one feels primarily

concerned with oneself.
▪ Our biological needs (like hunger) lead to the development of a ‘biological
self’.
▪ But, soon a child’s psychological and social needs in the context of her/his
environment lead other components of personal self to emerge.
 ▪ The social self emerges in relation with others and emphasizes such aspects
of life as cooperation, unity, affiliation, sacrifice, support or sharing. This self
values family and social relationships.
▪ Hence, it is also called familial or relational self.

Cognitive and Behavioural Aspects of Self :

o We perceive ourselves (as either positive or negative) and the ideas

we hold about our competencies and attributes is called self –concept.

o At a more specific level, a person may have positive view of his athletic
bravery but a negative view of academic talents. At an even more
specific level, one may have a negative view of academic talents. At an
even more specific level, one may have a positive view about one’s
reading ability but a negative one about one’s mathematical skills.

o Self esteem :

▪ As persons, we always make some judgment about our own

value or worth.
▪ This value judgment of a person about herself/himself is
called self-esteem.

▪ It can be high or low.

▪ To assess it, we present a variety of statements to a person and

ask him to indicate the extent to which they are true for him.

▪ E.g. we may ask a child to what extent the statement “I am good

at homework” or “I am highly liked by my peers” is true.

▪ If he responds as them to be true, he will have a high self-

esteem than someone who says “no”.

▪ Studies show that children seem to have formed self-esteem in

atleast 4 areas by the age of 6-7 :
▪ academic competence,
▪ social competence,
▪ physical/athletic competence, and
▪ physical appearance.

▪ Children with high academic self-esteem perform better in

school than those with low academic self-esteem.

▪ Children with low self esteem in all areas are often found to
display anxiety, depression and increasing anti-social behaviour.

▪ Warm and positive parenting helps in development of high

self-esteem among children as they then feel competent and
worthwhile.
 ▪ Children whose parents make decisions for them even when
they do not need assistance may suffer from low self-esteem.

o Self Efficacy :

▪ People differ in the extent to which they believe. They

themselves control their life outcomes or the outcomes are
controlled by luck, fate or other situational factors (like
passing an exam).

▪ A person who believes that she/he has the ability or

behaviours required by a particular situation demonstrates high
self-efficacy.

▪ The nation of self efficacy is based on Bandura’s social

learning theory. His initial studies showed that children and
adults learned behaviour by observing and imitating others.
People’s expectations of mastery or achievement and their
convictions about their own effectiveness determine the type of
behaviour they would engage in. The amount of risk they would
undertake also determines this.

▪ Strong self-efficacy people are less fearful.

▪ Self efficacy can be developed with the help of society, parents

and our own positive experiences as they present positive
models during formative years of childhood.

o Self Regulation :

▪ It refers to our ability to organize and monitor our own

behaviours. People who can change their behaviour according
to demands of the external environment are high on self-
monitoring.

▪ Resistance to situational pressures and control over ourselves is

possible through will-power.

▪ Learning to delay or defer the gratification of needs is called

self-control. It plays a key role in fulfillment of long term
goals. Indian culture provides us effective mechanisms like
fasting in vrata or roza and non-attachment with worldly things
to develop self-control.

▪ Psychological techniques of self control are :

▪ Observation of own behaviour: It provides us with

necessary information that may be used to change,
modify or strengthen certain self aspects.
 ▪ Self Instructions : We often instruct ourselves to do
something and behave the way we want.

▪ Self-reinforcement : It involves rewarding behaviours

that have pleasant outcomes (like going to see a movie
with friends if we do well in exams)

o Culture and Self :

▪ Analysis of self in Indian culture context shows many features

that are distinct from those found in the Western Culture context.

▪ The most important distinction is the way the boundary is drawn

between the self and the other.

▪ In the western view, boundary is relatively fixed, while the

Indian view is characterized by the shifting nature of this
boundary.

▪ The western view holds clear dichotomies between

▪ self and other,

▪ man and nature,
▪ subjective and objective.

▪ The Indian view does not make such clear dichotomies.

▪ In the western culture, the self and the group exist as 2

different entities with clearly defined boundaries. Individual
members of the group maintain their individuality.

▪ In the Indian culture, the self is generally not separated from

one’s own group; rather both remain in a state of harmonious
co-existence.

▪ On the other hand, they often remain at distance in the

Western Culture. That is why many Western Cultures are
characterized as individualistic, whereas many Asian Cultures
are characterized as Collectivistic.

CULTURE AND SELF:

Different cultures lead to development of different features of self. The major
differences between Indian and Western Self are:
 Western Indian
The boundary between the self and The boundary between self and others is
others is fixed. shifting.
There is a clear dichotomy between self The Indian view does not have such
and other, man and nature, subjective clear dichotomies.
and objective.
In the West, self and group are two In Indian context, the self and group
different components, they remain at a remain in harmonious coexistence.
distance.
They are called individualistic. Indian self is called as collectivistic.

CONCEPT OF PERSONALITY :

o The literal meaning of personality is derived from the Latin Word

‘persona’, the mask used by actors in the Roman theatre for changing
their facial make up.

o After putting on the mask the audience expects the person to perform
a role in a particular manner.

o It does not mean that the person enacting the given role necessarily
possessed those quality.

o Personality refers to our characteristic ways of responding to

individuals and situations. Certain catchwords (shy, sensitive, quiet,
warm, etc) are often used to describe personality.

o They refer to different components of personality.

o Personality refers to unique and relatively stable qualities that

characterize an individual’s behaviour across different situations over a
period of time.

o Consistency in behaviour thought and emotion of an individual

across situations and time periods characterizes her/his personality.

o E.g. an honest person is more likely to remain honest irrespective of

time or situation.

o Personality can be categorized by the following features :

▪ It has both physical and psychological components.

▪ It’s expression in terms of behaviour is fairly unique in a given

individual.
 ▪ It’s main feature do not easily change with time.

▪ It is dynamic in the sense that some of its features may

change due to internal or external situation demand.

▪ Thus personality is adaptive to situation.

o Once we are able to characterize someone’s personality, we can

predict how that person will probably behave in a variety of
circumstances.

o Understanding of personality allows us to deal with people in

realistic and acceptable ways.

MAJOR APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF PERSONALTY :

o Many approaches have been developed to understand and explain

behavioural differences among individuals. Each throws light on come,
but not all. Aspects of personality.

o Psychologists distinguish between type and trait approaches to

personality.

o The type approach attempt to comprehend human personality by

examining certain broad patterns in the observed behavioural
characteristics of individuals.

o The trait Approach focuses on the specific psychological attributes

along which individuals tend to differ in consistent and stable ways.
The interactional approach holds that situational characteristics play an
important role in determining our behaviour.

o Type Approaches :

▪ The Greek physician Hippocrates had proposed a typology of

personality based on fluid or humour.

▪ He classified people into four types :

▪ Sanguine
▪ Phlegmatic
▪ Melancholic and
▪ Choleric

▪ Each Characterized by specific behavioural features.

▪ In India, Charak Samhita, a famour treatise on Ayurveda,
classified people into the category of
▪ Vata
▪ Pitta and
▪ Kapha

▪ These were categories on the basis of three humoural

elements called Tridosha. Each refers to a type of
temperament, called Prakriti (basic nature) of a person.

▪ Apart from this, there is also a typology of personality based on

the Trigunas, i.e. Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.

▪ Sattva gunas includes attributes like cleanliness,

truthfulness, dutifulness, detachment, discipline, etc.

▪ Rajas guna includes intense activity, desire for sense

gratification, dissatisfaction, envy for others, and a
materialistic mentality, etc.

▪ Tamas Guna characterizes anger, arrogance, depression,

laziness, feeling of helplessness etc.

▪ All the three gunas are present in each and every person in
different degrees.

Sheldon proposed the Endomorphic, Mesomorphic and

Ectomorphic typology

▪ The endomorphs are fat, soft and round. By temperament

they are relaxed and sociable.
▪ The mesomorphs have strong musculature, are rectangular
with a strong body build. They are energetic and courageous.
▪ The ectomorphs are thin, long and fragile in body build. They
are brainy, artistic and introvert. However, these body types
have limited use in predicting behaviour of individuals.

Jung proposed another important typology by grouping people

into Introverts and Extroverts

▪ Introverts are people who prefer to be alone, tend to avoid

others, withdraw themselves in the face of emotional conflicts,
and are shy.

▪ Extroverts, on the other hand, are sociable, outgoing, drawn to

occupations that allow dealing directly with people, and react to
stress by trying to lose themselves among people and social
activity.
 Friedman and Rosenman have classified individuals into Type-
A and Type-B personalities.

▪ Type A personality seem to possess high motivation, lack

patience, feel short of time, be in a great hurry, and feel like
always being burdened with work. Such people find it difficult
to slow down and relax. They are susceptible to problems
like hypertension and coronary heart disease or CHD.

▪ Type –B personality, which can be understood as the absence

of type-A traits. This typology has been further extended.

▪ Morris has suggested :

▪ Type C Personality which is prone to cancer. Individuals

characterized by this personality are cooperative, unassertive
and patient. They suppress their negative emotions such as
anger and show compliance to authority.

▪ Type D personality has been suggested, which is

characterized by proneness to depression.

▪ Personality typologies are appealing but very simplistic for the

complex and variable human behaviour. People don’t fit into
such simple categorization schemes so neatly.

Trait Approaches :

▪ These theories are mainly concerned with the description or

characterization of basic components of personality. Trait
approach attempts to identify primary characteristics of people.

▪ A trait is considered as a relatively enduring attribute or

quality on which one individual differs from another.

▪ Traits are generally stable over time, consistent across

situations and their strengths and combinations vary across
individuals leading to individual differences.

Allports’ Trait Theory -

▪ Gordon Allport proposed that individuals possess a number of

traits, which are dynamic in nature.

▪ They determine behaviour in such a manner that an individual

approaches different situations with similar plans.

▪ The traits integrate stimuli and responses which otherwise

look dissimilar.
 ▪ Allport categorized traits into cardinal, central, and secondary.

▪ Cardinal Traits are highly generalized dispositions. They

indicate the goal around which a person’s entire life seems to
resolve. Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violence and Hitler’s Nazism
are examples of cardinal traits. Such traits often get associated
with the name of the person so strongly that they derive such
identities as the “Gandhian” or “Hitlerian” trait.

▪ Central Traits are less pervasive in effect, but still quite

generalized dispositions. These traits such as warm, sincere,
diligent, etc. are often used in writing a testimonial or job
recommendation for a person.

▪ Secondary Traits are characteristics of a person are called

secondary traits, such as “likes mangoes” or “prefers ethnic
clothes”.

▪ Allport Acknowledged the influence of situations of behaviour,

he held that the way a person reacts to given situations depends
on her/his traits, although people sharing the same traits might
express them in different ways. He considered traits more like
intervening variables that occur between the stimulus situation
and response of the person.

Cattell : Personality Factors :

▪ Allport and Odbert had worked through two comprehensive

dictionaries of their time and extracted 18000 personality
describing words. Out of these 18000 they extracted 4500
personally describing objectives.
▪ In 1946 Cattel used a computer software to analyse Allport and
Odbert’s list and organized a list of 181 clusters
▪ and asked the subjects
▪ to rate people whom they knew by adjectives on
the list.
▪ Using Factor analysis Cattell generated 12 factors and then he
further included 4 factors which he thought ought to appear. The
result was the hypothesis that :
▪ Individual described themselves and each other
according to 16 different independent factors.

▪ Sixteen Personality Factors are :

Warmth Social Boldness Openness to change

Reasoning Sensitivity Self Reliance
Emotional Stability Vigilance Perfectionism
Dominance Abstractedness Tension
Liveliness Privateness
 Rule – Consciousness Apprehension

▪ Cattell described these 16 factors as source traits in terms of

opposing tendencies. Source Trait are stable and are
considered as the building block of personality. Besides Source
Trait there are a number of surface trait which result out of
interaction of source trait.

▪ Cattell described the Source Trait in terms of opposing

tendencies

▪ He developed a test called Sixteen Personality Factor

Questionnaire (16PF), to be used for selection of research
personnel by Universities and Business Houses.

