Personality

What is Personality?
Defining Personality: Consistency and
Distinctiveness
1. What does it mean to say that someone has an optimistic personality? This assertion
indicates that the person has a fairly consistent tendency to behave in a cheerful,
hopeful, enthusiastic way, looking at the bright side of things across a wide variety of
situations.
2. Although no one is entirely consistent in behavior, this quality of consistency across
situations lies at the core of the concept of personality.
3. Distinctiveness is also central to the concept of personality. Personality is used to
explain why everyone does not act the same way in similar situations.
4. If you were stuck in an elevator with three people, each might react differently. One
might crack jokes to relieve tension. Another might make ominous predictions that
“we’ll never get out of here.” The third person might calmly think about how to escape.
5. These varied reactions to the same situation occur because each person has a
different personality.
• Each person has traits that are seen in other people, but each individual has
his or her own distinctive set of personality traits.
• In summary, the concept of personality is used to explain
• (1) the stability in a person’s behavior over time and across situations
(consistency) and
• (2) the behavioral differences among people reacting to the same situation
(distinctiveness).
• We can combine these ideas into the following definition: Personality
refers to an individual’s unique set of consistent behavioral traits. Let’s
explore the concept of traits in more detail.
Personality traits: Dispositions and Dimensions

• When describing another person, we tend to make remarks like “Jamaal is

too timid to succeed in that job.”
• These descriptive statements refer to personality traits.
• A personality trait is a durable disposition to behave in a particular way
in a variety of situations.
• Adjectives such as honest, dependable, moody, impulsive, suspicious,
domineering, and friendly describe dispositions that represent personality
traits.
• People use an enormous number of these trait terms to describe one another’s
personality.
• One prominent personality theorist, Gordon Allport, went through an
unabridged dictionary and identified more than 4500 personality traits!
• Most approaches to personality assume that some traits are more basic than
others (Paunonen & Hong, 2015).
 The Five-Factor Model of Personality traits
• Based on factor analyses, Robert McCrae and Paul Costa maintain that most
personality traits are derived from just five higher-order traits that have come to be
known as the “Big Five”
• Extraversion. People who score high in extraversion are characterized as
outgoing, sociable, upbeat, friendly, assertive, and gregarious. They also have a
more positive outlook on life and are motivated to pursue social contact, intimacy,
and interdependence
• Neuroticism. People who score high in neuroticism tend to be anxious, hostile,
self-conscious, insecure, and vulnerable. They also tend to exhibit more
impulsiveness and emotional instability than others
• Openness to experience. Openness is associated with curiosity, flexibility,
imaginativeness, intellectual pursuits, interests in new ideas, and
unconventional attitudes. People who are high in openness also tend to be
tolerant of ambiguity.
• Agreeableness. Those who score high in agreeableness tend to be sympathetic,
trusting, cooperative, modest, and straightforward. Agreeableness is also
correlated with empathy and helping behavior.
• Conscientiousness. Conscientious people tend to be diligent, well-organized,
punctual, and dependable. Conscientiousness is associated with strong self-
discipline and the ability to regulate oneself effectively
Correlations between the Big Five traits and a
variety of important life outcomes.
• For instance, higher grades in college are associated with higher
conscientiousness perhaps because conscientious students work harder.
• Extraversion and conscientiousness are positive predictors of occupational
attainment, whereas neuroticism is a negative predictor
• Agreeableness is negatively associated with income, especially among men
• The likelihood of divorce can also be predicted by personality traits because
neuroticism elevates the probability of divorce, whereas agreeableness and
conscientiousness reduce it
OCEAN and Health
• Finally, and perhaps most important, several of the Big Five traits are
related to health and mortality.
• Neuroticism is associated with an elevated prevalence of physical and
mental disorders, whereas conscientiousness is correlated with the
experience of less illness and with greater longevity.
• Recent research suggests that openness to experience may also foster
longevity
 Big Five and Criminal Behavior
• Studies have shown that certain traits are highly associated with a wide range of
criminal behaviours.
• Agreeableness and Conscientiousness have been found to be negative predictive
of adult criminal behaviour.
• John et al found that delinquents aged 12-13 years old who had engaged in
burglary, drug dealing, and strong arming behaviour scored lower on
Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness and obtained higher scores
on Extraversion than nondelinquents.
• Heaven found neuroticism in addition to agreeableness and conscientiousness to
be predictive of delinquent behaviour.
• Furthermore, Heaven reported Neuroticism to be positively, and
Conscientiousness and Agreeableness to be negatively related to self-reported
 ALLPORT’S TRAIT THEORY: IDENTIFYING BASIC CHARACTERISTICS

• When personality psychologist Gordon Allport systematically pored over an

unabridged dictionary in the 1930s, he came up with some 18,000 separate
terms that he was able to pare down the list to 4,500 descriptors, he was left
with a problem crucial to all trait approaches: Which traits are the most
important in characterizing personality?
• Allport eventually answered this question by suggesting that there are three
fundamental categories of traits: cardinal, central, and secondar
• Cardinal traits. A cardinal trait is a single, overriding characteristic that directs
most of a person’s behavior.
• For example, a totally selfless woman may direct all her energy toward humanitarian
activities;
• an intensely power-hungry person may be driven by an all-consuming need for control.
• Central traits. Few people have a single, comprehensive cardinal trait.
Instead, they possess 5–10 central traits that make up the core of
personality.
• Central traits, such as warmth or honesty, describe an individual’s major
characteristics.
• Each central trait is assumed to imply the presence of other traits. For example,
people who have a central trait of warmth also are likely to be sociable and
friendly.
• Secondary traits. Finally, secondary traits are characteristics that affect
behavior in fewer situations and are less influential than central or
cardinal traits.
• For instance, a reluctance to eat meat and a love of modern art would be
considered secondary traits
Criticism of OCEAN
• Some theorists argue that only two or three traits are necessary to account for
most of the variation seen in human personality, while others suggest that
more than five traits are needed to describe personality adequately.
• Trait approaches have several virtues.
• They provide a clear, straightforward explanation of people’s behavioral
consistencies.
• Furthermore, traits allow us to readily compare one person with another.
• However, trait approaches also have some drawbacks.
• For example, we have seen that various trait theories describing personality come to
different conclusions about which traits are the most fundamental and descriptive.

