UNIT – IV

MEASUREMENT OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

INTRODUCTION

It is often said that no two individuals are exact duplicates. They differ from
each Other in some way or the other. Hence the job of the psychologist is to
identify and understand this uniqueness in individuals. Such a similarity or
difference between persons reveals individual differences. It happens in our
day-to-day life when we see people around us. A question comes to mind; how
and why people appear similar or different to each other? For example when we
think about their physical appearance, we often ask ourselves why some people
have dark or fair complexion, why some people are tall and some are short, why
some are thin and why some are very fat. When we think about their
psychological characteristics we often come across people who are very
talkative or less talkative, some laugh too much whereas others take much time
even to smile, and some are very friendly whereas some prefer to be alone. The
present lesson tries to answer all such queries which can bother us in our
everyday life. In psychology, these are called individual differences referring
to the extent and kind of variations or similarities among people on some of the
important psychological aspects such as intelligence, personality, interest, and
aptitude. This lesson will also help us understand how to assess such similarities
or variations among individuals.

Individual differences occur due to interaction of genetic and environmental

factors. We inherit certain characteristics from our parents through genetic
codes. The phenotype or the expressed forms of our characteristics depend on
contributions of the socio-cultural environment. This is the reason why we are
not exactly like our parents and our parents not exactly like our grandparents.
We do share similarities with our parents in respect of many physical attributes
like height, colour of eyes, shape of nose etc. We also inherit certain cognitive,
emotional and other characteristics from our parents like intellectual
competence, love for sport, creativity etc. However, our own characteristics
develop largely by the support from the environment which we inhabit.

Environment, by providing models and other opportunities, helps us develop

many traits and skills. Our inheritance alone cannot decide what we become but
our environment also contributes. We know the example of Dr. Babasaheb
Ambedkar, who was born in a very poor family but, with the right education
and environment became a great lawyer and also designed the Constitution of
India. The latest and most well known example would be of our former
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President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. You can also remember many such
examples, who did not become great because of inheritance but because of the
environment. Now you know that our genetic codes vary. At the same time,
surrounding environment also differs from person to person.
It sets limits or defines a range by offering different opportunities. That is why
the pattern of development of each of us is different from others. It makes us
think why we are similar in certain ways and different in others.

NORMS
Norms Definition:

Norms are stated or implied rules for expected behaviours. Norms convey what
is generally considered acceptable behaviour.

1. The reciprocity norm suggests that we should help

people who have helped us. For example, imagine that you wish to have a day
off for a family wedding. You are expected to work that day. You ask a co
worker to work that day for you. Consistent with the reciprocity norm, you
may be expected to agree to a similar request from your co worker in the future.

2. Saying "thank you" is another example of a norm. It is expected that we

express appreciation for helpful, supportive, and kind behaviours.

3. It may be a norm to express empathy when hearing about another person's

difficulty. Failing to express empathy could result in the perception that a
person is insensitive.

RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY

Reliability also applies to individual measures. When people take a vocabulary
test two times, their scores on the two occasions should be very similar. If so,
the test can then be described as reliable. To be reliable, an inventory
measuring self-esteem should give the same result if given twice to the same
person within a short period of time. IQ tests should not give different results
over time (as intelligence is assumed to be a stable characteristic).

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Reliability in psychology is the consistency of the findings or results of a
psychology research study. If findings or results remain the same or similar
over multiple attempts, a researcher often considers it reliable.

Reliability in psychology is the extent to which a particular scale or

measurement produces consistent scores or results across multiple uses. This is
important because it helps psychologists determine the value or usefulness of a
given psychological test. For example, imagine that an individual uses a scale to
measure how much they weigh over the course of a month. After using the scale
once per week, they find the following results:

 Week 1: 156 pounds

 Week 2: 319 pounds
 Week 3: 42 pounds
 Week 4: 101 pounds

Reliability refers to how consistently a method measures something. If the same

result can be consistently achieved by using the same methods under the same
circumstances, the measurement is considered reliable.

You measure the temperature of a liquid sample several times under identical
conditions. The thermometer displays the same temperature every time, so the
results are reliable.
Reliability Validity
What does it tell you? The extent to which the The extent to which the
results can be reproduced results really measure
when the research is what they are supposed
repeated under the same to measure.
conditions.
How is it assessed? By checking the By checking how well
consistency of results the results correspond to
across time, across established theories and
different observers, and other measures of the
across parts of the test same concept.
itself.
How do they relate? A reliable measurement A valid measurement is
is not always valid: the generally reliable: if a
results might test produces accurate
be reproducible, but results, they should be
they’re not necessarily reproducible.
correct.

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Validity

Validity refers to how accurately a method measures what it is intended to

measure. If research has high validity that means it produces results that
correspond to real properties, characteristics, and variations in the physical or
social world.

High reliability is one indicator that a measurement is valid. If a method is not

reliable, it probably isn’t valid.

If the thermometer shows different temperatures each time, even though you
have carefully controlled conditions to ensure the sample’s temperature stays
the same, the thermometer is probably malfunctioning, and therefore its
measurements are not valid.

