26 Personality and Motivation

Question 1

Who was Henry Murray?

Answer 1

Harvard psychologist (1893-1988). Developed a theory of personality called Personology based on the ideas of “need” and “press” –humans wanting stuff and feeling pressured to do stuff

Question 2

What is “apperception”?

Answer 2

A term coined by Murray to refer to the process of projecting fantasy imagery onto an objective stimulus.

Question 3

What is the Thematic Apperception Test? (TAT)

Answer 3

A test consisting of a series of provocative yet ambiguous pictures about which the subject must tell a story.

Question 4

What does the TAT actually test?

Answer 4

The test is based on an assumption that the client actually expresses his own concerns, fears, desires, and conflicts as reflected in what is going on with the story’s main character. The stories are later carefully analyzed to uncover the client’s underlying needs, attitudes, and patterns of reaction.

Question 5

What is a need, according to Murray?

Answer 5

A potentiality or readiness to respond in a certain way under certain given circumstances. It is a noun which stands for the fact that a certain trend is apt to recur.

Question 6

Murray: What causes needs?

Answer 6

Deficits - not having things.

Question 7

What is “press”?

Answer 7

Elements in the environment which affect needs. E.g. walking past a restaurant might affect need for food

Question 8

Does everyone have the same needs, according to Murray?

Answer 8

No, there are stable individual differences in needs. Some might have higher need for affiliation/power.

Question 9

What social needs posited by Murray that have become fields of study in their own right?

Answer 9

Need for Achievement (nAch) –David McClelland
Need for Power (nPow) –David Winter
Need for Affiliation (nAff)
Need for Intimacy (nInt)

Question 10

What is Need for Achievement and what does it predict?

Answer 10

nAch is an orientation towards improving and excelling. It predicts active engagement and problem solving. High nAch women found among competitive or single mothers.

Question 11

What is Need for Power and what does it predict?

Answer 11

nPow is an orientation towards having an impact on others. Predicts having arguments, being elected and status possessions. High nPow men are more impulsive/aggressive than high nPow women.

Question 12

What is Need for Intimacy and what does it predict?

Answer 12

Orientation towards warm and fulfilling relationships. Predicts relationship interest and intimacy –and overall adjustment. Women consistently higher on nInt than men.

Question 13

What is the difference between need for affiliation and need for intimacy?

Answer 13

The need for intimacy correlates .58 (medium correlation) with the need for affiliation, but focuses more on one to one interactions, particularly self-disclosure and listening. Affiliation is just hanging out.

Question 14

How many basic needs/goals/motives are there?

Answer 14

No agreement (unlike the Big 5 personality traits or 7 Basic Emotions)

Question 15

What is the circumplex structure of goals (Grouzet et al., 2005)?

Answer 15

The theory that all human goals can be plotted along two dimensions:

Self-transcendence vs physical self

Intrinsic (focused on the satisfaction of inherent psychological needs) vs extrinsic (focused on rewards and praise.)

Question 16

What is a goal, according to Eliot (1997)?

Answer 16

A concrete cognitive representation of a desired or undesired end state used to guide behaviour.

Question 17

What is Dweck’s distinction between judgement and development goals?

Answer 17

Judgement goals involve the aim of testing a personal characteristic
Development goals involve acquiring or enhancing a characteristic

Question 18

What are development vs judgement goals often expressed as?

Answer 18

Learning vs performance goals

Question 19

What is the difference between learning and performance goals?

Answer 19

People pursuing learning goals aim to acquire knowledge and skills

People pursuing performance goals aim to receive positive feedback from peers

Question 20

What is entity self-theory?

Answer 20

The belief that intelligence/ability is a fixed inborn quality.

Question 21

What does entity self-theory lead to?

Answer 21

Judgement/performance goals – the need to show one has ability.

Question 22

What is incremental self-theory?

Answer 22

The belief that intelligence/ability is learned and can be improved.

Question 23

What does incremental self-theory lead to?

Answer 23

To development/learning goals.

Question 24

What would be the difference in reaction to negative criticism for an essay in an individual with entity vs incremental self-theory?

