Chapter 12 - Personality Flashcards
(43 cards)
What is trait theory?
In psychology, trait theory is an approach to the study of human personality. Trait theorists are primarily interested in the measurement of traits, which can be defined as habitual patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion
What are psychodynamic theories?
include all diverse theories descended from the work of Freud, which focus on the unconscious mental forces
What is personality?
An individual’s unique constellation of consistent behavioural traits
Uniqueness or distinctiveness
(what differentiates one another)
Consistancy of thinking, feeling and responding
What are the goals of trait theory?
- identify basic traits that are stable and enduring
- measure and predict individual difference
Who came up with 4500 possible personality traits?
Allport
Cattel used Allport research as a starting point to break down the list to how many traits through factor analysis?
16 traits through factor analysis
The most current model has what 5 personality traits?
Extroversion Agreeability Conscientiousness Neuroticism Openness
What is extroversion?
characteristics like talkative, sociable, fun-loving, affectionate
What is agreeability?
sympathetic, warm, trusting, cooperative
What is conscientiousness?
ethical, dependable, productive, purposeful
Wat is neuroticism?
anxious, insecure, guilt-prone, self-conscious
What is openness?
Daring, nonconforming, unusual broad interests, imaginitive
What are the negatives of trait theory?
- Only predicts a range of behaviour
- Doesn’t explain behaviour just labels
- Too few traits to account for human variation
What are the 2 main points of the psychodynamic perspective?
- Much of what motivates our behaviour is below our awareness
• Iceburg metaphor (describes the human mind; the part above the surface is what we are aware of and the part just beneath is the preconscious memories and stored knowledge, and the part deepest is the unconscious level) - Early experiences shape our personalities (he thought that our personality was shaped under the age of 5, however your personality continues to develop through out your life)
Explain the iceberg metaphor.
Describes the human mind
- the part of the iceberg that is above the surface is what we are aware of
- part of the iceberg just beneath the surface is the preconscious memory
- the deepest part of the ice burg is the unconscious level
What are the three components of Freud’s structure of personality?
Id- primal urges want satisfying
Ego- mediator (wants id and superego happy)
Super-ego- (develops around age of 5) seeks moral principles/ perfection
What does internal conflict result in?
anxiety
What are some characteristics of defence mechanisms?
- are unconscious
- they all involve self deception
Name the (7) defence mechanisms?
- Repression
- Projection
- Displacement
- Reaction formation
- Rationalization
- Denial
- Sublimation
Define repression defence mechanism.
bury threatening content into the unconscious
Define projection defence mechanism.
attribute unacceptable impulse to someone else
Example; woman who haven’t had sex in a long time, who wants to engage in sexual activity, but she instead of acknowledging she says ‘men only have one thing on their mind’
Define displacement defence mechanism.
divert impulse from real target to safe substitute
example; you want to strangle your boss but instead you go home and yell at your brother
Define reaction formation
when you bury forbidden impulses and instead display the opposite
example homophobic men actually are attracted to men themselves (studies suggest correlation)
Define rationalization.
offers plausible explanation for unacceptable behaviour