TESTS: DIFFERENT TYPES OF TESTS

INTRODUCTION:

Psychological assessment refers to the use of specific procedures for evaluating

personal qualities, behaviours and abilities of individuals. These procedures
describe people by specifying how they are different from or similar to other
individuals. Such assessments are frequently done by most of us when we make
judgments such as ‘nice’, ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘attractive’, ‘ugly’, ‘genius’ and ‘idiot’
etc. Such judgments can be erroneous many times. Scientific psychology tries to
systematize these procedures so that assessment can be made with minimum
error and maximum accuracy. Psychologists have developed ‘tests’ to assess
these characteristics. A psychological test is a structured technique used to
generate a carefully selected sample of behaviour.

IQ TEST:

Though the first attempt to measure intelligence was made by Sir Francis
Galton a more systematic approach was developed by Alfred Binet, a French
Psychologist. In 1905, Binet gave the concept of Mental Age (MA) which refers
to an individual’s level of mental development relative to the environment in
which he/she lives. The term Intelligence Quotient (IQ) was first devised by
William Stern, a German psychologist, in 1912. IQ is defined as mental age
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divided by chronological age, and multiplied by 100: (IQ = MA/CA × 100). For
example if the mental of a child is 12 and his/her Chronological age is 8 then
the IQ of the child would be 150. The intelligence test developed by Binet was
revised subsequently and in 1916 the test was given the name of Stanford -
Binet test of intelligence On the basis of nature of items, intelligence tests are
Verbal, Non-verbal, and Performance Tests. A verbal test requires
understanding of written words. Hence it can be administered to literate
individuals only. In non-verbal test, pictures or illustrations are used as item of
the test. Performance tests are made up of certain concrete tasks. Both non-
verbal and performance tests can be administered to literate and illiterate
individuals.

PROJECTIVE TEST

Projective or indirect measures of personality are widely used personality

assessment tools. Unlike the self-report measures where the individual is
provided with structured test stimuli, in projective tests the individual has to
respond to unstructured or ambiguous stimuli. The basic assumption behind
using unstructured test stimuli in projective tests is that the individual projects
his/her latent or unconscious feelings, needs, emotions, motives etc. on to the
ambiguous stimulus. The responses of the individual in the form of projection
reflect the nature of his/her personality

If you’ve ever looked to the sky and saw images in the clouds, then you can
appreciate the idea behind the Rorschach. If the cards have no specific shape
(see example to the left), just like the clouds, the shapes we see are projections
from our unconsciousness. In other words, it is not uncommon for children to
see bunny rabbits, kitty cats and monsters in the clouds. These images represent
their needs for life and love as well as their underlying fears about death and
aggression.

PERSONALITY TEST

In the field of personality assessment the major focus is on the study of the
nature and intensity of various characteristics, which are generally reflected
through the behaviour of the individual in a given situation. Personality
assessment measures are classified into three categories.

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A. Objective or Self-Report Measures of Personality

In measures of this kind, the person is asked to report about himself/herself on a

set of statements organized in the form of a questionnaire or inventory. The
nature of the statement can be either closed ended or open ended. In the case of
closed ended statements, rating scales or optional answers are given whereas in
the case of open ended statements, the person is free to describe him or herself.
A number of tests have been developed to assess different trait domains of
personality. Some of the self-report measures of personality, which are widely
used to assess personality, are being discussed below

Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaires (16 PF):

This test was originally developed by Raymond B. Cattell, Karen Cattell and
Heather E. P. Cattell in1949. Since then, the test has undergone four revisions in
1956, 1962, 1967-69,and 1988-93. Currently the fifth edition developed by
Conn & Ricke (1994) is inpractice. This test is popularly known as 16 PF and is
used for age group of 16 and above. It yields scores on 16 primary traits such as
social boldness, dominance, vigilance, emotional stability and rule
consciousness. It also measures five global factors, which are Extraversion,
Anxiety, Tough-Mindedness, Independence and Self-control.

Situational or Observation Measures of Personality.

Another technique to assess personality is to observe the behaviour of the

individual in purposefully designed situation. Such tests are more effective in
the assessment of leadership, dominance, responsibility, extraversion-
introversion etc. One of the first situational tests was developed by Hartshorne,
May, and their associates (1928, 1929, 1930) for the Character Education
Enquiry (CEE).

APTITUDE TEST

Psychological tests to measure specific abilities, such as mechanical or clerical

skills. Sometimes these tests must be specially designed for a particular job, but
there are also tests available that measure general clerical and mechanical
aptitudes. An example of an aptitude test is the Minnesota Clerical Test, which
measures the perceptual speed and accuracy required to perform various clerical
duties. Other widely used aptitude tests include the Differential Aptitude Tests
(DAT), which assess verbal reasoning, numerical ability, abstract Reasoning,

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clerical speed and accuracy, mechanical reasoning, space relations, spelling and
language usage.