▪ Below is the table outlining this model :

Descriptors of Low Range Personality Descriptors of Low Range

Factors
Impersonal, distant, cool, reserved, Warmth (A) Warm, outgoing, attentive to
detached, formal, aloof others, kindly, easy-going,
(Schizothymia) participating, likes people
(Affectothymia)
Concrete thinking, lower general Reasoning Abstract-thinking, more
mental capacity, less intelligent, (B) intelligent, bright, higher general
unable to handle abstract problems mental capacity, fast learner
(Lower Scholastic Mental Capacity) (Higher Scholastic Mental
Capacity)

Eysenck’s model of Personality (P-E-N) :

▪ In 1947 Eysenck proposed that personality could be reduced

into two broad dimensions :
▪ Neuroticism vs. Emotional Stability
▪ Extraversion vs. Introversion

▪ These personality dimensions are biologically and genetically

based.

▪ Each dimension subsumes (includes) a number of specific traits.

▪ It is a common practice in personality psychology to refer to the

dimensions by the first letters E and N.

▪ E and N provided a 2 dimensional space to describe individual

difference in behaviour and analogy can be made to how
 latitude and longitude describe a point on the surface of the
earth.

▪ These dimensions are :

▪ Neuroticism vs. emotional stability:

▪ It refers to the degree to which people have control
over their feelings.
▪ At one extreme of the dimension, we find people
who are neurotic. They are anxious, moody,
touchy, restless and quickly lose control.
▪ At the other extreme we find people who are
calm, even-tempered, reliable and remain
under control.

▪ Extraversion vs. Introversion:

▪ It refers to the degree to which people are socially
outgoing socially withdrawn.
▪ At one extreme are those who are active,
gregarious, impulsive and thrill seeking.
▪ At the other extreme are people who are passive,
quiet, cautious and reserved.

▪ Eysench in 1970 proposed a third dimension, called

Psychoticism vs. sociability, which is considered to
interact with the other two dimensions mentioned above.

▪ A person who scores high on Psychoticism tends to

be hostile, egocentric and anti-social.

▪ Eysenck Personality Questionnaire is the test which is

used for studying these dimensions of personality.

▪ The major strength of Eysenck's model was to

▪ provide detailed theory of the causes of

personality.

▪ For example, Eysenck proposed that extraversion was

caused by variability in cortical arousal:
▪ “Introverts are characterized by higher levels of activity
than extraverts and so are chronically more cortically
aroused than extraverts".

▪ While it seems counterintuitive to suppose that introverts

are more aroused than extraverts, the putative effect this
has on behaviour is such that the introvert seeks lower
levels of stimulation.
 ▪ Conversely, the extravert seeks to heighten his or her
arousal to a more favorable level (as predicted by the
Yerkes-Dodson Law) by increased activity, social
engagement and other stimulation-seeking behaviors.

Psychodynamic Approach (Sigmund Freud) :

▪ This view owes largely to the contributions of who was a

physician and developed this theory in the course of his clinical
practice.
▪ Early in his career he used to hypnotize people to treat people
with physical and emotional problems.
▪ He used free association (a method in which a person is asked
to openly share all the thoughts, feelings and ideas that come to
her/his mind), dream analysis, and analysis of errors to
understand the internal functioning of the mind.

Level of Consciousness :

Freud’s theory considers the sources and consequences of emotional conflicts

and the way people deal with these. In doing so, it visualizes the human mind in
terms of three levels of consciousness.

• The first level is conscious, which includes the thoughts, feelings and action
of which people are aware.
• The second level is preconscious, which includes mental activity of which
people may become aware only if they attend to it closely.
• The third level is unconscious, which includes mental activity that people are
aware of.
• According to Freud, the unconscious is a reservoir of instinctive or animal
drives, which also stores all ideas and wishes that are concealed from
conscious awareness, perhaps because they lead to psychological conflicts.
Most of these arise from sexual desires which cannot be expressed openly
and therefore are repressed.
• People constantly struggle to find either some socially acceptable ways to
express unconscious impulses, or to keep those impulses away from being
expressed. Unsuccessful resolution of conflicts results in abnormal
behaviour.
• Analysis of forgetting mispronunciations, jokes and dreams provide us with a
means to approach the unconscious. Freud developed a therapeutic
procedure, called psychoanalysis, whose basic goal is to bring the repressed
unconscious materials to consciousness, helping people live in a more self
aware and integrated manner.

• Importance of unconscious:
 • According to Freud, unconscious is the storehouse of all instincts or animal
drives. It hides and store all ideas and wishes because they can result in
psychological anxiety. The anxiety is mostly due to sexual desires which
cannot be expressed openly, so they are repressed. People make efforts to
keep these desires hidden in the unconscious or express them in socially
acceptable ways.

• If the conflicts are not resolved, it leads to development of abnormal behavior.

The unconscious can be understood by jokes, dreams, mispronunciations and
analysis of forgetting.

• Freud developed a therapy called psychoanalysis . The aim of this therapy was
to bring the repressed unconscious materials to consciousness, so that people
become aware of them.

Structure of Personality:

• According to Freud’s theory, consists of concepts which are the primary

structural elements of personality are 3, i.e.

Id

Ego

Superego

• They reside in the unconscious as forces and can be inferred from the ways
people behave.

Id : It is the source of a person’s instinctual energy and deals with immediate

gratification of primitive needs, sexual desires and aggressive impulses. It works on
the pleasure principle, which assumes that people seek pleasure and try to avoid
pain. Id does not care for moral values, society, or other individuals.

Ego : It grows out of id, and seeks to satisfy an individual’s instinctual needs
in accordance with reality, working by the reality principle, and often directs the id
towards more appropriate ways of behaving. E.g. id of a boy who wants an ice-
cream, tells him to grab it and eat it.

His ego tells him that if he grabs it without asking, he may be punished. Working on
the reality principle, the boy knows that the best way to achieve gratification is to ask
for permission to eat the ice-cream. Thus, while the id is demanding, unrealistic and
works according to pleasure principle, the ego is patient, reasonable, and works by
the reality principle.

Superego : The best way to characterize the superego is to think of it as the moral
branch of mental functioning. The superego tells the id and ego whether
gratification in a particular instance is ethical. It helps control the id by internalizing
the parental authority through the process of socialization. E.g. if a boy sees and
want an ice-crème and ask his mother for it, his superego will indicate that his
behaviour is morally correct. This approach will not create guilt, fear or anxiety in
the boy.

• Thus in terms of individual functioning Freud thought of the unconscious as

being composed of three competing forces. In some people, the id is
stronger than the superego; in others, it is the superego. The relative
strength the id, ego and superego determine each person’s stability.
• Freud also assumed that id is energized by two instinctual forces, called life
instinct and death instinct. He paid less attention to death instinct and
focused more on life (or sexual) instinct. The instinctual life force that
energizes the id is called libido. It works on the pleasure principle, and
seeks immediate gratification.

Id :
• Also called Desire. It is the source of all person’s instinctual energy.
• It demands immediate gratification of primitive needs, sexual desires and
aggressive impulses.
• It works on the pleasure principle; i.e. works to seek pleasure and try to avoid
pain.
• It does not care for moral values, society or other individuals.
Ego:
• It grows out of Id and works to satisfy a person’s instincts according to external
reality.
• It works on the reality principle.
• It directs the Id to look for appropriate ways for need satisfaction.
• e.g. A boy wanting an ice-cream situation:
• Id of the boy will tell him to grab the cone from the shop, eat it.
• Ego of the boy will tell him that he should ask for the ice-cream or he will be
punished.

Super Ego:
• It is the moral branch of mental functioning.
• It tells the Id and Ego, whether the method of gratification was ethical or not.
• It helps to control the Id by learning parental authority through socialization.
• e.g. A boy wants an ice-cream and he asks his mother for it, superego will decide
this behavior as morally correct. So the boy will not develop guilt, fear or anxiety.

Freud says that the unconscious has Id, Ego and Superego as three competing forces.
The relative strength of Id, Ego and Superego decides a person’s stability. He also
says that Id is guided by life instinct energy and death instinct energy. He focused
more on the life instinct energy called Libido. Libido works on the pleasure principle
and wants immediate gratification.

Different Between Id and Ego

Id Ego
• It is demanding • It is patient
• It is unrealistic • It is reasonable
• It works on pleasure principle • It works on reality principle

Ego Defence Mechanisms

o According to Freud, much of human behavior reflects an attempt to

deal with or escape anxiety. Thus, how the ego deals with anxiety
largely determines how people behave.

o He believed that people avoid anxiety mainly by developing defence

mechanisms that try to defend the ego against the awareness of
instinctual needs.

o Thus, defence mechanism is a way of reducing anxiety by distorting

reality. Although some defence against anxiety is normal and adaptive,
people who use these to such an extent that reality is truly distorted
develop various forms of maladjustment.

The defence mechanisms described by Freud are:

o Repression: In this anxiety-provoking behaviours or thoughts are

totally dismissed by the unconscious. People become totally unaware
of that wish or desire when they have repressed it. When a person
says, “I do not know why I did that”, some repressed feeling or desire is
expressing itself.

o Projection: Here people attribute their own traits to others. A person

who has strong aggressive tendencies may see other people as acting
in an excessively aggressive way towards him.

o Denial: A person totally refuses to accept the reality. Someone

suffering frm HIV/AIDS may altogether deny her/his illness.
 o Reaction formation: In this a person defends against anxiety by
adopting behaviours opposite to her/his true feelings. A person with
strong sexual urges, who channels her/his energy into religious fervor,
presents a classical example of reaction formation.

o Rationalization: Here a person tries to make unreasonable feelings or

behavior seem reasonable and acceptable. When a student buys a set
of new pens after doing poorly in an examination, she/he may try to
rationalize her/his behavior by asserting, “I will do much better with
these pens”.

o People who use defence mechanisms and often unaware of doing so.
Freud’s ideas about the role of defence mechanisms have been
questioned. For example, his claim that projection reduces anxiety and
stress has not found support in several studies.

Stages of Personality Development

o Freud proposed five-stage theory of personality (also called

psychosexual) development.

▪ Oral Stage
▪ Anal Stage
▪ Phallic Stage
▪ Latency Stage
▪ Genital Stage

o Oral Stage : A newborn’s instincts are focused on the mouth as it is

the infant’s pleasure seeking centre. It is through the mouth that the
baby obtains food that reduces hunger.

The infant achieves oral gratification through feedings, thumb

sucking, biting and babbling.

It is during these early months that people’s basic feelings about the
world are established. Thus, for Freud, an adult who considers the
world a bitter place probably had difficulty during the oral stage of
development.

o Anal Stage : Around the ages two and three the child learns to
respond to some of the demands of society.

One of the principle demands made by the parents is that the child
learns to control the bodily functions of urination and defecation

Most children at this stage experience pleasure in moving their bowels.

The anal area of the body becomes the focus of certain pleasurable
feelings.
 o Phallic Stage : It focuses on the genitals. At around ages 4 and 5,
children begin to realize the differences between males and females
and become aware of their sexuality and the sexual relationship
between their parents.

The male child experiences the Oedipus complex during this stage,
which involves love for the mother, hostility towards the father, and the
consequent fear of punishment or castration by the father. Resolution
of this complex is a major development achievement of this stage.

This takes place by accepting his father’s relationship with his mother
and modeling his own behavior after his father.

For girls, the Electra complex is present. By attaching her love to the
father, a girl tries to symbolically marry him and raise a family. When
she realizes that this is unlikely, she begins to identify with her mother
and copy her behavior as a means of getting her father’s affection.
When this complex is resolved, girls give up their sexual desires for
their father and identify with the mother.

o Latency Stage: It lasts from 7 years until puberty. The child

continues to grow physically but sexual urges are relatively
inactive. Much of a child’s energy is channeled into social or
achievement-related activities.

o Genital Stage: The person attains maturity in psychosexual

development. The sexuality, fears and repressed feelings of earlier
stages are again exhibited. People learn to deal with the opposite
sex in a socially and sexually mature way.

o The failure of a child to pass successfully through a stage leads to

fixation to that stage the child’s development gets arrested at an earlier
stage. E.g., a child who fails to resolve the Oedipus complex may still
feel hostile toward the same sex parent. He may consider that men are
generally hostile and may want to relate to females in a dependable
relationship.

o Regression is also a likely outcome - it takes a person back to an

earlier stage. It occurs when a person’s resolution of problems at any
stage of development is less than adequate.

Concept of Fixation and Regression

Fixation: A child adjusts to the world by passing from one stage to another. Failure
of the child to pass successfully through a stage causes fixation at that stage. So, a
child’s development gets arrested (stopped) at an earlier stage. E.g. if a child does
not resolve Oedipus complex of phallic stage, he will remain hostile towards his father
(men) and feels comfortable with females.

