PSY259e TMA: Exploring Personality and Individual Differences Theories

This assignment delves into the core concepts of personality and individual differences, focusing on the psychoanalytic approach and its Neo-Freudian extensions. The solution begins by examining the author's model of psychoanalytic treatment, emphasizing the interplay of the id, ego, and superego in identity development. It then critically evaluates how this model aligns with and diverges from the perspectives of other major Neo-Freudian theorists, such as Freud. The assignment explores key aspects like the id's instinctual drives, the ego's reality principle, and the superego's moral values, highlighting their roles in shaping personality. Additionally, it considers the behavioral/social learning, trait, biological, and humanistic approaches to identity development, relating them to the author's model. The assignment utilizes various sources, including Baldwin & Main (2011), Brockner (2019), and Gray (2017), to support its arguments and provide a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. The conclusion emphasizes the impact of environmental, biological, and behavioral factors on personality development, offering a well-rounded perspective on the topic.

Running head: PERSONALITY & INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 1
Personality & Individual Differences
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Introduction
The relevant concepts of the author’s model focus on the main goal of psychoanalytic
treatment. The model defined the psychoanalytic treatment as the simultaneous increase in terms
of the mobility of the id. The model defines it as the tolerance of the superego as well as the
capacity to synthesize power by ego. Moreover, the author’s model provides the overall
significance of the subsequent second step in early childhood gained through muscular
maturation (Baldwin & Main, 2011). This can be related to verbalization, discrimination and
consequently the capacity of doubly feeling the inability. It involves the coordination of the
highly conflicting frameworks seen kids in the tendencies of the “holding on” as well as “letting
go of things impulses”. This is one significant in which the child now starts experiencing the
autonomous will and the child starts feeling much dependent.
Analytical argument and critical evaluation of how the author’s model and other
major Neo-Freudian theorists address identity development
The other major Neo-Freudian theorists had a significant value in addressing identity
development. Focusing on the structural model, Freud the theorist defines the udentity
development personality as composition of the three parts. The parts related to this model
include id, ego, and superego (Gray, 2017). The model significantly shows that id, ego, and
superego do struggle and compete among themselves in one way or the other (Brockner, 2019).
One would notice that the three components of this model do relate to the author’s model
especially in dealing with the identity development. The two models do apply the same
significant areas of focus when addressing the issue of concern. In the case of id, the two models
significantly state that its functions, especially in the unconscious, are much closely related to the

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biological and instinctual processes (Cooper & Bouvrette, 2013). The id in this theory is based
on the level of the pleasure principle in the reduction of the tension as well as the creation of the
needs. This means that the id is mainly concerned about the immediate gratifications and there
are no limitations associated with it. Significantly, one would notice that id behavior will be
exhibited by the developing baby who will be actively reaching out to some nearby things and
catch their attention. Based on this fact, Freud suggests that the same behavior does not
disappear even if the person becomes an adult. What happens is that the impulses are reduced
and held by other areas of the personality.
In the focus of the ego, this can be described as the parts of the personality which simply
rely on the principle of reality. It makes sure that id impulses are expressed effectively through
social acceptable manner. Looking at the voice of reality, the ego works significantly in reducing
the level of the tension that’s coming up as a result of the needs of unmet. In the case of the ego,
the structure that embodies our moral values is the superego (Brockner, Derr & Laing, 2017). In
this case, the superego is considered as the part of our conscience that encompasses society and
parental values and standards. This model brings the idea of viewing the people having weak
superegos as a result of criminality and indulgence. The significant issue related to this is that the
superego may fail to fully develop because of poor parenting. Concerning the theory, the people
with the sense of superegos tend to have a sense of knowing what is bad and the consequences of
doing something wrong. This implies that the people lacking the superegos personality tend to be
the thieves, terrorists, liars and all sorts of the negative traits in the society. The same people
follow the impossible standards and are bound by the moral anxiety feeling ashamed of living by
the standards of society.

