Unit – 3

Personality

Introduction

The study of Personality is that branch of psychology directly concerned with differences in
behavior between individuals and with the consistencies of behavior with an individual. The term
personality is used in a number of ways including the apparent features of a person. However,
psychologists use it to refer to the characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling and acting. By
characteristic pattern we mean the consistent and distinctive ways our ideas, feelings and actions are
organized. Understanding personality has proved to be a difficult and challenging task. It’s so
complex that no single theory is able to cover the total personality. The different theories approach
the structure and functioning of personality from different positions. There are many theories of
personality each provides different answers about the way they treat the issues about personality
functioning. In particular, they provide different explanations about the role of
conscious/unconscious factors, determinism/freedom in functioning, role of early experience, role of
genetic factors, uniqueness/universality etc.

Definition of Personality

According Gordon Allport “Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those
psychophysical systems that determine his characteristic behavior and thought”. In this definition,
the words “dynamic organization” refers to the idea that the characteristics of a personality interact
with and modify each other. The word ‘psycho physical ‘means that personality contains both
mental and physical elements. And the word ‘determine’ refers to the idea that personality is
considered to be a cause of behavior.

Traits Vs Types of Personality

A trait refers to any characteristics in which one individual differs from another in a relatively
permanent and consistent way. When informally describe others by adjectives as friendly, intelligent
and so on, trait terms are used. Observing a person behaving in an aggressive manner, on several
occasions, may describe as an aggressive individual. Psychologists working in the area of trait theory
are concerned with determining the basic traits that provide a meaningful description of personality
and finding some way to measure them. Thousands of words refer to characteristics or behavior. In
order to reduce them to a small number of meaningful traits, an approach called ‘factor analysis’ is
used. Factor analysis is a complex statistical technique for reducing a large number of measures to a
smaller number of independent dimensions.

Personality types:

Type theorists have explained personality on the basis of physique and temperament. Temperament
refers to emotional aspect of the personality like changes in mood, tensions, excitement, etc. CG
Jung has classified personality on the basis of sociability character as Introverts Extraverts and
Ambiverts.
Introverts are described as people who share characteristics such as shyness, social withdrawal, and
tendency to talk less. Because of these characteristics these people appear to be self-centered, unable
to adjust easily in social situations. They are not easily suggestible. They are future oriented, very
sensible and rigid in ideas. Extraverts share a tendency to be outgoing, friendly, talkative, and social
in nature. They prefer social contacts, generous, sportive, and courageous. They are happy-go-lucky
persons and show interest in present reality than future. They express their feelings openly. Take
decisions quickly and act upon quickly. They are not affected easily by difficulties. There are only
few people who are pure introverts or pure extraverts. The remaining majority of people possess
both the qualities of introverts and extraverts. Such people are called as ambiverts.

THEORIES/ APPROACHES TO PERSONALITY

There are number of theories developed by psychologists to explain personality and its development.
Each theory is unique and explains personality development and functioning in its own way. Some
of the prominent theories are explained here under:

THE PSYCHOANALYTIC PERSPECTIVE

This theory was developed by famous psychologist Sigmund Freud. This theory has three major
parts: (a) The personality structure which includes Id, Ego and Super ego (b) Topography of mind
and (c) Ego Defense mechanisms. This theory emphasizes the influence of the unconscious, His
theory developed in the course of his observations of his patients, as well as, self analysis. He used
free association to help his patients recover forgotten memories. Freud discovered that mind is like
an iceberg and we have limited conscious awareness. Freud proposed that psychological forces
operate at three levels of awareness:
1. Conscious level: The thoughts, feelings, and sensations that one is aware of at the present
moment. According to Freud the conscious part of mind is that part which is ready to receive
the stimuli from the external world. It helps to perform the functions like eating, drinking,
reading, writing, talking, thinking and such other activities and also helps us to behave in an
appropriate way. It will be functioning only when the individual is in a wake up state. At the
conscious level we will be aware of certain things around us and of certain thoughts.
2. Preconscious level: It contains information of which one is not currently aware, however,
they can easily enter conscious mind. This level are memories or thoughts that are easily
available with a moment’s reflection. For example, what we had for breakfast or what class
was held today morning. Preconscious will be functioning between conscious and
unconscious parts. In character it resembles conscious to greater extent and will have better
adjustment with it. Its contents can be recalled easily. It prevents the suppressed thoughts and
other prohibited motives in the unconscious from entering the conscious part.
3. Unconscious level: It consists of thought, feelings, wishes, drives etc. of which we are not
aware. It, however, influences our conscious level of activity. This part of mind contains
memories, thoughts and motives which we cannot easily call up. It is the largest and also the
powerful part of mind. It contains the natural instincts, thoughts inappropriate desires,
irrational motives and painful experiences. All the experiences suppressed by conscious part
will remain here. These forces will be trying to come to conscious part for satisfaction. But
their entry is prevented by preconscious. Hence, they try to come out when preconscious part
is at rest. They appear in the form of dreams, or in the form of slip of tongue, slip of pen,
 automatic writing, amnesia, etc.Freud has developed certain techniques such as free
association, dream analysis, analysis of transference, analysis of resistance, hypnosis and
such other techniques in order to bring out the contents of unconscious which cause mental
illness. Freud has compared these three levels to an ‘Ice berg’ in water. The conscious part
will be like tip of ice berg which is above the surface level. Although that is the part we can
see, it is only a small part. Freud thought that unconscious material often seeks to push
through to the conscious level in a disguised manner. It may be in a distorted manner and or
it may take a symbolic form. Interpretation of dreams and free association were used for
analysis of the three levels of awareness.
4. Subconscious: The subconscious mind is a composite of everything one sees, hears and any
information the mind collects that it cannot otherwise consciously process to make
meaningful sense. The conscious mind cannot always absorb disconnected information, as it
would be an information overload, so the subconscious mind stores this information where it
can be retrieved by the conscious mind when it needs to defend itself for survival (and for
other reasons, such as solving puzzles). The subconscious is the storehouse of surface
memories and are readily recallable though are not conscious at the moment. The
subconscious idea is weak and when it gets some force from the outside, it comes to the
conscious part of the mind. The subconscious part, as a thin layer is separating the conscious
and unconscious. The major part of the mind that is unconscious will be like a submerged big
part of ice berg.

