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The topic of personality serves as an excellent base for discussing the feminist perspective within
the field of psychology. Torrey (1987) has incorporated a five-phase sequence of sex-integration,
proposed by McIntosh, into the psychology of personality.
Phase 1: Womenless Psychology. Torrey provides several interesting examples of womenless
psychology, for example, only four of the 707 pages of Hall and Lindzey’s text on personality
are devoted to a woman’s theory of personality (Karen Horney’s). Sullivan, Murray,
McClelland, and Kohlberg based their work on studies of men, although the theories usually
are described as universal.
Phase 2: Adding Women to Psychology. In this phase, women’s work is included in the field of
psychology, but usually within the overall male-oriented paradigm. Karen Horney’s
contributions within the psychoanalytic field would represent this phase.
Phase 3: Women as Inherently Different and Deviant. Viewing men as the norm and women
as special exceptions occurs in Phase 3. Freud’s view of mature female sexuality is used to
illustrate the point. Although aware of the sexual role of the clitoris, Freud insisted that mature
sexuality is located in the vagina. Regarding research, Torrey notes that when differences did
appear, psychologists have usually interpreted them as showing female inferiority. Witkin, for
example, described the holistic style of perception he found in his female participants as a
liability to thinking analytically, rather than as a capacity for global synthesis (Torrey, 1987, p.
157).
Phase 4: Taking the Psychology of Women Seriously. This phase involves the feminist study
of women, their development and social rules. Gilligan’s challenge to Kohlberg’s theory
represents this stage, as does Homer’s extension of achievement motivation (McClelland).
Phase 5: All the Human Experience, Psychology Redefined. A paradigmatic shift would be
necessary within psychology to describe the human experience as a discipline. Until extensive
work concerning women is accomplished, it will be difficult to envision the changes within the
field. Do different theories represent different phases? Are men and women really so different?
If so, what are the social, political, and economic implications of personality differences? Since
women are becoming the majority in the field of psychology, what impact do you think this will
have on the psychology of the 21st century?
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BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE
Gordon Willard Allport (1897–1967)
As a student, Gordon Allport was deeply influenced by the writings of William James, whom he
resembles in his style of investigation and his uncompromising interest in the individual as self.
Allport was born in Montezuma, Indiana, in 1897, one of four children. His father, a physician, ran
his clinic in the Allport home. He indulged his strong belief in the imposition of discipline and
responsibility at an early age by assigning each of his sons a task to carry out in the clinic. Mrs.
Allport, a former schoolteacher, introduced the children to philosophy, providing them with the
foundations of the classics and encouraging their independent inquiry into the nature of things.
She was a religious woman and stressed the importance of faith. Allport himself has described his
upbringing as one of “plain Protestant piety and hard work.”
On completion of high school, Allport followed his brother Floyd to Harvard. His education was
interrupted briefly when he served a short time in the armed forces during World War I. He
eventually earned his B.A. in 1919. Gordon did not immediately pursue a graduate degree,
choosing instead to teach in Istanbul, Turkey, but returned to Harvard a year later to earn his
doctorate in psychology at the age of 24. He did not remain in the United States for long, again
feeling the need to travel and study abroad. This time Allport spent two years at large universities
in England and Germany. When he returned, he secured a permanent academic position at
Harvard.
Allport’s most significant book, Personality: A Psychological Interpretation, was published in 1937
and enjoyed a great reception. (The book was thoroughly revised 24 years later under the title
Pattern and Growth in Personality.) His approach to understanding human personality as a growing,
changing system of traits, attitudes, and habits became well known. Allport is responsible for
emphasizing the importance of both the concept of attitudes in social psychology and the concept
of personality traits.
From 1939 to 1949, he was the Harvard University editor of the Journal of Abnormal and Social
Psychology and was elected president of the American Psychological Association in 1939. He cofounded
the Department of Social Relations at Harvard in 1946 and, thereafter, was closely
identified with the “third force” in psychology, the humanistic psychologists. Allport received the
Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award in 1964 and continued to pursue his research and
writing until his death in 1967.
