Ch. 14 Personality

Question 1

psychodynamic theory

Answer 1

views personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences

Question 2

psychoanalysis

Answer 2

Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

Question 3

unconscious

Answer 3

according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories

Question 4

free association

Answer 4

in psychoanalysis, method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embara

Question 5

free association

Answer 5

in psychoanalysis, method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

Question 6

id

Answer 6

reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives

Question 7

ego

Answer 7

partly conscious, “executive” part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, the superego, and reality

Question 8

superego

Answer 8

partly unconscious part of personality that, according to Freud, represents the internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment and for future aspirations

Question 9

psychosexual stages

Answer 9

childhood stages of development during which, according to Freud, the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on erogenous zones

Question 10

Oedipus

Answer 10

complex according to Freud, a boy’s sexual desire toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

Question 11

identification

Answer 11

process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos

Question 12

fixation

Answer 12

in psychoanalytic theory, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved

Question 13

defense mechanisms

Answer 13

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

Question 14

repression

Answer 14

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

Question 15

collective unconscious

Answer 15

Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history

Question 16

terror-management

Answer 16

theory of death-related anxiety; explores people’s emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death

Question 17

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Answer 17

projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

Question 18

projective test

Answer 18

personality test, such as TAT or Rorschach, that provides ambiguous images designed to trigger projection of people’s inner dynamics

Question 19

Rorschach inkblot test

Answer 19

projective test designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing how they interpret 10 inkblots

Question 20

humanistic theories

Answer 20

theories that view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth

Question 21

hierarchy of needs

Answer 21

Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before people can fulfill their higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs.

Question 22

self actualization

Answer 22

according to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one’s potential

Question 23

self-transcendence

Answer 23

according to Maslow, the striving for identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self

Question 24

unconditioned positive regard

Answer 24

a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help people develop self-awareness and self-acceptance

Question 25

self-concept

Answer 25

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, “who am I?”

Question 26

trait

Answer 26

characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act in certain ways, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports

Question 27

personality inventory

Answer 27

questionnaire on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits

Question 28

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

Answer 28

most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. originally developed to identify emotional disorders, this test is not used for many other screening purposes

Question 29

empirically derived test

Answer 29

test created by selecting from a pool of items those that discriminate between groups

Question 30

Big Five Factors

Answer 30

researchers identified 5 factors - openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism - that describe personality

Question 31

social-cognitive perspective

Answer 31

view of behaviors as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits and their social context

Question 32

reciprocal determinism

Answer 32

interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment

Question 33

self

Answer 33

in contemporary psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions

Question 34

spotlight effect

Answer 34

overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders

Question 35

self-esteem

Answer 35

our feelings of high or low self-worth

Question 36

self-efficacy

Answer 36

our sense of competence and effectiveness

Question 37

self-serving bias

Answer 37

readiness to perceive ourselves favorably

Question 38

narcissicm

Answer 38

excessive self-love and absoption