Ch 14-Personality

Question 1

personality

Answer 1

an individual’s characteristic style of behaving, thinking, feeling

Question 2

personality inventories/scales

Answer 2

scales or tests that ask an individual a set of standardized questions or whether a statement does or does not apply to them

• objective assessment of personality (has agreed upon scoring and responses so the marker cannot sway the determination)
• based on self-report data
• empirical analysis (calculates where an indv falls in terms of a given factor)

Question 3

MMPI-2

Answer 3

most common personality scale/inventory for assessing personality and psychological problems

• scores are used as indicators
• has validity measures in place to alleviate response bias by testing the indvs honesty (ex. I get angry sometimes)

Question 4

projective techniques

Answer 4

means for measuring personality

• a standard series of ambiguous stimuli designed to elicit unique responses that might reveal or be indicative of inner aspects of an indvs personality
  ex. rorschach inkblot test, thematic apperception test (TAT)
• poor predictors of behaviour and depend entirely on the test administer’s subjective interpretation, so these techniques shouldn’t be used for assessment, but may be useful in therapy

Question 5

trait

Answer 5

relatively stable disposition to behave in a particular and consistent way

• might be a pre-existing/genetic disposition which can be tested for by personality inventories
• might be a motive that guides our behaviour, which could be measured by projective tests
• can use factor analyses to sort characteristics into more general traits/core factors

Question 6

Raymond Katel

Answer 6

looked at 1000s of potential traits and using factor analysis, concluded there were 16 factors
-some argue that Katel’s factors aren’t all independent tho and could be further condensed

Question 7

Extraversion-Stability Model (eysenck)

Answer 7

• tried to take Katel’s factors and pare them down as much as possible
• settled on a 2 factor model based on introversion vs extraversion and stability vs instability, though he later added a third dimension, psychoticism vs self-control

Question 8

the Big Five factor model

Answer 8

Conscientiousness
-organized, careful and self-disciplined vs disorganized, careless and weak-willed
Agreeableness
-softhearted, trusting and helpful vs ruthless, suspicious , and uncooperative
Neuroticism
-worried, insecure, and self-pitying vs calm, secure, and self-satisfied
Openness to experience
-imaginative, variety, and independent vs down-to-earth, routine, and conforming
Extraversion
-social, fun loving and affectionate vs retiring, sober and reserved

factors have little overlap, multiple observer validity, and seem to be consistent across cultures

Question 9

behavioural genetics

Answer 9

looks for overlap btw monozygotic and dizygotic twins

Question 10

personality and heritabilty

Answer 10

heritability estimates for personality are btw 0.40-0.60
-estimates for the big five range from 0.35-0.49, suggesting they make up a lot of the aspects of personality that are genetically linked

Question 11

the psychodynamic approach

Answer 11

pioneered by freud

• belief that personality is formed by needs and desires largely happening outside of awareness
• the dynamic unconscious leads to conscious behaviour

Question 12

dynamic unconscious

Answer 12

active system encompassing a lifetime of hidden memories, deepest instincts and desires, and the inner struggle to control these forces

Question 13

Id

Answer 13

part of the mind containing all drives, wants, desires, impulses present at birth, including sexual and aggressive drives
-completely unconscious and completely unconcerned with social rules

Question 14

Ego

Answer 14

part of the mind that deals with life’s practical demands

• developed through contact with the external world
• attempts to rein in the Id, though is not necessarily remorseful or reprehensive of the Id
• is semi-conscious, semi-unconscious

Question 15

Superego

Answer 15

mental system that reflects the internalization of cultural rules

• standards, codes of conduct, guilty conscience
• is semi-conscious, semi-unconscious

Question 16

defense mechanisms

Answer 16

how freud believed we cope with conflicts of the id/ego/superego that bubble up into consciousness

• rationalization, reaction formation, projection, regression, displacement, identification, sublimation
• also intellectualization?