Hans Jargon Eysenck (b. 1916)
Hans Eysenck, the grandson of a medical doctor and an only child, was born in Berlin, Germany. In
order to gain admission to the University of Berlin, Eysenck was required to join the Nazi party as a
member of the SS. He tolerated these circumstances for only a short time, leaving eventually for
France and, finally, England. Eysenck studied psychology at the University of London, obtaining
his Ph.D. in 1940. He became director of the psychology department at Maudsley Hospital in
London after World War II, and has traveled often to the United States as a visiting professor.
Eysenck’s contributions to psychology have been varied. He is regarded most for his empirical and
theoretical work on personality and his contributions to behavior therapy. He is particularly well
known for his personality test battery, the Eysenck Personality Inventory, and for his critical review,
in 1952, of the value and effectiveness of psychotherapy, especially psychoanalysis, in the
treatment of psychological disorders. Eysenck founded the journal Behavior Research and Therapy in
1962, and is the author of more than 350 books and articles, including the Biological Basis of
Personality (1964) and Personality, Structure and Measurement (1969).
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Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)
Sigmund Freud was born in Pribor, Czechoslovakia, in 1856. Although Freud was a gifted student,
it took him eight years to finish his medical degree at the University of Vienna, partly because he
was interested in so many topics. Freud first pursued a career as a neurologist, but financial
concerns forced him into general medical practice. In cooperation with his friend Joseph Breuer,
Freud began to treat hysterical women. This is unusual, because at the time there was no known
cure for hysteria, which is now known as a conversion disorder. Through trial and error and
feedback from clients, Breuer and Freud developed the technique known as psychoanalysis.
The fundamental rule of psychoanalysis is honesty; clients must relay all thoughts and feelings
uncensored to the analyst. Clients then follow their stream of thought wherever it may lead, a
process known as free association. In the course of free association, clients often uncover traumatic
events in the past, and, upon reliving these events, often experience relief from their symptoms.
Freud’s first major work, The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), detailed the process of dream
interpretation, which he felt was the “royal road to the unconscious.” Although it took six years to
sell the first 600 copies printed, this work would go through eight additional printings during
Freud’s lifetime.
Although the technique of psychoanalysis is perhaps Freud’s most important legacy, he made
many other substantial contributions to psychology. These include the recognition of the
importance of sexuality and unconscious processes, a fully developed system of personality, and
an appreciation for the conflict between individual desires and the constraints of society. His work
has influenced so many aspects of our thinking that he is often not given full credit for the
development of his ideas. Freud’s many detractors are quick to point out that his theories are not
based on empirical research. While this is certainly true, just because they lack empirical evidence
does not mean that they are wrong. It just means that they are less likely to be right. Because of the
breadth of his intellectual contributions, he remains the most cited psychologist in Psychology and
Life and most comparable texts.
Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961)
Carl Jung was born in Kesswil, Switzerland, the son of a pastor. From childhood, Jung was
fascinated by the problems of religion and spiritualism. He received his M.D. from the University of
Basel in 1901, with an emphasis in psychiatry. Having read Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams, he
sought the master out and soon became Freud’s most famous disciple. An eventual split between
Freud and Jung occurred, prompted by Jung’s belief that the psychosexual theory of development
was too restrictive.
Jung advanced his own brand of psychology, known as analytic psychology, introducing the
concepts of the collective unconscious and archetypes. Like Freud, Jung developed a large
following of loyal adherents. In his later writings, Jung returned often to an analysis of religion and
mysticism, addressing themes that had fascinated him from his youth.
Neal Miller (b. 1909)
Neal Miller has been in the vanguard of American psychology for more than 30 years. He sees
himself as a “builder of bridges between disciplines” and, indeed, his contributions run the gamut
from social-learning theory and frustration-aggression hypotheses, to physiological research into
brain stimulation and control of autonomic responses through biofeedback.
Miller received his undergraduate training at the University of Washington and his master’s degree
at Stanford University. In 1935, he earned his doctorate at Yale, the school with which he would be
associated for the next 30 years. In light of the strongly behavioristic approach his research has
taken, it is interesting to note that he received considerable formal training in psychoanalytic theory
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and practice. Perhaps his participation at the Institute of Human Relations at Yale, where he was in
contact with anthropologists and sociologists primarily concerned with the influence of the social
milieu on the individual, impressed him with the limitations of analysis.