Figure shows the topography of mind.

Personality Structure

Freud believed that human personality emerges due to a conflict between our aggressive and
pleasure seeking biological impulses and the internalized social restraints against them. Thus,
personality arises in the course of our effort to resolve the conflicts. He proposed three structures
which interact with each other: Id, Ego and Super Ego.
Id: It is raw, unorganized, unconscious, irrational part of personality. This is the most primitive part,
develops with the birth of the child. It is immune to morality and demands of the external world. It
operates on the pleasure principle. It seeks immediate satisfaction. The id is completely dominated
by the operation of the pleasure principle. Unconscious, sexual and aggressive ideas originate in the
id. The id is the representative of the unconscious and the store house of instinctual desires. Such
desires are mainly sexual and aggressive in nature and most of them are not satisfied because
generally they are antisocial in nature. The id has no idea of time, reality and social restrictions
either. The id which is mostly unconscious always wants to get pleasure and immediate satisfaction
by fulfilling the illogical, irrational and antisocial desires. The id is entirely guided by the principle
of pleasure and avoidance of pain and corresponds roughly to the popular conception of beast in
man. Further, the id according to Freud is the main reservoir of both the life and death instincts and
the receptacle of unorganized excitements and desires. It wants that some of its illogical, irrational
and antisocial desires and strivings must be satisfied and there is no question of rejecting it. If such
desires and wishes are not accepted by the society, say marrying a girl of another religion or
committing the murder of an enemy or killing one’s own dear ones, they do not die or perish, but
continue to exist for their gratification. The desires of the id are mainly unconscious and at the same
time largely repressed because repression mostly takes place in the childhood. At birth, the child is
totally id and he has no further desire except to get pleasure. Thus, the id is the treasure house of
such desires and buried thoughts which are guided by the pleasure principle. It is devoid of morality,
conscience and social value.

Ego: It is involved with the workings of the real world. It operates on the reality principle. It is the
conscious and rational part of personality that regulates thoughts and behaviors. It teaches the person
to balance demands of external world and needs of the person. This part usually develops from the
school year of life of the child—as a result of social contacts. The ego consists of elaborate ways of
behaving and thinking which constitute the executive function of the person. The ego delays motives
of Id and channels behavior into more socially acceptable outlets. It keeps a person working for a
living, getting along with people and generally adjusting to the realities of life. Freud characterized
the ego as working in the service on the ‘reality principle’. That is, the ego tries to satisfy the id’s
urge for pleasure, but only in realistic ways. The ongoing tension between insistent urges of the id
and the constraints of reality helps the ego develop certain skills to safeguard the self-image. These
skills are called ego defense mechanisms. It deals with all the psychological processes like thinking,
perception, memory, judgment, reasoning and action. It controls the satisfaction of illogical and
antisocial desires and strivings by maintaining a balance between the id and the superego desires.
The ego in short, means the ‘I’ that thinks, feels, considers, wills and decides.

Super Ego: It is the internal representation of parental and societal values. It works as the voice of
conscience that compels the ego to consider not only the real but also the ideal. It judges one’s
behaviors as right or wrong, good or bad. Failing up to moral ideals bring about the shame, guilt,
inferiority and anxiety in the person.
However, super ego is guided by ‘ego ideal’- a set of values and moral ideals that are pursued
because they are perceived to be worthy. In other words the super ego operates on the ‘moral
principle’. Freud believed that because of the diverse nature of these three parts, there will be
constant conflicts between one another, which leads to three types of anxiety, viz.
(1) Reality anxiety-arising when the individual is confronted by dangers or threats in the external
world.
(2) Neurotic anxiety-arising when the individual’s Id impulses threaten to break through his ego
controls and result in behavior that will lead to his punishment and
(3) Moral anxiety- arising when the individual does something or even contemplates doing
something in conflict with his super ego or moral values and arouses guilt feelings.

Topography:

It is understood that there will be constant conflicts going on between id, ego and super ego. These
conflicts may occur in the conscious, subconscious and unconscious levels of human psyche. Freud
refers to the unconscious, the subconscious and the conscious as the ‘topographical’ aspects of the
self, also called as the level of consciousness.

