it's that time again today we are going to continue reviewing unit four of AP psychology as we shift our Focus from social psychology to personality in this video we will explain two major perspectives on personality the psychodynamic and humanistic theories which means it's time to figure out why we act the way we do and finally maybe understand why your friend keeps making terrible life decisions you're it you're it you're it quites any quites quties no inqu no staries you can't do that can cannot St it can do double St it no erasing to start we are going to go over how the psychodynamic Theory defines and assesses personality remember the psychodynamic perspective is rooted in Freud's work this perspective believes that a person's personality and behaviors are shaped by their conscious and unconscious mind unconscious elements often come from unresolved issues that people may not be fully aware of today the psychodynamic approach often focuses on understanding how the internal conflicts of an individual shape a person's personality emotional health and relationships when looking at the unconscious mind and a person's internal conflicts we can see the impact of defense mechanisms that are used to help protect an individual's self-esteem there are eight different defense mechanisms that you want to be familiar with there is denial which is when an individual refuses to accept their reality essentially blocking certain external events or emotions from an individual's awareness displacement which is when an individual redirects the reaction or emotional response from one situation to another for instance if you are upset with your boss at work but you can't react to them so instead you take out your frustrations on your friends then there is projection which is when an individual attributes their thoughts and feelings to someone else for example my friend is afraid of roller coasters and honestly pretty much any ride in general but the other day we were at the Mall of America and we were with our kids the kids wanted to go on a ride called Blue sco even though the ride simply moves in a slow Circle my friend kept anxiously asking his daughter are you okay are you scared is this too much do you want me to try to stop the ride meanwhile his daughter was laughing on the ride and having the time of her life up next is rationalization which is when an individual justifies an uncomfortable thought or behavior to make it seem more acceptable for instance after failing to get a job from a job interview someone claims that they didn't really want the job anyway even though originally they were excited about it there's also reaction formation which is when an individual acts in the opposite way as they feel for example we all know that one person who acts rude or dismissive toward someone else even though we all know they secretly like them and would like to date them up next we have regression which is when an individual reverts back to behaviors of an early developmental stage generally this happens when an individual experiences heightened stress like how finals week turns fully functioning students into blankets of burritos who just want snacks and cartoons then there is sublimation which is when an individual takes an unacceptable impulse and channels that impulse into socially acceptable action for example taking your aggressive drives and channeling it into a sport and lastly there is repression which is when an individual pushes distressing memories or thoughts out of their conscious awareness to help make sure you got these defense mechanisms down I created a practice quiz that has you read different scenarios and identify which defense mechanisms are at play and don't worry I also included explanations to help make sure that you understand exactly why each answer is either right or wrong the quiz can be found inside my ultimate review packet just click the link in the description of this video now all these different defense mechanisms are used by the ego to protect an individual from outside threats the ego plays a critical role in personality by regulating impulses interacting with external stimuli and mediating between the ID and the super ego the super ego which is located in a person's preconscious represents a person's ideals moral values and judgments it guides behaviors based on societal expectations and a person's view of what's right and wrong on the other hand the ID which resides in the unconscious strives to satisfy a person's most basic drives generally focusing on Pleasure and immediate gratification such as hunger thirst and sexual desires the ID does not concern itself with morality or Consequences since the super ego and the ID have conflicting demands one striving for Morality and the other instant gratification Freud proposed that the ego must mediate between them the ego balances the ID's desires and the super ego's moral constraints making rational decisions based on reality to help manage the constant internal conflicts between the ID and the super ego the ego employs defense mechanisms which help protect an individual from anxiety and psychological distress this ongoing interaction between the id ego and super ego ends up shaping a person's personality and their actions for example let's say that a student has a big exam tomorrow and is debating about going out with friends or studying their ID will urge them to forget about studying and go have fun with their friends focusing on the immediate get satisfaction their ego though will remind them that they need to be responsible in study since it's important that they do well on the test then the ego will have to step in and find a balance it might suggest studying for a few hours and then meeting up with your friends for the later part of the night this internal negotiation ends up shaping how a person approaches their responsibilities actions and ultimately shapes their personality now when it comes to assessing personality the psychodynamic approach generally utilizes projective tests these are tests that have open responses and do not limit the test taker to a select group of answers these tests help psychologists better understand a person's unconscious mind two examples of a projective personality test would be the roar shock ink block test and a thematic app perception test now one thing to look out for on your test is not to mix a projective personality test with objective personality test an objective personality test is a test that has limited answers and seeks specific responses from test takers such as the Myers Briggs personality test all right so that was the psychodynamic approach but what about the humanistic approach remember humanistic psychology emphasizes the inherent goodness of people and their desire to continue to grow to reach their full potential humanistic psychology focuses on unconditional positive regard and the drive for self-actualization as key forces that shape an individual's personality and motivation positive regard is the support love and acceptance an individual gets from others there's unconditional positive regard which is accepting and valuing someone without any conditions or requirements and there is conditional positive regard which is when acceptance or approval is given only if the individual meets certain conditions generally people who receive unconditional positive regard especially from important figures in a person's life such as their parents or teachers will likely develop a healthier self-con concept and higher self-esteem remember self-concept is how a person sees and describes themselves including their personality skills roles and physical traits this is what helps form a person's sense of identity while self-esteem is how positively a person views themselves it includes how a person sees their abilities accomplishments and values as well as how they think others see them so essentially self-concept is what you think about yourself while self-esteem is how you feel about those thoughts now I mentioned earlier that part of humanistic psychology focuses on a person's desire to reach their full potential this is known as the self-actualizing tendency which is the innate Drive within a person to grow improve and reach their full potential according to humanistic theorists this motivation exists in everyone this is what pushes a person to be creative authentic and live a fulfilled life now sometimes students mix up self-actualization with self Transcendence remember self-actualization is when an individual is motivated to strive for their full potential while self-transcendence is when an individual goes beyond their own self-interest to pursue something larger than oneself such as spiritual beliefs or the greater good of society so the humanistic Theory focuses on a person's inate goodness and growth now to better understand the different personality traits of a person humanistic psychologists will often use qualitative methods such as relying on interviews and open-ended questionnaires allowing individuals to describe their own experiences and feelings in a non-judgmental environment for example utilizing the Q sort technique which is used to assess a person's self-concept by having them sort descriptive statements into categories based on how well they describe them statements such as am I a friendly person or I feel confident in most situations and categories that range from most like me to least like me the goal here is to compare the real self how a person sees themsel with the ideal self how they would like to be generally the closer these two selves are the more congruence in individual experiences congruence refers to the alignment between a person's ideal self and actual self individuals with high congruence generally have less psychological distress but if an individual has a large gap between their actual and ideal self they most likely will experience in congruence and may be more anxious and have a lower self-esteem and possibly experience more dissatisfaction in life all right well there you have it another topic review video is done now not only do you need to go take the defense mechanism quiz but you also need to go and take the psycho Dynamic and humanistic perspective quiz all of which is in the ultimate review packet trust me the more you practice and the more you engage in your learning the easier this class will be as always I'm Mr sin thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time online