You may have come across people who are very proficient in one task but not
that much in another task. Some of your friends may be very good in
mathematics but very poor in social science. Such people possess special
abilities or characteristics in a particular field but relatively low in other field. In
psychology, this is called aptitude. An aptitude is a combination of
characteristics that indicates an individual’s capacity to acquire some specific
knowledge or skill, after training. These qualities can be harnessed by
appropriate training. In other words, if a person does not have the special
abilities required to become a musician, such as discrimination between pitch,
tone, rhythm, and other aspects of musical sensitivity, he/she would not be a
good musician, even after sufficient training. There are salient differences
between intelligence, aptitude, and achievement Intelligence relates to the
ability of a person to do certain thing at a given time.
Aptitude refers to the potential ability of an individual to perform a task, which
generally consists of a combination of abilities. Achievement involves
performance at any given point of time in a particular subject (e.g. mathematics)
with which you have been made familiar

SITUATIONAAL TEST
Developing a situational judgment test begins with conducting a job analysis
that includes collecting critical incidents. These critical incidents are used to
develop different situations where the judgment of the prospective new hire
would need to make a decision. Once these situations are developed, subject
matter experts (excellent employees) are asked to suggest effective and less
effective solutions to the situation. Then a different group of subject matter
experts rate these responses from best to worst and the test is scored with the
highest ranked options giving the respondent the higher score (or lower if the
test is reverse scored).

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE

In 1983 Howard Gardner proposed his theory of multiple intelligences in the

book Frames of the Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. In his book,
Gardner proposes that there are seven possible intelligences—linguistic
intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence, musical intelligence, bodily-
kinesthetic intelligence, visual-spatial intelligence, interpersonal intelligence,
and intrapersonal intelligence. Gardner would go on to add three more

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intelligences to his list—naturalist intelligence, spiritual intelligence, and
existential intelligence etc.

Linguistic intelligence is the ability to learn languages and use language to

express what is on one’s mind and to understand people. Those who have high
linguistic intelligence are well-developed in verbal skills and have sensitivity to
sounds, meanings and rhythms of words (Hampton, 2008). These kinds of
people enjoy reading various kinds of literature, playing word games, making
up poetry and stories, and getting into involved discussions with other people
(Hampton, 2008).
Examples of people with high linguistic ability include poets, writers, public
speakers, TV and radio newscasters, and journalists.
Logical-Mathematical intelligence is the ability to detect patterns, reason
deductively, and think logically. Those who are “math smart” have the capacity
to analyze problems logically, carry out mathematical operations, and
investigate scientifically. Those with high Logical-Mathematical intelligence
are highly capable of thinking conceptually and abstractly. This kind of
intelligence is often associated with scientific and mathematical thinking
Careers that “math smart” people tend to be employed in include computer
technicians and programmers, accountants, poll takers, medical professionals,
and math teachers
Musical Intelligence is “the capacity to think in music, to be able to hear
patterns, recognize them, and manipulate them” (Hampton, 2008). Those who
are musically intelligent learn through sounds, rhythms, tones, beats, music
produced by other people or present in the environment,” according to Gardner
(Hampton, 2008). Musically intelligent people also have the ability to perform,
compose, and appreciate music and music patterns (Smith, 2008).
Jobs in which musical intelligence is a desired aptitude include advertising,
music studio directors and recorders, singers and songwriters, conductors, and
music teachers (Hampton, 2008).
Bodily-Kinaesthetic intelligence is defined as “having the potential of using
one’s whole body or parts of the body to solve problems” (Smith, 2008). Those
with high kinaesthetic intelligence communicate well through body language
and like to be taught through physical activity, hands-on learning, acting out,
and role playing . These kinds of people have a keen sense of body awareness
and have the ability to use mental abilities to coordinate bodily movements.

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Gymnasts, physical therapists, mechanics, athletes, builders, dancers, doctors,
surgeons, nurses, and crafts persons tend to be highly kinaesthetic.
Spatial intelligence “involves the potential to recognize and use patterns of
wide space and more confined areas,” according to Gardner (Smith, 2008). As
well as, “the ability to manipulate and mentally rotate objects,” adds Gardner .
Graphic artists, architects, and mapmakers tend to be highly spatially intelligent.
These people are very aware of their environments.
Interpersonal intelligence is the capacity to understand the intentions,
motivations, and desires of other people. These kinds of people are “people
smart” and work well with others. Examples of people with high interpersonal
intelligence include educators, salespeople, and religious and political leaders.
Interpersonally intelligent people learn through personal interactions.
“[People with high interpersonal intelligence] probably have a lot of friends,
show a great deal of empathy for other people, and exhibit a deep understanding
of other people’s viewpoints,” according to MI Indentified .
“Intrapersonal intelligence is the capacity to understand oneself, to appreciate
one’s feelings, fears and motivations,” according to Gardner. “It involves have
an effective working model of ourselves, and to be able to use such information
to regulate our lives” according to The Encyclopaedia of Informal Education.
People who possess high intrapersonal intelligence are “self smart.” These
people know who they are, what they are capable of doing, how to react to
things, what to avoid, and what they gravitate to .
Psychologists, philosophers, social workers, and counsellors are all examples of
“self smart” careers.
Naturalist intelligence is defined as the ability to recognize and categorize
plants, animals and other objects in nature (Hampton, 2008). Those with high
naturalist intelligence include gardeners, biologists, birdwatchers, florists,
horticulturists and more.
According to EdWeb, “People who are sensitive to changes in weather patterns
or are adept at distinguishing nuances between large numbers of similar objects
may be expressing naturalist intelligence abiliti. Naturalist intelligence is the
intelligence that presumably helped our ancestors survive—“to decide what to
eat and what to run from” (Holmes, 2002).
Existential Intelligence is defined as the ability to be sensitive to, or having the
capacity for, conceptualizing or tackling deeper or larger questions about human
existence, such as what is the meaning of life? Why are we born? And why do
we die Existential intelligence is often called the “wondering smart” or the
metaphysical intelligence.