Defense Mechanisms

The Ego has to perform a difficult duty of mediating between the instinctual demands of Id and
moral position of Super Ego. The Ego tries to solve the problem and if a realistic solution or
compromise is not possible it indulges in distorting thoughts or perception of reality through certain
processes called defense mechanisms. To defend or safeguard ourselves, we use technique called
defense mechanism. These are also called Adjustment Mechanisms. Defense mechanisms are
unconscious strategies that people use to reduce anxiety by concealing its source from themselves
and others. Some of the key mechanisms are given below:
1. Sublimation: According to Freud, sublimation is an ego defense that enables the individual
adaptively to divert impulses so that they may be expressed via socially approved thoughts or
actions. Sublimation is considered to be the only healthy, constructive strategy against
objectionable impulses because it allows the ego to change the aim or object (or both) of
impulses without inhibiting their expression.
2. Rationalization’s the very term indicates, rationalization consists in adding good reasons for
actions, unaccepted drives and needs which are not accepted by the society. The invention of
unconsciously acceptable motives by the ego to cover up those unconscious motives which it
cannot accept refers to rationalization. In short, by rationalization one tries to justify his
behavior. Rationalization is a common technique in day to day life where people explain
away their own defects, failures and misdeeds as well as of those persons whom they love
and admire, for example, if we do not succeed in a work, we want to give some reasons to
support it.
3. Repression: Repression is a topographic dynamic concept. It is a major defense which
checks inner forces. Repression is an unconscious process and it takes place automatically.
Maximum repression occurs in the childhood as the ego is not strong enough during the
childhood.
4. Regression: Regression as a defense mechanism involves the re-adaptation of responses
characteristic of an earlier phase of development. It simply means childhood reaction. Due to
severe frustration, when the ego is punished by anxiety and stress, the individual takes the
help of less mature, less realistic, more childish behavior, by flight to childhood. Thus,
frustration may cause regression. For example, a person who fails in the examination tries to
 face frustration by crying like a child. Similarly, committing suicide due to failure in
examinations or love is a sign of regressive behavior.
5. Projection: According to Coleman (1981) by projection one transfers the blame of his own
shortcomings, mistakes and misdeeds to others and attributes to others his own unacceptable
thoughts. In other words, it is blaming someone for his own mistakes and shortcomings.
6. Displacement: It implies the discharge of an unconscious impulse by shifting from one
original object to a substitute. Displacement as an ego defense is commonly used to avoid
anxiety.
7. Reaction formation: The mechanism by which one instinct is hidden from awareness by its
opposite is called reaction formation. Development of a behavior opposite to the unconscious
desires of the id is known as reaction formation. Reaction formation plays a major role in the
symptom formation of obsession neuroses.

Neo-Freudian Approaches

Carl Jung (1875-1961). Jung began to develop his own ideas. He, like Freud, called the conscious
part of the personality the ego. However, he further noted that between the ego and the outside world
we often find a persona, or "mask." It is the "public self." The persona is presented to others when
people adopt particular roles (as is necessary in most professions) or when they hide their deeper
feelings. Actions of the ego may reflect attitudes of introversion (in which energy is mainly directed
inward), or extroversion (in which energy is mainly directed outward).

Personal unconscious was Jung's term for what Freud simply called the unconscious. A storehouse
for personal experiences, feelings, and memories those are not directly knowable.

Collective unconscious, a deeper conscious shared by all humans --Jung believed that from the
beginning of time, all humans have had experiences with birth, death, power, god figures, mother
and father figures, animals, the earth, energy, evil, rebirth, and so on. According to Jung, such
universals create archetypes: original ideas or patterns. Found in the collective unconscious,
archetypes are unconscious images that cause us to respond emotionally to symbols of birth, death,
energy, animals, evil, and the like. Jung believed that he detected symbols of such archetypes in the
art, religion, myths, and dreams of every culture and age.

Two particularly important archetypes are anima (representing the female principle) and the animus
(representing the male principle). Each person has both. For full development, Jung thought it is
essential for both the "masculine" and "feminine" side of personality to be expressed. The presence
of the anima in males and the animus in females also enable us to relate to members of the opposite
gender.

Jung regarded the self-archetype as the most important of all. The self-archetype represents unity.
Its existence causes a gradual movement toward balance, wholeness, and harmony within the
personality. Jung felt that we become richer and more completely human when a balance is achieved
between the conscious and unconscious, the anima and animus, thinking and feeling, sensing and
intuiting, the persona and the ego, introversion and extroversion. Jung was the first to use the term
self-actualization to describe a striving for completion and unity.
Alfred Adler (1870-1937).

