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.
Locus of control
A person’s perception of what determines his or her outcomes: intrinsic (internal) characteristics or random, external forces
Outcomes efficacy
The belief that if a person can perform a behaviour, a desired outcome will result
Self-efficacy
The belief that one can successfully execute a behaviour linked to a desired outcome
Learned helplessness
A state of passive resignation to an aversive situation that one has come to believe is outside of one’s control
Depressive realism
The painful awareness of personal limitations that render outcomes uncontrollable, in contrast to a more commonly held illusion of control for those who are not depressed
Sexual selection
An evolutionary perspective positing that men and women develop distinct profiles of personality traits because of the different reproductive challenges they face.
Social role theory
A theory positing that the roles people find themselves in can profoundly shape their personality
Self-actualization
The process of fulfilling one’s true potential by gaining a sense of personal autonomy, accepting oneself, and accepting other people
Self-determination theory
A theory positing that well-being and success are most likely to be achieved when a person’s environments support three key motivations: autonomy, competence, and relatedness
Self-concept
The broad network of mental representations that a person has of him or herself
Self-serving biases
Characteristic ways of processing information to maintain a positive attitude toward the self
Self-serving attributions
The tendency to attribute good outcomes to something about us, but to discount bad outcomes as due to the situation or bad luck
Sociometer theory
A theory positing that people use self-esteem, a judgment of self-worth, to assess the degree to which they are accepted by others
Terror management theory
A theory positing that self-esteem allows people to cope with existential terror stemming from their awareness of their own mortality
Narcissism
The tendency to have unrealistic and self-aggrandizing views of the self
Independent self-construal
A notion of the self a bounded and stable entity that is distinct from others
Interdependent self-construal
A notion of the self as defined by one’s connections to other people