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The clearest definition of existential intelligence defined by Gardner is:
“individuals who exhibit the proclivity to pose and ponder questions about life,
death, and ultimate reality. However, Gardner has not fully committed himself
to this ninth intelligence despite his in which he first mentions the possible
existence of a ninth intelligence.
Spiritual Intelligence according to Dr. Cynthia Davis, clinical and corporate
psychologist and emotional intelligence business coach, “is the ultimate
intelligence in which we address and solve problems of meaning and value, in
which we can place our actions and our lives in a wider, richer, meaning-giving
context, and the intelligence with which we can assess that one course of action
or one life path is more meaningful than another”.
“Spiritual intelligence is the intelligence that which makes us whole, integral
and transformative,” . Spiritual intelligence is not necessarily religious nor is it
dependent upon religion as a foundation. Characteristics of spiritual intelligence
include the capacity to face and use suffering, the capacity to face and transcend
pain, the capacity to be flexible, actively and spontaneously adaptive, and high
self-awareness.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Emotion can be any number of things. It can be anger, sadness, fear, enjoyment,
love, surprise, disgust, or sham. Author of Emotional Intelligence, Daniel
Goleman, suggests that emotion refers to a “feeling and its distinctive thoughts,
psychological and biological states, and range of propensities to act” (Goleman,
2005, p. 289). But, the most fascinating part about emotions is that they are
universal. People from cultures around the world all recognize the same basic
emotions, even peoples presumably untainted by exposure to cinema or
television .
In 1998, Goleman developed a set of guidelines for The Consortium for
Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations that could be applied in
the workplace and in schools. This set of guidelines is divided into four parts:
preparation, training, transfer and maintenance, and evaluation. Each phase is
equally as important as the last.

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 Scaling Techniques

The process of constructing an instrument to measure, assess, and order some

quantity or characteristic (e.g., height, weight, happiness, empathy). A
researcher must evaluate how a given construct of interest should be measured
and how optimally to obtain scores for individuals on these measures.

Types of Scaling Techniques

Nominal Scale
Nominal scales are adopted for non-quantitative (containing no numerical
implication) labelling variables which are unique and different from one
another.

Types of Nominal Scales:

1. Dichotomous: A nominal scale that has only two labels is called

‘dichotomous’; for example, Yes/No.
2. Nominal with Order: The labels on a nominal scale arranged in an
ascending or descending order is termed as ‘nominal with
order’; for example, Excellent, Good, Average, Poor, Worst.
3. Nominal without Order: Such nominal scale which has no sequence, is
called ‘nominal without order’; for example, Black, White.

Ordinal Scale
The ordinal scale functions on the concept of the relative position of the objects
or labels based on the individual’s choice or preference.

For example, At Amazon.in, every product has a customer review section where
the buyers rate the listed product according to their buying experience, product
features, quality, usage, etc.

The ratings so provided are as follows:

 5 Star – Excellent
 4 Star – Good
 3 Star – Average
 2 Star – Poor
 1 Star – Worst

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Interval Scale
An interval scale is also called a cardinal scale which is the numerical labelling
with the same difference among the consecutive measurement units. With the
help of this scaling technique, researchers can obtain a better comparison
between the objects.

For example; A survey conducted by an automobile company to know the

number of vehicles owned by the people living in a particular area who can be
its prospective customers in future. It adopted the interval scaling technique for
the purpose and provided the units as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 to select from.

In the scale mentioned above, every unit has the same difference, i.e., 1,
whether it is between 2 and 3 or between 4 and 5.

Ratio Scale
One of the most superior measurement technique is the ratio scale. Similar to an
interval scale, a ratio scale is an abstract number system. It allows measurement
at proper intervals, order, categorization and distance, with an added property of
originating from a fixed zero point. Here, the comparison can be made in terms
of the acquired ratio.

For example, A health product manufacturing company surveyed to identify the

level of obesity in a particular locality. It released the following survey
questionnaire:
Select a category to which your weight belongs to:

Less than 40 kilograms

 40-59 Kilograms
 60-79 Kilograms
 80-99 Kilograms
 100-119 Kilograms
 120 Kilograms and more

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 PERSONALITY

The combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual's

distinctive character

personalities

1. 1a : the quality or state of being a person

2. 2a : the condition or fact of relating to a particular person; specifically :
the condition of referring directly to or being aimed disparagingly or
hostilely at an individual.
3. 3a : the complex of characteristics that distinguishes an individual or a
nation or group; especially : the totality of an individual's behavioral and
emotional characteristics

CONCEPT OF PERSONALITY

The word personality has been derived from the Latin word ‘Persona’, which
was the mask which Greek actors wore while acting. This, however, is not the
meaning taken in the modern word personality.

Meaning

Thus, personality is not a fixed state but dynamic totality which is continuously
changing’s to interaction with the environment. Personality is known by the
conduct, behaviour, activities, movements and everything else concerning the
individual. It is the way of responding to the environment. The way in which an

Individual adjusts with the external environment is personality. Following are

some definitions of personality

Definitions of personality

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Munn, “Personality may be defined as the most characteristic integration of an
individual’s structure, modes of behaviour, interests, attitudes, capacities,
abilities and aptitudes.”