Disagreed with Freud's emphasis on the unconscious, on instinctual drives, He felt that individuals
are social creatures governed by social urges, not by biological instincts. In Adler's view, the main
driving force in personality is a striving for superiority. A struggle to overcome imperfections, an
upward drive for competence, completion, and mastery of shortcomings. He felt that everyone
experiences feelings of inferiority. This occurs mainly because we begin life as small, weak, and
relatively powerless children surrounded by larger and more powerful adults. Feelings of inferiority
may also come from our personal limitations. The struggle for superiority arises from such feelings.
While striving for superiority, each tries to compensate for different limitations, and each chooses a
different pathway to superiority. Adler believed that this situation creates a unique style of life (or
personality pattern) for each individual. According to Adler the core of each person's style of life is
formed by age 5. (And valuable clues to a person's style of life are revealed by the earliest memory
that can be recalled.) However, later in his life, Adler began to emphasize the existence of a creative
self. By this he meant that humans create their personalities through choices and experiences.

Karen Horney (1885-1952).

She resisted Freud's more mechanistic, biological, instinctive ideas. As a woman, Horney rejected
Freud's claim that "anatomy is destiny" --woven into Freudian psychology holding that males are
dominant or superior to females. Horney was first to challenge obvious male bias in Freud's
thinking. She also disagreed with Freud about the cause of neurosis. Freud held that neurotic
(anxiety-ridden) individuals are struggling with forbidden id drives that they fear they cannot
control. Horney's view was that a core of basic anxiety occurs when people feel isolated and helpless
in a hostile world. These feelings, she believed, are rooted in childhood. Basic anxiety then causes
troubled individuals to exaggerate a single mode of interacting with others. Each of us can move
toward others (by depending on them for love, support, or friendship), one can move away from
others (by withdrawing, acting like a "loner," or being "strong" and independent), or can move
against others (by attacking, competing with, or seeking power over them). Emotional health reflects
a balance. Emotional problems tend to lock people into overuse of only one of the three modes.

THE SOCIAL COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE

This perspective was developed by Albert Bandura. It views behaviour as influenced by the
interaction between persons and the social context. It is proposed that our thoughts and actions
originate in the social world but it is essential to note that human beings have capacity for self-
regulation and engage in active cognitive processes. Bandura developed the concept of self efficacy
which incorporates a person’s cognitive skills, abilities and attitudes as represented in one’s self-
system. Self efficacy indicates the degree to which one is convinced of the abilities and effectiveness
in meeting the demands of a particular situation. The theory is based on laboratory research.
However, the theory ignores the unconscious factors which may influence behavior. The theory also
emphasizes the rational side of life while ignoring the emotional side. The cognitive-social theory
brings into focus the role of thought and memory in personality. We often find that the expectations
and skills learned by people are very important in determining behaviors. Social-cognitive
psychologists also emphasize our sense of Personal Control, our sense of whether or not we feel
that we have control or are controlled by our environments.
Sullivan and Interpersonal Relations:

Harry Stack Sullivan describes personality as the relatively enduring pattern of recurrent
interpersonal situations which characterize a human life. According to him there is no personality
apart from its relations with other people; all that is distinctly human is a product of social
interactions from birth onwards and every individual is motivated towards achieving social and
interpersonal security. Therefore, according to Sullivan the study of personality is really the study of
the whole interpersonal situation and not an isolated individual.

THE HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE

These theories propose that within each individual is an active creative force, often called “self”.
This force seeks expression. It develops and grows. This perspective, also known as the third force,
emphasizes on human potential and characteristics like self-awareness and free will. It views human
beings as innately good. The conscious and subjective perception of self is considered very
important. Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow are the main proponents of the humanistic perspective.
Abraham Maslow proposed the idea of self-actualized people. He proposed that human motives are
arranged in a hierarchy of needs. Maslow notes that the self-actualized people have realistic
perception are spontaneous, easily accept self and others, are creative, and enjoy and appreciate
positive aspects of life, like privacy and independence.

Carl Rogers thinks that the basic human motive is actualizing tendency. It is the innate drive to
maintain and enhance the human organism. Rogers observed that people are motivated to act in
accordance with their self-concept. They deny or distort the experiences that are contrary to their
self-concept. The ideal condition for development is unconditional positive regard. His notion of a
fully functioning individual is that the self-concept is flexible and evolving. It holds an optimistic
view of human beings.

TRAITS OF PERSONALITY AND TRAIT THEORIES:

Traits are tendencies to behave in relatively consistent and distinctive ways across situations. These
are the measurable aspects of personality. The most common way to describe people is to list these
traits or qualities possessed by them. For example, friendliness, social, honesty, perseverance,
submissiveness, dominance, etc. The groups of personality traits is known as personality factors or
dimensions of personality. Allport and RB Cattell are famous for their work on personality studies
using traits. GW Allport was the first person to adopt the trait approach against the type approach for
the description of personalities. According to him the traits are the basic units of personality. Every
person develops a unique set of organized tendencies called traits. Allport has identified three types
of traits—cardinal, central and secondary. Cardinal traits are primary and they cover all aspects of an
individual’s behavior and attributes.

Central traits represent few characteristics which can be used to describe a person such as kindness,
honesty, etc. Secondary traits appear in only a relatively small range of situations. These are not
strong enough like cardinal traits and hence they are not regarded as an integral part of one’s
personality. R.B Cattell has identified two types of traits. They are source traits and surface traits.
Source traits are the underlying structures or sources that determine our behavior. Surface traits are
influenced by source traits and are manifested in our behavior. Cattell, by adopting a method called
factor analysis has recognized 16 ‘Source traits’ as building blocks of our personality. The ‘Sixteen
personality factor test’ developed by him includes these factors. This test is widely used, because
these personality characteristics can be measured and described more objectively.

