discussionss

1. Exercise 3-A presented an inkblot as an example of a projective test. Here are some inkblot interpretations that I’ve collected from previous semesters. I’ve numbered them (and indicated the gender of the respondent) so that you can refer to each one individually when you “analyze” these responses. What are your “interpretations” of these responses? Are there hidden motives being expressed here? What do the responses represent symbolically? What do you think these respondents might be projecting? Also, feel free to post what you saw in the inkblot, if you are willing to be “analyzed” by your classmates.

(#1, woman) — Run, faster, hot, fire, burn, fear, ugly, afraid, fear. My thoughts were in removing myself as quickly as possible, before I was burned. My fear of the eyes was as great as or greater than the fear of being burned. That is why I did not verbalize the eyes, the fear was unspeakable.

(#2, woman) — When I looked at the inkblot the first thing that came into my mind was that the picture looked a mask of a demon staring back at me angrily. The next day I went back and looked at the picture again this time the first thing I saw was two hippos dancing back to back with their shadows cast on the ground. I wondered why I would have such opposite views. Maybe my views on the picture are related to situation or perhaps my mood. I don’t know. I’m just curious

(#3, woman) — When I first saw the picture as a whole, I saw a mask with cut out “evil-eyes” and fat cheeks. I also saw a hippo mouth on both sides of the mask. Looking closer I saw some big smiling fish eating the eyes. Looking even closer at the cut out at the top of the mask, I saw two naked women facing each other. They have their tongues sticking out. Their breasts are also sticking out. Their knees are bent and touching each other.

(#4, man) — I see a mask; I see lips of a vagina; I see a headless chicken that’s been split open and spread; I see a butterfly; I see something sinister in the two eyes; I see two characters from the Beatles “Yellow Submarine”.

(#5, woman) — I looked at the inkblot and then quickly jotted down the first things that came to mind. Here they are: diseased lungs a scary mask a heart after unsuccessful bypass surgery. These seem very strange to me. I wish I had seen a beautiful butterfly like others did!

(#6, man) — I see the outline of a butterfly. I see a volcano erupting and lava blasting everywhere. The white marks in the center remind me of an elephant’s tusks and the big ears flaring out.

2. Chapter 3 discusses some ways to measure motives or needs that people may not be aware of. In Exercise 3-B, you completed “a test of imagination” by making up a story to a picture. As part of that exercise, I provided you with some sample stories for this picture.

What is your “interpretation” of these stories? You may choose any of the stories listed to interpret. When you offer an interpretation, please indicate which story you are referring to (use the story #).

Your task is to “dissect” these stories for the apparent, underlying motives being expressed in them.

If you’re really daring and would like your own story to be “dissected” or interpreted by the class, feel free to describe it in a post.

3. Greetings Fellow Personality Students!

The person-situation debate is a long-running controversy within the field of personality psychology. For this discussion, let’s enter into this controversy!

(1) Choose a specific personality characteristic (trait, tendency, behavioral consistency, typical way of acting or thinking) shown by yourself or someone you know.

(2) Describe an example situation where this personality characteristic would be evident and would apparently be a “cause” of the person’s behavior.

(3) Would the person with this characteristic always show it in this situation? Why or why not?

(4) What do you think of at least two other student’s examples and their answers to question 3?

4. Think of time when you made a personality judgment about someone else and it turned out to be wrong. Describe what happened. Why do you think your judgment was inaccurate? E.g., was it something about you, the other person, the situation, or some other factors discussed in Chapter 5?

Also, please respond to at least two other students’ examples and see if you have any other ideas about why they might have been wrong about the person in their situations.

5. According to the “Big 5” or 5-Factor Model, there is a small core of traits that best captures people’s “personality.” These 5 factors (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism – or “OCEAN”) consist of several smaller sub-factors. Advocates of this model argue that once you know where someone falls on the Big 5, you get a pretty accurate picture of the “essence” of their personality.

What do you think of this model? Do you agree with it? What aspects of personality do you think are neglected by the 5-Factor Model? Can you find a place for these neglected aspects within the model? That is, how do you think the Big 5 folks would counter the criticism that it leaves out certain aspects of personality? Are there any aspects of personality that absolutely cannot be “fitted” into the 5-Factor Model? Why/why not?

6. In Chapter 7, we discussed many of the ways that our personalities can remain stable as well as change. Consider your own personality from your childhood (e.g., ages 8-10). In what ways has your personality changed during the intervening years?

How do these changes relate to the concepts and processes described in the chapter? Does your personal experience conflict with or agree with (or maybe both) the research findings?