All port, “Personality is a dynamic organization within the individual of those

psycho-physical systems that determine has unique adjustment to his
environment.”

Watson, “Personality is the sum of the activities that can be discovered by

actual observation over a long enough period of time t0 give reliable
information.”
Woodworth, “Personality is the total quality of individual Behaviour” Gordon
It includes the external appearances, qualities, aptitudes and capacities, etc. It is
the result of the interaction of the individual with the environment.

It is not a collection of the traits, but a particular organisation of them. It is the

total quality of the individual’s behaviour. Individual affects other individuals
through his personality.

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
Psychoanalytic Theories
Sigmund Freud, a physician by profession, was the major contributor of
psychoanalytic theories of personality. He developed his theory while doing
clinical practice with patients. “Unconscious mental processes” is central to his
aware. Further, according to Freud, darker aspect of human behaviour such as
aggression and sexual desires also plays important role in our personality.

In order to explain how our psyche(mind) works, Freud proposed;

A topographic model of the psyche(explains how our mind is organised)

A structural model of our personality

Psychosocial Stages of Development

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A topographic model of the psyche
In the view of Sigmund Freud, our mind can be divided into three levels;
conscious, preconscious and unconscious. According to him, our conscious
mind is that part which deals with the current information. That is, all the
thoughts, feelings and actions of which you are aware at the very moment are
part of the conscious mind. Preconscious or subconscious mind deals with all
those information for which you are not currently aware but can become only if
you pay attention. The last level of mind is unconscious. This part of mind
stores those socially unacceptable needs, desires, motivations and feelings for
which you are unaware of. According to him, this unconscious part of mind
plays a vital role in influencing our actions.

A structural model of our personality

Freud proposed that our personality consists of three elements: id, ego,
and superego. Before explaining in details, it is important to mention here that
id, ego, and superego are just concepts and they do not have any
physical or physiological basis.

Id: This part of personality operates unconsciously. It deals with basic

instincts, biological needs, and aggressive impulses. It is the most primitive part
of human personality present since birth. From id, other parts of the personality
(ego and superego) develop. It works on pleasure principle-tendency to avoid
pain and seek pleasure. The aim of the id is to gratify one’s need immediately
without considering the moral values of the society and the individual. Eros and
Thanatos are the two driving forces of Id. Eros was the God of love in Greek
mythology. According to Freud, in the context of id, Eros is the life force. It is
responsible for our life instinct and survival, which includes sexual desire,
reproduction desire, and pain avoidance. The counterpart of Eros is Thanatos-
the death force or instinct. It is responsible for violence, aggression and hate
like negative feelings. The aim of Thanatos is to balance the drive of Eros by
driving us towards death and destruction. When personality is dominated by id,
then individual tend to become more impulsive, such people will do what they
want irrespective of time, place and situation, just like a kid.

Ego: Suppose a 10-year-old child wants to eat a scoop of ice-cream kept

in the refrigerator. But he knows that eating ice-cream without seeking

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permission from Parents will be punished. The part of the personality
responsible for this reality check is known as Ego. So, ego works on
reality principle-delaying ID’s gratification need will be delayed until an
appropriate and more realistic situation is not found. This part of
personality emerges from id and its main objective is to strike a balance
between id’s impulsive needs and the reality of this world. It is the
decision-making component of our psyche and works on logic only. In
the words of Freud, “ego is that part of the id which has been modified by
the direct influence of the external world” (Freud, 1923). If ego would
not be able to resolve the conflict between the impulsive demands of the
id and realistic demands of this world, then it would lead to the
development of anxiety and stress. To ward off this anxiety, individual
will be motivated to use unconscious defense mechanisms(we will
talk about this in the later section).

Superego: It is the moral master or moral guru of our personality. Let

us continue the same example referred to in the last section. Whether that
10-year-old kid will ask permission from his parents or not for eating a
scoop of ice cream depends on the development of his superego. Since
seeking permission is morally correct behaviour; it will indicate the
presence of superego in the child. Role of the superego is to internalise
the moral and ethical value of society through the process of
socialisation. It controls the impulsive urges of the id and pursues ego to
choose morally appropriate behaviour instead of only realistic behaviour.
This part of our psyche develops between the ages of three to five years.
Further, according to Freud, our superego consists of two systems: (i)
conscience and (ii) ideal self. The conscience’s role is to punish or
reward ego, through the feeling of pride or guilt, depending on its
behaviour. For example, if ego allows in id’s demand and breaks the
moral code of conduct, superego will make you feel guilty about your
behaviour. The second system, the ideal self-idealised picture of your
own self, also do the job of making you feel guilty or pride, depending on
your behaviour.

Ego Defence Mechanisms

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One of the role of ego is to protect the person from anxiety and stress. So
when the anxiety and stress from the forbidden desires an d motives
become

Overwhelming, we tend to use some psychological strategies, known as

ego defence mechanisms. According to Freud, the sole aim of employing
these ego defence mechanisms is to protect our psyche from anxiety. A
brief description of eight important defence mechanisms has been
described below:

A Summary of Ego-defence Mechanism

Repression Excluding from conscious awareness those impulses
or memories that are too frightening or painful
Rationalization Assigning logical or socially desirable motives to
what we have done, so that we seem to have acted
rationally.
Reaction Concealing a motive from ourselves by giving strong
formation expression to the opposite motive.
Projection Assigning our own undesirable qualities to
others in exaggerated amounts
Intellectualization Attempting to gain detachment from a stressful
situation by dealing with it in abstract, intellectual
terms
Denial Denying that an unpleasant reality exists.
Displacement Directing a motive that cannot be gratified in one
form into another channel.