ASSESSMENT OF PERSONALITY

In view of the fact that the knowledge about personality is useful in many settings researchers have
developed a variety of tools for its assessment. These tools can be categorized into three types
namely observational, self-report and projective tests.

I. Observational Method: The observational tools include interview, rating of a person in

one or many situations.
a. Interview Method:
It is a very popular method of observation. Interview is a situation in which there is a face to face
contact between the interviewer and the interviewee. Personality is assessed by asking the questions
orally. Generally interview is held as a part of assessment programme. That is to supplement the data
collected by other methods. Usually interviews are held to evaluate a person’s personality for
identifying personality trait. The interviews are of two types: structured and unstructured.

In structured interview the questions to be asked are predetermined according to the need. The
interviewer is not supposed to ask any question other than the prepared ones. The number of
questions to be asked is also predetermined.

In unstructured interview the interviewer is at full liberty to ask any question he likes and any
number of questions on the issue for which the interview is held.

An important role in assessment is played by interview. It provides frame of reference in which all
other observations are evaluated. The interviewers will have at their disposal all of the biographical
and other data concerning the candidate and they guide the interview in terms of the kind of
information needed. Another type of interview called the “stress interview” was designed to discover
the candidates “capacity to tolerate severe emotional and intellectual strain”. During the interview
the candidates are rated for emotional control. They are observed closely to detect signs of
emotionality. The various responses of the candidates under these circumstances “give excellent
insight into their security consciousness as well as into their intellectual and emotional stability”.

b. Rating Scales:

Rating scale is simply a device for recording the extent to which a person is perceived to
have a defined attribute. A rating scale may be self-rating or rating by other observers. Rating
scale helps us to know the degree or magnitude of a particular trait of personality present in a
given person. Usually the rating scales will be of three points, five points or seven points. For
example, to study the sociability trait. There are certain conditions which the raters must
fulfill, for the rating to be useful and valid. The raters must (a) be able to understand the
scale, (b) know the person well about whom the rating has to be made, and, (c) not get biased
in his/her judgment, about the person, and rate in favourable or unfavourable way.
 II. Self-Report Measures of Personality

Personality inventories are questionnaires where a person has to answer many questions about the
way she/he reacts to different situations. A personality inventory may be designed to assess a single
trait like extroversion-introversion, or it may assess a number of traits. For example, if a person
answers “Yes” to the question “Do you stay in the background in social situations?” this is an
indication of introversion. Of course, the assessment will be based on a number of questions relating
to different types of situations, not just one question. The Sixteen Factor Personality Questionnaire
(16 PF) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) are two very well-known
inventories which are useful for obtaining information about a person’s traits.

Personality Inventories:

Psychologists have developed many questionnaires, tests, inventories to study personality. The
inventories will contain a set of questions or statements meticulously prepared on the problem under
study. Each question will have two answers-either yes or no, and the subject has to mark the answer
which best suits his nature. This method is easy to administer and to collect data from a large
number of people at a time. The necessary instructions and directions will be available on the face
page itself. The subject has to read carefully before answering in order to avoid any confusion. Some
of the popular questionnaires/inventories are (a) Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory
(MMPI), (b) Eysenck personality inventory (EPI), (c) Bell’s adjustment inventory (d) Mysore
personality inventory, (e) RB Cattell’s 16 Personality Factors Test, etc.

III. Projective Techniques

Projection is a compensatory mechanism in which the person reads own thoughts and feelings into
others. The projective tests/techniques are based on the principle that the subject reads or projects
one’s own inner conflicts, frustrations, fears, motives and such other feelings into the unstructured
situation. Naturally the responses the subject makes reveal the inner working of his mind. Thus, the
projective techniques provide us an insight into the personality of the individual. As the projective
tests are unstructured either in form or in situation, their purpose is disguised. So the chances of
giving false information are very less.

Psychoanalytic personality theorists have developed several assessment measures known as

projective tests. They include a variety of methods in which ambiguous stimuli, such as pictures of
people, or things are presented to a person who is asked to describe what he or she sees. The theory
here is that people ‘project’ their own personality, their needs, their wishes, their desires and their
unconscious fears on other people and things such as ink blots, pictures, sometimes vague and
sometimes structured. Projective tests are based on psychoanalytic theory. Some of the most widely
used projective tests are Rorschach Ink Blot Test, the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), House
Tree Person (HTP) and the Rotter’s Incomplete Sentence Blank (RISB).

In projective tests, the person is presented with a series of ambiguous stimuli. The known projective
test, introduced in 1921 by Hermann Rorschach, a Swiss psychiatrist, is based on the use of inkblots.
Projective techniques such as the Rorschach test were originally based on psychodynamic
assumptions about the nature of personality and psychopathology and impulses of which the person
is largely unaware. More recent Considerable emphasis was placed on the importance of
unconscious motivations —conflicts approaches to the use of projective tests view the person’s
descriptions of the cards as a sample of his or her perceptual and cognitive styles. This test consists
of ten standardized ink blot cards. That serves as ambiguous stimuli. The examiner presents the
inkblot cards one by one to the person being examined, who responds by telling what he or she sees.
The therapists may encourage the subject to give more detailed answers and you may get different
responses on the same inkblot. Exner’s system of administering and scoring the Rorschach inkblot
test specifies how the card should be presented, what should the examiner say and how the responses
should be recorded.

