Chapter 12: Personality Flashcards
Personality
Patterns of thought and behaviour that make a person react to certain situations in relatively consistent ways
Unconscious
The part of our mental life that influences our thoughts, feelings, and exactions that we cannot directly observe and of which we are unaware
id
The component of personality in Freud’s psychoanalytic theory that is the manifestation of unconscious and instinctual drives and needs
Pleasure principale
Behaviour is driven purely by what feels good, with no real filter or concern about what is polite or possible
Ego
The component of personality in Freud’s psychoanalytic theory that represents the largely conscious awareness of reality and the ability to mediate the needs of the id within the constraints of reality
Reality principle
Monitoring the environment around us and learning how it places constraints on when, how, and to what extent our id-driven needs can be satisfied
Superego
The component of personality in Freud’s psychoanalytic theory that represents the internalized cultural rules and ideals to guide our moral conscience
Defence mechanisms
The various ways in which the ego is thought to cope with conflict between the unconscious desires of the id and the moral constraints of society
Displacement
A defence mechanism in which the ego redirects the aggressive impulses of the id from their intended targets to more defenceless targets
Projection
A defence mechanism in which people, instead of acknowledging it in themselves, see others as possessing a disliked trait or feeling
Repression
A defence mechanism in which the ego keeps unwanted feelings, thoughts, and memories below the level of conscious awareness
Denial
A defence mechanism in which the ego prevents the perception of a painful or threatening reality as it is occurring
Cardinal traits
Traits that dominate someone’s personality. A trait that seemed to direct one’s every behaviour.
Central traits
General dispositions that we use to describe someone. Traits that do not utterly define the person but provide useful insight into how they typically behave
Secondary traits
Traits that are relevant only in certain contexts.
Lexical hypothesis
The hypothesis that the traits that provide useful ways to differentiate among people’s personality characteristics are necessarily encoded in language
Factor analysis
A statistical technique that groups a large set of variables into a smaller set of constructs based on how they correlate with one another
Assessment
The process of developing and validating tools to accurately measure and quantify traits and other features of personality
Fives-factor model
The dominant model in the trait approach to personality, which posits five key dimensions along which humans vary: open-mindedness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism
Behavioural genetics
An approach that estimates the heritability of a trait by statistically comparing patterns of similarity in the behavioural or personality profiles of people who differ in their genetic relatedness
Gene x environment interactions
The interaction between environmental factors and a person’s genetic predispositions that determine the unique phenotypes expressed in personality
Person x situation interactions
A model,positing that in order to understand and predict behaviour, it is necessary to account for both personal dispositions and the situation people find themselves in, as well as the interaction between the two
Social learning theory
A theory of how people’s cognitions, behaviours, and dispositions are shaped by observing and omitting the actions of others
Reciprocal determinism
The idea that personality guides cognition about the world in ways that can shape the environments people choose, serving to reinforce or amplify their personality.
