Chapter 12 Flashcards
Psychodynamic View
A perspective in psychology that emphasizes the role of unconscious forces and childhood experiences in shaping personality and behavior.
Humanistic View
A perspective in psychology that emphasizes the inherent goodness and potential for growth in individuals, and the importance of self-actualization.
Trait theories and Five Factor Theory
Theories that focus on identifying and categorizing personality traits, and the Five Factor Theory proposes that personality can be described by five broad dimensions:openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
Situationist and Interactionist Views
Perspectives that highlight the influence of situational factors and the interaction between personality traits and the environment on behavior.
Personality Assessment
The process of measuring and evaluating an individual’s personality traits, characteristics, and patterns of behavior.
Biological Foundations of Personality
The study of how biological factors, such as genetics and brain structure, contribute to the development and expression of personality.
How Personalities Differ
The understanding that individuals have unique and distinct patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that differentiate them from others.
Personality Disorders
A group of mental health conditions characterized by enduring patterns of maladaptive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that significantly impair functioning and cause distress.
Personality Inventories
Paper-and-pencil questionnaires designed to assess different aspects of personality.
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2 (MMPI-2)
A personality inventory that is useful in assessing abnormal personality characteristics.
NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R)
A personality inventory that evaluates traits comprising three of the five superfactors:Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness.
Projective tests
Personality assessments that use ambiguous stimuli to access a person’s unconscious.
Rorschach inkblot test
A projective test that uses ambiguous shapes to elicit responses that indicate underlying personality characteristics or conflicts.
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
A projective test where participants create stories describing ambiguous black-and-white drawings.
Biological Foundations of Personality
The influence of genetics and environment on the development of temperament and traits.
Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism
The five superfactors of personality traits.
Amygdala
A brain area involved in emotionality, motivation, and processing negative stimuli.
Interpreting the Research
Important factors to consider when interpreting genetic and neurological personality research.
Gender Differences
The similarities and differences in personality traits between men and women.
Collectivist cultures
Cultures that prioritize the needs of the group over the individual.
Individualist cultures
Cultures that value individual achievement and independence.
Culture, Socioeconomic Environment, and Personality
The impact of living conditions on how personality traits manifest in behavior.
Personality Disorders
Inflexible patterns of inner experience and outward behavior that cause distress or difficulty with daily functioning.
Borderline personality disorder
A personality disorder characterized by severe mood and self-concept instability and high levels of volatility.
Antisocial personality disorder
A personality disorder characterized by extreme disregard for others and impulsive, egocentric behavior.
Paranoid personality disorder
A personality disorder characterized by exaggerated suspicion and distrust of others.
Schizoid personality disorder
A personality disorder characterized by detachment from social relationships and flat emotional expression.
Schizotypal personality disorder
A personality disorder characterized by odd or peculiar behavior and unusual cognitive or perceptual experiences.
Histrionic personality disorder
A personality disorder characterized by an excessive need to be noticed and be the center of attention.
Narcissistic personality disorder
A personality disorder characterized by a high degree of self-interest and self-importance.
Avoidant personality disorder
A personality disorder characterized by extreme feelings of inadequacy and avoidance of social activities.
Dependent personality disorder
A personality disorder characterized by an excessive need to be cared for by others and submissive behavior.
Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder
A personality disorder characterized by preoccupation with perfectionism and control.
Defence mechanisms
Unconscious tactics employed by the ego to protect the individual from anxiety.
Denial
a defence mechanism; the process of refusing to recognize an existing situation.
Repression
the most basic defence mechanism; the process of keeping unpleasant memories or thoughts buried deep within the unconscious mind.
Ego
according to psychoanalytic theory, the personality element that works to help satisfy the drives of the id while complying with the constraints placed on behaviour by the environment.
Superego
according to psychoanalytic theory, the personality element in charge of determining which impulses are acceptable to express openly and which are unacceptable; develops as we observe and internalize the behaviours of others in our culture.
Id
according to psychoanalytic theory, the personality element representing basic instinctual drives, such as those related to eating, sleeping, sex, and comfort.
Five-factor model
an empirically derived trait model that proposes five major trait categories: agreeableness/disagreeableness, extroversion/introversion, neuroticism/stability, conscientiousness/irresponsibility, and openness to experience/unimaginativeness.
socially desirable responding
tailoring answers on personality inventories to try to create a good impression.
interactionism
a view emphasizing the relationship between a person’s underlying personality traits and the reinforcing aspects of the situations in which they choose to put themselves.
situationisim
a view of personality, which notes that in many social situations people respond is similar ways, meaning that the situation drives their response rather than their personality.
interpersonal circle
a two-dimensional personality trait model based on blends of dominance and nurturance.
lexical hypothesis
the idea that our language contains the important ways in which people can differ.
superfactor
a fundamental dimension of personality made up of a related cluster of personality traits.
neurosis
an abnormal behaviour pattern caused by unresolved conflicts between the id, ego, and superego.
personality
The unique characteristics that account for enduring patterns of inner experience and outward behaviour.
psychosexual stages
according to psychoanalytic theory, stages in the development of personality; the stages—labelled oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital—are primarily influenced by sexuality and aggression.
personality traits
tendencies to behave in certain ways that remain relatively constant across situations.
self-concept
a pattern of self-perception that remains consistent over time and can be used to characterize an individual.
unconditional positive regard
acceptance without terms or conditions.
personality trait
model a mini-theory about the structure of personality traits.
phrenology
a method of assessing a person’s mental and moral qualities by studying the shape of the person’s skull.
positive psychology
an area of psychology focusing on positive experiences and healthy mental functioning.
self-actualization
the need of humans to fulfill their full and special potential; the highest level of need in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
social role theory
theory that gender differences occur because girls and boys develop different behaviours and skills based largely on differences in gender role expectations.