• But labeling personality traits is not an explanation of how those traits developed in
a person nor of how they function to determine behavior.
• In the view of some critics, then, traits do not provide explanations for behavior;
they merely label it.
 Eysenck’s Three Factor
Theory of Criminality/PEN
Model
Personality and the Theory of Crime
• To understand his theory of crime, we must first look at Eysenck's
theory of personality because personality is seen as an important factor
in predisposing a person to offending.
• Personality is seen in terms of three dimensions, each one supposedly
independent of the others.
 Extraversion-Introversion
• The first of these is introversion-extroversion, usually known just as "E".
• This is a range or continuum of characteristics to do with a person's relative inward looking nature
(introversion) as opposed to his socially outgoing nature (extraversion).
• At each end of the continuum are extreme examples of the extraverted "type" of person and the introverted
"type".
• Most of us come somewhere in between the two poles but a caricature of each extreme is useful to keep in
mind.
• The typical extravert is sociable, enjoys social gatherings and having lots of friends.
• The extravert loves excitement, will take risks and is impulsive.
• He tends to be rather aggressive and can be unreliable.
• The typical introvert is quiet and rather withdrawn.
• He is introspective and would be quite happy to stay at home reading rather than attending a party.
• The introvert plans ahead and is not impulsive. He does not enjoy excitement, is "sober" and orderly.
• He controls his emotions and is rarely aggressive. The introvert is reliable, rather pessimistic and
 Neuroticism
• The second of the personality dimensions in Eysenck's theory is the continuum of
neuroticism, usually abbreviated to "N".
• It concerns a person's emotionality (neuroticism) as opposed to his stability.
• At one end of the range is the sort of person loosely described as "neurotic" and at the other
end is the very stable person.
• The person at the neuroticism pole is anxious and a worrier, often dispirited,
• He may complain of psychosomatic disorders and is very emotional.
• He tends to overreact and feel upset after an emotionally charged experience.
• His over emotionality gets in the way of his adequate adjustment and causes him to be
unreasonable and sometimes inflexible in his behaviour.
• The person at the "stable" end of the "N" pole is less excitable and less worried than
someone at the "neuroticism" end. He maintains a certain steadiness in relation to what
happens around him
 Psychoticism
• Psychoticism includes under its umbrella aspects of schizoid, psychopathic
and generally disordered behaviour.
• It implies a derangement of cognitive processes.
• At the extreme of the pole, the person who would be diagnosed psychiatrically
as psychotic.
• At a less severe level, the person who has a high level of psychoticism tends
to be solitary and uncaring towards other people.
• Troublesome, cruel, insensitive and lacking fellow feeling, he is often a misfit.
• He may well be sensation-seeking, aggressive, foolhardy and unpleasant
towards others. He may show bizarre tastes.
 Extraversion and Crime
• Level of Arousal and Extraversion-Introversion: Our brain has a
characteristic level of arousal when stimulation is minimal.
• The level of arousal varies from person to person and extraversion seems to
be related to it.
• Introverts tend to have a higher level of arousal than the average person.
They tend to prefer lower levels of stimulation than average.
• Extraverts on the other hand have a lower than average level of arousal
and prefer higher levels of stimulation.
• This can lead extraverts towards "sensation seeking" behaviour.
• Such behaviour is characterized by "stimulus hunger" and a willingness to
take more risks than the average person.

• These characteristics relate to certain types of criminal behaviour,

particularly that of juvenile delinquents.

• Many of the misdemeanours of delinquents seem precipitated by boredom,

an apparent need for stimulation and a desire to take risks.

• We would expect therefore that delinquents, particularly those who seem to

be motivated by "sensation seeking", would be more extraverted than
nondelinquents and have higher levels of E.
 Conditionability
• Extraversion appears to be related to antisocial behaviour in another way to do
with conditionability.
• Conditionability is simply susceptibility to conditioning.
• Most people learn to be law abiding through rational learning and
conditioning.
• Conditioning takes place when two stimuli are paired, for instance as when a child's
"good" behaviour is paired with praise (usually from the parent) or "bad" behaviour is
paired with disapproval or punishment.
• Moral behaviour is conditioned in·this way.
• A child learns to link "bad" behaviour with social disapproval which in turn sets up
psychological responses to do with fear and anxiety. Later, when the child is tempted to
do something "naughty", the fear and anxiety conditioned by earlier experience act as a
deterrent.
• Through "rational learning" we tend to learn pleasurable and rewarded activities
 Relationship Between Arousal and Conditionability
• We have already seen that extraverts appear to have a lower than average level
of arousal.
• Arousal level is related to conditionability; high arousal is associated with
good conditionability while low arousal relates to poor conditionability.
• Moral behaviour or "conscience formation" is seen as a series of conditional
responses.
• Extraverts will tend to have less well developed "consciences" than
normal because of their poor conditionability.
• Criminals and psychopaths (people lacking moral sense) who seem to have
failed to learn desirable behavior would be expected to have high levels of
extraversion
 Neuroticism and Crime
• People with a high level of neuroticism tend to have a stronger drive to act
antisocially.
• A rat experiment illustrates this line of thinking.
• The experiment: Two strains of rats were specially bred, being either very
"emotional" or very "unemotional".
• The rats, when hungry, were put in a special cage. They were taught whenever
a buzzer sounded to get food from a trough where it was delivered two
seconds after the buzzer.
• Next, the rats were given an electric shock from the floor of the cage if they
took the food within three seconds of its being delivered. They received no
shock if they waited the 3 seconds.
 Three responses were observed.
• Non-integrative responses
• "Delinquent" rats took the food within the forbidden period and got the shock.
• "Dysthymic" rats avoided eating altogether.
• Both of these reactions were considered "non-integrative".
• "Integrative" rats waited the 3 seconds then ate.
• Conditioning in different types of Rats

• "Delinquent" rats had not formed the conditioned response. Their

behaviour indicated that they "knew" the shock was coming. Yet their
autonomic system seemed not to anticipate the shock.
• The "dysthymic" rats had been over conditioned to the shock.
• The "integrative" rats had been appropriately conditioned.
 Battle between the Drives: Hunger or Fear??
• Eysenck thought that, when the food appeared, the rats experienced a hunger
drive, because they had been deprived of food, and a conditioned fear drive
(because of the shock).
• Whichever is the stronger drive depends on the strength of the conditioning.
• Both temptation (to take the food) and deterrence (to avoid the shock) will
be more powerful in emotional rats compared with unemotional rats.
• This is because emotion accompanies both drives.
• Among emotional rats, a large proportion will give way to temptation
(delinquents) and a large proportion will strenuously oppose temptation
(dysthymic).
• We infer that, among criminals, a large proportion will have high
emotionality (neuroticism).
• Strong emotions seem to make normal integrative behaviour more
difficult
 Psychoticism and Criminal Behavior

• Psychoticism also relates to antisocial behaviour.