Regression: It means going back to an earlier stage. This happens if a person has
not resolved successfully problems of any stage. In this situation, people show
behavior which resembles to a less mature stage of development (childish behaviour).

Post Freudian Approaches:

These theories (also called neo-analytic), are the newer additions to Freud’s
Psychoanalytic Theory.

The main features are:

1) More importance to the concept of ego.
2) Less importance and role to sexual and aggressive impulses of the id.
3) Importance is given to human qualities of creativity, competence and problem
solving abilities.

Carl Jung: Aims and Aspirations

o Jung saw human beings guided as much by aims and aspirations as

by sex and aggression. His theory of personality is called analytical
psychology.

Its basic assumption is that personality consists of competing forces

and structures within the individual (that must be balanced) rather than
between the individual and the demands of society, or between the
individual and reality.

o He claimed that there was a collective unconscious consisting of

archetypes (the God or Mother Earth) or primordial images. These
are not individually acquired, but are inherited. They are found in
myths, dreams and arts of all mankind.

o He held that the self strives for unity and oneness. As per him, to
achieve unity and wholeness, a person must become increasingly
aware of the wisdom available in one’s personal and collective
unconscious, and must learn to live in harmony with it.

Karen Horney : Optimism

 o Horney adopted a more optimistic view of human life with emphasis
on human growth and self-actualization.

o According to her, each sex has attributes to be admired by the

other, and neither sex can be viewed as superior or inferior.

o She said that women are more likely to be affected by social and
cultural factors than by biological factors.

o She argued that psychological disorders were caused by disturbed

interpersonal relationship during childhood.

o When parent’s behavior towards the child is indifferent,

discouraging, and erratic, the child feels insecure and a feeling
called basic anxiety results, which is the cause of deep resentment
towards parents or basic hostility.

o By showing excessive dominance or indifference, or by providing too

much or too little approval, parents can generate among children
feelings of isolation and helplessness which interfere with their healthy
development.

Alfred Adler : Lifestyle and Social Interest

o Adler’s theory is known as individual psychology and his basic

assumption is that human behavior is purposeful and goal-directed
and each one of us has the capacity to choose and create.

o Our personal goals are our sources of motivation. The goals that
help us feel secure and overcome feelings of inadequacy and guilt
(i.e. inferiority complex which arises in child-hood) are important in
personality development

Erich Fromm : The Human Concerns

o Fromm developed his theory from a social orientation.

o He viewed human beings as essentially being social beings who

could be understood in terms of the relationship with others.

o He argued that psychological qualities like growth realization of

potentials result from desire for freedom and striving for justice and
truth.

o Our character traits develop from our experience with other individuals.
People’s dominant character traits in a given society work as forces in
shaping the social processes and the culture itself.
Erik Erikson : Search for identity :

o His theory lays stress on rational, conscious ego processes in

personality development.

o Development is viewed as a lifelong process, and ego identity is

granted a central place in this process.

o His concept of identity crisis of adolescent age has drawn

considerable attention.

o Erikson argues that young people must generate for themselves a

central perspective and a direction that can give them a meaningful
sense of unity and purpose.

The major criticisms faced by Psychodynamic theories are :

o They are largely based on case studies; they lack rigorous scientific
basis.
o They use small and atypical individuals as samples for advancing
generalizations.
o The concepts are not properly defined, and it is difficult to submit them
to scientific testing.
o Freud has used males as prototype of all human personality
development. He over looked female experiences and perspectives.

Behavrioural Approach

o It gives no importance to internal dynamics.

o The behaviorists believe in data which they are definable, observable
and measurable.
o They focus on learning of stimulus response connections and their
reinforcement.
o Personality can be best understood as the response of an individual to
the environment.
o For most behaviorists the structural unit of personality is the
response. Each response is a behaviour which is emitted to satisfy a
specific need.
o All of us eat because of hunger but we are choosy also about
foods. E.g children do not like eating many vegetables like spinach,
etc. but they gradually learn to eat them. Initially they do so in
anticipation on appreciation/reinforcement from their parents. Later
they may learn not only because of parents but also because they
acquire the taste of those vegetables and find them good.
o The core tendency that organizes behaviour is the reduction of
biological or social needs that energize behaviour.
o Theories of classical conditioning (Pavlov), instrumental conditioning
(Skinner), and observational learning (Bandura) view learning and
maintenance of behaviour from different angles. The principles of
 these theories have been widely used in developing personality
theories.
o For Example observational learning theory considers thought
processes very important in learning, but these find almost no place in
classical/instrumental conditioning theories.

CULTURAL APPROACH :

o This approach attempts to understand personality in relation to the

features of ecological and cultural environment.

o It proposes that a group economic system play a vital role in the origin
of cultural and behavioural varieties.

o Climatic conditions, nature of terrain of the habitat and availability of

food (flora and fauna) in it determine people.

o Economic activities and

▪ Settlement patterns
▪ Division Labour
▪ Social Structure
▪ Child rearing practices.

o These elements contributes to the child’s overall learning environment.

▪ Peoples skills
▪ Ability as strongly linked
▪ Behavioural style
▪ Value priority
▪ Rituals
▪ Ceremonies
▪ Religious practices
▪ Arts
▪ Recreational activities
▪ Games and Play

o These are means through with people personality are reflected through
culture.
o Cultural Approach considers personality as adaptation of an
individual or groups to the demands of ecology and culture.
o Example :

▪ Still live a nomadic life requires constant movement from one

first to and her in search of first forest e.g. First, honey,
mushrooms roots, etc.
▪ Children in this society are allowed enormous freedoms to life
into forest and learn hunting and gather skills.

▪ Children are independent, autonomous and achievement

oriented quite early.
HUMANISTIC THEORY/APPROACH

o The two main humanistic theorists

▪ Abrahan Maslow
▪ Carl Rogers

o Roger Proposed the idea of a FULLY FUNCTIOING PERSON and

concept of self.
▪ He believes fulfillment is the mounting force for a person
development.

▪ People try to express their capability (i.e.) percentiles and

talents to the fullest intent possible.

▪ Rogger suggests that each individual has a concept of

‘Ideal self’.

▪ Characteristic of people with high self concept and self esteem.

▪ Flexible

▪ Open to new inferences

▪ Continue to grow and self actualize

▪ Self concept can be enhanced by unconditional positive regard.

▪ Client centered therapy attempts to enhance these conditions.

SELF
Ideal self is the desired self that a person would like to become. Balance between real
self and ideal self is a happy state. Difference in real and ideal self creates
dissatisfaction and unhappiness.

Rogers says that personality development is a continuous process where people try
to increase the self concept by achieving self-actualisation.

• When social conditions (experiences) are positive, the self-concept and self-
esteem are high. These people are flexible, social and open to new experiences.
So they grow to achieve self actualization.
• When conditions are negative, they self concept and self esteem are low. These
people are poorly adjusted.
• Rogers developed client centered therapy, in which a condition of unconditional
positive regard is created which helps people to again increase the self-concept.
MASLOW’S CONTRIBUTIION TO HUMANISTIC APPROACH

o Maslow’s Self Actualization :

▪ It is a state in which people have reached their own fullest

potential.
▪ He had an optimistic view of man who has potent colitis for love
joy and creative works.

▪ According to him human being are free to shape their lives

and to live say actualize.

▪ Self Actualization becomes possible by analyzing the

motivations that govern our lives.

▪ The real journey of human life begins with pursuits of

▪ Self esteem

▪ Self Actualisation needs

▪ The lower order needs
▪ Biological
▪ Security Survival needs
▪ Belongingness

o These are found among animals and human beings

o Humanistic approach emphasizes the significance of positive aspects
of life.
o Hence becomes dominant features of people personalities.
o “Ideal self” – it is what an individual would like to be.

Happiness Unhappiness

Correspondence between Discrepancy between

Ideal and real self ideal and real self.

o (Rogers focuses that people love a tendency to maximize their self

concept through self actualization.

Fig. : Pattern of Adjustment and Self concept.

o Rogers views personality as a continuous process. It involves :

▪ Learning to evaluate oneself and mastering the process of self

actualization.

▪ Focused role of social influence in the development of self

concept.
 When social condition are positive When social conditions are negative (-ve)
Self Concept and self Esteem are high Self Concept and self Esteem are low.

o These found among animal and human being.

o Humanistic Approach emphasizes the significance of positive aspect of

life

▪ The test involves a kind of sole play where he is observed.

▪ Verbal report is collected on what he/she does.

▪ Can also be obtained by a Video play.

▪ MASLOW’S THEORY OF SELF-ACTUALISATION

He gave the hierarchy of Needs.

Self-Actualisation
Growth
Needs
Self Esteem

Belongingness

Survival
Security
Needs

Biological

• Psychological healthy people have achieved a state of Self-Actualisation. This is

a state in which he people have achieved their fullest potential of love, joy and
creative work.
• Human beings are positive and optimists. They are free to shape their lives and to
self-actualization.
• Self actualization depends on the needs and motivations of life.
• Animals and human beings are commonly guided by survival needs i.e. satisfaction
of biological, safety and belongingness needs.
• Growth and self actualization is achieved when people are guided by self-esteem
and self actualization needs.
ASSESSMENT OF PERSONALITY

▪ To understand and describe the individual we have to

assess the personality of the individual.

▪ Personality assessment is

▪ a formal effort aimed at understanding personality of an

individual.
▪ Assessment refers to procedure used to evaluate or
differentiate people on the basis of certain characteristics.

• GOALS OF ASSESSMENT is :
▪ to understand and predict behavior of an individual with
minimum (error) and increased accuracy.
▪ to study the behavior of an individual in a given situation.
▪ Useful for diagnosis, training placement, counseling and other
purposes.

• TECHNIQUES OF PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT :

o These techniques are routed in different theoretical orientation.
▪ Psychometric Tests
▪ Self Report measures
▪ Projective Techniques
▪ Behaviour Analysis

o PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT :

▪ MMPI

▪ Eysenck’s Personality Questionnaire

▪ 16 PF Question
▪ Projective
▪ Thematic Apperception Test
▪ Rosenzweig’s Picture Frustration Study (P-F Study)
▪ Sentence completion test
▪ Draw a person test
▪ Behavioural Analysis
▪ Interview
▪ Observation
▪ Behavrioural rating scale
▪ Nomination
▪ Situational Test

These measures are:

• Fairly structured (situations described are clear, not vague)
• Tests are based on theory
• Subjects give verbal responses using some kind of rating scale.
• Participant report objectively her / his feelings on different items.
• Every response is scored quantitatively and compared / interpreted on the basis of
norms developed for the test

o SELF REPORT MEASURES (DIRECT TECHNIQUES) –

This is a direct technique of personality assessment because these

techniques tend to rely on information directly obtained from the person
who clearly knows that his/her personality is being assessed.

▪ Allport suggested best method to assess a person

▪ by asking him/her about himself/herself through self
report measures.
▪ These are fairly structured measures often based on theory
that requires the subject to give verbal responses using some
kind of rating scales.

Note : validity scales, clinical scales, treatment consideration

scale and interpersonal scales. All these scales are further
subdivided into 4 point or 2 point scale. 4 Points – False,
somewhat true, mainly true, very true. 2 Points – True & False. )

▪ The test requires Subject to report his/her feeling objectively

with respect to various items.
▪ Responses are accepted at face value.
▪ Records are generated on quantitative terms and
▪ Interpreted on basis of norms developed for the test.
▪ Some of the well known tests are as under :
▪ MMPI (The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality inventory).
▪ Eysenck Personality Questionnaire
▪ 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire.

• MMPI (The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality inventory)

▪ Hathaway and Mckinley had developed MMPI Test as a helping

tool for diagnosis of psychiatric illnesses.
▪ This test is also found to be very effective in identifying varieties
of psycho pathology (lack of feeling for others).
▪ Revised version called MMPI-2. It consists of 567 items.
▪ The subject judges each item ‘statements’ as true or false for
her/him.
 ▪ The test is divided into 10 sub scales which seek to diagnose

1.Hypochondriasis 6.Paranoia

2.Depression 7.Psychasthenia

3. Hysteria 8.Schizophrenia

4.Psychopathic Deviate 9.Mania

5.Masculinity femininity
10.Social
introversion
o Indian Version MMPI called Multiphasic personality Inventory (JMPI)
developed by Mallik and Joshi.

