Personality
In the 1996 classic (read: old-tastic) Jim Carrey movie Me, Myself, and Irene, a quiet, law-abiding police officer, Charlie—who, unbeknownst to him, has dissociative personality disorder—suffers a major trauma in his love andpersonal life and ends up manifesting all his pent-up frustrations as a second personality, Hank.
Hank and Charlie culdn't be less alike; they're on polar opposites of the personality spectrum. While Charlie is respectful and a quintessentially nice guy, Hank is rude, domineering, and seemingly oblivious to all socialconsequences. Yin and yang. Shoulder devil and shoulder angel. Uh…Simon and Garfunkel?
Both historical and modern psychology theories try to explain and assess personality development. There are a number of personality tests out there with different goals, strengths, and weaknesses. Cultural differences also affect personality development. The cultural aspects of personalities in Hollywood are vastly different from those in Manhattan or Chicago.
Study Break
"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." – Carl Jung
The Psychoanalytic Approach
"Joe isn't that talkative, but he has a great personality and the best hair I've ever seen in my life." Why does Jane care about Joe's personality?
Why is Jokin' Joe funny? What makes Gentle Jane comfortable with people? Why is Jumpin' Jenny so competitive?
Personality, narrowly defined, is the behavior, emotion, style, and substance that makes up a person. Some people are interesting, engaging, compelling, or outgoing, while others are reserved, quiet, thoughtful, or shy.
Why do psychologists try to categorize personalities? Are they just anal retentive (that's a Freudian term, by the way)? Bad potty training? Which came first: the obsession with personality or the desire to become a psychologist? (We kid.)
You may have heard of personality typing that doesn't really fit into a particular school. It's the one that starts at the beginning of the alphabet...A, B...and then stops. In 1959, two heart doctors named Friedman and Rosenman found that certain types of personalities run a higher risk of heart disease. Type A personalities tend to be a little more anal, a little more focused on time, and a little easier to piss off. These are the candidates for heart problems. Type B personalities are more relaxed, less competitive, and roll with the punches.
Why psychologists didn't continue all the way down the alphabet (C is for cookie lovers, good enough for Shmoop), we'll never know. Instead, different schools of thought describe personalities differently. Let's start with our good buddy Sigmund.
Freudian Theory (Psychoanalytic Theory)
According to Freud, personalities are composed of three parts:
Id is the most primitive part of personality. You are born with it, and it is immune to reason and logic. It is driven by the pleasure principle, which demands immediate gratification of needs and desires (good food, booze, sex) and makes you avoid pain and punishment. It's the id that makes you want to scream out in a quiet, packed theater just to see what would happen.
Ego is a semiconscious part of personality. It operates on the reality principle, making sure the Id's impulses are expressed in realistic and appropriate ways. Because of the ego, people realize they "can't always get what they want" (but they can sometimes get what they need). The ego serves as a balance between the free-spirited flower child id and the next part, the stodgy, prim, tattletale superego. It's the ego that reminds us that screaming out in a quiet, packed theater isn't such a great idea. Better to loudly unwrap a butterscotch.
