Psychology of

personality
Dr. Ahmed Adel M. Abd Elgawad
MB. BCh medicine and surgery
Msc of neuropsychiatry
MD of psychiatry
Lecture of psychiatry Faculty of medicine Ain Shams University
Head of Psychosocial and spiritual care Department at CCHE
57357
Consultant Psychiatrist
ILOs

1. Appraise the definition of personality

2. Analyse the different factors affecting
personality
3. Understand the different psychological
approaches in explaining personality
4. Recognize the tool used for assessment
of personality based on each approach.
5. Understand the effect of personality on
symptom formation, illness and response
to treatment
Definitions
• Personality is the total quality of an
individual’s behaviour, as shown in
his/her characteristic habits,
thoughts and expressions, attitudes
and interests, manner of acting and
philosophy in life.

• The word personality comes from

the Greek word “persona” which
means mask.
 • Personality is formed of “character” which is the
conduct that can be called right and wrong, that
meets or fails to meet accepted social standards
(conduct at point time) and “trait” which is a
type of behaviour which characterizes the
individual in a wide range of his/her activities
and which is fairly consistent over a period of
Definitions time.
• An integrated personality is one in which several
traits, interests and desires are combined
together in an effective, harmonious unity.
• The unity is more characteristic in mature
adults than children
Factors affecting personality
1) Biological (physical factors):
It includes general health of the individuals and how physical and biological factors
can affect personality either genetic or others such as drug intake, endocrinal
diseases (myxedema, Cushing disease) and nutritional factors.
2) Geographical factors: which include a number of readymade impressions of
stereotypes (e.g. British people do not show emotions, Irish are argumentative
Middle Eastern people talk in a loud voice, etc…)
3) Pre-natal effects: which include fetal exposure to pregnancy hazards
4) Social: It includes the order of birth of a child in a family (oldest or youngest
child) and whether parents are overcautious and protective or emotionally cold and
give harsh punishments to their children.
Approaches to understanding personality

• There are different schools to try and understand personality and

they include:
1) Trait (Biological) approach
2) Psychoanalytical approach
3) Social learning (behavioural) approach
4) Humanistic approach
5) Cognitive approach
1) Trait (Biological) approach
• This theory describes personality according to either body image or traits and
includes several scientists.
• Firstly, those who explained personality on the basis of the body image;
a) Kretschmer:
-“Pyknic” (short and fat) were prone to mood swings and depression.
-“Asthenic” (tall and thin) were prone to psychosis and schizophrenia.
-“Athletic”(intermediate and muscular) were prone to epilepsy and multiple
physical complaints
-“Dysplastic” which is an incongruous mixture of the different types in different
parts of the body.
1) Trait (Biological) approach
b) Sheldon:
-“Endomorphy” (fat) were associated with viscerotonia (relaxed
posture, love of physical comfort, food and drink and slow reactions)
-“Ectomorphy” (skinny) who were cerebrotonia (restrained tight
posture, fast reaction and chronic fatigue).
-“Mesomorphy” (muscular) were somatotonia (confidence of posture,
love of physical adventure, competitive and aggressive).
1) Trait (Biological) approach
• Secondly, those who explained personality on the basis of
personality traits;
a) Carl Jung: who was the first scientist to talk about personality traits
on a dimensional level and described the dimension of
“Extraversion/Introversion”.
• Introvert (tends to withdraw into themselves, shy and prefers to work
alone.
• Extravert (seeks company of others, sociable and chooses
occupations that permit them to deal with people).
1) Trait (Biological) approach
b) Eysenck: he proposed 5 dimensions instead of only one dimension
and they include
• Extraversion/Introversion
• Neuroticism (emotionality, anxiety and instability versus stability)
• Psychoticism (tough mindedness, psychopathy and aggressiveness)
• Conservatism versus Radicalism and Liberalism
• Intelligence (general ability)
1) Trait (Biological) approach
c) Cloninger: 4 temperaments and 3 characters
• “Temperament” which is unconscious, automatic, mainly genetic and is sub-
cortical, while “Character” is conscious, intentional, mainly environmental and is
cortical.
• Temperament includes the following:
- Harm Avoidance: which has a heritable bias to behavioural inhibition & anxiety to
signals of frustration or punishment. It is related to the neurotransmitter Serotonin
in Dorsal Raphe nucleus & GABA. It is associated with Anxiety and Depression.
- Novelty seeking: it has a heritable bias to behaviour activation to novel &
pleasant signals. It is related to the neurotransmitter Dopamine. It is associated
with substance abuse disorder and Borderline personality disorder
1) Trait (Biological) approach
c) Cloninger: 4 temperaments and 3 characters
- Reward dependence: which has a heritable bias to maintain behaviour in
response to cues of social reward. It is related to the neurotransmitter
Noradrenalin& Serotonin in the Median Raphe Nuclei. It is associated with
Dependant personality disorder and Schizoid personality disorder.

