Ch. 12 - Personality

Question 1

Archetypes

Answer 1

According to Jung, emotionally charged images and thought forms that have universal meaning.

Question 2

Behaviorism

Answer 2

A theoretical orientation based on the premise that scientific psychology should study only observable behavior.

Question 3

Collective unconscious

Answer 3

According to Jung, a storehouse of latent memory traces inherited from people’s ancestral past.

Question 4

Collectivism

Answer 4

Putting group goals ahead of personal goals and defining one’s identity in terms of the groups one belongs to.

Question 5

Compensation

Answer 5

According to Adler, efforts to overcome imagined or real inferiorities by developing one’s abilities.

Question 6

Conscious

Answer 6

Whatever one is aware of at a particular point in time.

Question 7

Defense mechanisms

Answer 7

Largely unconscious reactions that protect a person from unpleasant emotions such as anxiety and guilt.

Question 8

Displacement

Answer 8

Diverting emotional feelings (usually anger) from their original source to a substitute target.

Question 9

Ego

Answer 9

According to Freud, the decision-making component of personality that operates according to the reality principle.

Question 10

Factor analysis

Answer 10

Statistical analysis of correlations among many variables to identify closely related clusters of variables.

Question 11

Fixation

Answer 11

According to Freud, failure to move forward from one psychosexual stage to another as expected.

Question 12

Hierarchy of needs

Answer 12

Maslow’s systematic arrangement of needs according to priority, which assumes that basic needs must be met before less basic needs are aroused.

Question 13

Hindsight bias

Answer 13

The tendency to mold one’s interpretation of the past to fit how events actually turned out.

Question 14

Humanism

Answer 14

A theoretical orientation that emphasizes the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom and their potential for personal growth.

Question 15

Id

Answer 15

According to Freud, the primitive, instinctive component of personality that operates according to the pleasure principle.

Question 16

Identification

Answer 16

Bolstering self-esteem by forming an imaginary or real alliance with some person or group.

Question 17

Incongruence

Answer 17

The degree of disparity between one’s self-concept and one’s actual experience.

Question 18

Individualism

Answer 18

Putting personal goals ahead of group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group memberships.

Question 19

Model

Answer 19

A person whose behavior is observed by another.

Question 20

Mortality salience

Answer 20

The degree to which subjects’ mortality is prominent in their minds.

Question 21

Narcissism

Answer 21

A personality trait marked by an inflated sense of importance, a need for attention and admiration, a sense of entitlement, and a tendency to exploit others.

Question 22

Need for self-actualization

Answer 22

The need to fulfill one’s potential.

Question 23

Observational learning

Answer 23

A type of learning that occurs when an organism’s responding is influenced by the observation of others, who are called models.

Question 24

Oedipal complex

Answer 24

According to Freud, children’s manifestation of erotically tinged desires for their opposite-sex parent, accompanied by feelings of hostility toward their same-sex parent.

Question 25

Personal unconscious

Answer 25

According to Jung, the level of awareness that houses material that is not within one's conscious awareness because it has been repressed or forgotten.

Question 26

Personality

Answer 26

An individual's unique set of consistent behavioral traits.

Question 27

Personality trait

Answer 27

A durable disposition to behave in a particular way in a variety of situations.

Question 28

Pleasure principle

Answer 28

According to Freud, the principle upon which the id operates, demanding immediate gratification of its urges.

Question 29

Preconscious

Answer 29

According to Freud, the level of awareness that contains material just beneath the surface of conscious awareness that can easily be retrieved.

Question 30

Projection

Answer 30

Attributing one's own thoughts, feelings, or motives to another.

Question 31

Projective tests

Answer 31

Psychological tests that ask subjects to respond to vague, ambiguous stimuli in ways that may reveal the subjects' needs, feelings, and personality traits.

Question 32

Psychodynamic theories

Answer 32

All the diverse theories descended from the work of Sigmund Freud that focus on unconscious mental forces.

Question 33

Psychosexual stages

Answer 33

According to Freud, developmental periods with a characteristic sexual focus that leave their mark on adult personality.

Question 34

Rationalization

Answer 34

Creating false but plausible excuses to justify unacceptable behavior.

Question 35

Reaction formation

Answer 35

Behaving in a way that's exactly the opposite of one's true feelings.

Question 36

Reality principle

Answer 36

According to Freud, the principle on which the ego operates, which seeks to delay gratification of the id's urges until appropriate outlets and situations can be found.

Question 37

Reciprocal determinism

Answer 37

The assumption that internal mental events, external environmental events, and overt behavior all influence each other.

Question 38

Regression

Answer 38

A reversion to immature patterns of behavior.

Question 39

Repression

Answer 39

Keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the unconscious.

Question 40

Self-actualizing persons

Answer 40

People with exceptionally healthy personalities, marked by continued personal growth.

Question 41

Self-concept

Answer 41

A collection of beliefs about one's own nature, unique qualities, and typical behavior.

Question 42

Self-efficacy

Answer 42

One's belief about one's ability to perform behaviors that should lead to expected outcomes.

Question 43

Self-enhancement

Answer 43

Focusing on positive feedback from others, exaggerating one's strengths, and seeing oneself as above average.

Question 44

Self-report inventories

Answer 44

Personality tests that ask individuals to answer a series of questions about their characteristic behavior.

Question 45

Striving for superiority

Answer 45

According to Adler, the universal drive to adapt, improve oneself, and master life's challenges.

Question 46

Sublimation

Answer 46

A defense mechanism in which unconscious, unacceptable impulses are channeled into socially acceptable, perhaps even admirable, behaviors.

Question 47

Superego

Answer 47

According to Freud, the moral component of personality that incorporates social standards about what represents right and wrong.

Question 48

Unconscious

Answer 48

According to Freud, thoughts, memories, and desires that are well below the surface of conscious awareness but that nonetheless exert great influence on behavior.