• There is a relationship between psychosis and criminality.
• The level of psychoticism seems to be connected physiologically with the
level of aggression and social dominance.
• The higher the level of "P", the higher the levels of aggression and
social dominance.
• Aggressive behavior is associated with certain crimes, suggesting a link
between some criminal behavior and the level of psychoticism.
• A person's level of the male hormone, androgen, seems to be related to
the level of psychoticism, the higher the androgen level the higher that
of psychoticism.
• The fact that a large majority of criminals are male also suggests a link
between criminality and level of psychoticism.
Learning and Behavioral
Theories
Skinner
• Skinner’s principles of operant conditioning were never meant to be
a theory of personality.
• However, his ideas have affected thinking in all areas of psychology
and have been applied to the explanation of personality.
 Personality Structure:
• Following in the tradition of Watson, Skinner showed little interest in what
goes on “inside” people.
• Instead, he focused on how the external environment molds overt behavior.
• Indeed, he argued for a strong brand of determinism, asserting that behavior
is fully determined by environmental stimuli.
• How can Skinner’s theory explain the consistency that can be seen in
individuals’ behavior?
• According to his view, people show some consistent patterns of behavior
because they have some stable response tendencies that they have acquired
through experience.
• These response tendencies may change in the future as a result of new
experience.
• But they’re enduring enough to create a certain degree of consistency in a
person’s behavior.
• Implicitly, then, Skinner viewed an individual’s personality as a collection of
response tendencies that are tied to various stimulus situations.
• A specific situation may be associated with a number of response tendencies
that vary in strength, depending on past conditioning
 Personality Development as a Product of Conditioning

• Skinner’s theory accounts for personality development by explaining how various