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Development

Freud proposed a five-stage model of development of personality.

According to him, the core aspects of one’s personality’s developed by
the age of five and remains unchanged throughout. Further, he stated that
in order to move from one stage to another, a child needs to resolve
conflicts of each stage successfully. Unless, it will lead to fixation- a
continuation of an early mode of satisfaction in later life (The Cambridge

17
Dictionary of Psychology, 2009). For example, individual fixated at an
oral stage may have drinking or smoking habits. In the following section,
we will talk about five stages of psychosexual development in brief:

Stage I: Oral Stage (birth to 18 months)

Mouth is the source of pleasure during this stage. Children completely

depend on their caregivers, especially mother. They drive pleasure and
understand the world around them through sucking and swallowing. Over
gratification or under gratification may lead to the fixation at this early
oral stage resulting in the development of overeating behaviour, drinking
or smoking in adulthood. Freud called these people as oral-incorporative
or oral-ingestive. Later during this stage, children experience pleasure
from chewing and biting. If an individual is unable to resolve the
psychological conflict of this stage, then he/she may develop the habit of
nail biting and object chewing in adulthood. Freud further pointed out
that these people are more critical and sarcastic in nature. He referred to
such people as oral-aggressive or oral-sadistic.

Stage II: Anal Stage (18 months to three years)

During this stage, children face the demand of their society for the first
time to control and delay the expulsion of urine and faeces. Children
experience pleasure in this stage from their bowel and bladder movement.
Freud believed that too harsh or too lenient toilet training may cause
fixation at this stage. Resulting into either being messy, lesser self-
control but generous (called as anal-expulsive characters by Freud) or
being tidy, orderly but mean (called as anal retentive characters by
Freud).

Stage III: Phallic Stage (three to five years)

Genitals become the erogenous region during this stage. Children

knowingly or unknowingly touch their genitals for pleasure. During this
stage, they understand the difference between males and females. Freud
proposed that male child experience Oedipus complex – which involves
sexual feeling towards their mother, feeling of rivalry for the father, as
well as a threat of getting punished by the father for having a desire for
mother. The counterpart of the Oedipus complex is Electra complex:
experienced by the female child. It involves the sexual attraction for
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father, feeling of rivalry for mother and a threat of getting punished by
the mother for having this feeling towards father. Successful resolution
of this complex develops a mature sexual identity. According to Freud,
by the end of this stage personality is formed completely.

Stage IV: Latency Stage (six to twelve years)

The sexual energy during this stage is channelized towards educational,

sports and social activities. This leads to no or little interest for the
opposite gender.

Stage V: Genital Stage (thirteen years to adulthood)

The sexual energy returns again in this stage. Successful completion of

previous stages will help in developing a mature intimate relationship
with the opposite sex. Whereas, unresolved issues of previous
psychosexual stages will start exhibiting during adulthood; leading to
difficulty in establishing a healthy intimate relationship with the opposite
sex.

Alfred Adler: Individual Psychology

Adler’s theory is known as theory of individual psychology. He believed
that experiences of early childhood shape one’s personality. If
encouraged during childhood, it would motivate the child to feel capable
and acts in a cooperative way throughout their life. Whereas, if
discouraged the child may misbehave and indulge in unhealthy
competition or withdrawal behaviour. He proposed that there is a need to
understand one’s personality psychology within their social context.
According to Adler, instead of any instinct (as proposed by Freud), an
innate force motivates us to perform the behaviour. He named this force
as the striving for the perfection-an innate desire that motivates
individuals to achieve their full potential.

Inferiority and Superiority Complex

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As a child, Adler explained that we feel weak, dependent, less capable
and thus inferior to others (older siblings, parents, and caregivers).
This feeling of inferiority is innate and natural. If a child decides to
overcome this feeling of inferiority, then s/he would strive for
achievement or success. Thus, overcoming of this feeling of inferiority is
essential for optimal development. If this feeling is not compensated,
then it would lead to inferiority complex and when
overcompensated, it would lead to a superiority complex.

Sibling rivalry and birth order

Adler introduced the term-sibling rivalry to explain how competition for

parents’ love and affection between siblings lead to rivalry and thus
shaping their personalities. According to Adler, arrival of a new-born
might lead to a feeling of dethronement and sibling rivalry. Here
dethronement refers to the feeling of being replaced from the focus of
attention and love by the new sibling.

He has also proposed that your birth order also affects your personality.
Later, numerous studies have confirmed his proposition about birth order.
According to him, firstborn children are usually responsible, obedient and
intelligent individuals. The second born master their skill in social
adjustment. They are generally trusting, accepting and other-cantered.
And, the third order children are exhibit strong security, high self-esteem
but less competitiveness. Since they are never dethroned; they remain the
baby of the family throughout their life.