Eysenck Personality Questionnaire :

o Eysenck developed two dimensions of personality

▪ Introverted – Extroverted
▪ Emotionally stable – Emotionally unstable

These dimensions are characterised by 32 personality traits. Later-on

Eysenck added a third dimension :

▪ Psychoticism – Sociability

o Psychoticism is psychopathology that represents

▪ lack of feeling for others
▪ tough manner of interacting with others
▪ tendency to defy social conventions

o People high on this dimension tend to be hostile, egocentric,

antisocial.

• 16 PF questionnaire :
o Developed by Cattell : On the basis of his studies

▪ He identified a large set of personality descriptors which are

subjected to factor analysis to identify the basic personality
structure.
▪ The Test provides with declarative statements and
▪ The subject responds to a specific situation by choosing from a
set of given alternatives
▪ Test can be used with high school level students and adults.
▪ Test in useful in career guidance, vocational
guidance/exploration an occupational.

• PROBLEM FACED BY SELF REPORT MEAUSRES :

 ▪ Social desirability -

(Tendency on part of the respondent to endorse items in a

socially desirable manner).

▪ Acquiescence

(It is a tendency of the subject to agree with items/questions

irrespective of their contents).

It often appear in the form of saying ‘Yes’ to items.

▪ These problems renders the assessment of personality less

reliable.
▪ Note of Caution :
▪ Psychological Testing and understanding personality
require great skill and training.
▪ Unless one has acquired these to an optimum level under
careful supervision of an expert, one should not venture
into testing and interpreting the personality of an
individual.

• PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUE (INDIRECT METHOD)

o General theoretical position behind projective tests is that
▪ Whenever specific question is asked from a person
▪ the response will be consciously formulated and socially
determined.

▪ These responses don’t reflect respondent’s unconscious

or implicit altitude or motivations.

▪ The respondent deep seated motivation may not be

consciously recognized by the respondent or

▪ Respondent may not be able to verbally express them in

the form demanded by the questionnaire.

o Projective technique uses various kinds of ambiguous stimulus

materials or situations (ambiguous stimuli) for assessment of
personality.

o These ambiguous stimuli allows the subject to express their thoughts

that originate on a deeper level than tapped by explicit questions.

o That means projective techniques were developed to assess

unconscious motives and feelings.
o These techniques are based on the assumption that a less structured
or unstructured stimulus or situation will allow the individual to project
his/her feelings or desires and needs on that situation.

o These projections are interpreted by experts.

o A variety of projective technique have been developed using various

kinds of stimulus materials and situations for assessing personality.

o These techniques requires

▪ reporting associations with stimuli e.g. words and ink blots or
▪ Storey writing around pictures or
▪ Sentence completion or
▪ Some require expression through drawing or
▪ Some require choice of stimuli from large set of stimuli or
▪ Help in access unconscious part of our behavior i.e. motives and
feelings

o Based upon the assumption that less structured stimulus on situation

will allow individual to project his/her feelings, desires and needs.

Nature of Stimuli and Responses :

▪ In these technique vary enormously but all of them do share the

following features :

▪ Stimuli are relatively or fully unstructured and poorly

defined.
▪ The Person being assessed is usually not told about the
purpose of assessment, method of scoring and
interpretation.
▪ Person is informed that there are no correct or incorrect
responses.
▪ Each response reveals a significant aspect of
personality.
▪ Scoring and interpretation are lengthy and sometimes
subjective.

▪ Projective techniques are different from psychometric tests in

many ways.

▪ Projective techniques cannot be scored in any

objective manner.

▪ They require qualitative analysis for which a

rigorous training is needed.
▪ Some of the well known projective techniques are as under
:
▪ RORSCHACH INKBLOT TEST
▪ THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST (TAT)
▪ ROSENWEIG’S PICTURE – FRUSTRATION STUDY (P.
F. STUDY)
▪ SENTENCE COMPLETION TEST.
▪ DRAW A PERSON TEST

▪ RORSCHACH INKBLOT TEST :

▪ Developed by Herman Rorschach
▪ There are 10 inkblot cards.

5 Black & white

2 with some Red Ink

3 Pastel Shades

▪ Blots are symmetrical in design with a specific shape or

form.
▪ Each blot printed in the centre of a white cardboard of
about 7” x 10” size.
▪ Blots were originally made b y dropping ink on a piece of
paper and then folding the paper in half. Hence called
Inkblot test.
▪ These cards are administered in two phases.

▪ 1st Stage/Phase called Performance proper

The subject are shown the cards and asked to tell what
they see in each of them.

▪ 2nd Phase called Inquiry stage

A detailed report of the response is prepared by asking the

subject to tell

▪ Where, How and on what basis a response was

made.
▪ Fine judgment is required to place the subject’s
responses in a meaningful context.
▪ The use and interpretation requires extensive
training.
▪ Computer techniques too have been developed for
analysis of the data.
The best known and most frequently used projective test is the Rorschach inkblot test, in
which

o a subject is shown a series of ten irregular but symmetrical inkblots,

o and asked to explain what they see.
o The subject's responses are then analyzed in various ways,
o noting not only
▪ what was said, but the time taken to respond,
▪ which aspect of the drawing was focused on,
▪ and how single responses compared to other responses for the
same drawing.

For example, if someone consistently sees the images as threatening and frightening, the
tester might infer that the subject may suffer from paranoia.

o THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST (TAT)

Another popular projective test is the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) in which

o an individual views ambiguous scenes of people,

o and is asked to describe various aspects of the scene
o for example, the subject may be asked
▪ to describe what led up to this scene,
▪ the emotions of the characters, and
▪ what might happen afterwards.

The examiner then evaluates these descriptions, attempting to discover the conflicts,
motivations and attitudes of the respondent.

In the answers, the respondent "projects" their unconscious attitudes and motivations into
the picture, which is why these are referred to as "projective tests."

▪ Developed by Morgan and Murray

▪ Consists of – 30 black and white picture cards
▪ One blank card
▪ Each picture card depict one or more people in a variety
of situation.
▪ Some cards used with adult male or female
▪ Others used with boys & girls.
▪ 20 cards appropriate for a subject.
▪ Cards presented one by one.
 ▪ Subject is required to narrate a story describing the
situation present in the picture.
▪ What led to the situation
▪ What is happening at that situation
▪ What will happen in the future
▪ What the characters are thinking and feeling.
▪ Standard procedure is used for scoring and interpretation
▪ Test modified for children and aged
▪ Uma Chaudhary of India developed the Indian Version of
TAT test.

o ROSENWEIG’S PICTURE – FRUSTRATION STUDY (P. F. STUDY)

▪ Developed by Rozenzweig’s

▪ It assesses how people express aggression in the face of

a frustrating situation/condition.
▪ The test presents with the help of Cartoon like pictures.
▪ a series of situation in which one person frustrates
other or call attention to a frustrating condition.
▪
▪ The subject is asked to tell what the other (frustrated)
person will say or do.
▪ Analysis depends upon type and direction of aggression.
▪ An attempt is made to examine whether the focus is
▪ on frustrating object or
▪ on protection of frustrated individual or
▪ on Constructive solution to a problem
▪ Direction of aggression may be towards the :
▪ Environment or
▪ One Self or
▪ May be turned off in an attempt to gloss over or
evade (avoid) the situation
▪ Pareek has proposed the Indian version of PF study.

o SENTENCE COMPLETION TEST

▪ This test makes use of no. of incomplete sentences.

▪ The test provides subject with several opportunities to

reveal their unconscious motivation
▪ Starting part of the sentence is first presented and then
subject has to provide an ending to the sentence
▪ It is held that the type of ending used by the subject
reflects their
▪ Attitudes
▪ Motivations
▪ Conflict
▪ Sample item of a Sentence Completion test :
 1. My father_______________________________
2. My greatest feat is ________________________
3. The best thing about my mother is ___________
4. I am proud of ____________________________

o DRAW A PERSON TEST :

▪ Subject is asked to draw a person on a sheet of paper.

▪ A pencil and eraser is provided to facilitate drawing.
▪ After completion person is asked to draw a person of the
opposite sex person.
▪ Finally subject is asked to make a story about the character as if
he/she was a character in a novel or a play.
▪ Some examples of interpretations are as follows :
▪ Omission of facial expression or features involves a
highly conflict ridden inter personal relationship.
▪ Graphic emphasis on the neck suggest Lack of control
over impulses.
▪ Large Head suggests organic brain disease and pre-
occupation with headaches.

Evaluation of these Projective Tests:

Merits:
1) It helps us to understand unconscious motives deep rooted conflicts and
emotional complexes of any individual

Demerits:

▪ They rely heavily on clinical judgment,

▪ lack reliability and validity
▪ have no standardized criteria to which result may be compared
▪ However inspite of these criticisms they are still very popular
and used quite frequently.

BEHAVIOURAL ANALYSIS

Observation of person’s behavior in different situation gives us a lot of meaningful

information about her / his personality.
The main methods are:

a) Interview:
• Person is asked specific questions by talking
 • Diagnostic interviewing involves indepth questions
• In unstructured interview, the person’s impression is created by asking a no. of
questions.
• Subject’s way of answering helps in assessment.
• In structured interview, questions are specific and asked in an order / sequence.
This is done to compare different individuals.

b) Observation
• Behaviour is observed in a systematic and objective way
• Observation requires a lot of training
• Detailed guidelines are there to assess people by observation method e.g.
observation of a client’s interaction with her/his family members by a clinical
psychologist.

c) Merits/Limitations of Interview and observation methods:

• The methods are demanding and time consuming and require professional
training
• Psychologist has to be mature for valid observation
• Presence of the observer influences the behavior of the person who is
observed.

d) Behavioural Ratings:
• Mostly used to assess personality in educational and industrial settings.
• It is done on those people who know each other very well and have a lot of
interaction.
• Individuals are put into categories according to their rating of descriptions of
behavior / qualities.
• The traits for description are defined clearly

e) Limitations of Rating method:

i) Halo Effect:
• The tendency of the rater to get influenced by a single favourable or
unfavourable trait.
• So, the overall judgement becomes biased for different traits.

ii) Middle category bias:

• It is the tendency of a rater to describe individuals in the middle category by
avoiding extreme positions.
iii) Extreme category bias
• It is the tendency of rater to put individuals in extreme categories by avoiding
middle categories.

f) Nomination:
• Assessment of peers is gone in a group by people who know each other very
well and have close interaction.
• Each person in a group is asked to choose one or more persons of the group
with whom she / he would like to study, work, play or participate in any other
activity. The reasons of choosing that person can be asked.
• Nominations are used to understand personality and behavioural qualities of
the person.
• Technique is dependable, but there can be biases also.

g) Situational Tests:
• Different types of situational tests like situational stress test, gives information
about how a person behaves under stressful situations.
• A person is asked to perform a task (types of role playing) with other people
who are non-cooperating and interfering (on instructions)
• Person is observed when he/she is role playing situation can be realistic or
created through vides play
• Subject also gives a verbal report on what she / he was asked to do.
 SELF AND PERSONALITY
(Question-Answer)
Q. What is trait approach to personality? How does it differ from type
approach?

A. Trait Approach
1. Trait are stable and persistent characteristic pattern of behaviour.
2. They are the "building blocks of personality". It attempts to identify primary
characteristics of people.
3. E.g. Friendly, excitable, dominant.

Type Approach:
Psychologists consider in terms of broad behavioral patterns of personality:
Type theories are used to represent a set of expected behaviours based on
similarities. They are exclusive. They are cluster of traits and are not very
specific. They categorize individual into groups of categories.
e.g. introvert and extrovert.

Q. What is basic anxiety according to Horney?

A. According to Karen Homey psychological disorder stem from Basic Anxiety -
which arise in childhood when the child feels helpless in a threatening world.
Loving and reliable parents can create a feeling of security and love, but erratic,
indifferent or rejecting parents may develops a sense of helplessness and
vulnerability in child which set ground for psychological disorders later in life.

Q. What is Oedipus complex and Electra complex?

A. In the phallic stage Freud speculated that at this time the child fantasizes
sexual relation with parents of the opposite sex which Freud termed as the
Oedipus complex for boys, and Electra complex for girls.