response tendencies are acquired through learning
• He believed that most human responses are shaped by the type of conditioning
that he described: operant conditioning.
• On the one hand, when responses are followed by favorable consequences
(reinforcement), they are strengthened.
• For example, if your joking around friends pays off with favorable attention, your tendency
to joke will increase
• On the other hand, when responses lead to negative consequences (punishment),
they are weakened.
• Because of this, Skinner’s theory views personality development as a continuous,
lifelong journey.
 Skinner and Criminal Behavior (Examples)
• Positive reinforcement: If someone gets a thrill from shoplifting, as well as
being able to sell on the goods they steal and make money, they will almost
certainly commit the same crime again
• Negative reinforcement: If a drug dealer is able to avoid competition in a local
area by beating up another drug dealer and thus getting rid of them (as they are
the unpleasant experience) then they will repeat this behaviour again
• Positive punishment: Therefore, someone who is sent to prison for criminal
behaviour, is less likely to repeat that behaviour, as they are being positively
punished
• Negative punishment: In criminal gangs, individuals are often removed from
them if they refuse to take part in certain activities; the removal of them from the
gang is negative punishment as they are being punished for not wanting to take
part
 Social Learning Theories and Crime
• Ronald Akers argued that criminal behaviour is the product of normal
learning.
• On the basis of Sutherland’s differential theory of crime (according to
which criminal acts are most likely to occur in social settings that cast
crime in a favourable light) and Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning
(according to which learning is a form of association created through
reinforcements such as punishments and rewards), Akers argued that
criminal behaviour is learned through both social and nonsocial
reinforcements and that most learning of criminal behaviour occurs in
social interactions with other people.
• Akers' theory emphasizes the role of socialization processes and the influence of peers,
family, and other social networks in shaping individuals' behaviors and attitudes towards
crime.
• Key Concepts
• Differential Association: According to Akers, individuals learn criminal behavior
through their interactions with others, particularly within intimate personal groups.
• If a person is exposed to more definitions favorable to the violation of the law than to
those unfavorable, they are more likely to engage in criminal behavior. This concept
highlights the importance of the social environment in shaping criminal behavior.
• If someone is consistently exposed to peers, family members, or other influential figures who engage
in or approve of criminal behavior, they may be more likely to adopt similar attitudes and behaviors
themselves.
• Reinforcement and Imitation: Akers posits that criminal behavior is reinforced through
rewards and is imitated after observing others engaging in similar behavior. This process
of reinforcement and imitation strengthens the likelihood of repeated criminal behavior.
• Individuals are more likely to continue engaging in criminal behavior if they perceive
that it brings them rewards or helps them achieve their goals.
• Perceived Rewards and Punishments: Another key aspect of Akers' theory is
the role of perceived rewards and punishments in influencing behavior.
• Individuals are more likely to engage in criminal behavior if they perceive that
the rewards of such behavior outweigh the potential punishments.
• This perception can be influenced by the individual's social environment and
experiences.
• Social Bonds: Akers integrates elements of control theory into his social
learning theory, suggesting that strong social bonds act as a deterrent to
criminal behavior.
• These bonds include attachment to parents, commitment to conventional goals,
involvement in conventional activities, and belief in the moral validity of social
rules.
• Individuals who have strong social bonds are less likely to engage in criminal
behavior because they have more to lose in terms of their social relationships
and reputation.
The Humanistic
Perspectives
• Humanistic theory emerged in the 1950s as something of a backlash against
the behavioral and psychodynamic theories.
• The principal charge hurled at these two models was that they are
dehumanizing.
• Freudian theory was criticized for its belief that behavior is dominated by
primitive, animalistic drives (sex and aggression).
• Behaviorism was criticized for its preoccupation with animal research.
• Critics argued that both schools of thought were too deterministic—that
they failed to recognize that humans are free to chart their own courses
of action.
• In psychology, humanism is a theoretical orientation that emphasizes
the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom and their
potential for personal growth.
• In contrast with most psychodynamic and behavioral theorists, humanistic
theorists, such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, take an optimistic view
of human nature.
• They assume that people
• (1) can rise above their primitive animal heritage;
• (2) are largely conscious and rational beings who are not dominated by unconscious,
irrational conflicts; and
• (3) are not helpless pawns of deterministic forces.
• Humanistic theorists also maintain that a person’s subjective view of the
world is more important than objective reality.
• According to this notion, if you think that you’re homely or bright or sociable,
then this belief will influence your behavior more than the realities of how
homely, bright, or sociable you actually are
 Carl Rogers
• Carl Rogers was one of the fathers of the human potential movement. This
movement emphasizes self-realization through sensitivity training,
encounter groups, and other exercises intended to foster personal
growth.
• Because of its emphasis on a person’s subjective point of view, Rogers
called his approach a person-centered theory.
 The Self
• Rogers viewed personality structure in terms of just one construct. He called this construct the
self, although it’s more widely known today as the self-concept.
• A self-concept is a collection of beliefs about one’s own nature, unique qualities, and typical
behavior.
• Your self-concept is your own mental picture of yourself. It’s a collection of self-
perceptions.
• For example, a self-concept might include beliefs such as “I’m easygoing” or “I’m sly and crafty” or
“I’m pretty” or “I’m hardworking.”
• Rogers stressed the subjective nature of the self-concept.
• Your self-concept may not be entirely consistent with your experiences.
• For example, you may believe that you’re quite bright, but your grade transcript might
suggest otherwise.
• Rogers called the gap between self-concept and reality “incongruence.”
• Incongruence is the degree of disparity between one’s self-concept and one’s actual
• Rogers stressed the subjective nature of the self-concept.
• Your self-concept may not be entirely consistent with your experiences.
• For example, you may believe that you’re quite bright, but your grade transcript
might suggest otherwise.
• Rogers called the gap between self-concept and reality “incongruence.”
• Incongruence is the degree of disparity between one’s self-concept and
one’s actual experience.
 Development of the Self
• Rogers was concerned with how childhood experiences promote a
congruent or incongruent self-concept.
• According to Rogers, people have a strong need for affection and
acceptance from others.
• Early in life, parents provide most of this affection. Rogers maintained that
some parents make their affection conditional.
• When parental love seems conditional, children often block out of their self-
concept those experiences that make them feel unworthy of love.
• At the other end of the spectrum, some parents make their affection
unconditional.
• Their children have less need to block out unworthy experiences because
they’ve been assured that they’re worthy of affection no matter what they do.
• Rogers believed that unconditional love from parents fosters congruence
and that conditional love fosters incongruence.
Relationship to Criminality
• Incongruence and Psychological Distress:
• John, a young man, has always seen himself as honest and law-abiding.
However, he grows up in a neighborhood where criminal behavior is
prevalent, and he faces pressure from peers to engage in illegal activities.
Despite his internal belief in being honest, John starts shoplifting to fit in with
his friends and avoid being bullied. This conflicting behavior creates a sense
of incongruence between his self-concept and his actions, leading to feelings
of guilt, shame, and psychological distress. Over time, this incongruence may
contribute to John's continued engagement in criminal behavior as a way to
cope with his conflicting self-concept and external pressures.
• Unconditional Positive Regard:
• Sarah grows up in a household where her parents constantly criticize and belittle her.
They rarely express approval or affection, leading Sarah to develop a negative self-
concept and low self-esteem. As a result of feeling unloved and unworthy, Sarah may
seek validation and acceptance from other sources, such as peer groups or romantic
partners. If these alternative sources of validation are also negative or harmful, Sarah
may be more susceptible to engaging in maladaptive behaviors, including criminal
acts, as a way to seek approval or cope with her negative self-concept.
Abraham Maslow’s theory of self-actualization
• Abraham Maslow was a prominent humanistic theorist who argued that
psychology should take a greater interest in the nature of the healthy
personality instead of dwelling on the causes of disorders.
• “To oversimplify the matter somewhat,” he said, “it is as if Freud supplied
to us the sick half of psychology and we must now fill it out with the
healthy half”
• Maslow’s key contributions were his analysis of how motives are
organized hierarchically and his description of the healthy personality.
Hierarchy of Needs
• Maslow proposed that human motives are organized into a hierarchy
of needs—a systematic arrangement of needs, according to priority, in
which basic needs must be met before less basic needs are aroused.
• This hierarchical arrangement is usually portrayed as a pyramid.
• The needs toward the bottom of the pyramid, such as
physiological or security needs, are the most basic.
• Higher levels in the pyramid consist of progressively less basic
needs.
• When a person manages to satisfy a level of needs reasonably well
(complete satisfaction is not necessary), this satisfaction activates needs
at the next level.
• Maslow argued that humans have an innate drive toward personal
growth—that is, evolution toward a higher state of being.
• Thus, he described the needs in the uppermost reaches of his
hierarchy as growth needs.
• These include the needs for knowledge, understanding, order, and
aesthetic beauty.
• Foremost among them is the need for self-actualization, which is the
need to fulfill one’s potential.
• For example, if you have great musical talent but must work as an
accountant, your need for self-actualization will be thwarted.
Relation to Criminality
• Physiological Needs:
• Example: John is a homeless man who struggles to find enough food to eat and a safe place to sleep. To meet his basic
physiological needs, John may resort to stealing food or committing other petty crimes.
• Safety Needs:
• Example: Sarah lives in a neighborhood plagued by violence and crime. Due to a lack of safety and security, Sarah may
join a gang or engage in criminal activities to protect herself and her family.
• Love and Belongingness Needs:
• Example: Mark is a teenager who feels isolated and unloved at home. In search of a sense of belonging, Mark may join
a group of peers engaged in delinquent behavior to feel accepted and valued.
• Esteem Needs:
• Example: Emily works in a low-paying job where she feels undervalued and unappreciated. Seeking to gain respect and
recognition, Emily may engage in unethical behavior at work or pursue criminal activities to achieve a sense of
accomplishment and status.
• Self-Actualization:
• Example: Alex is a talented artist who dreams of pursuing a career in the arts. However, due to financial constraints and
societal pressures, Alex is unable to pursue his passion. Feeling unfulfilled, Alex may turn to criminal behavior as a way
to rebel against societal norms and express his creativity.
Kohlberg’s Theory of
Moral Development
 Heinz Steals the Drug
• In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one
drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a
druggist in the same town had recently discovered.
• The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what
the drug cost him to make. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000 for a
small dose of the drug.
• The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the
money, but he could only get together about $ 1,000 which is half of what it cost.
• He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let
him pay later. But the druggist said: "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to
make money from it." So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's store to
steal the drug-for his wife. Should the husband have done that?
• Lawrence Kohlberg believed his stages represented the transformations
that occur in a person’s structure of thought regarding morality and
moral thinking
• Kohlberg argued that an individual’s movement through his stages should
always be forward because each stage presupposes the understanding
gained at previous stages.
• He also suggested that there is no guarantee an individual will reach the
third and highest level
KOHLBERG'S SIX STAGES
Level 1. Preconventional Morality
Stage 1. Obedience and Punishment Orientation
• In Stage 1, physical consequences of action are the determinants of its
goodness or badness regardless of human moral meaning or value of these
consequences
• The child assumes that powerful authorities hand down a fixed set of rules
which he or she must unquestioningly obey.
• To the Heinz dilemma, the child typically says that Heinz was wrong to steal
the drug because "It's against the law," or "It's bad to steal,"
• When asked to elaborate, the child usually responds in terms of the
consequences involved, explaining that stealing is bad "because you'll
get punished"
• Although the vast majority of children at stage 1 oppose Heinz’s theft, it is
still possible for a child to support the action and still employ stage 1
reasoning.
• For example, a child might say, "Heinz can steal it because he asked first and it's not
like he stole something big; he won't get punished“
• Even though the child agrees with Heinz’s action, the reasoning is still stage 1; the
concern is with what authorities permit and punish.
• Kohlberg calls stage 1 thinking "preconventional" because children do
not yet speak as members of society.
• Instead, they see morality as something external to themselves, as that
which the big people say they must do
 Stage 2. Individualism and Exchange.

