Introduction To Business Psychology

Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory
According to Freud’s theory much of our behavior is motivated by the unconscious forces i.e. memories, beliefs, feelings, urges, drives and instincts of which the individual is not aware.
In other words we can say that the unconscious forces discussed above motivate and develop our behaviors. Furthermore Freud says that to understand personality, it is must to know what is in the unconscious or what is the thinking right now. But we cannot observe the thinking directly, so we will have to match clues to the unconscious in order to understand the unconscious processes that direct behavior. For example if a man calls his wife by his girlfriend’s name mistakenly, (this is called slip of tongue). Here the slip of tongue indicates that the husband is a liar.
Going in detail we can explain personality in pre-conscious as well.

Pre-Conscious:
Pre-conscious includes the memory which can be easily retrieved at the time of need. Such as the knowledge that 1 + 1 = 2.

Un-Conscious:
Un-Conscious includes feelings, thoughts and urges that are out side of our conscious awareness, although it continuously influences our behavior. Most of unconscious are unacceptable and unpleasant such as pain.

ID:
The ID is the only component of personality that is present from birth. This aspect of personality is entirely unconscious and includes of the instinctive and primitive behaviors. Therefore it doesn’t care for the future, i.e. weather the behavior will result in loss or benefit. According to Freud, the id is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary component of personality.

This ID includes the primary desires, wants, and needs. If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state anxiety or tension. For example, an increase in hunger or thirst should produce an immediate attempt to eat or drink.


EGO:
The ego is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing with reality. According to Freud, the ego develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world. People of EGO strive to satisfy the id's desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways. It means that it care for the future before to do action on some impulse, if it results in loss then it is neglected, or try to minimize the loss.

SUPER EGO:
The last component of personality to develop is the superego. The superego is the aspect of personality that holds all of our internalized moral standards and ideals that we acquire from both parents and society--our sense of right and wrong. The superego provides guidelines for making judgments. According to Freud, the superego begins to emerge at around age five.

Example of ID, EGO and SUPER EGO:
Remember those cartoons where the "devil" sits on one shoulder while an "angel" sits on the other when someone is trying to make a decision?? Well, in simplest terms, the ID is the devil and the SUPEREGO is the "angel." The EGO is basically the "brain" in between trying to sort out what each is advocating and more objectively and logically arrive at a decision.

So, say you're on a diet and there's a piece of luscious chocolate cake on the counter. The ID says, "go ahead, it's just one piece! Enjoy it!" while the SUPEREGO says, "You know you don't really want to. It would reverse all the good work you've done so far and you'd feel so guilty if you ate it." Then the EGO is left to sort it out, determine logically how important it is to you to stay on your diet vs. the piece of cake.

Defense Mechanisms:
Distort reality to protect the ego from anxiety caused by id impulses. There are many different types of defense mechanisms:
a) Repression -- this is the most often used and central main defense mechanism; it is common to all the others. Repression can be defined as the banishment of threatening thoughts, feelings, and memories into the unconscious mind.
b) Denial -- refusal to admit a particular aspect of reality.
c) Regression -- individual displays immature behaviors that have relieved anxiety in the past
d) Rationalization -- providing socially acceptable reasons for our inappropriate behavior
e) Intellectualization -- reducing anxiety by reacting to emotional situations in a detached, unemotional way.
f) Projection -- attributing our undesirable feelings to others.
g) Displacement -- expressing feelings toward something or someone besides the target person, because they are perceived as less threatening.
h) Reaction formation -- acting in a manner opposite our true feelings.
i) Compensation -- reacting to a personal deficiency by developing another talent.
j) Sublimation -- expression of sexual or aggressive impulses through indirect, socially acceptable ones.

Trait Theory
The trait approach to personality is one of the major theoretical areas in the study of personality. The trait theory suggests that individual personalities are composed of different behavior and manner and also they have differences in similar manner and habits both quantitatively and qualitatively. Consider how you would describe the personality of a close friend. Chances are that you would list a number of traits, such as outgoing, kind and honest. A trait can be thought of as a relatively stable characteristic that causes individuals to behave in certain ways.
Unlike many other theories of personality, such as psychoanalytic or humanistic theories, the trait approach to personality is focused on differences between individuals. The combination and interaction of various traits forms a personality that is unique to each individual. Trait theory is focused on identifying and measuring these individual personality characteristics.
Gordon Allport’s Trait Theory
In 1936, psychologist Gordon Allport found that one English-language dictionary alone contained more than 4,000 words describing different personality traits.1 He categorized these traits into three levels:
• Cardinal Traits: Traits that dominate an individual’s whole life, often to the point that the person becomes known specifically for these traits. People with such personalities often become so known for these traits that their names are often synonymous with these qualities. Cardinal traits completely dominate a person's sense of self. For example, Charles Manson's evilness could be identified as a cardinal trait or Mother Teresa's altruism. It is important to note that cardinal traits are not common. Most people do not have these traits, people with cardinal traits are considered rare.

• Central Traits: These are the general characteristics that form the basic foundations of personalities. These central traits, while not as dominating as cardinal traits, are the major characteristics you might use to describe another person. Terms such as intelligent, honest, shy and anxious are considered central traits. These traits are central, prominent traits that everyone has (unlike cardinal traits). Our personalities are built upon the central traits. They are influential, but don't dominate like the cardinal traits.

• Secondary Traits: These are the traits that are sometimes related to attitudes or preferences and often appear only in certain situations or under specific circumstances. These are traits that are only exhibited in some situations. For example, someone may be kind most of the time, but become very selfish in other situations. Or would be getting anxious when speaking to a group or impatient while waiting in line.