A male child experiencing Oedipus complex tends to get sexually attracted

towards his mother and has a hostility toward his father. They come to know
this is unlikely, so boys give up their sexual feelings for their mother and start
to see their fathers as role models. A female child experiencing Electra complex
try to act as the mother in order to get that love from their father. They have a
feeling of hostility toward, their mother but gradually give up their sexual feeling
for the father and identifies with the mother.
Q. “Unconditional positive regard” enhances ones self-concept - Discuss
the theory which highlights this aspect of personality.
A. Unconditional positive regard refers to the supportive behaviour of an observer.
Such support allows people the opportunity to evolve and grow both cognitively
and emotionally as they are able to develop more realistic selfconcept.
The self desperately needs and seeks acceptance, love, warmth, care and
reassurance from others. The self’s need for these aspects is termed as the
need for positive regard that makes a person ignore inner signals and to act in
a way that pleases others which gets the approval and support. Hence the root
of all problems in adjustments could be found in this need.

Q. What are the functions of unconscious?

A. Beneath the preconscious is the unconscious. It includes thoughts, desires and
impulses of which we remain largely unaware. Functions:
• It functions as a store house of id impulses and repress the anxiety provoking
materials that are especially disturbing, forbidden or otherwise unacceptable.
• Unconscious also works for the welfare of society at large by repressing the
id impulses.
• The concept of unconscious explains why people often act in ways that seem
irrational. Inspite of repression, of impulses, sometimes these id impulses
rear their head in disguised form, they seek gratification in dreams or in the
form of slip of tongue.
• Unconscious material is probed to treat neurosis and other psychological
disorder.

Q. What is defense mechanism? Explain the types of defenses used in

everyday life.
A. Defense mechanism, according to Freud, are ways in which the ego
unconsciously tries to cope with the problem realistically. Thus, defense
mechanism is a way of reducing anxiety by distorting reality. The different types
of defenses are:

a) Repression: In repression anxiety provoking behaviour or thoughts are totally

dismissed by, the unconscious. When we repress a feeling or desire we
become totally unaware of that wish or desire. For e.g., "I do not know why I did
that” is repressed feeling or desire expressing itself.
 b) Projection: In projection people attribute their own trait to other. An individual
places the blame for his own shortcoming or mistakes on others. For e.g., the
student who fails in an examination may feel that the teacher was unfair or
blame bad luck for their failure.

c) Reaction Formation: Reaction formation refer to reversal of motives to cope

with conflict. An anxiety is recognized is converted into its opposite. For e.g.,
replacing hate with care, cruelty with kindness.

d) Rationalization: A person tries to make unreasonable feelings a behaviour

seem reasonable and acceptable. In rationalization people make lame excuses.

e) Denial: When a person totally refuses to accept reality. One may turn away
from unpleasant sights, thoughts may refuse to discuss unpleasant topic, faint
when faced with unfavourable situation. For e.g., a person suffering from HIV /
AIDS may altogether deny his/her illness.

Q. What is Freud three fold concept of personality ?

A. The ID:
i) The id is the original source of personality, present in the newborn infant
from which the ego and super ego later develop.
ii) It consists of everything that is inherited, including the instinctual drives
– sex and aggression.
iii) It closely linked to the biological processes and provides the energy
source.
iv) The functioning of it is totally unconscious and works on pleasure
principle regardless of any external potential of seeking the gratification
of impulse.

The Ego
i) The ego develops out of id because of the necessity for dealing with the
real world. The ego’s talk is to hold the id in check until conditions allows
for satisfaction of its impulses.
ii) It operates on reality principle.
iii) The ego is essentially the executive of the personality.
iv) It keeps a person working for a living, getting along with people and
generally adjusting to the realities of life.
v) Ego mediates between the demand of id, the realities of the world and
the demands of the super ego.
The super ego
i) It is the internalized representation of the values and morals of the society as
taught to us by our parents and others.
ii) The main functions of the super ego are:
1. to inhibit the unacceptable impulses of id such as sex and aggression
2. to persuade the ego to substitute moralistic goals for realistic ones and
3. to strive for perfection

Q. Describe the type approach to personality.

Ans. Type theories assume that people can be classified into a few categories or
types on the basis of certain characteristics they possess.

Following are the main type theories:

1. Theory of TRIDOSHAS
Charak Samhita of Ayurveda or the Indian science of medicine classifies
people on the basis of three elements called 'Doshas' i.e. vata, pitta and
kaphaon the basis of three humoural elements called tridosha.Each
refers to a type of temperament called prakriti(basic nature of a person).

2. Theory of TRIGUNAS—
According to Upanishad there are three types of personalities based on
virtues (gunas)

(a) Sattva: Sattva Guna includes virtues like truthfulness, detachment,

discipline, sharp intelligence, self control and spirituality.

(b) Rajas: Rajas Guna includes some worldly attributes, like desire for
sense of gratification, and materialistic mentality etc. They are
creative and jealous.

(c) Tamas: Tama Guna consists of all the vices of the world, mental
imbalance, anger, arrogance, laziness etc.

3. Hippocrates—
 A Greek physician known as father of modern medicine classified
personality on the basis of humors, fluids, temperament which are as
follows-
(a) Sanguine: cheerful, active and optimistic.
(b) Phlegmatic: touchy, sluggish, calm and apathetic.
(c) Melancholic: sad, brooding and morose.
(d) Choleric: irritable, hot tempered and excitable.

4. Sheldon has classified personality on the basis of body

constitution—
(a) Endomorphic:
They are fat, soft and round and are relaxed and sociable, fond of eating
and pleasure loving.

(b) Mesomorphic:
They have strong muscular structure, have rectangular and strong body
built. They are energetic and courageous, outgoing, assertive and
dominating.

(c) Ectomorphic:
They are thin, long and fragile in body built. They are brainy, artistic,
introvert and are fond of solitude and inward looking.

5. Carl Jung grouped all people into:

(a) Introverts: They are socially withdrawn, passive, quiet cautious and
reserved.
(b) Extroverts: Socially outgoing, talkative, impulsive and thrill seeking.

Q. What is social learning?

A. Learning by observing others is referred as social learning. The concept was
introduced by BANDURA. It is based on observation without any direct reward
or reinforcement administrated to the learner. This kind of learning is also called
modeling or observational learning.

Q. What functions do dream serve according to Freud?

A. Dreams are considered as the royal road to unconscious. Mainly they serve
following purposes:
(i) They work as safeguards of sleep.
 (ii) They work as wish fulfillment device. We can give expression to impulses
and desires we find unacceptable during our waking hour.
iii) Dreams release unconscious tension arising out of conflicts between Id and
Ego.

Q. What are situational tests Situational tests are commonly used for the
assessment of personality through situational stress tests ?
A. (i) It provides information about how a person behaves under stressful situation.
(ii) The tests requires the person to perform a given task with other person who;
instructed to be non-cooperative interfering.
(iii) The person is instructed to play a role for which he is observed.
(iv) The situation may be realistic or created through video play.

Q. How do the post Freudian differ from Freud?

A. The post Freudians differed from Freud on following views:
(i) They put greater emphasis on ego functions, including ego defenses,
development of the self, conscious thought process and personal mastery.
(ii) They have given attention to social determinants of personality and
conscious reality.
(iii) They put less emphasis on the importance of general sexual urges or
Iibidinal energy.
(iv) They have extended personality development beyond childhood to include
the entire life span.
(v) The ego is viewed as the seat of creativity, planning and the formation of
self-fulfilling foals.

Q. Explain Behaviouristic approach of Personality development ?

A. Behaviourists approach of personality:
i) They focus on learning of Stimulus-Response connections and their
reinforcement.
ii) The response which is positively reinforced i.e. satisfied the needs is
repeated again and again and thus becomes a habit.
iii) Personality is not biologically determined, it is learnt and acquired
through experience.
iv) This learning occurs through Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning, Skinner’s
Operant Conditioning and Bandura’s Observational Learning.

Q. Discuss cognitive components of self.

A. i) Self-concept: literally, the way we view ourselves. We may experience a
sense of individuality (being different from others) as well as a sense of
interdependence (belonging and association with others).
The self-concept has two related aspects, self-understanding and self-esteem.
ii) Self-efficacy is a term referring to the belief that we can perform adequately in
a given situation. When applied to health, self-efficacy beliefs are important in
shaping unhealthy behaviours into more healthy ones. Self-efficacy may also
be based on our observations of others performance (If she could not do it,
what hope to I have?) or on our observations of our own emotional states (I
would not be very good company, I am a bit down at the moment).

iii) Self-esteem: The value we place upon ourselves. As children explore their
abilities they may come to think highly or not so highly of themselves
depending on their success and the success of others around them. In early
childhood, children tend to judge themselves in four main areas:
a) cognitive competence-ability to solve problems and achieve
b) social competence-ability to get along with others
c) physical competence - What they can and cannot do: run, play football etc.
d) behavioral competence - are they a ‘good’ boy or girl ?

With age, these domains of self-esteem become more differentiated as we form

judgments of our attractiveness to the opposite sex, our humor, our adequacy as a
partner and so on.

Q. Explain the Five-Factor Model of Personality ?

A. Five-Factor Model of Personality

Personality Traits High Low

Openness to Imaginative, Curious, Open to new ideas, Rigid
Experience integrated to cultural pursuit
Extraversion Socially active, assertive, outgoing, Shy
talkative, fun loving
Agreeableness Helpful, co-operative, friendly, caring, Hostile, self
nurturing centered
Neuroticism Emotionally unstable, anxious, worried, Well adjusted
fearful, distress, irritable, hypertensive
 Conscientiousness Achievement oriented, dependable Impulsive
responsible, prudent, hardworking, self-
controlled

Briefly describe the concept of self.

A. Self refers to the totality of an individual’s conscious experiences, ideas,

thoughts & feelings with regard to himself or herself.

PERSONAL IDENTITY SOCIAL IDENTITY

Attributes of a person that make him/ Aspects of a person that link him to a
her distinct from other e.g. Name, social or cultural group or are derived
Qualities, Capabilities etc. from it.
E.g. Hindu / Muslim, North / South
Indian Brahmin / Adivasi etc.

Self can be described both as a subject and object. When a person describes
himself as an entity (e.g. I am a singer), he is referring to self as a subject &
when an entity on which something is done, he is referring to self as an object.

There are several kinds of self which get formed as a result of our interactions
with our physical & socio-cultural environments:

PERSONAL SELF SOCIAL SELF

Leads to an orientation in which one Emerges in relation with other &

feels primarily concerned with oneself emphasizes such aspects of life such
emphasis is laid on those aspects of as co-operation, support, sharing etc.
life that relate only to the concerned
person. E.g. Personal Freedom

Thus, self defines the existence of an individual both at the personal & at social
levels.

Q. What is Personal & Social Identity?

A.
PERSONAL IDENTITY SOCIAL IDENTITY

Personal Identity refers to those Social identity refers to these aspects

attributes of a person that make of a person that link him/ her to a
him/her distance from others. social or cultural group or are derived
from it

eg.: when a person refers to his/ her eg.: when someone says that s/he is a
name, capabilities, qualities, beliefs, Hindu/ Muslim, a North/ South Indian
she is disclosing his/ her personal or a Brahmin/ Adivasi, S/he indicates
identity. to his/ her social identity.

Q. What do you understand by self a subject &object ?

A. Self can be described both as a subject as well as an object depending upon
the contexts or manner in which an individual describes self.

SUBJECT
When someone describes himself/ herself as an entity that does something,
self is considered to be a subject. As a subject, it actively engages in the
process of knowing itself. E.g.: I am a Singer.

OBJECT
When someone describes himself/ herself as an entity on which something in
done, self is considered to be an object, it gets observed and comes to be
known. e.g. I cannot be taken advantage of easily.

Q. Describe the cognitive and behavioral aspects of self.

A. All of us carry within us a sense of who we are & what makes us different from
others. The various cognitive & behavioral aspects of self include:

1. SELF ESTEEM
As persons, we often make the judgment of our own value or worth. This
value judgment of a person about himself/ herself is called self esteem while
others may have low self esteem.

According to studies, children develop self esteem by -7- years of age in

social, academic & physical/ athletic competence also physical appearance.
Our capacity to view ourselves in terms of stable dispositions permit us to
 combine separate self evaluations into a psychological image of ourselves.
This is an overall sense of self esteem.

2. SELF EFFICACY
It’s a cognitive component of self. Self efficacy refers to one’s effectiveness
in achieving one’s life outcomes. It is an individual’s beliefs about his/ her
own capabilities to get success in specific situation.

The notion of self efficacy is based on Bandura’s social learning theory.

People’s expectations of mastery/ achievement & their convictions about
their own effectiveness determine the behavior they world engage in & the
amount of risk they would undertake also determines this.