• At the individualism and exchange stage of moral development, children

account for individual points of view and judge actions based on how they
serve individual needs.

• Reciprocity/Exchange in this stage is defined not in terms of loyalty or justice,

but in terms of doing something for the other to receive something in return

• At this stage children recognize that there is not just one right view that is
handed down by the authorities.
• Different individuals have different viewpoints.
• "Heinz," they might point out, "might think it's right to take the drug, the druggist
would not."
• One boy said that Heinz might steal the drug if he wanted his wife to live, but that he
doesn't have to if he wants to marry someone younger and better-looking
• Another boy said Heinz might steal it because maybe they had children and he might
need someone at home to look after them.
• Although stage 2 respondents sometimes sound amoral, they do have some
sense of right action.
• This is a notion of fair exchange or fair deals or reciprocity
• To the Heinz story, subjects often say that Heinz was right to steal the drug
because the druggist was unwilling to make a fair deal; he was "trying to rip
Heinz off,"
• Or they might say that he should steal for his wife "because she might return
the favor some day"
• Respondents at stage 2 are still said to reason at the preconventional level
because they speak as isolated individuals rather than as members of
society.
• They see individuals exchanging favors, but there is still no
identification with the values of the family or community.
Level 2. Conventional
• At this level, the individual maintains a conformity and loyalty to
personal expectations and social order.
Stage 3. Good Interpersonal Relationships.

• At this stage children--who are by now usually entering their teens--see

morality as more than simple deals.
• They believe that people should live up to the expectations of the family
and community and behave in "good" ways.
• Good behavior means having good motives and interpersonal feelings
such as love, empathy, trust, and concern for others.
• Heinz, they typically argue, was right to steal the drug because "He was
a good man for wanting to save her,"
• and "His intentions were good, that of saving the life of someone he
loves."
• Even if Heinz doesn't love his wife, these subjects often say, he should
steal the drug because "I don't think any husband should sit back and
watch his wife die"
 Stage 4. Maintaining the Social Order
• At stage 4, in contrast, the respondent becomes more broadly concerned
with society as a whole.
• Now the emphasis is on obeying laws, respecting authority, and
performing one's duties so that the social order is maintained.

• In response to the Heinz story, many subjects say they understand that
Heinz's motives were good, but they cannot condone the theft.
• What would happen if we all started breaking the laws whenever we felt we had a
good reason?
• The result would be chaos; society couldn't function.
Level III. Postconventional Morality
Stage 5. Social Contract and Individual Rights.

• At this stage, individuals recognize that there are different opinions on what is
right and that laws are social contracts that can be changed for the greater good.

• Morality is based on social utility, individual rights, and democratically

agreed-upon laws. For example, someone might protest against an unjust law.

• In Stage 5, the individual defines moral rightness in terms of individual

rights and standards that have been critically examined and agreed upon
by society
• At stage 5, people begin to ask, "What makes for a good society?"
• They begin to think about society in a very theoretical way, stepping back
from their own society and considering the rights and values that a
society should uphold.
• Stage 5 respondents basically believe that a good society is best conceived as
a social contract into which people freely enter to work toward the benefit of
all
• They recognize that different social groups within a society will have
different values, but they believe that all rational people would agree on
two points.
• First they would all want certain basic rights, such as liberty and life, to be protected
• Second, they would want some democratic procedures for changing unfair law and for
improving society.
• In response to the Heinz dilemma, stage 5 respondents make it clear that they
do not generally favor breaking laws; laws are social contracts that we agree
to uphold until we can change them by democratic means.
• Nevertheless, the wife’s right to live is a moral right that must be protected.
• Thus, stage 5 respondent sometimes defend Heinz’s theft in strong language:
• “It is the husband's duty to save his wife. The fact that her life is in danger
transcends every other standard you might use to judge his action. Life is more
important than property.
• This young man went on to say that "from a moral standpoint" Heinz should save
the life of even a stranger, since to be consistent, the value of a life means any
life.
• When asked if the judge should punish Heinz, he replied: Usually the moral
and legal standpoints coincide. Here they conflict. The judge should weight the
moral standpoint more heavily but preserve the legal law in punishing Heinz
lightly.
 Stage 6: Universal Principles
• Stage 5 respondents are working toward a conception of the good society.

