Key Points

Self refers to the totality of an individual's conscious experiences and thoughts about themselves. It includes personal identity (qualities making one unique) and social identity (links to social or cultural groups).

Self-esteem is a person's judgment of their own value. Self-efficacy is the belief in one's own ability to succeed in specific situations. Self-regulation is the ability to organize and monitor one's own behavior.

Western cultures typically view the self as an individualistic entity with fixed boundaries, separate from the group. In contrast, many Asian cultures, like the Indian one, view the self as collectivistic, with a shifting boundary that can include others.

Personality refers to the unique and relatively stable qualities that characterize an individual's behavior across different situations and over time. It is dynamic and helps in adapting to situations.

Type approaches categorize people into broad patterns (e.g., Type A/B). Trait approaches focus on identifying specific, stable psychological attributes (e.g., shyness) along which individuals differ.

Hippocrates classified people based on four humors (sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholic, choleric). In India, Charak Samhita used tridosha (vata, pitta, kapha) and the trigunas (sattva, rajas, tamas) to classify personality.

Gordon Allport categorized traits into three levels. Cardinal traits dominate a person's life, Central traits are major characteristics, and Secondary traits are preferences that appear in specific situations.

Raymond Cattell identified 16 source traits using factor analysis. H.J. Eysenck proposed three broad dimensions of personality: Neuroticism vs. Emotional Stability, Extraversion vs. Introversion, and Psychoticism vs. Sociability.

Often called the 'Big Five', this model by Costa and McCrae suggests personality is composed of five broad factors: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (OCEAN).

Sigmund Freud's theory emphasizes the role of unconscious conflicts. He proposed three levels of consciousness (conscious, preconscious, unconscious) and used methods like free association and dream analysis.

Freud described personality as a conflict between three structures: the Id (operates on the pleasure principle), the Ego (operates on the reality principle), and the Superego (the moral conscience).

These are unconscious strategies used by the ego to reduce anxiety by distorting reality. Key examples include repression, projection, denial, reaction formation, and rationalization.

Freud proposed that personality develops through five stages: Oral, Anal, Phallic (including the Oedipus complex), Latency, and Genital. Fixation at a stage can affect adult personality.

Theorists like Carl Jung (collective unconscious), Karen Horney (basic anxiety), Alfred Adler (inferiority complex), and Erik Erikson (identity crisis) modified Freud's ideas, emphasizing social and ego factors over sexual drives.

Developed by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, this approach emphasizes human potential, free will, and the drive for self-actualization. Rogers focused on the 'real self' versus the 'ideal self', while Maslow proposed a hierarchy of needs.

Personality is assessed through various techniques. These include Self-Report Measures (e.g., MMPI, 16PF), Projective Techniques (e.g., Rorschach Test, TAT), and Behavioural Analysis (e.g., interviews, observation).

These are structured tests where individuals respond to questions about themselves. Examples include the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF).

These techniques use unstructured or ambiguous stimuli to allow individuals to project their unconscious motives and feelings. The Rorschach Inkblot Test and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) are prominent examples.