Self efficacy can be developed and a strong sense of it allows us to select,

influence & construct the circumstances of our life.

3. SELF REGULATION
It’s the behavioral component of self. Self regulation is the ability to organize
& monitor one’s own behavior. People able to change their behavior
according to the demands of the external environment are high in this. Self
regulation also leads to self control i.e. learning to deter or delay the
qualification of our needs. It plays a key role in fulfilling long term goals i.e.
self regulation is one’s ability to say “No”.

Q. Give an outline of the psychological techniques of self control.

A. There are a number of psychological techniques that allow an individual to have
control over their behavior i.e. have self control. These are:

(i) OBSERVATION OF OWN BEHAVIOUR

This provides us with those information which are somewhat necessary
to be used to change, modify or strengthen certain concepts of self.

(ii) SELF INSTRUCTION

We often instruct ourselves to do something & behavior the way we want
to. Such instructions are quite effective in self-regulation.

(iii) SELF REINFORCEMENT

 It involves rewarding behaviors that have pleasant outcomes. Eg.: if we
do well in exams, we might go to see a movie with friends.

These techniques have been tried out and found quite effective with
respect to self control& self –regulation.

Q. “Aspects of self seem to be linked to the characteristic features of one’s

culture” comment.

A. Several aspects of self esteem to be linked to the characteristic features of the

culture in which an individual lives. Analysis of self, carried out in the Indian
Cultural context reveals a number of important features, distinct from those
formed in the west. The most important is the distinction between Indian &
western boundaries between self & other.

(i) In the western view, this boundary is relatively fixed. On the other hand,
the Indian view of self is characterized by the shifting nature. At one
point, Indian self expands to include others & at another point, it’s
focused fully on individual self.

(ii) The western view seems to have clear dichotomies between self & other,
Man & nature, subjective & objective. The Indian view does not make
such clear dichotomies.

(iii) In the Western culture, self & the group exist as two different entities with
clearly defined boundaries. Individual members of the group maintain
the individuality. In the Indian culture, self is generally not separated
from one’s own group, rather, both harmoniously co-exist. In the west,
they often remain at a distance.

Therefore, many western cultures are characterized as individualistic, whereas

many Asian cultures are characterized as collectivistic.

Q. What is personality ? What are it’s characteristics ?

A Personality refers to our characteristic ways of responding to individuals and
situations. In some cases, it also refers to the unique & stability qualities that
characterize an individual’s behavior across different situations over a period of
time. In short, the relatively enduring characteristics of an individual that make
 him/her different from others is personality. It is characterized by the following
features :

1) It has both physical & psychological components.

2) It’s expression in terms of behavior is fairly unique in a given individual.
3) It’s main feature do not easily change with time.
4) It is dynamic in the sense that some of it’s features may change due to
internal or external situational demands.

Thus, personality is adaptive to situations.

Q. Describe in detail the various type approaches to understand personality.

A. In recent years, Friedman & Rosenman have classified people into Type-A &
Type-B personalities. They were trying to identify the psychological risk factors
when they discovered these types

TYPE A:
People of this type have personalities which seem to possess high motivation,
Lace Patience, are in a hurry, feel short of time & are always burdened with
work & find it difficult to relax.
They are more susceptible to hypertension & coronary heart disease (CHD).
Risks of developing CHD is greater is a person has high BP, Cholesterol levels
or smoking habits.

TYPE B:
These traits can be understood as a absence of Type A traits. People of this
type are easygoing, non-competitive and have a relaxed lifestyle.

TYPE C:
People of this type are prone to cancer. Individuals characterized by this
personality are cooperative, patient & unassertive. They suppress negative
emotions (eg. Anger) & show compliance to authority.

TYPE D:
More recently, a TYPE-D personality has been suggested, which is
characterized by proneness to depression.

Q. Give a detailed outline of the various trait approach to study personality.

A A number of psychologists have used traits to formulate their theories of
personality. Some of them are :

• ALLPORT’s TRAIT THEORY :

Allport argued that the words people use to describe themselves A& others
provide a basis for understanding human personality. Based on this, Allport
came out with Cardinal, Central & Secondary traits.

CARDINAL :
Highly generalized dispositions, Indicate a goal around which an entire life
seems to revolve. Eg.: Hitler’s, Nazism, Gandhi’s Ahimsa

CENTRAL :
Less pervasive in effect but still quite generalized dispositions are called
central traits. Used for writing a testimonial or job application for a person.

SECONDARY :
Least generalized characteristics of a person are called secondary traits.
Eg.: likes mangoes, prefers pink clothes.

• CATTELL : PERSONALITY FACTORS

Raymond Cattell believed that there is a common structure on which people

differ from each other it’s empirically determined. He applied a statistical
technique known as Factor Analysis to discover the common structures. He
found :

SOURCE TRAITS :
There are 16 primary/ source traits that the considered to be the building
blocks of personality. Cattell described source traits in terms of opposing
tendencies.

SURFACE TRAITS :
These result due to interaction between source traits.

He developed the sixteen personality factor (16 PF) for assessment of

personality.
 • EYSENCK’S THEORY:
H.J. Eysenck proposed that personality can be reduced into 2 broad
dimensions with their specific traits i.e. biologically and genetically based.
The traits are :

• NEUROTICISM V/S EMOTIONAL STABILITY :

Degree to which a person has control over his/ her feelings. At one extreme,
there are neurotic people who are touchy, anxious, moody etc. At the other
extreme are people who are calm even tempered, reliable and remain under
control.

• EXTRAVERSION V/S INTROVERSION

Degree to which people are socially outgoing or withdrawn. At one extreme
are active, twill-seeking, impulsive & gregarious people. At the other end
are passive, quiet, cautious & reserved people.

• PSYCHOTICISM V/S SOCIABILITY

It’s considered to interact with the other & dimensions mentioned above. A
person who scores high on psychoticism is hostile, egocentric & anti social.
Eysenck personality questionnaire is the test used for studying these
dimensions of personality.

Q Highlight the post-Freudian approaches.

A Post Freudian psychologists are those psychologists who separated
themselves from Freud on two basis issues :

• Biological determinism i.e. life instinct 8 death instinct regulate human

behavior.
• Freud’s emphasis on libido as a source of energy.

(i) CARL JUNG

Jung developed his own theory i.e. analytical psychology. His basis
assumption was that personality consists of competing forces within
the individual rather than between individuals. According to Jung,
individual’s aim & aspirations are the source of energy. The
proposed a concept of collective unconsciousness i.e. inherited part
of the unconscious. It consists of:
 PREMORDIALIMAGES :
These are not individually acquired but inherited. E.g. Concept of
God.

These gave less prominent role to sexual & aggressive tendencies of

the ID & expended the concept of EGO. They emphasized human
qualities like creativity, Libido is not the energy source.

(ii) ALFRED ADLER

Adler developed a theory known as Individual Psychology.

Basis Assumption : Human behavior is purposeful & goal directed.

Personal Goals : Source of our motivation like domain & status.

Provide us security & help us in overcoming feelings of inadequacy/
inferiority.

According to Adler, every individual suffers from the feelings of

inferiority which arise during childhood. Overcoming this inferiority is
essential for optimum personality development.

(iii) KAREN HORNEY

* She said we are social beings and adopted the optimistic view of
human life with emphasis on human growth &self actualization.
* Horney was opposed to Freud’s gende4r discrimination according
to her, each sex has equal attributes & gender differences are
socially determined, not biologically.
* She argued that psychological disorders were caused by
disturbed interpersonal relationships during childhood.
* Due to faulty learning practices, the child develops basis anxiety
which leads to feeling of isolation & helplessness among children
& interferes with their healthy development.

(iv) ERICH FROMM

* From viewed human beings as social beings who could be
understood in terms of their relationship with others.
 * He argued that psychological qualities like growth and self
utilization occur from a desire of freedom and striving for truth &
justice.
* According to him personality develops from our experiences with
other individuals.

(v) ERIK ERIKSON

* Erikson believed that personality development is a continuous
social process.
* he gave the concept of identity during adolescence. His theory
stresses on rational, conscious ego processes in personality
development.
* He proposed 8 stages of development on the basis of psycho-
social development. Development starts at the process of
conception till death.

Q. Briefly describe cultural, behavioral & humanistic approach.

A BEHAVIORAL APPROACH :
• This approach does not give importance to the internal dynamics of
behavior.
• The behaviorists believe in data, which they feel are definably observable &
measurable.
• They focus on learning of stimulus response connections and their
reinforcement.
• According to them personality can be best understood as the response of
an individual to the environment.
• A person learns new behaviors in response to new stimuli & environments.
• Your most behaviorist, the structural unit of personality is response.
• Each response is a behavior, which is omitted to satisfy a specific need.
• The core tendency that organizes behavior is the reduction of biological or
social need that energize behavior.
• This is accomplished by response behavior that are reinforced.

CULTURAL APPROACH
• Attempts to understand personality in relation to the features of ecological
& cultural environment.
• A group’s economic maintenance system plays a vital role in the origin of
cultural & behavior & variations.
• Climatic conditions, nature of the terrain & availability of flora & found in it
determine people’s settlement pattern, social structures, labour division &
other features like child rearing practices.
• People’s skills abilities, behavioral styles & value priorities are viewed as
strongly linked to these features.
• Rituals, ceremonies, religious practices, arts, games, plays & recreational
activities projects people’s personality in a culture.
• Thus the cultural approach considers personality as an adaptation of
individuals or groups to demands of their ecology & culture.

HUMANISTIC APPROACH :
• Developed in response to Freud’s theory. Carl Rogers & Abraham Maslow
have particularly contributed to the development of humanistic perspective
on personality.
• Rogers believes that fulfillment is the motivating force for personal
development
• People try to express their talents, capabilities & potentials to the fullest
extent possible.
• There is an inborn tendency in people that directs them to actualize their
inherited nature.
• According to Rogers, behavior is goal directed & worthwhile. People will
almost always choose adaptive, self actualizing behavior.
• This theory is structured around the concept of self. The theory assumes
that people are constantly engaged in the process of actualizing their true
self.
• Roger’s basic principle-people have tendency to maximize self concept
through self actualize.
• Rogers views personality development as a continuous process which
involves learning to evaluate oneself & mastering the process of self-
actualization.
• He recognizes the role of social influences in the development of self
concept. People high on this are generally flexible & often open to new
experiences so they continue to grow &self actualize.
• This situation leads to an atmosphere of unconditional positive regard which
must be created in order to ensure enhancement of people’s self concept.
 • The Humanistic approach emphasizes the significance of positive life
aspects.

Q What is personality Assessment ? Describe the self report measures to

understand personality.

A A formal effort aimed at understanding individual personality is termed as

personality Assessment.

It refers to the procedures used to evaluate people on the basis of certain

characteristics. The goal is to understand and predict behavior with minimum
error & maximum accuracy. Psychologists have tried to assess personality in
various ways. The most commonly used techniques are :

Like Hypochondria, Depression, Hysteria etc.

• It has two sets MMPI-I and MMPI-II
a) Psychometric Tests c) Projective Techniques
b) Self report measures d) Behavioral Analysis

Various self Report Measures are : They are structured and direct measures.

(i) Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

o Developed by Hathaway & Mckinley as a tool for Psychiatric
diagnosis & it identifies varieties of Psychopathology.
o Has 567 statements which the subject has to label ‘True’ or ‘False’
for him/ her. The test is divided into 10 subscales. This test helps in
clinical diagnose of various mental disorders.

(ii) Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ)

o Developed by Eysenck, it initially assessed 2 dimensions of
personality, introverted-extraverted & emotionally stable –
emotionally unstable.
o These dimensions are characterized by 32 personality traits. Later
on, Eysenck added 3rd dimension, called psychoticism.
o It’s linked to Psychopathology that represents a lack of feeling for
others, a tough manner of interacting with people & a tendency to
defy social conventions.
o Person high on this tends to be hostile, egocentric & anti-social.
 (iii) SIXTEEN PERSONALITY FACTOR (16 PF)
o Developed by Cattell. It provides us with declarative statements &
the subject responds to a specific situation by choosing from a set of
given alternatives.
o It has been found extremely useful in career guidance, vocational
exploration & occupational testing.

SOCIAL DESIRABILITY
Respondent’s tendency to endorse items in a socially desirable manner.

ACQUIESENCE
Subject tendency to agree with items or questions irrespective of their contents.

Their tendencies render the assessment of personality less reliable.

Q. “Projective Techniques were developed to access unconscious motives

& feelings” Explain.