With the publication of two landmark books, Social Learning and Imitation in 1941 and Personality
and Psychotherapy in 1950, he and his colleague, John Dollard, created a sensation. These works
demonstrated that social learning, psychoanalytic treatment, and the origins of neurosis could be
understood in terms of classical learning theory. The intelligent, innovative nature of Miller’s
accomplishment brought him a Newcomb-Cleveland Prize in 1951 and a Warren Medal in 1954.
In the same year that Personality and Psychotherapy was published, Miller applied his theories of
behavior modification to victims of combat neurosis with a high degree of success, essentially
abandoning the psychoanalytic approach to therapy. True to his self-portrait as a “bridge-builder,”
he translated the implications of his research and therapeutic techniques to a more physiologically
based line of inquiry, investigation into the physiology of learned responses. He used electrical
stimulation of parts of the brains of animal participants to elicit motivational sensations such as
fear, pain, and pleasure, and demonstrated that an electrical or chemical stimulation of the brain
may bring about sensations of hunger. Following the example of Pavlov, he continues to explore a
wide range of learned visceral responses. In accord with what he has already discovered about
learned visceral responses, he designed a lightweight electromechanical instrument that alerts
children with scoliosis whenever they lapse into incorrect posture. The results of this treatment
have been encouraging.
Although he is now an emeritus professor, Miller remains active in his research and conceptual
contributions to the field of behavioral medicine. Miller served as president of the American
Psychological Association in 1961, was awarded the National Medal of Science, and has been
elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
Carl Rogers (1902–1987)
Carl Rogers, the founder of client-centered therapy and one of the best-known figures in humanistic
psychology, is often described by friends as the “man who gave people permission to be
themselves.” A firm believer in the basic goodness of human beings, Rogers based his approach to
therapy and education on the assumption that individuals, when given the proper opportunity and
encouragement, can decide for themselves the best course to follow. This doctrine placed the mild-
mannered Rogers squarely in the face of controversy throughout his career, as he attempted to go
beyond the mere formulation of pleasant-sounding philosophies, to implement his notions in the
context of social institutions.
A student of agriculture, Rogers made an abrupt change of plans after traveling to China with a
student religious group. He began to see that he would only truly satisfy his needs and interests in
a milieu that encouraged communication and offered him an opportunity to help others. He
enrolled in a theological seminary, but soon found the emphasis on dogma and hierarchy to be
contradictory to his highly personal approach. He switched to the study of psychology, a discipline
in which he felt he would be better able to develop and act on his ideas. He received his bachelor’s
degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1924. After graduating from Columbia Teachers College,
he became director of the Rochester Child Guidance Clinic in New York and there began to
construct the techniques that would eventually evolve into Rogerian, or client-centered, therapy.
Rogers finally joined forces with a group of like-minded psychologists at the Western Institute for
Behavioral Sciences in California. This nonprofit center is involved in several projects, including a
tremendously popular two-week summer course of encounter groups. An even more ambitious
project is designed to put physicians in closer touch with the “human” and ethical aspects of
medical practice.
Throughout his career, Rogers continued to believe that the purpose of therapy was to assist the
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client in realizing his or her potential, and he conducted some of the first empirical studies of the
process and effectiveness of psychotherapy. He was instrumental in elevating humanistic
psychology to its stature as a “Third Force” in psychology, and was elected president of the
American Psychological Association in 1947.
In spite of all his successes, Rogers continued to be criticized from many sides. Even friends and
colleagues described his views as overly optimistic—particularly his faith that tense situations
<br /> such as racial confrontations can be resolved by person-centered therapy techniques. Nevertheless,
Rogers, if anything, grew more optimistic. During the last few years of his life, in response to the
growing popularity of his client-centered therapy, he trained facilitators (therapists) in Germany,
Japan, and Brazil. His notable works include Client-Centered Therapy (1951) and On Becoming a
Person (1961).
TIMELINE
Yea Event
r
1900 Freud published what many believe was his greatest work, The Interpretation of
Dreams.
1913 Carl Jung broke ranks with Freud and soon became a major figure in the
development of an alternative psychoanalytic theory, analytic psychology.