• They suggest that we need to

• (a) protect certain individual rights and
• (b) settle disputes through democratic processes.
• However, democratic processes alone do not always result in outcomes that we
intuitively sense are just.
• A majority, for example, may vote for a law that hinders a minority.
• Thus, Kohlberg believes that there must be a higher stage--stage 6--which
defines the principles by which we achieve justice.
• This is the highest stage of moral development, where individuals act
according to self-chosen ethical principles that are universal and not
based on personal or societal standards.
• Morality is guided by abstract ethical principles, such as justice,
equality, and human dignity.
• An example is someone refusing to participate in an unethical business
practice, even if it means losing their job.
• In actual practice, Kohlberg says, we can reach just decisions by looking at a
situation through one another's eyes.
• In the Heinz dilemma, this would mean that all parties-- the druggist, Heinz,
and his wife--take the roles of the others. To do this in an impartial manner,
people can assume a "veil of ignorance", acting as if they do not know which
role they will eventually occupy.
• If the druggist did this, he would recognize that life must take priority over
property; for he wouldn't want to risk finding himself in the wife's shoes
with property valued over life.
• Thus, they would all agree that the wife must be saved--this would be the fair
solution.
• Such a solution, we must note, requires not only impartiality, but the principle
that everyone is given full and equal respect. If the wife were considered of less
value than the others, a just solution could not be reached.
 Kohlberg and Criminal Behavior
• Important for criminology is that Kohlberg suggested that criminals are
significantly lower in their moral judgment development.
• The precise form of criminal behaviour involved can be deduced from the
nature of preconventional moral reasoning.
• The essence of preconventional moral reasoning is that right action is
identified with action that serves one’s self-interest.
• In the case of criminal behaviour a major consideration will be the
perceived probability of punishment: a crime is unlikely to be judged to be
in one’s self-interest if one expects to be caught and punished.
• It follows then that preconventional individuals will only believe
criminal actions to be morally right if they judge that they are unlikely
to get caught
• In contrast, preconventional individuals would judge it wrong to attempt to
commit a crime when the risk of getting caught appeared to be high (such
offences will be referred to as imprudent crimes).
• Individuals using conventional moral reasoning can be expected to react
quite differently.
• For them the probability of getting caught has no moral significance and
they will tend to condemn most forms of crime, because it is mean and
selfish (stage 3), or because it violates one’s social responsibilities (stage 4).
• Thus conventional moral reasoning can be expected to predispose equally
against prudent and imprudent crimes
Psychodynamic
Perspective
• Psychodynamic theories include all the diverse theories descended
from the work of Sigmund Freud that focus on unconscious mental
forces.
• Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory Sigmund Freud was a physician specializing in
neurology when he began his medical practice in Vienna toward the end of the
19th century.
• Like other neurologists in his era, he often treated people troubled by nervous
problems, such as irrational fears, obsessions, and anxieties.
• Eventually he devoted himself to the treatment of mental disorders using an
innovative procedure he had developed, which he called psychoanalysis.
• Freud’s psychoanalytic theory grew out of his decades of interactions with his
clients.
• Psychoanalytic theory attempts to explain personality by focusing on the influence
of early childhood experiences, unconscious conflicts, and sexual urges.
Criticism on Freud
• First, in arguing that people’s behavior is governed by unconscious
factors of which they are unaware, Freud made the disconcerting
suggestion that individuals are not masters of their own minds.
• Second, in claiming that adult personalities are shaped by childhood
experiences and other factors beyond one’s control, he suggested that
people are not masters of their own destinies.
• Third, by emphasizing the importance of how people cope with their
sexual urges, he offended those who held the conservative, Victorian
values of his time.
Driving Forces of Personality and Crime
• Eros vs. Thanatos
Eros usually commit the crime that involve the acquiring of some thing like t
heft of any kind, robbery,some sexual crimes or illegal land occupations e.t.c
• Thanatos
Is involved in
the crime and violent behaviour where destruction, demolition, devastation a
d death are involved.
Violent rape is not associated with sexual instincts rather destruction.
Criminal behavior such as murder, rape, torture, terrorism are included here
 Structure of Personality
• Freud divided personality structure into three components: the id, the ego,
and the superego.
• He saw a person’s behavior as the outcome of interactions among these
three components.
The id
• The id is the primitive, instinctive component of personality that
operates according to the pleasure principle.
• Freud referred to the id as the reservoir of psychic energy. By this he
meant that the id houses the raw biological urges (to eat, sleep,
defecate, copulate, and so on) that energize human behavior.
• The id operates according to the pleasure principle, which demands
immediate gratification of its urges.
• The id engages in primary-process thinking, which is primitive,
illogical, irrational, and fantasy oriented.
 The Ego
• The ego is the decision-making component of personality that operates
according to the reality principle.
• The ego mediates between the id, with its forceful desires for immediate
satisfaction, and the external social world, with its expectations and norms
regarding suitable behavior.
• The ego considers social realities—society’s norms, etiquette, rules, and
customs—in deciding how to behave.
• The ego is guided by the reality principle, which seeks to delay gratification
of the id’s urges until appropriate outlets and situations can be found.
• In short, to stay out of trouble, the ego often works to tame the unbridled
desires of the id.
• In the long run, the ego wants to maximize gratification, just as the id
does. However, the ego engages in secondary-process thinking,
which is relatively rational, realistic, and oriented toward problem
solving.
• Thus, the ego strives to avoid negative consequences from society
and its representatives (for example, punishment by parents or
teachers) by behaving “properly.”
• It also attempts to achieve long-range goals, which sometimes require
putting off gratification.
Superego
• While the ego concerns itself with practical realities, the superego is the
moral component of personality that incorporates social standards about
what represents right and wrong.
• Throughout their lives, but especially during childhood, people receive
training about what constitutes good and bad behavior, and many social
norms regarding morality are eventually internalized.
• The superego emerges out of the ego at around 3–5 years of age.
• In some people, the superego can become irrationally demanding in its
striving for moral perfection, and they become plagued by excessive
feelings of guilt. According to Freud, the id, ego, and superego are distributed
differently across three levels of awareness, which we’ll describe next.
Levels of Awareness
• Freud’s most enduring insight was his recognition of how
unconscious forces can influence behavior.
• He inferred the existence of the unconscious from a variety of
observations that he made with his patients. For example, he noticed
that “slips of the tongue” often revealed a person’s true feelings
(hence the expression “Freudian slip”).
• He also realized that his patients’ dreams often expressed hidden
desires.
• Most important, through psychoanalysis, he often helped patients
discover feelings and conflicts they had previously been unaware of.