7. According to some research findings, shared environmental events (those things that children share while growing up in the same family) have a minimal impact on personality development. Rather, it seems that it is the unique things that happen to us that have the greatest impact on our resulting personality. As the class notes point out, some researchers in this area have argued that “being raised in the same family has nothing to do with personality!” Do you find these arguments convincing? Why/why not?

8. The evolutionary psychology perspective has generated a good deal of controversy with its approach to gender differences in mate selection and jealousy (see Chapter 9). According to this perspective, there are biological and evolutionary reasons for the traditional “double standard” applied to male and female sexuality (the “double standard” being that it’s “okay, normal, expected, even admired” for men to “sow their wild oats”, whereas it’s a sign of “promiscuity, being a slut, or immoral” for women to show the very same kinds of behavior).

What do you think of the evolutionary psychology theory and research that deals with this issue? Can you think of other, alternative, explanations for the observed gender differences? If there is any truth to the evolutionary psychology perspective, what implications do you think it has for male/female relations?

9. For this discussion, you have a choice of conducting a “Freudian” analysis of two famous people.

(1) The King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Based on what was discussed in Chapter 10, what do you think Freud would have thought of MJ?? Pick one of Freud’s psychosexual stages and discuss how MJ’s personality could be attributed to things that happened (or might have happened) during that stage.

(2) The Queen of Twerking, Miley Cyrus. Based on what was discussed in Chapter 10, what do you think Freud would have thought of Ms. Cyrus?? Pick one of Freud’s psychosexual stages and discuss how Miley’s personality could be attributed to things that happened (or might have happened) during that stage.

Also, please comment on at least two of your classmates’ posts (regardless of the target you chose), preferably on posts that focused on a different psychosexual stage than the one you applied (or would apply).

10. As part of the Freudian Unconscious file exercises in this section, we asked you for a Freudian interpretation of a dream (please refer to this as Dream #1) that I have provided. In this discussion, I would like you to present your own “Freudian” interpretation(s). Also, state your reasons or justifications for your particular interpretation(s). Given that there may be a limited number of such interpretations (and that other students might have already presented your interpretation), you may also choose the following dreams to interpret. In order for us to keep things straight, please refer to the specific Dream # in your posts. Thanks.

Dream #2 (female respondent):”Had gone with a friend to a church I had never visited. I accidentally left my purse on one of the pews after going to sit and talk to someone I recognized a few pews in front of me. When I realized I had left my purse, I went to go get it and realized that my money had been taken. I thought – how could this have happened in church? I acted in a very ugly manner (voice-wise) and I woke up. (Strange right!?)”

Dream #3 (male respondent):”I had a wreck on a motorcycle. It cut off my left foot and my right toes completely. The next day, I went to work with casts on both legs.”

11. According to Freud’s theory of personality development, the “core” of who we are is set by the time we are 5 or 6 years of age. Erikson’s theory of development proposes that personality continues to develop throughout our lives. These theories are not necessarily in opposition. It could be that certain “core” aspects of personality are indeed formed early in life whereas other aspects of our personality change in later life. Based on your own experiences and observations, as well as the theory and research discussed in Chapters 10 & 11, do you think the “core” of personality is or is not formed in our very early years (by the age of 5-6)? Why/why not?

12. I know a married couple who differs quite a bit in their respective levels of being “organized” or “disorganized.” The husband tends to fall on the organized side (at least in some areas), whereas the wife is more on the disorganized side (at least in some areas). Their young daughters seem to be taking after their mother when it comes to their rooms and messes (maybe all kids are like this?). On occasion, I have wondered what it is that makes a person “organized.” I’ve also wondered how a disorganized person might become better-organized.

How would you explain the organized/disorganized dimension? That is, what concepts (that we’ve covered so far in this course) can you apply to these questions and to the married couple described above? Do any of the goal-related concepts (see Chapter 15) apply to this question?

13. One of the questions that comes up in this section of the course is “When does a person really have a ‘self’?” All things considered (developmentally speaking), when would you say that the “self” (that is, its most important aspects) is firmly established? (Give a specific age) Why would you say this? Justify and support your answer by drawing on the theories and research from this part of the course.

Also, indicate how the “self” of younger and/or older persons differs from the self of your chosen age. Where/how do the various self-related traits and processes fit in with your chosen age?

14. In this final discussion, please answer the following questions:

(1) What are your most favorite and least favorite approaches to personality? Why?

(2) What do you now know about yourself and/or other people that you didn’t know before?