- Persistence: which has a heritable bias to maintain behaviour despite

frustration, fatigue and intermittent reinforcement. It is related to the
neurotransmitter Glutamate and Serotonin in Dorsal Raphe nucleus. It is
associated with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
1) Trait (Biological) approach
c) Cloninger: 4 temperaments and 3 characters
• Characters includes
- Self- directedness: which is described as someone who is responsible,
reliable, goal oriented and self confident.
- Cooperativeness: which is described as how a person considers being
a part of human society.
- Self-transcendence: which is described as someone who is a part of
the universe as a whole.
Methods used for assessment include:
• EPQ= Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and
• MMPI=Minnesota Multi Phasic Inventory.
2) Psychoanalytical approach
• This theory is based on the depth study of the
individual personality and because motivation is
believed to be unconscious, self reports are not
necessarily accurate. Instead, a person’s overt
behaviours are interpreted as hidden
representation of underlying conscious processes.
• Freud compared the human mind to an iceberg, a
small part that floats on the surface of the water is
the conscious experience and a larger mass under
the water is the unconscious experience which is
the storehouse of impulses, passions and primitive
instincts that affects our thoughts and behaviours.
2) Psychoanalytical approach
• It was the unconscious part of the mind that Freud thought to explore
and did so by “free association”. In this method a person talks about
everything that comes into the conscious mind no matter how trivial
or ridiculous it might seem. By analysing free association, including
recall of dreams and early childhood memories, Freud thought to
puzzle out the basic determinants of personality.
a) Structure of personality
Freud divided the structure of personality into:
• -The Id: It is the collective name for the primitive biological impulses.
The acting role of the Id is that of the pleasure principle and
immediate gratification. It is the seat of all instincts. If is strong it
leads to irresponsible, selfish and pleasure seeking behaviour.
• The Ego Also called the “reality self” is the part of personality which
establishes the relationship with the world in which we live in. It
contains evaluation, judging, compromising, solution forming and
defense creating aspects of personality.
- Function: Most importantly it maintains harmony between the
desires of the Id and the aspirations of the Super-Ego.
• The Super-Ego: It is the inhibiting and conscious component of
personality.
• It functions to sustain the moral and social values through criticizing
the Ego and causes it pain whenever the latter tends to accept the
impulses from the Id.
b) Development of personality (Psychosexual development of
personality)

• This development is divided into:

• Infancy period: a child’s personality is influenced to a large extent by the continuous, warm,
intimate and secure relationship with the mother (stage of pleasure principle and immediate
gratification). This period is divided into
1. “Oral phase” from birth to 18 months in which the child gets pleasure from the mouth. The child
is dependent on the mother and if a child is left for too long on breast feeding it will be difficult to
pass through the further stages of development and will try to achieve his/her emotional, sexual
and nutrient pleasures through the mouth.
2. “Anal phase” from 18 months to 3 years where the child experiences pleasure through the
inability and ability to control the sphincters. This is the first challenge between the child’s pleasure
(Id) and parent’s desires (Super-Ego). If parent try and control a child too early this will lead to many
obsessive and compulsive traits.
b) Development of personality (Psychosexual development of
personality)