A. Projective Techniques are the indirect method to access were developed to

assess unconscious motives & feelings.
(i) These techniques are based on the assumption that a less structured or
unstructured stimulus or situation will allow the individual to project his/
her feelings, desires & needs onto that situation.
(ii) A variety of projective techniques have been developed they use various
kinds of stimulus materials & situations for assessing personality.
(iii) Some of them require reporting association with stimuli, some involve
story writing around pictures, some require sentence completions, some
require expression through drawings & some require choice of stimuli
from a large set of stimuli.
(iv) While the nature of stimuli & responses very enormously all of them do
share the following features:
o Stimuli are relatively or fully unstructured & poorly defined.
o The person being assessed is usually not bold about the purpose of
assessment & the method of scoring & interpretation.
o Person is informed that there are no correct or incorrect responses.
o Each person is considered to reveal a significant aspect of
personality
o Scoring and interpretation are lengthy and sometimes subjective
cannot be scored objectively.
Q. Explain the Psychodynamic Theory in detail.

A. One of the most comprehensive approaches to personality and it’s

development was formulated by Sigmund Freud.
• According to him behavior is determined by the interplay of events and
conflict within the inner life of the individual is central to this approach.

Following are the postulates of psychoanalytic theory:

(i) LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS : Freud compared the human mind to
an ice berg.
o The small part that shows above the surface of the water is
conscious. It is an individual’s awareness. Beneath the conscious
realm is the much larger pre conscious which contains information
that is not currently on our mind but we could bring it into
consciousness if called upon to do so.
o Finally beneath the preconscious and forming the back of the iceberg
below the water is the unconscious which is a storehouse of desires,
impulses and in accessible memories which affect our thought and
behavior.

(ii) STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY : Freud divided personality into three

major systems – ID, Ego and Super ego, that interact to govern human
behavior .

ID : ID is the most primitive part of the personality, it is the storehouse of

all basic primitive needs. Id works on pleasure principle and seeks
immediate gratification of the impulses.

EGO : Ego is the reality based aspect of self. IT develops out of Id. It is
governed by the reality principle- the gratification of impulses must be
delayed until the situation is appropriate.

SUPER EGO :It is the inner voice of thought and should not. It is the
values and morals of society and comprises the individuals conscience.

(iii) EGO-DEFENSE MECHANISM : When conflicts among ID, Ego and the
super Ego are not resolved then the ego experiences anxiety, intense
 feeling of nervousness, tension and worry. According to Freud the ego
uses defense mechanism for the maintenance of self.

o Repression : Anxiety provoking behaviors or thoughts are totally

dismissed by the unconscious.
o Regression : It occurs when a person’s resolution of problems at any
stage of development is less than adequate.
o Displacement : Redirection of an impulse towards a less threatening
or safer target.
o Projection : People attribute their own traits to others.
o Denial : A person totally refuses to accept reality.
o Reaction formation : A person tries to make unreasonable feelings or
behavior seem reasonable and acceptable.

(iv) STAGES OF PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT :

According to Freud there are 5 stages of Psychosexual development.
o The core aspects of personality are established early, remain stable
throughout life, and can be changed only with great difficulty.
o Problems encountered at any stage may arrest development, and
have long term effect on a person’s life.

Stage Age Pleasure Development

seeking
center
Oral Infancy Mouth Basic feelings about the worked area
(feeding, established.
thumb
sucking)
Anal 2-3 yrs Anus i) Learns to respond to demands of
experience society.
pleasure in ii) Basis for conflict between Id
moving their (babyish pleasure) & the ego
bowels) (demand for adult controlled
behavior)

Phallic 4-5 Phallus i) Begin to realize the differences

b/w males and females
 ii) Become aware of sexuality &
sexual relationship b/w their
parents.

Latency 7- Puberty i) Grows physically but sexual urges

are relatively inactive.
ii) Energy is channeled into social or
achievement related activities.

Genital Puberty + Genitals i) Attains maturity in psychosexual

development
ii) Sexuality, fears and impressed
feelings of earlier stages are once
again exhibited.
iii) Learn to deal with members of the
opp. Sex in a socially & sexually
mature way.

PHALLIC STAGTE :

OEDIPUS COMPLEX (MALE) ELECTRA COMPLEX (FEMALE)

Love for the mother, hostility towards Attaches her love to the father &their to
the father & fear of punishment or symbolically marry him & raise a family.
castration by the father.
Accepts his father’s relationship with Identifies with her mother & copies her
his mother & models his own behavior behavior as a means of getting (or
after his father sharing in) her father’s affection.

• Failure of a child to pass successfully through a stage leads to fixation to

that stage

Q. Briefly describe my 3 techniques of behavior analysis with limitations.

A. Personality of a person can be accessed through a behavioral analysis by using
observation report which contains data from the following.

• OBSERVATION :
It is a sophisticated method and cannot be carried out by untrained people.
It required careful training of the observer.

LIMITATION :
o Professional training required for collection of data.
o It is a time consuming method.
o Maturity of the psychologist necessary for obtaining valid data.
o Presence of the observer may lead to contaminated result and
manipulation of information.

• BEHAVIORAL RATING
o Used to assess personality in educational & industrial settings.
o They put people in categories in terms of their behavioral qualities
which may involve different numbers or descriptive terms.
o The statement rating scales may create confusion i.e. traits should
be clearly defined.
o For the success of raters familiarity of the event is important.

Limitation :
o Halo Effect: Raters often display certain biases that colour their
judgments of different traits.
o Raters have a tendency to place individual either in the middle of the
scale C middle category bias) or extreme positions (extreme category
bias)

• NOMINATION :
o Used to obtain peer assessment.
o Each person is asked to choose one or more person of the group
with whom s/he likes to work, study, play etc.
o The choosers are asked for reasons for her/ his choice.
o In tells us about the behavior qualities of the person

Limitation :
It may be affected by personal biases.
 Self And Personality
1 MARKERS

Que 1. Name the psychologist who classified personality into introverts and extroverts.
Ans 1.H.J.Eysenck

Que 2. ___________ have been devised as one of the methods for uncovering
unconscious motives.
Ans 2. Projective Tests

Que 3. The ego is dominated by the _________ principle.

Ans 3. Reality Principle

Que 4. The id is dominated by the __________ principle.

Ans 4. Pleasure Principle.

Que 5. ___________ refers to any characteristic way in which one individual

differs from others in a relatively permanent way.
Ans 5. Trait

Que 6. Which of the personality inventories is based on the method of empirical

construction rather than factor analysis?
Ans 6. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

Que 7. ____________ is the original source if personality present in a new born

baby.
Ans 7. Id

Que 8. Name the system of the internalized representation of values and morals
of society taught to the children by parents.
Ans 8. Superego

Que 9. ____________ refers to the characteristic pattern of behaviour and way of

thinking that determines a person's adjustment to his/her environment.
Ans 9. Personality

Que 10. Give another name for "Projective Tests".

Ans 10. Unstructured Tests.
Que 11. Freud described ____________ as a royal road to the unconscious.
Ans 11. Dream

Que 12. Name any two erogenous zones as proposed by Freud.

Ans 12. * The mouth
* The anus

Que 13. Sexual energy that underlines the biologically based urges is called
____________.
Ans 13. Libido.

Que 14. Name the scale which measures Anxiety, Hostility, Hallucination, Phobia
and Suicide.
Ans 14. MMPI

Que 15. Who does the "executive function" of the person as proposed by Freud?
Ans 15. Ego

Que 16. Name the complexes as proposed by Freud.

Ans 16. * Oedipus Complex in Boys
* Electra Complex in Girls

Que 17. According to Freud, ____________ is the fundamental way of reducing

anxiety caused by conflict.
Ans 17. Defence Mechanism

Que 18. Give the full form of DAPT?

Ans 19. Draw A Person Test

Que 19. What is the other name for 'Social self'?

Ans 19. Familial or Relational Self

Que 20. Who proposed the notion of self efficiency on the basis of learning theory?
Ans 20. Bandura

Que 21. What does the word "Persona" mean?

Ans 21. The Latin word 'Persona' means 'Mask'
Que 22. What are the Western and Indian perspectives on personality?
Ans 22. Individualistic & Collectivistic

Que 23. __________ is the approach of personality which emphasizes on the

broad pattern in observed behavioural characteristics of an individual.
Ans 23. Type

Que 24. Who proposed Type A and type B personalities?

Ans 24. Friedman and Rosenman

Que 25. Write the full form of CHD.

Ans 25. Coronary Heart Disease

Que 26. __________ is the approach that holds situational characteristics play an
important role in determining our behaviour.
Ans 26. Interactional

Que 27. Who proposed Type C personality?

Ans 27. Morris

Que 28. Who proposed Source-Trait and Surface-Trait?

Ans 28. Raymond Cattell

Que 29. Name the therapeutic approach as proposed by Freud.

Ans 29. Psychodynamic Approach

Que 30. What are the 2 instinctual forces of Id?

Ans 30. Life instinct & Death instinct

Que 31. __________ is the tendency of the subject to agree with the question
irrespective of its context.
Ans 31. Acquiescence

Que 32. Who proposed the concept of Fully functioning person and client centerd
therapy?
Ans 32. Carl Rogers

Que 33. Who proposed self actualisation?

Ans 33. Maslow
Que 34. Who proposed the concept of identity crisis?
Ans 34. Erik Erickson

Que 35. Who proposed individual psychology?

Ans 35. Alfred Adler

Que 36. Name the psychologist who proposed personality types on the basis of
body built and temperament.
Ans 36. Sheldon

Que 37. Who proposed collective unconscious?

Ans 37. Carl Jung

Que 38. Give examples of Archetypes.

Ans 38. * God
* Mother Earth

Que 39. Who developed Thematic Apperception Test?

Ans 39. Morgan & Murray

Que 40. Who made the Indian Adaptation of TAT?

Ans 40. Uma Choudhary

Que 41. __________ serves as the basis of behavioral analysis.

Ans 41. Obesvation

Que 42. Freud believed that if a child's need at one of the psychosexual stages are
either unsatisfied or oversatisfied __________ would take place.
Que 42. Fixation

Que 43. ___________ is the highest level of ego defence.

Ans 43. Sublimation

Que 44. According to Jung, ___________ are inherited ways of organising or

reaction to our experiences with the world.
Ans 44. Archetypes

Que 45. A device for recording judgements about a trait is called a __________.
Ans 45. Rating Scale

Que 46. A person's resolution of problems at any stage of development less than
the adequate demonstrates "Regression". True/False?
Ans 46. True

Que 47. An individual is rejected in a job interview, he claims that his present job
is better. he is using ____________.
Ans 47. Reaction Formation.

Que 48. Attributes of a person that make him/her different from others are reflected
to as his ___________ identity.
Ans 48. Personal

Que 49. Aspects of a person that link him to social or cultural groups are called his
________ identity.
Ans 49. Social

Que 50. A cancer prone pattern characterised by unassertiveness and lack of

expression. It is ___________ Type of personality.
Ans 50. Type C

Que 51. This stage occurs in response to the efforts of parents to toilet-train their
children.
Ans 51. Anal Stage

Que 52. The notion of self efficiency is based on Bandura's Theory. True/false?
Ans 52. True

Que 53. Collective in unconscious is the inherited part of unconscious.

True/False?
Ans 53. True

Que 54. A student is not selected for the school basket ball team. She claims that
she is happy as it would give her time to prepare for the term examination
and score a good grade. She is using which defence?
Ans 54. Reaction formation
Que 55. Risk taking and fearlessness are the characteristics of self efficiency.
True/False?
Ans 55. True.

Que 56. Judgement about our value or worth is called ________.

Ans 56. Self Esteem

Que 57. At what age is self esteem formed?

Ans 57. Self esteem is formed at 6 or 7 years.

Que 58. _____________ is an ability to organise and monitor our own behaviour.
Ans 58. Self regulation

Que 59. Learning to delay or defer the gratification of needs is called ___________.
Ans 59. Self Control

Que 60. __________ Type personality are more prone to depression than the rest.
Ans 60. Type D

Que 61. Who proposed the Five Factor Model of Personality?

Ans 61. Paul Costa And Robert McCrae

Que 62. Name the therapeutic procedure developed by Freud.

Ans 62. Psychoanalysis

Que 63. Feeling of inadequacy and guilt is called __________.