The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)-consists of a series of drawings that depict human figures
in various ambiguous situations. The person is asked to describe the identities of the people in the
cards and to make up a story about what is happening. Morgan and Murray at the Harvard
Psychological Clinic developed the TAT. It consists of 31 cards, 30 with pictures on them and one
blank card. The picture card is shown to the subject and the therapist asks the subject to tell a
dramatic story about the picture. The instructions of the test begin ‘this is a test of imagination, one
form of intelligence. Let your imaginations have its way as in a fairy story and tell what the people
in the picture card are doing.’ The story should have a title, a beginning, a middle part and an end.
The basic assumption is that most of the subjects will reveal their unconscious mental processes,
their needs, desires on the characters of their stories about the pictures. There have been several
variations of the TAT for different groups e.g. CAT- Children Apperception Test and SAT A Senior
Apperception Technique.

Rotter’s Incomplete Sentence Blank Test (RISB) This test consists of a series unfinished
sentences that people are asked to complete, usually it is considered a good spring board to explore
and pinpoint areas of an individual’s life that are problematic or conflicting. The sentences are
usually, I wish _____. My father is ______. Girls are _____. Home is a place _______. This test
explores an individual’s social, familial and general attitudes towards life. This test has 40 items
which are in form of incomplete sentences. This test has qualitative and quantitative scoring
procedures.

House Tree and Person (HTP) -This is a test which tells us about the evaluations of the drawings
based on the quality and shape of the drawing, solidity of a pencil line, location of the drawing on
the paper, the size of the figure, features of the figures, use of the background and comments made
by the respondent during the drawing task. The house reflects individual’s interpersonal
relationships, the tree reflects ego development and functioning and the Person reflects the
individual self-perception and perception of the other gender.

Advantages of Projective Tests:

Some people may feel more comfortable talking in an unstructured situation than they would if they
were required to participate in a structured interview or to complete the lengthy MMPI. Projective
tests can provide an interesting source of information regarding the person’s unique view of the
world, and they can be a useful supplement to information obtained with other assessment tools. To
whatever extent a person’s relationships with other people are governed by unconscious cognitive
and emotional events, projective tests may provide information that cannot be obtained through
direct interviewing methods or observational procedures.
Limitations of Projective Tests:
Lack of standardization in administration and scoring is a serious problem. Little information is
available on which to base comparisons to normal adults or children. Some projective procedures,
such as the Rorschach, can be very time-consuming. The reliability of scoring and interpretation
tends to be low. Many self-report inventories, rating scales, and behavioral coding systems have
been designed for the assessment of marital relationships and family systems. One popular self-
report inventory is the Family Environment Scale (FES), which is composed of 90 true–false items
and was designed to measure the social characteristics of families.

BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT

Direct measures of an individual’s behavior used to describe characteristics indicative of personality.

PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS

Introduction

Stress is an adoptive response to an external situation moderated by individual differences that result
in physical, psychological and/or behavioral deviations for organizational participants. According to
Webster- Stress means constraining force or influence as:
a) a force exerted when one body or body part presses on, pulls on, pushes against or tends to
compresses or twist another body or body part, b) The deformation caused in a body by such a force,
c) A physical, chemical or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor
disease causation, and d) a state resulting from a stress, especially from factors that tend to alter an
existing equilibrium.

Definition
The term stress has many definitions, Lazarus and Folkman (1984) have defined stress as “an
internal state which can be caused by physical demands of body or by environmental and social
situations, which are evaluated as potentially harmful, uncontrollable, or exceeding our resources for
coping”.
Potential Sources of Stress
Environmental Factors Just as environmental uncertainty influences the design of an
organization’s structure, it also influences stress levels among employees in that organization.
Indeed, uncertainty is the biggest reason people have trouble coping with organizational changes. 62
There are three main types of environmental uncertainty: economic, political, and technological.
Changes in the business cycle create economic uncertainties. When the economy is contracting, for
example, people become increasingly anxious about innovations can make an employee’s skills and
experience obsolete in a very short time, computers, robotics, automation, and similar forms of
technological change are also a threat to many people and cause them stress.

Organizational Factors: a. Task demands relate to a person’s job. They include the design of the
job (its degrees of autonomy, task variety, degree of automation), working conditions,
and the physical work layout.
b.Role demands relate to pressures placed on a person as a function of the particular role he or she
plays in the organization. Role conflicts create expectations that may be hard to reconcile or satisfy.
Role overload occurs when the employee is expected to do more than time permits. Role ambiguity
means role expectations are not clearly understood and the employee is not sure what to do.
Individuals who face high situational constraints (such as fixed work hours or demanding job
responsibilities) are also less able to engage in the proactive coping behaviors that reduce stress
levels.
c.Interpersonal demands are pressures created by other employees. Lack of social support from
colleagues and poor interpersonal relationships can cause stress, especially among employees with a
high social need.