PERSONALITY & INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 4
The behavioral or the social learning model related to the Neo-Freudian theorists brings a
suggestion that multiple factors have some contributions towards the eventual acts of the
personal identity development. This model is related to the fact that the behavior people are as a
result of what they have learned from their parents, society or the environment they are brought
up from. The social learning approach depends on how people interact with one another. This
model puts it clear that the identity development is a product of indirect and direct ways of
reasoning, behavior, and conditioning which are all shaped by the expectations (Dembroski &
Costa, 2017). The model has some significant traits of biological, cognitive and situational
variables. The model defines the fact that behavior within a particular issue relies on the person’s
cognitive processes. The expectations of people are triggered by the situation of people. This
model contributes to identity development issues by relating the way people react similarly
especially when faced by the same situation. The reaction may change immediately the situation
is over or solved. Taking an example of death, relatives and friends of the deceased will be
depressed at the same time due to the situation facing them at that particular time (Tobin, 2017).
With time, they will heal up and the same group of people will have different reactions because
they are facing different situations now.
The trait approach is related to the author’s model by defining the many ways in which
the identity development can be described. This model mainly deals with various traits possessed
by the different groups of people (Gallo & Matthews, 2013). This model defines the fact the
uniqueness is seen in people majorly depends on whether they are the best fitting in certain
categories or not. The other model related to the author’s model is the biological approach which
majorly focuses on identity development is defined using the four different approaches such as
calm, optimistic, depressed and irritable. These character traits in personality are sometimes

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inherited because they relate to the genetic build-up of people. The humanistic approach has a
sense of positive and optimistic levels if humans. This is model is contrary to the other types of
approaches because it is applied to people with unique experiences, world views, and
relationships. In this case, the personality and the self-acceptance are seen as the key factors in
better understanding of the differences between various individuals.
Conclusion
Based on the readings from Carl Jung, the cognitive approach is much concerned about
the unique ways in which people understand social information (Gastorf, 2010). This is shaped
by how different people have an understanding of world values and beliefs. Freud was mostly
interested in two types of anxiety which are driven by the unconscious parts in the identity
development. The neurotic type of anxiety mostly occurs when the bad id impulses trigger and
break into failures and moral anxiety resulting in the differences and clashes between the
unacceptable id impulses and the superego. The point of concern here is how people try to lower
the level of anxiety related to certain threats. There some classical study that gives a
demonstration of the participants who may come up with the discomfort and induced calm from
the different points of view such as not accepting the reality and remaining detached
emotionally. The overall behaviors and development of people are majorly triggered by various
factors such as environmental factors, biological factors, and behavioral factors. People tend to
copy others the way they live (Jacobs & Wright, 2017). This is very common for young people
who tend to copy from their elders and adults. It has been noticed through the analysis of the
author’s models and Freud’s models that the behavior of the developing children can be
influenced by the people and environment they are living in.

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References
Baldwin, M. W., & Main, K. J. (2011). Social anxiety and the cued activation of relational
knowledge. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 1637-1647.
Brockner, J. (2019). The effects of self-esteem, success-failure, and self-consciousness on task
performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 1732-1741.
Brockner, J., Derr, W. R., & Laing, W. N. (2017). Self-esteem and reactions to negative
feedback: Toward greater generalizability. Journal of Research in Personality, 21, 318-
333.
Cooper, M. L., & Bouvrette, A. (2003). Contingencies of selfworth in college students: theory
and measurement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 894-908.
Dembroski, T. M., & Costa, P. T., Jr. (2017). Coronary prone behavior: Components of the Type
As pattern and hostility. Journal of Personality, 55, 211-235.
Gallo, L. C., & Matthews, K. A. (2013). Understanding the association between socioeconomic
status and physical health: Do negative emotions play a role? Psychological Bulletin,
129, 10-51.
Gastorf, J. W. (2010). Time urgency of the Type A behavior pattern. Journal of Consulting and
Clinical Psychology, 48, 299.

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Gray, J. A. (2017). Perspectives on anxiety and impulsivity: A commentary. Journal of Research
in Personality, 21, 493-509.
Jacobs, D. R., & Wright, R. J. (2017). Does harboring hostility hurt? Associations between
hostility and pulmonary function in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in (young)
Adults (CARDIA) study. Health Psychology, 26, 333-340.
Tobin, R. M. (2017). Agreeableness, empathy, and helping: A person x situation perspective.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 583-599.