• Freud contrasted the unconscious with the conscious and preconscious, creating
three levels of awareness.
• The conscious consists of whatever one is aware of at a particular point in
time.
• For example, at this moment, your conscious may include the train of thought in this text
and a dim awareness in the back of your mind that your eyes are getting tired and you’re
beginning to get hungry.
• The preconscious contains material just beneath the surface of awareness that
can easily be retrieved.
• Examples might include your middle name, what you had for supper last night, or an
argument you had with a friend yesterday.
• The unconscious contains thoughts, memories, and desires that are well below the
surface of conscious awareness, but that nonetheless exert great influence on
behavior.
• Examples of material that might be found in your unconscious include a forgotten trauma
from childhood, hidden feelings of hostility toward a parent, and repressed sexual desires.
• Freud believed that the unconscious (the mass below the surface) is
much larger than the conscious or preconscious.
• He proposed that the ego and superego operate at all three levels of
awareness.
• In contrast, the id is entirely unconscious, expressing its urges at a
conscious level through the ego
Freud and Criminal Behavior
• In criminal behavior, superego and ego recede into background, leaving just the id
active
• So morality has no effect on the brains of the criminal because their superego has been
utterly silenced.
• They are controlled by their id which pushes them to want instant gratification.
• Id results in these people losing their ability to regulate their impulses which increases
the expression of their need for pleasure.
• Ego usually does not commit crime and a well-developed Ego is the best defense
against crime becauselogic and reason can prevent self from committing a crime and is
aware of consequence. But athreatened Ego can be very violent and aggressive, e.g. A
person was scolded and insulted by his bossin front of his colleagues. Now ego is
threatened and such person can easily target his wife or childrenfor violence. One other
thing linked with bloomed ego is difficulty of absorption of criticism
Why did he emphasize sex and aggression?
• First, he thought that sex and aggression are subject to more complex
and ambiguous social controls than other basic motives. Thus, people
often get inconsistent messages about what’s appropriate.
• Second, he noted that the aggressive and sexual drives are thwarted
more regularly than other basic, biological urges. Think about it: If
you get hungry or thirsty, you can simply head for a nearby vending
machine or a drinking fountain. But when you see an attractive person
who inspires lustful urges, you don’t normally walk over and propose
hooking up in a nearby broom closet. Freud ascribed great importance
to these needs because social norms dictate that they’re routinely
frustrated.
Anxiety and Defense Mechanisms
• Anxiety is distressing, so people try to rid themselves of this
unpleasant emotion any way they can.
• This effort to ward off anxiety often involves the use of defense
mechanisms.
• Defense mechanisms are largely unconscious reactions that protect a
person from unpleasant emotions, such as anxiety and guilt.
• Typically, they’re mental maneuvers that work through self-
deception
 Development: Psychosexual Stages
• Freud made the rather startling claim that the basic foundation of an
individual’s personality has been laid down by the tender age of 5.
• He emphasized how young children deal with their immature but
powerful sexual urges (he used the term sexual in a general way to refer
to many urges for physical pleasure).
• According to Freud, these urges shift in focus as children progress from
one stage of development to another.
• Indeed, the names for the stages (oral, anal, genital, and so on) are based
on where children are focusing their erotic nergy during that period.
• Thus, psychosexual stages are developmental periods with a
characteristic sexual focus that leave their mark on adult personality.
• Freud theorized that each psychosexual stage has its own unique
developmental challenges or tasks.
• The way these challenges are handled supposedly shapes personality.
• The notion of fixation plays an important role in this process. Fixation
involves a failure to move forward from one stage to another, as
expected.
• Fixation can be caused by excessive gratification of needs at a
particular stage or by excessive frustration of those needs.
• Either way, fixations left over from childhood affect adult personality.
Oral Stage
• The oral stage encompasses the first year of life.
• During this period, the main source of erotic stimulation is the mouth
(in biting, sucking, chewing, and so on).
• In Freud’s view, the way the child’s feeding experience is handled is
crucial to subsequent development.
• He attributed considerable importance to the manner in which the
child is weaned from the breast or the bottle.
• According to Freud, fixation at the oral stage could form the basis for
obsessive eating or smoking (among many other things) later in
life.
• If the child was underfed or neglected, he will become orally
dependent, and obsessed with achieving oral stimulation which he was
deprived of. He might learn to manipulate others to fulfill his needs
rather than maturing to independence.
• The overly indulged child may resist growing up and try to return to
that state of dependency through crying; fighting and aggressive
behavior to get some desirable thing like a child, and an aggressive
child in the adult body can be dreadfully dangerous.
 Anal Stage
• In their second year, children get their erotic pleasure from their bowel movements,
through either the expulsion or retention of feces.
• The significant event at this time is toilet training, which represents society’s first
systematic effort to regulate the child’s biological urges.
• Severely punitive toilet training leads to a variety of possible outcomes.
• For example, excessive punishment might produce a latent feeling of hostility toward the
“trainer,” usually the mother.
• This hostility might generalize to women as a class.
• Another possibility is that heavy reliance on punitive measures could lead to an
association between genital concerns and the anxiety that the punishment arouses.
• This genital anxiety derived from severe toilet training could evolve into anxiety about
sexual activities later in life
• The Anal retentive personality: such people become Obsessive, sting
y, with a compulsive seeking of order and
tidiness. The person is generally stubborn and perfectionist.
• 2. The Anal explosive personality: on other extreme is an opposite of
the anal retentive
personality, and has a lack of self control, being generally messy and c
areless. Expulsive violent types
of people are usually involved in terrorism
 Phallic stage (3-5)
• In the third through fifth years, the genitals become the focus for the
child’s erotic energy, largely through self-stimulation.
• During this pivotal stage, the Oedipal complex emerges.
• That is, little boys develop an erotically tinged preference for their
mother. They also feel hostility toward their father, whom they view as a
competitor for mom’s affection.
• Similarly, little girls develop a special attachment to their father. Electra
Complex
Guilt of Oedipus Complex and Crime
• This guilt, he says, “is derived from the Oedipus complex and was a
reaction to the two great criminal intentions of killing the father and
having sexual relations with the mother”
• This sense of guilt is derived from the tension between the harsh super
ego and the ego that is subjected to it, and expresses itself as a need
for punishment. The commission of crime offers a relief from the
sense of guilt through punishment by a parental power.
• Around the same time, they learn that little boys have different genitals, and
they supposedly develop penis envy. According to Freud, young girls feel
hostile toward their mother because they blame her for their anatomical
“deficiency.”
• According to Freud, the way parents and children deal with the sexual and