• Childhood period: this stage starts from 3 years to 6 years where the
child starts to be interested in his/her genitalia and was therefore
called by Freud “Phallic or Genital phase”. The child begins to be
curious about the differences between girls and boys and they start
to touch their genitalia. This may disturb the parents who try and
punish the child, where the child does not understand why this
punishment is taking place. The child starts to have sexual fears and
this is the origin of the “castration complex” and the fear of men that
they will lose their sexual power.
b) Development of personality (Psychosexual development of
personality)

• Socialization period: This stage starts from 6 years to 12 years when

the child’s interest start to move away from the family and to the
outside world. During this period the child acquires the traditions and
habits of the society.
• During this period the child needs to be attached to his parents who
are supposed to have both an integrated and mature behaviour. It is
an important stage as the child learns how to become social and
integrate and deal with other children.
b) Development of personality (Psychosexual development of
personality)

• Adolescence period: This stage starts from 12 years to 18 years, the first part of this
period is when both boys and girls are interested in the same sex and choose all the
friends from the same sex forming groups, gangs and enjoying journeys, sports and
outings together. The second part they start to become interested in the opposite sex as
well as other people’s opinions and they try hard to be independent to feel a sense of
self identity and they usually attempt to assert themselves and enjoy arguments with
their parents trying to be different in their thoughts, behaviour and appearance.

• -Adulthood or maturity period: Maturity and personality do not depend on a specific

age; the mature adult is a person who can establish an intimate, continuous and loving
relationship with a mature member of the opposite sex. They should be able to bear
responsibilities of family life and the rearing of children.
Methods used for assessment

• Projective tests include the

“Rorschach Test” and the “Thematic
Apperception Test (TAT)”.
• The Rorschach inkblot test, the
Rorschach technique, or simply the
inkblot test) is a psychological test in
which subjects' perceptions of
inkblots are recorded and then
analyzed using psychological
interpretation, complex algorithms,
or both.
3) Social Learning (Behavioural) approach

• This approach believes that personality can be learned

(environmentally determined) as any other kind of response.
• It considers the situation (stimulus) as an important determinant of
behaviour (response).
• It assumes that different behaviour does not necessarily reflect
variations on the same underlying motive they are often discrete
responses to different situations.
Methods used for assessment

• Social learning theorists assess personality by discovering the kinds of

situations in which specific behaviour occurs (either through
observation or self report) and noting that stimulus conditions that
appear to match with behaviour.
• A behavioural assessment may be called “Problematic behaviour” is
used to attempt to provide a clear description of a set of selected and
carefully defined behaviours.
4) Humanistic approach
• This approach emphasizes the potential for self direction and freedom of
choice. They are concerned with the self and the individual subjective
experiences.
• Most humanistic theories stress our positive nature, or push towards
growth and self actualization. The emphasis is also on the “here and now”
rather than on events in early childhood that may have shaped the
individuals personality.
• Two the leaders of this approach are Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.
4) Humanistic approach
a) Carl Rogers
• His “non-directive or client centered approach” assumes that each person has the
motivation and ability to change. The therapists task is to simply facilitate progress
towards this change.
• The assumptions of non-directive approach is that we are the best experts on ourselves.
The patients knows the factors that shape his/her personality and the best procedures
for modifying them.
• The therapist’s role is to act as a sounding board, while the patient explores and analysis
problems.
• Rogers discussed the “self concept” which consists of all the ideas, perceptions and
values
• There is also the “ideal self” which is a conception of the person we would like to be.
Rogers believed that the basic forces motivating the human is “Self actualization”
towards maintenance and enhancement of the human species.
4) Humanistic approach
b) Abraham Maslow
• Self actualization according to Maslow meant the development of the
full individuality with all parts of the personality in harmony. Many
people experience transient moments of self actualization called
“peak experiences”
• The chief criticism of this approach lies in the lack of precision, self
actualization is not clearly defined, nor are the criteria used in
selecting self actualized persons.
5) Cognitive approach
• Cognitive theories see personality in terms of the particular cognitions an individual processes,
and which explain their feelings and behaviour. Cognitions are thoughts, anticipations, beliefs and
other mental processes that are peculiar to any individual.
• Cognitive theorists view man as a scientist who is continually trying to make sense of the world.
• Examples of some scientists in this approach include;
a) Kelly: Maintains that behaviour is determined by our perceptions and interpretations of our
interactions with others, rather than by the actual interactions themselves.
• Kelly used the word “construct” to refer to the particular way of categorizing or making sense of
the world that individuals use. People differ in both number and types of constructs which they
use in interpreting the world. Each person behaves according to his own system of constructing.
This theory is referred to as “The Personal Construct Theory”.
5) Cognitive approach
b) Rotter: Presented the “locus of control theory” which attempts to describe individual
differences in the perceived control over events in people’s lives.
• Some people believe that they are able to influence events, while others feel that they
have little or no control over things which happen to them.
c) Seligman: Presented the “learned helplessness theory” which postulated that
• people who are prone to depression see adverse happenings in their environment as due
to themselves, where as good events are thought to be due to chance. According to this
theory, an individual’s interpretations or attributions of environmental events may be
instrumental in generating feelings of helplessness and ultimately depression.
d) Beck: Believed that depressed patients had a triad of negative view of the
past, negative view of the present and negative view of the future.
Methods used for assessment