19141918
World War I was fought.
1920 Alfred Adler published the Practice and Theory of Individual Psychology, outlining
his views on the social ramifications of psychoanalysis.
1921 Hermann Rorschach developed his famous projective test, composed of a series of
symmetrical inkblots.
1929 The Great Depression began in America.
1937 Gordon Allport published Personality: A Psychological Interpretation, outlining his
trait theory of personality.
1937 Karen Horney published The Neurotic Personality of Our Time, describing her
theory of personality.
1938 Henry Murray published Explorations in Personality and developed a projective
test called the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), a series of black-and-white
drawings of a person or persons in ambiguous situations.
19391945
World War II was fought.
1940s Carl Rogers developed his ideas on the humanistic view of personality
development.
1943 Starke Hathaway and J. C. McKinley published the first edition of the MMPI,
which soon became the most widely used personality test ever.
1950 Raymond Cattell developed the 16 PF, which later became a widely used
personality inventory.
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1951 Carl Rogers published Client-Centered Therapy, explaining how his ideas could be
applied to therapy.
1954 Abraham Maslow published Motivation and Personality, explaining the
relationship of his hierarchy of needs to both motivation and personality
development.
1957 Sputnik, the first satellite, was launched.
1963 Albert Bandura, with R. H. Walters, published Social Learning Personality and
Development, explaining the influences of social learning on personality growth. />
1973 Walter Mischel challenged the basic idea that personality traits have cross-
situational consistency, and proposed a cognitive-social learning theory of
personality.
1980 Ronald Reagan was elected President.
1986 Albert Bandura published Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social
Cognitive Theory, presenting his influential self-efficacy theory.
1989 The University of Minnesota published the second edition of the MMPI, which
was standardized on a larger, more heterogeneous group of people than the first
edition.
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READINGS
Bandura, A. (1986). Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. The leading proponent for understanding personality from a social-
cognitive orientation presents his influential self-efficacy theory.
Cantor, N. & Harlow, R. E. (1994). Personality, Strategic Behavior, and Daily-Life Problem Solving.
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 3 (6), 169–172. A look at the problem-solving efforts
used by individuals as they work toward solving the “life tasks” in their daily lives.
Carlson, J. F. (1989). Psychosexual Pursuit. Enhancing Learning of Theoretical Psychoanalytic Constructs.
Teaching of Psychology, 16, 82–84. Carlson developed a game that can accommodate as many as
50 players. This article reproduces a game board on which players must move through the
stages of psychosexual development and eventually become adults. Play money represents
psychic energy; the goal is to retain as much psychic energy as possible for adult life tasks.
Defense mechanisms and fixation are incorporated into the game rules.
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1992). Perspectives on Personality, 2nd Ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Presents very readable and current coverage of personality psychology by two of the better-
known researchers in the area; includes much of their own research.
Costa, P., & McCrae, R. (1998). Trait Theories of Personality. New York: Plenum Press. The fathers of
the Big Five personality theory make an argument for their system of personality.
Evans, R. (1981). Dialogue with C. G. Jung. New York: Praeger Special Studies/Praeger Scientific. Dr.
Richard Evans conducts a one-on-one interview with Carl Jung, exploring Jung’s relationship
with Freud, and his reactions to various psychological issues and concepts.
Ewen, R. (1998). An Introduction to Theories of Personality (5th Ed.). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates. An excellent introduction to the field of personality. Presents the theories of eleven
major figures in personality psychology.
Eysenck, H. (1998). Dimensions of Personality. New Brunswick, Transaction Publishers. The
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accumulation of Eysenck’s 50 years of research on personality. Intended for students of
psychology, psychiatry and sociology.
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Freud, S. (1961). The Ego and the Id. New York: Norton. Original work published in 1923. Translated
by James Strachey.
Freud, S. (1963). An Outline of Psychoanalysis. New York: W. W. Norton. Original work published
1940. Translated by James Strachey.
Gay, P. (1988). Freud: A Life for Our Time. New York: W.W. Norton. The definitive biography on
Freud. Provides rich details about his life, and presents his ideas in easily accessible form.
Hall, C., & Lindzey, G. (1978). Theories of Personality, (3rd Ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. A
classic text on personality theory.