Ans 63. Inferiority Complex

Que 64. __________ tests provide us with information about how a person
behaves under stressful situations.
Ans 64. Situational Tests

Que 65. Frustration - Aggression hypothesis is a famous hypothesis proposed by

_____________.
Ans 65. Dollard and Miller

Que 66. Non-Projective tests are also known as __________.

Ans 66. Structured Test
 SELF AND PERSONALITY
ASSIGNMENT-1

Learning Checks
1. Which one of the following psychologist name is associated with personality
dimension of introversion and extroversion?
(a) Eysenck (b) Murray
(c) Cattell (d) Sheldon
2. An individual is rejected in a job interview; he claims that his present job is
better. He is using ______________ .
(a) Projection (b) Regression
(c) Reaction formation (d) Rationalization
3. A student who believes that he has the ability to excel in sports demonstrates
high _____________ .
(a) Self regulation (b) Self efficacy
(c) Self esteem (d) Self confidence
4. One of the earliest personality theories attempted to classify individuals into
personality types on the basis of body build was given by
(a) Kretschmer (b) Sheldon
(c) Freud (d) Both (a) and (b)
5. ___________ refers to any characteristic in which one individual differs from
another in a relatively permanent and consistent way.
(a) Personality (b) Trait
(c) Humanistic (d) Concept
6. A device for recording judgments about a trait is called
(a) Variable (b) Rating scale
(c) Inventory (d) Hypothesis
7. The __________ is the original source of personality, present in the new born
infant
(a) Id (b) Ego
(c) Superego (d) None of the above
8. The ego obeys the ____________ principle.
(a) Pleasure (b) Reality
(c) Moral (d) Perfection
9. The method of reducing anxiety called ___________ is to push the impulse out
of awareness into the unconscious.
(a) Regression (b) Repression
(c) Suppression (d) Ration
10. ______________has devised as one method for uncovering unconscious
motives.
(a) Inventory (b) Projective tests
(c) Behavioral assessment (d) Situational tests
11. Projective tests are also called
(a) Depth methods (b) Unstructured tests
(c) Self report inventories (d) Both (a) and (b)
12. The term projective technique was first used by
(a) Back (b) Murray
(c) Frank (d) Hertz
13. According to dynamic theorists people use __________ to reduce their anxiety
and guilt.
(a) Unconscious (b) Defense Mechanisms
(c) Dreams (d) Traits
14. According to Jung __________ are inherited ways of organizing or reacting to
our experience with the world.
(a) Collective unconscious (b) Archetypes
(c) Personal unconscious (d) Complex
15. A phenomenological theorist who emphasized on the development of the self
was ___________ .
(a) Richard Walter (b) Abraham Maslow
(c) Skinner (d) Albert Bandura
16. Sexual feelings towards the parents of opposite sex in boys according to Freud
is
(a) Electra complex (b) Oedipus complex
(c) Fixation (d) Identification
17. Which of the following approaches of personality emphasize on going
interaction among motives, impulses and psychological processes?
(a) Type and Trait approach (b) Dynamic approach
(c) Learning and behavioral approaches (d) Humanistic approaches
18. ____________ defines personality “as the dynamic organization within the
individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique
adjustment to his environment”.
19. Frustration – Aggression is a very famous hypothesis proposed by
(a) Rogers (b) Dollard and Miller
(c) Maslow (d) Sternberg
20. Freud used the term ______________ to refer to unconscious process that
defined a person against anxiety.
(a) Libido (b) Defense Mechanism
 (c) Psychological stages (d) None of the above
21. The mother of an unwanted child may feel guilty about, so becomes
overindulgent and over protective of the child in order to assure the child of her
love and to assume herself that she is a good mother. This is an example of
(a) Displacement (b) Reaction Formation
(c) Projection (d) Denial of reality
22. Who among the following believed that repression of certain childhood impulses
is universal?
(a) Jung (b) Adler
(c) Freud (d) Horney
23. Adler’s theory is known as
(a) Individual psychology (b) Humanistic Theory
(c) Psychodynamic Theory (d) None of these
24. A person resolution of problems at any stage of development less than the
adequate, demonstrates regression. True/False.
25. Which of the following psychologist name is associated with personality
dimensions of introversion and extroversion?
(a) Eysenck (b) Murray
(c) Cattell (d) Sheldon

SELF AND PERSONALITY

1. What is self?
2. Differentiate between personal identity and social identity.
3. What is personality? What are the main approaches to the study of personality?
4. How does Indian notion of self differ from the western notion?
5. Write a short note on the cognitive and behavioral aspect of self?
6. What is trait approach to personality? How does it differ from type approach?
7. Explain Eysenck’s dimensions of personality?
8. Explain type approaches to cognitive personality.
9. Explain psychodynamic approach of personality.
10. What is defense mechanism? Explain the types of defenses used in everyday
life.
11. Explain Roger’s idea of humanistic approach.
12. What are the various stages of psychosexual development - Explain?
13. Discuss the post – Freudian approaches.
14. How does behavioral approach explain personality?
15. What are the levels of consciousness as proposed by Freud?
16. Mention the observation methods and its limitations.
17. What is meant by structured personality tests? Mention two widely used
structured personality tests.
18. Explain projective techniques of personality.
19. How is TAT assessed?
20. Discuss the limitations of self-report measures.
21. What are situational stress tests?
22. What is personality assessment? Mention the different techniques of
personality assessment.

Questions
1. What is humanistic approach of personality?
2. Who is a healthy person?
3. What is basic anxiety according to Horney?
4. What is self-actualisation?
5. Name few post – Freudians.
6. What is unconditional positive regard?
7. What is Oedipus complex and Electra complex?
8. Mention the Five – Factor model of personality.
9. What is the difference between Type – A and Type – B personality?
10. Given an example of archetypes.

Analytical Questions
1. Allport and Cattell stated a unified view of a person through trait approach of
personality – Make a comparative study of their respective contributions in
understanding personality.
2. “Personality is an adaptation of individuals on groups to the demands of ecology
and culture. Discuss the approach that supports this factor of personality.
3. “Unconditional positive regard” enhances ones self-concept – Discuss the
theory which highlights this aspect of personality.
4. ‘Observation of own behaviors’ is one of the techniques of self-regulation –
mention the other techniques that enhance self-regulation.
❖❖❖

ASSIGNMENT-2

A. Questions for 1 marks.

1. When a person tries to make unreasonable feelings seem reasonable and
acceptable, it is known as _______________________
2. ______________ and______________ are two important methods of eliciting
intrapsychic conflicts in psychoanalysis.
3. In Projection, as a defense mechanism, a person defends against adopting
behaviours opposite to his/her true feelings. True / False.
4. Mr. Sharma refuses to accept that he has been diagnosed as suffering from
Cancer. He is using _______________ as defense mechanism.
5. A person who believes that the can shape his/her own life,
demonstrates_________

6. Match the theorist-

Sigmund Freud Behaviourism
Sheldon Humanistic Approach
Bandura Psychoanalysis
Rogers Type Approach

7. _____________________ refers to any characteristic in which an individual

differs from another in relatively permanent way.
a) Personality b) Trait c) Concept
8. Id obeys the __________________ principle.
9. Carl Jung's theory of personality is known as_________________
a) Individual Psychology b) Optimistic Psychology

10. Who proposed the idea of fully functioning person ?

11. The 16PF test was developed by

a) Allport b) Eysenck c) Murray d) Cattell

12. Which of the following techniques assess unconscious motives and feelings ?
A) Self Report b) Projective Techniques c) Behavioural Analysis

13. The theory of mental abilities was proposed by whom ?

14. Who among the following psychologist classified personalities as introverts and
extroverts ?
a) Freud b) Sheldon c) Jung d) Erikson
15. A student who believes that the has the ability to excel in sports demonstrates
high a) Self Regulation b) Self Esteem c) Self Efficacy d) Self Confidence

16. Failure of a child to pass successfully through any stage of psychosexual

development leads to _______________________

17. A person's resolution of problems at any stage of development less than the
adequate, demonstrates aggression. True/ False
18. Give an example of latency stage of psychosexual development.

19. Checking one's own impulses and managing oneself is

a) discretion b) Caution c) Self Control

B. Questions for 2 marks

21. Explain the structure of personality given by Sigmund Freud.
22. Explain any two factors of five factor theory.
23. What are Archetypes ? Give example.
24. State two main differences between type and trail approach.
25. Define Personality.
26. What is Social identity. Give example.
27. What is a self concept
28. State any two techniques of Self Regulation
29. State the level of consciousness as given by Sigmund Freud.
30. Give characteristics of Extroverts.
31. What Is Self Actualisation ?
32. Define Self Esteem.
33. How is type - a personality different from type - b personality ?
34. What are Cardinal Traits ?
35. Define Neuroticism. Give example.
36. Compare and Contrast Life instinct and Death instinct.
37. What is a Libido ?
38. Explain Collective Unconscious with example.
39. Define Oedipus Complex with Example.
40. Define Electra Complex with an example.
41. State any two neurotic needs as given by Karen Horney in her theory of
personality.
42. Define inferiority Complex.
43. What is Response ?
44. State any two characteristics of a healthy person.
45. What is a Personality Assessment ?
46. Write a short note on Sentence Completion Test.
47. How is structured interview different from unstructured interview ?
48. What, is Halo Effect ?
49. Define Defense Mechanisms.
50. Explain Situational Tests.

C. Questions for 3 and 4marks

51. Explain Behavioural ratings in Assessment of Personality.
52. Differentiate between Naturalistic and Participant Observation.
53. How has Adler viewed Personality ? Explain.
54. State the characteristics of individuals with Type - A and Type - B personality.
55. Compare and Contrast between the Indian and Western concept of Self.
56. Explain in detail the personality types proposed by Sheldon.
57. Describes the behavioural approach with example with respect to Personality
Development.
58. Describe the hierarchical theory given by Abraham Maslow emphasizing upon
Self Actualisation.
59. Define the Kinds of defense mechanisms that an individual adopts to prevent
himself from anxiety as Sigmund Freud.
60. Describe in detail the behavioural techniques for assessment of Personality.

Questions for 6 marks

61. Explain the structure of personality as proposed by Freud.

62. Compare Horney’s explanation of depression with that of Alfred Adler.

63. Discuss type approaches to the study of personality.
64. Describe in detail the various stages of personality development as proposed
by Freud.

BOARD QUESTIONS
Q1.Explain regression.giving examples.(2marks-2008)
Q2.Distinguish between trait and type approaches to personality.Give suitable
examples.(6marks-2008)
Q3.State the techniques of assessing personality.Explain briefly any two projective
techniques with examples.(6marks-2008)
Q4.Explain the term personal identity.(2marks-2009+2011)
Q5.What are defense mechanisms?(3marks-2009)
Q6.State any four methods used for psychological assessment.Explain self report
measures method.(4marks-2009+2015))
Q7.How do the type and trait approaches to personality differ?(4marks-2009+2015)
Q8.Explain the term social identity.(2marks-2009+2011))
Q9.State the characteristics of individuals with Type-A personality.(3marks-
2009+2010+2017))
Q10.Explain behavior ratings in assessment of personalities.(4marks-2009+2014))
Q11.What are projective techniques?State any two techniques.(4marks-2010)
Q12.Explain the humanistic perspective on personality.(4marks-2010)
Q13.Differentiate between personal self and social self giving examples.(4marks-
2010)
Q14.Give two limitations of behavior ratings.(4marks-2010)
Q15.Describe the assumptions of projective techniques to assess
personality.(4marks-2010)
Q16.Define Personality.(2marks-2013)Explain assessment of personality using
behavioral analysis.(6marks-2011+2015))
Q17.What do you understand by delay of gratification?Discuss the techniques used
for self control.(6marks-2011)
Q18.Discuss any two self-report measures of assessing personality.(4marks-2012)
Q19.Explain humanistic approach to personality.(4marks-2012+2013))
Q20.Explain interactional approach of personality.(3marks-2013)
Q21.State the common features of projective techniques.Describe any one projective
technique.(6marks=2013)
Q22.What is meant by self actualization.(2marks-2014+2016))
Q23.How do Alfred Adler and Karen Horney explain personality
development?(4marks-2015)
Q24.Discuss Erikson’s concept of identity crisis(4marks-2016)
Q25.Explain the concept of of personalty. Describe the cultural approach to study
personality.(6marks-2017)
Q26.Discuss the observational method used in personality assessment.What
problems are faced in using these methods.(6marks=2017)
Q27.What did Carl Jung mean by collective unconscious.(3marks-2017)