• Tools used include the “Repertory Grid”

based on Kelly’s personal construct

• the “Locus of Control Technique” which is

used to determine beliefs that individuals
hold about the causes of events, and the
extent to which events in their lives are
attributed to themselves (internal control) or
to external or chance factors (external
control).
 Summary
Approach Basic Concept Method of study Critique
1. Trait - Kretschmer - Sheldon - Personality - Focuses on isolated traits
(Biological) - Carl Jung - Eysenck inventory (EPQ, - No predictive value
approach - Cloninger MMPI) Rating scales - Lack of variables (age,
sex, etc…)
2. - Personality structure - Personality structure - Over emphasis on sex and
Psychoanalytical - Structure of mind - Structure of mind aggression
approach - Development of personality - Development of - Not scientific
Personality - Neglect of social factors
- Theory based on patients
3. Social - Competence - Problematic - Presence of variables in
learning - Cognitive strategies Behaviour basic concept weakness the
(behavioural) - Outcome expectancy concept
approach - Subjective value of outcome
- Self regulatory systems
and plans
 Summary

Approach Basic Concept Method of study Critique

4. Humanistic - Rogers - Studying the - Lack of precision
approach - Maslow lives of people - Self actualization not
who achieved clearly defined
self-actualization - Theory on healthy
subjects
5. Cognitive - Kelly (construct theory - Repertory Grid - Described what happens
approach - Rotter (locus of control) - Locus of control but not how it happens.
- Seligman (learned
helplessness)
- Beck (cognitive triad)
Personality differences in response to illness
and treatment
1) Symptom perception: This refers to the way in which people perceive symptoms
occurring in their own bodies. The variation is situationally and culturally
determined. It was reported that introverts were found to have a lower pain
threshold than extraverts. Anxiety can amplify the perception of a symptom.
2) Symptom action: This describes what action people take in response to the
perception of a symptom and in particular whether they seek medical help. One
factor which correlates with high attendance was the anxiety level of the patient,
the higher the anxiety the more likely the patient was to seek medical help. The
locus of control can influence the type of action which follows the perception of a
symptom. External locus of control patients are more likely to seek medical and
psychiatric help.
Personality differences in response to illness
and treatment
3) Symptom formation: Describes the possibility of different types of
people might be prone to different types of disorders. Type A
personality (competitive, impatient, sense of time urgency and
workaholics) tend to be associated with more heart disease, diabetes
and stroke, while Type B personality (relaxed, less hurried and leisure
time) are less prone to heart disease, diabetes and stroke.
4) Response to illness: Some people appear to over-react, and others
appear to under react, or deny the seriousness or inconvenience of an
illness.
Personality differences in response to illness
and treatment
• 5) Response to treatment: Not everybody shows a placebo response,
and there is a range in the magnitude of response among those who
do. People who show large placebo responses are found to be fairly
suggestible and dependant. People with more suspicious natures
tend not to respond to placebo tablets. The personality of the doctor
or the person administering the medication also appears to modify
the extent of placebo response.
• It has also been shown that that the personality factors may play a
role in determining the effectiveness of communication between
doctor and patient
Thank you