Hogan, R. (1986). What Every Student Should Know About Personality. In V. P. Makosky (Ed.), The G.
Stanley Hall Lectures Vol. 6. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. A brief,
entertaining summary of some of the most important research and theoretical issues in
personality psychology. As with Hall’s other works, this is worth the read.
Holzman, P. S. (1994). Retrospective Feature Review: Hilgard on Psychoanalysis as Science. Psychological
Science, 5, (4), 190–191. An interesting look at Hilgard’s perspective on Psychoanalysis, in
which he criticizes Freud for failing to appropriately “define the field of inquiry.”
Jung, C. (1990). The Basic Writings of C. G. Jung. Princeton, Princeton University Press. Translated by
Richard Carrington. Presents Jung’s most important writings on the nature of human
personality.
Rogers, C. (1961). On Becoming a Person: A Therapist’s View of Psychotherapy. An older work, but
certainly worth the time. It provides the foundation for understanding Rogers’ client-centered
therapy.
DISCOVERING PSYCHOLOGY
PROGRAM 15: THE SELF
Overview
How psychologists systematically study the origins of self-identity and self-esteem, social
determinants of self-conceptions, and the emotional and motivational consequences of beliefs
about oneself
Key Issues
The process of individualization in children, Freud’s Ego, Id, and Superego, the theory of self-
efficacy, the relationship between nonverbal communication and status, the effects of self-
presentation on the reaction of others, and the effects of reward and competition on creativity.
Demonstrations
Status differences in nonverbal behavior on communication.
New Interviews
Hazel Markus looks at the relationship between the self and culture and examines the mutual
constitution of the two.
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FILMS AND VIDEOS
First Feelings (1992). RMI Media Productions, 30 minutes
From the Coast Telecourse, this program addresses the question of how much of an infant’s
personality can be attributed to the relationship with caregivers and how much can be explained by
the baby’s inborn temperament.
Freud: The Hidden Nature of Man (1970). IU(LCA), 29 minutes
Analyzes Freud’s revolutionary theories of the power of the unconscious; the Oedipus complex;
dream analysis; and the ego, superego, and id. Points out the impact of his ideas on man’s attitude
toward himself, particularly Victorian man’s approach to sexuality. Uses the technique of dramatic
reenactment of his ideas, with actors playing Freud and his patients.
Freud Under Analysis (1987). IC(CORT), 58 minutes
Profiles Freud’s life and contributions to the development of psychoanalytic theory, which
established the study of the mind as a science. Discusses his major ideas, including the function of
sexual repression in the development of the personality, the role of the unconscious, the importance
of childhood experiences to adult development, and the therapeutic techniques of psychoanalysis
in controlling neurotic behaviors. Produced for the NOVA series.
Neurotic Behavior: A Psychodynamic View (1973). CRM, 19 minutes
Illustrates several varieties of neurotic behavior and classical defense mechanisms in a vignette
about the life of Peter, a college student. A psychodynamic approach to behavior is used to analyze
Peter’s life as he experiences anxiety, then repression, rationalization, displacement, and finally
phobias and obsessive-compulsive neurosis in reaction to the psychological trauma induced by his
mother during early training. This film illustrates the unconscious and unintentional nature of
defense mechanisms.
Personality (1971). (CRM)MCGH, 30 minutes
Focuses on an articulate, self-aware college senior. It begins with his self-report, which is contrasted
with the opinions of his parents, his girlfriend, and his roommate. Thematic Apperception Tests are/>
shown. Good, as the TAT is an instrument many students will never have the opportunity to see,
other than in this venue.
Ratman (1974). TLF, 53 minutes
A dramatization of one of Freud’s most famous cases. Freud’s analysis of the obsessive behavior of
this patient is reviewed.
67,000 Dreams (1972). TLF, 30 minutes
An interview with Carl Jung in which he talks about the development of his theory, including the
concept of the collective unconscious.