Carl Jung: Analytical Psychology

Carl Gustav Jung (pronounce as “yooung”), was a Swiss psychiatrist and
a close friend of Sigmund Freud. He emphasised the idea that we need to
study different cultures as it will provide the essence of humanity. Jung’s
personality theory is known as the analytic theory or analytical
psychology.

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Jung extended Freud’s idea of the unconscious. Freud considered
unconscious as an essential part of one’s personality. It is a storehouse of
repressed memories, aggressive motives, and sexual desires. Even though
the basic characteristic of the Freud’s unconscious is similar across
different individuals but its content is highly personal in nature. Jung
deviated from this view and proposed the idea of collective unconscious
— the unconscious shared by all humans. According to him, due to the
evolutionary process and common ancestors we all carry some common
past. Collection of this ancestral past is part of our unconscious known as
the collective unconscious. The elements of our collective unconscious
have been termed by Jung as archetypes — which is shared by all human
beings and have some overarching qualities. He described various types
of archetypes, some of these are as follows:

The self-knowing about the wholeness of one’s own identity

The persona-the phony self that we show to others

The anima-feminine side of the men

The animus-masculine side of the female

The shadow-the darker side of our personality, consisting of aggressive

urges, biological instincts, and feeling of inferiority.

Behavioural Approach to Personality

Behaviourist psychologists were the main criticisers of psychoanalytical
theory of personality. They were against the idea that human
personality can be understood using psyche and unconscious contents.
John B. Watson was the founder of behavioural approach but B. F.
Skinner was the most influential behaviourist.

According to behaviourist theorists, personality is an abstract and

hypothetical concept. Describing it with reference to internal mental
processes are grossly incorrect. Stimulus-response (S-R) relationship and
role of reinforcement in thebehavioural process have always been the
focus of study among behaviourists. According to them to understand

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personality, one needs to understand the S-Relationship and role of
reinforcement first. So, according to them, personality is a collection of
reinforced responses performed for different stimulus. You may recall
that there are basically three major theories of learning proposed
by behaviourists: classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning and
observational learning. One of the most important tenants of the
behaviourism is that ‘what we are is the result of our learning’ and this
learning occurs through reinforcement and observation. Since every
human being has different life conditions, therefore their S-R learning
pattern is also different from each other. Due to this reason, we differ
from each other in personality.

Humanistic Approach to Personality

Also known as the “third force” or “third approach” in psychology,
humanistic approach came into existence as a reaction against the
pessimistic approach of psychoanalysts and behaviourists towards human
behaviour. Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers are the two leading
theorists of humanistic approach. Now we will briefly examine their
theories.

Abraham Maslow: Hierarchy of Needs

His hierarchy of needs consists of five types of needs, In order to achieve
a higher order of need, one needs to fulfil her/his lower needs first.

Self-Actualization: Morality, Creativity, Spontaneity, problem solving,

Lack of Prejudice, Acceptance of facts.

Esteem: Self- Esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others,

respect by others.

Love/Belonging: Friendship, Family, Sexual Intimacy

Safety: Security of: body, employment, resources, health, property.

Physiological: air, water, sex, sleep, excretion.

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Carl Roger: Focus on Self
Carl Roger was a counselling psychologist and Maslow’s colleague, who
extended the humanistic approach to personality. Like Maslow, he also
viewed humans as good and their behaviour is goal-directed. He
developed his theory by observing the behaviour of his clients. He
noticed that the idea of “self” always plays an important role in his
client’s life. Therefore, his theory revolves around the concept of self.
According to him, there are basically two types of self; one is an ideal
self and other real self. Ideal self is one’s concept of self that s/he wants
or desires to become. Whereas, real self is one’s inner concept of what
we really are. Roger proposed that if there is congruence between one’s
ideal and real self, then it will lead to help her/him to achieve a state of
self-actualisation, which is state of highest potential a person can
achieve. He called such people as a fully functioning person. On the
contrary, if there is no congruence between these two versions of self,
then it will lead to a state of anxiety and stress. Carl Roger also
mentioned in his theory about the importance of the external environment
in achieving congruence in self-concepts. If an individual is getting
unconditional positive regard, only then, he will be able to value his true
worth and can achieve self-actualisation. Unconditional positive regard
refers to the warm acceptance of one’s self by significant others without
any condition.

Type theory of personality

Perhaps the earliest known theory of personality is that of the Greek physician
Hippocrates (c. 400 B.C.), who characterized human behavior in terms of four
temperaments, each associated with a different bodily fluid, or "humor." The
sanguine, or optimistic, type was associated with blood; the phlegmatic type
(slow and lethargic) with phlegm; the melancholic type (sad, depressed) with
black bile; and the choleric (angry) type with yellow bile.

Individual personality was determined by the amount of each of the four

humours. Hippocrates' system remained influential in Western Europe
throughout the medieval and Renaissance periods. Abundant references to the
four humors can be found in the plays of Shakespeare, and the terms with which
Hippocrates labeled the four personality types are still in common use today.
The theory of temperaments is among a variety of systems that deal with human
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personality by dividing it into types. A widely popularized (but scientifically
dubious) modern typology of personality was developed in the 1940s
by William Sheldon, an American psychologist. Sheldon classified personality
into three categories based on body types: the endomorph (heavy and easy-
going), mesomorph (muscular and aggressive), and ectomorph (thin and
intellectual or artistic).