Personal Factors: factors in the employee’s personal life: family issues, personal economic
problems, and inherent personality characteristics.

SYMPTOMS OF STRESS

PHYSIOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS
 Most of the early concern with stress was directed at physiological symptoms. Stress could
create changes in metabolism, increase in heart and breathing rates, increase blood pressure, bring
headaches, and induce heart attacks.

PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS
Stress can cause dissatisfaction; job-related stress can cause job-related dissatisfaction, is the
simplest and most obvious psychological effect of stress and shows itself in other psychological
states like tension, worry, anxiety, boredom. The evidence indicates that when the employees are
placed in jobs that make multiple and conflicting demands or in which there is a lack of clarity about
the incumbent’s duties, authorities and responsibilities, both stress and dissatisfaction are increased.
Similarly, the less control people have over the pace of their work, the greater the stress and
dissatisfaction.

BEHAVIORAL SYMPTOMS
Behavior related stress symptoms include changes in productivity, absence and turn over etc.
The low to moderate levels of stress stimulate the body, and increase its ability to react. Individuals
then often perform their tasks better, more intensely or more rapidly. But too much stress places
attainable demands or constraints on a person, which result in lower performance. Stress affects
millions of employees, but it operates in more silent and subtle ways. Stress is a psychological agent
that influences physical and emotional wellbeing and the ability to perform jobs. Stress in work
place is also costly to employers as reflected in lower productivity, reduced motivation, increased
errors and accidents. High stress is related increase in turn over intentions and counterproductive
behavior such as theft drug and alcohol abuse. Stress affects employees at all levels and types of
jobs. Those employees who report being very satisfied with their jobs suffers fewer harmful effects
of stress, those who are very dissatisfied with their jobs show many more stress related effects.

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

a. Perception will moderate the relationship between a potential stress condition and an
employee’s reaction to it. Layoffs may cause one person to fear losing his job, while another
sees an opportunity to get a large severance allowance and start her own business. So stress
potential doesn’t lie in objective conditions; rather, it lies in an employee’s interpretation of
those conditions.
b. Experience on the job tends to be negatively related to work stress. People who remain with
an organization longer are those with more stress-resistant traits or those more resistant to the
stress characteristics of their organization.
c. Social support —collegial relationships with co-workers or supervisors—can buffer the
impact of stress.
d. External Locus of Control- this is the perception that outside forces beyond one’s personal
control determines a person’s fate.
Internal Locus of Control- this is the perception that one controls one’s own fate. Studies
show that “internals” achieve more in school, act more independently and feel less depressed
than do “externals”. Internals tend to be better at delaying gratification and coping with
stress.
BURNOUT

The effect of job stress that results from overwork can be seen in the condition called
burnout. Employees suffering from burnout become less energetic and less interested in their jobs.
They are emotionally exhausted, apathetic, depressed, irritable and bored. They tend to find fault
with all respects of their work environment including co-workers and react negatively to the
suggestions of others. The quality of their work deteriorates but not necessarily the quantity.
Employees suffering from burnout tend to become rigid about their work, following rules and
procedures compulsively because they are too exhausted to be flexible or to consider alternative
approaches. In time the burned out employee will have an impact on the emotional health and
efficacy of co-workers and sub-ordinates. Advanced burn out is characterized by even lower energy ,
job involvement, as well as increase in physical stress symptoms and social withdrawal at the very
time social support is most needed. Deterioration in job performance becomes noticeable, and poor
performance appraisals are usually the result. Maslach (1982) has described three components of the
burnout syndrome.
1. Emotional Exhaustion: The feelings of being drained and empty that is caused by excessive
psychological demands, often brought about by work load or unrealistically high expectations.
2. Depersonalization
A feeling of callousness and cynicism and a reduced sensitivity towards others.
3. Reduced sense of personal accomplishment
The feelings that one’s actions and efforts are wasted and worthless.
Burnout typically strikes employees who are highly dedicated and committed to their work those
who put in overtime, take work home, or come to the office on weekends. Women managers show
more frequent and intense effects from the emotional exhaustion. Emotional exhaustion has also
been related to lack of opportunity for promotion. All the above mentioned aspects clearly reveal
that employees of call centers definitely suffer from various types of psychosomatic disorders, ill-
mental health, and depression and so on.

WORK PLACE TRAUMA

It is the disintegration of employees self-concept and beliefs in their capabilities. It can arise from
harassment of work, wrongful terminations, discriminations, or an employee’s perceived incapacity
to meet evolving performance expectations. A common source of workplace trauma is sudden job
loss with its potentially crushing effect on one’s self- esteem.