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CASE STUDY LECTURE LAUNCHER
In 1923, personal tragedy transformed the life of an 18-year-old Texan named Howard. This
overprotected college freshman had never made a major decision for himself. When a heart attack
killed his father, only two years after the death of his mother, Howard suddenly inherited three-
fourths of the interest in the family’s lucrative tool company. His uncle and grandparents, who
owned the rest of the business, urged Howard to return to school. Despite his reputation as a shy
and obedient boy, Howard refused. Within four months, he bought out his relatives’ share in the
company. By the time Howard was 19, a judge had granted him adult status, giving him full legal
control of the million-dollar company (Barlett & Steele, 1979). However, he had no interest in
running the family business. Instead, he wanted to become the world’s top aviator and most
famous motion picture producer. “Then,” he told his accountant, “I want you to make me the
richest man in the world” (Dietrich & Thomas, 1972, p. 73).
By the time he was 38, Howard Hughes was an American legend. He founded the Hughes Aircraft
Company, manufacturer of the first spacecraft to land on the moon. He transformed Trans World
Airlines into a $500 million empire. He designed and built airplanes for racing, military, and
commercial uses. As a pilot, he broke many aviation records, capping his triumphs with a 1938
round-the-world flight. Ticker-tape parades in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Houston
honored his achievement (Drosnin, 1985). However, long before that, when he was only 20 years
old, he had already reaped national honors producing several films, among them an Academy
Award winner. As head of the RKO film studio, Hughes used his power to fuel the 1950s
anticommunist purge in Hollywood. Eventually, Hughes realized his ambition; he became the
world’s richest man.
Despite his incredible public success, Howard Hughes was a deeply disturbed individual. As his
empire expanded, he became increasingly disorganized. He began to focus so excessively on trivial
details that he accomplished less and less. He became a recluse, sometimes vanishing for months at
a time.
Hughes’s mishaps as a pilot and driver caused three deaths. On several occasions Hughes suffered
serious head, face, and, perhaps, brain injuries; one near-fatal plane crash resulted in what became
a lifetime addiction to codeine (Fowler, 1986). His risk taking extended to the world of finance as
well, where he lost over $100 million of taxpayers’, stockholders’, and his own money (Dietrich &
Thomas, 1972).
As he grew older, Hughes became obsessed with germs. On hearing a rumor that an actress he once
dated had a venereal disease, he burned all his clothes, towels, and rugs. Eventually, the only
people allowed to see him were members of his “Mormon guard,” an elite cadre of men who never
questioned his often bizarre orders. Those orders included instructions to “wash four distinct and
separate times, using lots of lather each time from individual bars of soap” (Drosnin, 1985, p. 167).
Anything their employer might touch they wrapped in 50-tissue swaths of Kleenex; each box
opened with a clean, unused knife.
Paradoxically, Hughes lived in squalor. He rarely wore clothes or washed, never brushed his teeth,
and used an unsterilized needle to inject himself with large doses of codeine. He stayed in bed for
days at a time. The richest man in the world slowly starved his 6-foot, 4-inch frame to an emaciated
120 pounds.
Looking to Hughes’s childhood for clues to the paradox of his personality reveals many possible
links between his early experiences and their later transformation. Similar to his father, Hughes
loved mechanical gadgets. At age 3, he started taking pictures with a box camera. He tinkered in his
father’s workshop, creating objects out of bits of wire and metal. He was allowed to play in the
workshop—as long as he kept it spotless.
Hughes’s parents fussed excessively about his health. His quiet, dignified mother devoted herself
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full-time to him, taking him to the doctor at the slightest provocation. At 14, his parents sent him to
a boarding school in Massachusetts. A developing hearing loss isolated him from friendships. The
highlight of his stay in the East was a ride with his father in a seaplane that “fired his fascination
with airplanes and marked the beginning of a lifelong love affair with aviation, his most enduring
passion.”
Later, when he went to a California school, Hughes spent much of his time alone, riding his horse
in the hills and visiting his Hollywood screenwriter uncle. At his uncle’s Sunday brunches,
Hughes met many stars and movie moguls, as did his father, who had an eye for beautiful women.
Hughes began to perceive people as objects to be avoided or collected. He would bring teenaged
aspiring starlets to Hollywood, put them up in apartments, and, as they waited for stardom, forget
all about them (Fowler, 1986).
A few years before Hughes’s death, his former barber reflected on the eccentric billionaire’s
personality, “I