Dominance of fluid type Personality type Temperamental

in the body characteristics
blood sanguine Light hearted,optimistic ,
happy,hopeful and
accomodating
Yellow bite choleric Irritable.angry but
passionate and strong
with active imagination
Phlegm(mucus) phlegmatic Cold, calm, slow,or
sluggish,indeffirent
Black bite melancholic Bad tempered,
dejected,sad, depressed,
pessimistic, deplorable,
and self-involved

Trait theory of personality

In trait approach the personality is viewed in terms of traits . in our day to day
converstion we label our friends and near ones with traits such as being honest,
shy, aggressive, laszy ,dull, dependent etc, in the real sense , traits are defined as
relatively permenant and relatively consistent general behaviour patterns and
that an individual exhibits in many situations. These patterns said to be the basic
units of ones personality that can be discovered through observing one’s
behaviour in a variety of situations. A person if he behave honesty in several
situations, after having generalization may be labelled as honest or laziness
becomes a behavioural trait of his personality. G.B. Allport was the first
personality theorist who adopted trait approach in providing a theory of
personality.

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Personality as a combination of qualities or dimensions are called trait theories.
Well-known trait theorist Gordon Allport (1897-1967) extensively investigated
the ways in which traits combine to form normal personalities, cataloguing
over 18,000 separate traits over a period of 30 years. He proposed that each
person has about seven central traits that dominate his or her behaviour.
Allport's attempt to make trait analysis more manageable and useful by
simplifying it was expanded by subsequent researchers, who found ways to
group traits into clusters through a process known as factor analysis. Raymond
B. Cattell reduced Allport's extensive list to 16 fundamental groups of inter-
related characteristics, and

Hans Eysenck claimed that personality could be described based on three

fundamental factors: psychotics (such antisocial traits as cruelty and rejection of
social customs), introversion-extroversion, and emotionality-stability (also
called neuroticism). Eysenck also formulated a quadrant based on intersecting
emotional-stable and introverted-extroverted axes.

Extraverts are sociable and crave excitement and change, and thus can become
bored easily. They tend to be carefree, optimistic and impulsive.joviel,
participate in cultural activities, helping to others.
Introverts are reserved, plan their actions and control their emotions. They tend
to be serious, reliable and pessimistic. Interest in writing and drawing. Like to
live lonely
Neurotics / unstables tend to be anxious, worrying and moody. They are overly
emotional and find it difficult to calm down once upset.
Stables are emotionally calm, unreactive and unworried.
Eysenck (1966) later added a third trait / dimension - Psychoticism– e.g.
lacking in empathy, cruel, a loner, aggressive and troublesome.
Eysenck related the personality of an individual to the functioning of the
autonomic nervous system (ANS). Personality is dependent on the balance
between excitation and inhibition process of the nervous system. Neurotic
individuals have an ANS that responds quickly to stress.

SOCIAL PREJUDICES

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Meaning: an unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of race, sex,
religion, etc.

 An unfavourable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without

knowledge, thought, or reason.

 Unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, especially of a hostile

nature, regarding an ethnic, racial, social, or religious group.

The word “prejudice” has origins in Latin for “before” and “judgment.” It
describes unfavourable feelings toward individuals or groups based on
preconceived notions of their ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, age,
disability, religion and other characteristics. While every individual is distinct,
prejudice lumps all members of a group or classification together.

The term prejudice means "prejudgment." A person is prejudiced when he has

formed an attitude toward a particular social group of people before having
enough information on which to form a knowledgeable opinion. A negative
prejudice is when the attitude is hostile toward members of a group. A positive
prejudice is when the attitude is unduly favourable toward a group. Groups that
are the targets of prejudice may be distinguished by any one of several
characteristics such as religion, ethnicity, language, social class, gender,
physical abilities, age, or sexual orientation. Frequently they are distinguished
by specific inherited physical characteristics such as skin colour.

Prejudice is such a basic part of a person's complex thought process that any one
of many causes may be a factor, such as a person's appearance, unfamiliar social
customs of others, or even the type of motor vehicle a person drives. As noted
by Gordon Allport in his landmark book, The Nature of Prejudice, it is more
likely that multiple causes of prejudice may be involved at the same time. In
addition, prejudice exists not only at the personal individual level, but also at
the collective societal level. All human societies have prejudice in some form
and to some degree. In fact many societies have multiple prejudices, such as
gender prejudice against female members, racial prejudice against people of
colour, and religious prejudice against Catholics or Jews.

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 There are many causes of prejudice; there can be many forms of prejudicial
expression, the most common of which is discrimination. Discrimination is the
unfair treatment of people simply because they are different from the dominant
group in society. An example would be a person, group, or company favouring
one person over another on some arbitrary basis, such as gender or social class
(groups of people sharing similar wealth and social standing), rather than on
individual merit. Prejudice and discrimination cause inequality, another
phenomenon common to all societies, especially when minorities, such as
people of colour, including Hispanic and black Americans, may be readily
identified. Racism, sexism, and anti-Semitism (hostility toward Jews as a
religious or ethnic group) are all forms of prejudice and discrimination.

LODE VENKATESHAM
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WORK
UNIVERSITY P.G. CENTRE – KOLLAPUR
PALAMURU UNIVERSITY
NAGARKURNOOL DIST - 509102

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