Answer 24

If entity self-theory, interpret criticism as proof of low ability/intelligence –be discouraged.

If incremental self-theory, learn from criticism to improve.

Question 25

What is the mindset associated with entity self-theory?

Answer 25

The fixed mindset.

Question 26

What is the mindset associated with incremental self-theory?

Answer 26

The growth mindset.

Question 27

What is Jeffrey Alan Gray’s biopsychological theory of personality?

Answer 27

Reward and punishment are under the control of separate brain systems –the Behavioural Activation System and the Behavioural Inhibition System, respectively. As a result, people can have different sensitivities to rewarding or punishing stimuli. These differing sensitivities are predictive of a variety of psychological phenomena.

Question 28

What is the Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS)?

Answer 28

A neuropsychological system that predicts an individual’s response to anxiety-relevant cues in a given environment. This system is activated in times of punishment, boring things, or negative events.

Question 29

What does high activity of the BIS mean?

Answer 29

A natural avoidance of environments which might elicit fear, anxiety, frustration, and sadness. People with a highly active BIS have been shown to learn more effectively through use of punishment than by reward.

Question 30

What is the Behavioural Activation System (BAS)?

Answer 30

The Behavioral Activation System (BAS), in contrast to the BIS, is based on a model of appetitive motivation – in this case, an individual’s disposition to pursue and achieve goals.

Question 31

When is the BAS aroused?

Answer 31

The BAS is aroused when it receives cues corresponding to rewards and controls actions that are not related to punishment, rather actions regulating approachment type behaviors.

Question 32

What emotions are associated with invididuals with highly active BAS? And what personality traits do they possess?

Answer 32

Individuals with a highly active BAS show higher levels of positive emotions such as elation, happiness, and hope in response to environmental cues consistent with nonpunishment and reward, along with goal-achievement. In terms of personality, these individuals are also more likely to engage in goal-directed efforts and experience these positive emotions when exposed to impending reward. Associated with extraversion.

Question 33

What are the two temperaments associated with high scores on the BIS and BAS, respectively?

Answer 33

Avoidance and approach temperament

Question 34

What is the avoidance temperament?

Answer 34

A general neurobiological sensitivity to negative/undesirable (i.e. punishment) stimuli (present or imagined) that is accompanied by perceptual vigilance for,
affective reactivity to,
and a behavioural disposition away from such stimuli.

Question 35

What is the approach temperament?

Answer 35

A general neurobiological sensitivity to positive/desirable (i.e. reward) stimuli (present or imagined) that is accompanied by perceptual vigilance for,
affective reactivity to,
and a behavioural disposition towards such stimuli.

Question 36

What kind of goals are associated with approach/avoidance temperament?

Answer 36

Approach temperament associated with performance-approach goals – wanting to WIN

and also with mastery goals – wanting to IMPROVE

Avoidance temperament associated with performance-approach goals – wanting to WIN and look good but also with performance-avoidance goals - wanting not to LOSE (and look like you suck).

Avoidants are not interested in mastery

Question 37

What is a “current concern”? (Klinger)

Answer 37

The internal state of an organism from the start of pursuit of a goal until the end. There are for humans as many current concerns as there are ongoing goals.

Question 38

Are current concerns always conscious? (Klinger)

Answer 38

No, doofus. Current concerns such as obtaining a doctoral degree will be unconscious for most of the time the degree is being obtained.

Question 39

How many current concerns does a human usually have? (Klinger)

Answer 39

Around 6.

Question 40

What 3 conditions cause individuals to think about a current concern more?

Answer 40

1. High value (important right now)
2. High commitment (already invested in succeeding)
3. High threat (high probability of failing)

Question 41

What are the 3 basic psychological needs according to Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000)

Answer 41

1. Competence
   Seek to control the outcome and experience mastery
2. Relatedness
   Is the universal want to interact, be connected to, and experience caring for others.
3. Autonomy
   Is the universal urge to be causal agents of one’s own life and act in harmony with one’s integrated self. This does not mean to be independent of others.