INTRODUCTION
In the film Titanic (1997), Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) meet each other on the fated RMS Titanic, which is fated to be sunk at the hands of a stray iceberg. Their quest to survive is framed within this sweeping historical tale, and surrounded by many characters, each exemplifying their own usage of psychological concepts. The character of Caledon Hockley (Billy Zane) displays a classic example of narcissistic personality disorder, while Jack displays his placement on all of the "Big Five" personality traits throughout the course of the movie.
PSYCHOLOGICAL CONCEPT ONE: Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a disorder that leaves an individual afflicted extremely preoccupied with themselves - their image, their potency, and their power. NPD is typically caused by excessive praise or emotional abuse in childhood, where parents either overly coddle them or unduly put them down, leading them to seek validation on their own terms. Treatments for NPD include several kinds of therapy, though people with NPD rarely seek it out, fearing thoughts of inadequacy by needing treatment. Symptoms include people thinking they are 'special' and better than everyone else, as Billy Zane's villainous character exemplifies in his callous desire to selfishly survive the sinking ship. His attempt to get on the lifeboat by pretending to look after a child demonstrates a decided lack of empathy and a desire to exploit others, textbook symptoms of NPD.
PSYCHOLOGICAL CONCEPT TWO: Intrinsic Motivation
The psychological concept of motivation involves the driving force that allows human beings to do the things they want to do. When a task needs to be performed, it is motivation, whatever the kind, that makes the individual do that task. There are both extrinsic and intrinsic motivations for people's actions; intrinsic motivation comes from within, whereas extrinsic motivation is driven by some other force. In the case of Jack, there is tremendous intrinsic motivation for many of his actions. He is self-driven to survive, to protect Rose, and to get on the Titanic in the first place. When someone like Jack has an intrinsic motivation, there is no one else forcing him to do the things he does; he merely does them out of his own desires and needs.
DISCUSSION
The writers of Titanic gave Billy Zane's character Cal narcissistic personality disorder in order to make him easy to root against as a villain. Caring only about himself, he only goes after Rose in the end because he gave her an expensive piece of jewelry, willing to kill to get it back. This makes him somewhat of a cartoonish villain; while there are many people who display subtle aspects of the disorder, Cal's NPD is amplified to extremes. It was likely not a believable portrayal of narcissistic personality disorder, as a normal person with these tendencies would not take them to the extremes that Cal does, resorting to child theft and attempted murder. With these things in mind, they could have portrayed narcissistic personality disorder correctly, if they had not played it to extremes.
The portrayal of intrinsic motivation on the part of Jack's character is used by the writers to show what a compelling, ideal protagonist he is. Unlike Cal, who is motivated by greed and outside prestige, Jack merely wants to do what is best for himself and the people he cares about. He gets on the Titanic so that he may experience the New World. He pursues Rose because he is intrinsically motivated to court her; no one else is making him do it. He is an incredibly autonomous figure, which makes it easy for Rose to trust him in the many instances where he desperately looks for ways for them to survive. Jack's own intrinsic motivation taught him to draw, which he demonstrates when he sketches a nude Rose.
Even in his final scene, he displays intrinsic motivation when he sacrifices himself to save Rose. While it may seem that the natural intrinsic motivation would be to survive, he is autonomous enough as a human being to place other people's lives above his own. Because he cares so much for Rose, he makes the active, intrinsic decision to stay in the freezing water in order to keep Rose alive. This decision came from within; if Rose had told him to stay in the water in order to save her, that would be an extrinsic motivation, as Rose wanted him to do it. However, as he made the decision himself, the intrinsic motivation is used by the writers to demonstrate how self-sacrificing and driven he is. The mark of a strong protagonist is someone who is proactive in their actions; that proactive nature comes from a large capacity for intrinsic motivation. Between Cal's narcissism and Jack's intrinsic motivation, the writers of the film Titanic effectively used psychological concepts to get the audience to root against and for these characters, respectively.