SOURCES OF STRESS

Frustration
The term frustration refers to the blocking of behavior directed towards the goal. If motives are
frustrated or blocked, emotional feelings and behavior often result. People who cannot achieve their
important goals feel depressed, fearful, anxious, and guilty or angry. Hence, frustration is called as a
‘negative feeling’. Figure 4.2 showing the frustration by environmental and personal obstacles. A
barrier (vertical line) stands between an individual and the goal (+) that attracts the individual. The
barrier may be another person or object in the environment or it may be the individual’s own lack of
ability or skill.
A. Sources of Frustration:

There are three important sources of frustration:

1. Environmental forces:
Environmental obstacles can frustrate the satisfaction of motives by making it difficult or impossible
for a person to attain a goal. An obstacle may be physical- such as untimely rain, disruption in
electric supply, auto strike, famine, earthquake, war, floods, etc., or it may be people such as parents
or society who obstruct the fulfillment of wants.
2. Personal inadequacies:
Unattainable goals or too high goals which are beyond the ability level of a person can be important
sources of frustration. These are learned goals. For instance, a student with average level of
intelligence aspires to score 90% of marks in the examination will definitely face frustration. A
physically handicapped person cannot aspire to compete against a normal person in running race.
Thus, people are often frustrated because they aspire for goals which are not attainable by them, or
the goals are beyond their abilities.

3. Conflict produced frustration:

A major source of frustration is found in motivational conflict, in which the expression of one
motive interferes with the expression of other motives. Some common conflicts are between
independence and affiliation need, or career aspiration and economic realities. For example, a person
is motivated to be independent but at the same time he cannot neglect his affiliation motive. A
student may have high aspiration to pursue higher education, but too much expenditure comes in
between.

PSYCHOLOGICAL CONFLICT

A conflict is the anticipated frustration entailed in the choice of either alternative’. Conflicts occur in
the individual when more than one, equally powerful desires or motives present at the same time and
pressurize for immediate satisfaction.

Types of Conflicts:
There are different types of conflicts. Very common among them are: a) Intrapersonal or Goal
conflicts b) Interpersonal conflicts,

a. Intrapersonal conflicts:
These are the conflicts caused within the individual. These conflicts arise as a result of two or more motives
or goals to be achieved at a time. Hence, these are called goal conflicts. Lewin has described three types of
goal conflicts. However, in addition to these there is one more conflict in which the individual faces more
than one attracting or repelling forces making the individual to experience more stress. This is called multiple
approach avoidance conflict. These are as follows:
1. Approach-approach conflict:
In this type of conflict individual will have two desires with positive valence which are equally
powerful. For example, a person has two attractive job offers and he has to choose any one of them-
tension arises. Such conflicts are not so harmful, because after selecting one, the other one
automatically subsides or loses its importance to him. This type of conflict is diagrammatically
represented in Figure 4.3.

2. Avoidance-avoidance conflict:

This conflict involves two goals with negative valence. At times the individual is forced to choose
one among two negative goals. In such conflicts, both are unwanted goals, but he cannot keep quiet
without opting also. For example, a woman must work at a job which she dislikes very much or else
she has to remain unemployed. Here the individual is caught between two repelling threats, fears or
situations.. Such type of conflict is diagrammatically represented in Figure 4.4.In the event of such
conflicts when there is no way to escape- some people may find a way to reduce their tension by
developing ‘amnesia’ or defense mechanisms like regression or fantasy.

3. Approach-avoidance conflict:

This is also a most complex conflict and very difficult to resolve. Because in this type of conflict a
person is both attracted and repelled by the same goal object. Here the goal object will have both
positive and negative valences. The positive valence attracts the person, but as he approaches, the
negative valence repels him back. Attraction of the goal and inability to approach it leads to
frustration and tension. For example, a person is approaching to accept a job offer, because the
salary is attractive- but at the same time he is repelled back as the job is very risky. This type of
conflict is diagrammatically represented in Figure 4.5.

4. Double/ Multiple-approach-avoidance conflict:

Some of the situations in life will involve both positive and negative valences of multiple nature.
This type of conflict occurs when you simultaneously see two goals in both positive and negative
terms. For example, suppose you are on a diet and have the choice between some junk food (goal 1)
and some healthy food (goal 2).This type of conflict is shown diagrammatically in Figure 4.6.

b. Interpersonal Conflicts
Interpersonal Conflicts are serious problems to many people because they deeply affect a
person’s emotions. There is a need to protect one’s self image and self-esteem from damage by
others.

STRESS VULNERABILITY

Stress Threshold
Stressors are the factors that cause stress. Stress Threshold is the degree of stressors that a person can
endure before stress related symptoms occur and adversely start affecting his or her performance.
Some people with a low threshold are unable to sustain even a small level of stress. They get easily
distracted, stressed-out and lose their calmness due to any slightest change or disruption in their
routine workflow. On the other hand, there are also people with a high threshold who can tolerate a
high level of stress. These people are able to stay calm, maintain their coolness, adjust to any new
situation and yet remain productive. They are able to do so because of their experience and
confidence on their skills and abilities. However, if people with high threshold experience prolonged
stress then there are chances that their performance may decline.

Perceived Control
The second internal factor affecting employee stress is the amount of perceived control they have
over their work and working conditions. Employees who have a substantial degree of independence,
autonomy and freedom to make decisions seem to handle work pressures better.

References
1. 1. Feldman R. S. Understanding Psychology, IV edition, (1996) McGraw Hill India
2. 2. Robert A. Baron Psychology, III edition (1995) Prentice Hall India.
3. 3. Wayne Weiten, Psychology-themes and variations IV edition, Brooks / Cole PublishingCo.
4. John.W.Newstorm and Keith Davis , Organisational Behaviour X edition, McGraw Hill India