aggressive conflicts inherent in the Oedipal complex is of paramount
importance.
• The child has to resolve the Oedipal dilemma by purging the sexual longings
for the opposite sex parent and by crushing the hostility felt toward the same-
sex parent.
• In Freud’s view, healthy psychosexual development hinges on the resolution of
the Oedipal conflict. Why? Because continued hostility toward the same-sex
parent can prevent the child from identifying adequately with that parent.
• Freudian theory predicts that without such identification, many aspects of the
child’s development won’t progress as they should.
Latency and genital stages (5 through puberty)
• From around age 5 through puberty, the child’s sexuality is largely
suppressed—it becomes latent.
• Important events during this latency stage center on expanding social
contacts beyond the immediate family.
• With the advent of puberty, the child progresses into the genital stage.
Sexual urges reappear and focus on the genitals once again. At this
point, sexual energy is normally channeled toward peers of the other
sex, rather than toward oneself as in the phallic stage.
 Evaluating Psychodynamic Perspectives:
Yayy
• Although one might argue about the exact details of interpretation,
decades of research have demonstrated that
• (1) unconscious forces can influence behavior,
• (2) internal conflict often plays a key role in generating psychological
distress,
• (3) early childhood experiences can influence adult personality, and
• (4) people use defense mechanisms to reduce their experience of
unpleasant emotions (Bornstein, Denckla, & Chung, 2013; Westen,
Gabbard, & Ortigo, 2008).
 Nayy
• 1. Poor testability. Scientific investigations require testable hypotheses. Psychodynamic ideas have often been too vague and conjectural to
permit a clear scientific test. For instance, how would you prove or disprove the assertion that the id is entirely unconscious?
• 2. Unrepresentative samples. Freud’s theories were based on an exceptionally narrow sample of upper-class, neurotic, sexually repressed
Viennese women. They were not even remotely representative of western European culture, let alone other cultures or other times.
• 3. Overemphasis on case studies. Psychodynamic theories depend too heavily on clinical case studies in which it’s much too easy for
clinicians to see what they expect to see. Reexaminations of Freud’s own clinical work suggest that he frequently distorted his patients’ case
histories to make them mesh with his theory (Esterson, 2001) and that there were substantial disparities between Freud’s writings and his
actual therapeutic methods (Lynn & Vaillant, 1998). Moreover, Freud’s ideas were based on his adult patients’ recollections of their
childhood experiences, which contemporary memory research suggests were probably distorted, incomplete, and inaccurate.
• 4. Contradictory evidence. Although studies have supported some insights from psychodynamic theories, the weight of empirical evidence
has contradicted many of the central hypotheses (Westen, Gabbard, & Ortigo, 2008; Wolitzky, 2006). For example, we now know that
development is a lifelong journey and that Freud overemphasized the importance of the first 5 years. The Oedipal complex is neither as
universal nor as important as Freud believed. Struggles with sexuality are not the root cause of most disorders. Freud’s theory of dreams has
garnered modest support, at best.
• 5. Sexism. Many critics have argued that psychodynamic theories are characterized by a sexist bias against women. Freud believed that
females’ penis envy made them feel inferior to men. He also thought that females tended to develop weaker superegos and to be more prone
to psychological distress than men. The gender bias in modern psychodynamic theories has been reduced considerably. Nonetheless, the
psychodynamic approach has generally provided a rather male-centered point of view (Lerman, 1986; Person, 1990).
Personality Assessment
From Feldman
Psychological Test
• Psychologists interested in assessing personality must be able to
define the most meaningful ways of discriminating between one
person’s personality and another’s.
• To do this, they use psychological tests, standard measures devised to
assess behavior objectively
 Self-report/Objective
• If someone wanted to assess your personality, one possible approach would
be to carry out an extensive interview with you to determine the most
important events in your childhood, your social relationships, and your
successes and failures.
• Obviously, though, such a technique would take extraordinary time and
effort. It is also unnecessary.
• Just as physicians draw only a small sample of your blood to test,
psychologists can use self-report measures.
• In a self-report measure, people are asked questions about their own
behavior and traits. This sampling of self-report data is then used to infer the
presence of particular personality characteristics
 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
• One of the best examples of a self-report measure, and one of the most frequently used personality
tests, is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF).
• Although the original purpose of this measure was to identify people with specific sorts of
psychological difficulties, it has been found to predict a variety of other behaviors.
• For instance, MMPI-2-RF scores have been shown to be good predictors of whether college
students will marry within 10 years of graduating and whether they will get advanced degrees.
• Police departments use the test to measure whether police officers are likely to use their weapons.
• The test consists of a series of 338 items to which a person responds “true,” “false,” or “cannot
say.”
• The questions cover a variety of issues ranging from mood (“I feel useless at times”) to opinions
(“People should try to understand their dreams”) to physical and psychological health (“I am
bothered by an upset stomach several times a week” and “I have strange and peculiar thoughts”).
The NEO Personality inventory
• This OCEAN view led to the creation of the NEO Personality Inventory.
• Developed by Paul Costa and Robert McCrae (1985, 1992), the NEO
Inventory is designed to measure the Big Five traits: neuroticism,
extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and
conscientiousness.
• In spite of its relatively short life span, the NEO inventory is widely
used in research and clinical work, and updated revisions of the scale
have been released (McCrae & Costa, 2007, 2010). An example of a
NEO personality profile (averaged from many respondents) was shown
in our discussion of culture and personality
Projective Tests
• Projective tests, which take a rather indirect approach to the assessment
of personality, are used extensively in clinical work. Projective tests
ask participants to respond to vague, ambiguous stimuli in ways
that can reveal the subjects’ needs, feelings, and personality traits.
• The Rorschach test, for instance, consists of a series of ten inkblots.
Respondents are asked to describe what they see in the blots.
• In the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), a series of pictures of simple
scenes is presented to individuals who are asked to tell stories about
what is happening in the scenes and what the characters are feeling
Rorschach Inkblot Test
• The best-known projective test is the Rorschach test . Devised by
Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach (1924), the test involves
showing a series of symmetrical stimuli similar to the one in Figure 3
to people who are then asked what the figures represent to them. Their
responses are recorded, and people are classified into personality types
requiring a complex set of judgments on the part of the examiner.
• For instance, individuals who see a bear in one particular
Rorschach inkblot are thought to have a strong degree of
emotional control, according to the scoring guidelines Rorschach
developed
Thematic Apperception Test
• The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is another well-known
projective test. The TAT consists of a series of pictures about which a
person is asked to write a story. The stories are then used to draw
inferences about the writer’s personality characteristic