Question 17

psychosexual stages

Answer 17

(freud (obviously))

• distinctive early stages that help form personality
• important in terms of physical development
• adult issues can stem from repressed childhood problems
• oral, anal, phallic,, latency, genital

Question 18

oral psychosexual stage

Answer 18

(0-18 mo)

• pleasures and frustrations associated with the mouth
• feeding and sucking, exploring by putting everything in the mouth
• indv stuck in the oral stage have adult lives that are either very full or very empty

Question 19

anal psychosexual stage

Answer 19

(2-3 yrs)

• pleasures and frustrations associated with the anus, expulsion of waste, toilet training
• control conflicts (self-control issue for the toileting toddler, and child-caregiver control issues over expectations and strictness)
• indv stuck in the anal stage may be preoccupied with money, cleanliness

Question 20

phallic psychosexual stage

Answer 20

(3-5 yrs)

• pleasures, conflict and frustration around phallic regions and incestuous feelings
• oedipus conflict (child becomes jealous of the same sex parent and falls in love with the opposite)

Question 21

latency psychosexual stage

Answer 21

(5-13 yrs)
further development of intelligence, creativity, interpersonal and athletic skills
-if you make it here, freud basically says ur good to go

Question 22

genital psychosexual stage

Answer 22

(adulthood)

coming together of mature adult capacity to love, work together, engage in mutually satisfying relationships

Question 23

humanistic approach

Answer 23

-personality is created by (healthy) choices

Question 24

humanistic psychologists

Answer 24

• have a positive, optimistic view of the indv and believe in their goodness and potential for growth
• support the self-actualizing tendency (belief ????)

Question 25

personal construct theory (george kelly)

Answer 25

-people construct reality through their own personal constructs

Question 26

self-schemas/traits

Answer 26

traits we use to define ourselves (eg. i’m a generous person)
-tend to be stable over time

Question 27

self-narrative

Answer 27

• help to provide evidence for or support self-schemas (eg. I donate to charity and volunteer regularly so I’m a generous person)
• may not always match up with self-schemas tho

Question 28

self-consistency and congruence

Answer 28

when our sense of self and our relationships with others match

Question 29

self-verification

Answer 29

the tendency to seek out info (from others) to try to confirm the ideas we have about ourselves (our self-schemas)

Question 30

self-esteem

Answer 30

the extent to which an individual likes, values and accepts the self

• high self esteem comes from being accepted and valued
• benefits include status, belonging and security
• acts as a sociometer of sorts as it’s based on how well we get along with others and vice-versa

Question 31

self-enhancement

Answer 31

tendency to focus on our successes and downplay our failures and our own responsibility for them
-done to protect ourselves

Question 32

narcissism

Answer 32

• when positive self-esteem/enhancement is taken to the extreme
• a trait that reflects a grandiose view of the self and a tendency to seek admiration from and exploit others
• narcissistic indv tend to lack empathy and are quick to anger when their flaws are exposed

Question 33

social cognitive approach

Answer 33

• belief that personality is how a personal thinks of and responds to/behaves in the face of a problem
• combines behavioural and cognitive perspectives with social environment
• must navigate the person-situation controversy (is the behaviour because of their personality or because of the situation they are in?)

Question 34

walter Mischel and the consistency paradox

Answer 34

• felt personality traits did a poor job of predicting behaviour (average correlation was only ~0.30) and that behaviours might not transfer from situation to situation
• the consistency paradox is the observation that personality traits may change in different instences (ex. someone may seem extroverted among friends but introverted when surrounded by strangers)

Question 35

Cognitive-Affective Personality System (CAPS)

Answer 35

-behaviour depends on characteristics and on the situation, and can be predicted by if/then statements (if mark is angry with his partner then he’ll pick a fight, but if mark is angry with his boss then he’ll stay silent)

Question 36

reciprocal determinism

Answer 36

(important for the social cognitive approach)

-belief that the person, their behaviour and the environment all influence one another

Question 37

Rotter and the locus of control scale

Answer 37

outcome expectancies (likely consequence of a future behaviour; produce characteristic behaviour when combined with goals)
locus of control: belief that control of rewards and attaining goals are internal to the self or external, in the environment

Question 38

bandura, human agency and the social cognitive approach

Answer 38

human agency: all humans are active agents within the environment rather than passive observers
-composed of 4 factors (intentionality, forethought, self-reactivness and self-reflectiveness)
self-efficacy: a person’s belief about how they’re able to perform behaviours needed to achieve goals
-also composed of four factors (performance experiences, observational learning, verbal persuasion and emotional arousal)