Personality is the characteristic patterns
of behaviour, thought and emotion that
determine a person’s adjustment to the
environment
From the word “Persona” which means
mask

Assertion of person’s uniqueness or
distinctiveness from each other.
An observation of the relative stability or
consistency of behavioural tendencies across
time and across situation.

1. Psychoanalysis
2. Behaviorism
3. Phenomenological or Humanistic

Three Key figures of psychoanalytic
formulation of personality:
1. Personality is governed by unconscious
forces that we cannot control.
2. Childhood experiences play a significant
role in determining adult personality.
3. Personality is shaped by the manner in
which children cope with sexual urges.

1. The id is “ the primitive, instinctive component of
personality that operates according to the
pleasure principle”.
2. The ego is “the decision-making component of
personality that operates according to the reality
principle”.
3. The superego is “the moral component of
personality that incorporates social standards
about what represents right and wrong”.

 The id, ego and superego are arranged into
different levels of awareness:
1. Conscious Level
2. Preconscious Level
3. Unconscious Level

Defense Mechanisms are conflict
resolution strategies that the ego
uses; refers to people’s unconscious
way of dealing with conflict.

Defense Mechanism Description
Repression
 The most powerful Defense mechanism
 Pulling into the unconscious mind
Rationalization
 Occurs when the ego provides a good
reason for a behavior which is probably
not the real reason for it.
 creating false but believable excuses to
justify inappropriate behavior
Projection
 attributing one’s own unacceptable
feelings or beliefs to others; perceiving
the external world in terms of one’s own
personal conflicts.

Defense Mechanism Description
Reaction Formation
 Transformation of an unacceptable
impulse by giving expression to its
opposite
Denial
 claiming and believing that something
which is actually true is false.
 arguing against an anxiety provoking
stimuli by stating it doesn't exist
Displacement
 shift of unacceptable feelings from one
object to another, to a more acceptable
object

Defense Mechanism Description
Sublimation
 Type of displacement
 Occurs when the ego replaces an
unacceptable impulse with a socially
approved course of action
Regression
 Occurs when we revert back to the way
we used to behave as a younger person
 returning to a previous stage of
development

I. Freudian Psychoanalysis
— Freud believed that many of his adult patient’s
difficulties could be traced to problems they had in
their childhood, mostly having to do with resolving
sexual conflicts
Fixation – when an individual gets locked in an
earlier developmental stage because of under or
over-gratified needs.

I. Four Main Concerns of Criticism
1. Sexuality is not all that pervasive force behind
personality development
2. Development in the later years are just as
powerful in shaping personality as the first five years
of life

I. Four Main Concerns of Criticism
3. The development of the ego is not dependent
solely on what the id wants
4. Sociocultural factors play an important role in
personality development

Two Types of Unconscious
1. Personal Unconscious
— a storehouse of all past memories, hidden
instincts, and urges unique to a person
2. Collective Unconscious
— impersonal, deepest layer of the
unconscious mind, shared by all human beings
because of our common ancestral past

Archetype
— filter people’s perceptions and
experiences. These are images, symbols or
myths that are common among people
especially among cultural groups.
— emotionally charged images and
thought forms that have universal meaning”.

Examples of Archetypes:
The Passive
— anima (woman); man’s anima archetype may
represent the “femininity in men”
e.g. men can be sensitive, tender and nurturing
The Assertive
— animus (man); woman’s animus archetype may
represent the “masculinity in women”
e.g. woman can be strong, dominant and aggressive

Examples of Archetypes:
The Self
— usually expressed as a figure within a circle
The Shadow
— our darker, more evil and immoral self

Unconscious is not only one that can
direct our lives
An individual has the capacity to
consciously monitor and give direction
to his or her life
Social factors are more important than
sexual motivation

Compensation
— developing of one’s abilities in
order to overcome real or imagined
inferiors
“overcompensate” — trying to hide
weakness or is denying the existence of a
real situation of inferiority

Two Patterns of Overcompensation
Inferiority Complex
— exaggerated feelings of weakness and
inadequacy
Superiority Complex
— exaggerated self-importance, still
mainly to mask very strong feelings of
inferiority

Adler also believed that birth
order may contribute to
personality

Personality is Cultural rather than
biological.
The prime motivation among
humans is not sex or aggression but
the need for security.

Moving towards people (being dependent)
e.g. compliant type of personality
Moving away from people (becoming more
independent)
e.g. detached-type of personality
self reliant type

Moving against people (being aggressive)
e.g. aggressive/assertive type of
personality

I. The Associative Learning Approach
A. Ivan Pavlov and John Watson
Ivan Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning
John Watson’s Operate Conditioning
Stimulus-Response Approach or the
“black box” approach — need to be
known to understand his or her
behaviour.

I. The Associative Learning Approach
B. B.F. Skinner
Considered an individual’s
psychology simply a collection of
his/her observable and outward
behaviours, all of which were
learned through a series of reward
and punishment experiences

II. The Social Learning Theory Approach
Social Learning Theorist
— Behaviourist who see behaviour and
environment as key elements in the
understanding of personality

II. The Social Learning Theory Approach
A. Julian Rotter
Expectancy — belief of a person that
certain behaviors will probably lead to
attainment of important goals

II. The Social Learning Theory Approach
B. George Kelly
Personal Constructs — how the person
views and constructs the world as he or
she expresses it.
Kelly said that persons constantly
organize and assign meaning to their
experience

II. The Social Learning Theory Approach
C. Walter Mischel
Delay of Gratification — ability of an
individual to delay immediate satisfaction
for a more desirable outcome in the near
future

II. The Social Learning Theory Approach
D. Albert Bandura
Learning can take place even if the person were
not himself or herself reinforced or punished for a
behavior
Vicarious learning
“self efficacy”
- means that the individual believes that he or
she can master a situation so that it will lead to
positive outcomes

emphasizes the importance of an individual’s
phenomenology
Phenomenology — unique view of the world
held by a person (reality is what the individual
perceives)
Stress on our positive qualities, human
capacity for personal growth and freedom to
choose our own destiny

A. Carl Roger’s Approach
all person start out in life with positive feelings
about themselves which continually get eroded
by the significant persons in their perspective
worlds
A need for positive regard of self
Self concept — refers to the individual’s overall
perceptions of his or her abilities, behavior and
personality

Two types of self
1. Real Self – self as a result of
experiences
2. Ideal Self – self the person would
like to be

B. Abraham Maslow’s Approach
Two Forms of Needs:
1. Deficiency needs
2. Growth needs – (“metaneeds” or
“self-actualizing” needs)
All lower needs must be met first before
metaneeds can be addressed by the personality
When needs are not met, the individual may
become alienated, weak or cynical.

The Filipino Personality is best
understood in relation to both the
positive and negative values that
characterize the core of Filipino
Personality

1. Hiya — a kind of anxiety; the person is afraid
of being left exposed, unaccepted and
unprotected
2. Ningas-kugon — not able to sustain oneself
about something one has started
3. Mañana habit — the habit of procrastination

4. “Bahala na” — it implies one resignation to one’s
fate
5. Utang na Loob — debt of gratitude
6. SIR (Smooth interpersonal relationship)
a. Euphemisms
b. Pakikisama
c. Go-betweens

7. Hospitality — visitors are provided with all the
conveniences and comforts
8. Colonial Mentality — favoring an imported
product, idea, or practice, believing that these
products are superior than locally-made products
9. Palabra de honor — “word of honor”

10.Palakasan — using one’s connection to obtain
favors or expedite matters
11. Machismo — male supremacy; an
exaggerated sense of masculinity
12. Paggalang — respect to one’s elder’s or
superiors