Unit 11 – Personality
,What is Personality?
• Personality – the long-standing traits and patterns that propel
individuals to consistently think, feel, and behave in specific ways
• Our personalities are thought to be long term, stable, and not easily chang
,Freud & Psychodynamic Perspective
• Freud was the first to systematically study and theorize the workings of th
unconscious mind in the manner that we associate with modern psycholo
• Freud began working with Josef Breuer when he was told about Breuer’s
patient; Anna O
• Anna experienced symptoms of hysteria while caring for her dying father
felt better when she was able to talk about the experience with Breuer
• Freud thought it was repressed sexual abuse
• Breuer disagreed and they stopped working together
• But this kick-started the development of Freud’s theories of personality
, Conscious vs Unconscious
• Conscious – mental activity we are aware of and able to access
• Unconscious – mental activity of which we are unaware and are
unable to access
• Unacceptable urges and desires are kept in our unconscious through a
process called repression
• Freudian slip – saying things that we don’t intend to say by
unintentionally substituting another word for the one we meant.
• Freud suggested that slips of the tongue are actually sexual or aggressive
urges, accidentally slipping out of our unconscious
,What is Personality?
• Personality – the long-standing traits and patterns that propel
individuals to consistently think, feel, and behave in specific ways
• Our personalities are thought to be long term, stable, and not easily chang
,Freud & Psychodynamic Perspective
• Freud was the first to systematically study and theorize the workings of th
unconscious mind in the manner that we associate with modern psycholo
• Freud began working with Josef Breuer when he was told about Breuer’s
patient; Anna O
• Anna experienced symptoms of hysteria while caring for her dying father
felt better when she was able to talk about the experience with Breuer
• Freud thought it was repressed sexual abuse
• Breuer disagreed and they stopped working together
• But this kick-started the development of Freud’s theories of personality
, Conscious vs Unconscious
• Conscious – mental activity we are aware of and able to access
• Unconscious – mental activity of which we are unaware and are
unable to access
• Unacceptable urges and desires are kept in our unconscious through a
process called repression
• Freudian slip – saying things that we don’t intend to say by
unintentionally substituting another word for the one we meant.
• Freud suggested that slips of the tongue are actually sexual or aggressive
urges, accidentally slipping out of our unconscious
