Chapter 12 - Personality Flashcards
Antisocial Personality Disorder
A disorder characterized by extreme and callous disregard for the feelings and rights of others.
Borderline Personality Disorder
A disorder characterized by severe instability in emotions and self-concept and high levels of volatility.
Defence mechanism
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.
Ego
According to psychoanalytic theory, the personality element that works to help satisfy the drives of the id while complying with constraints placed on behaviour by the environment.
Five-factor Model
An empirically derived model that proposes five major trait categories:
Agreeableness / disagreeableness, Extroversion /introversion, neuroticism /
stability, conscientiousness / irresponsibility, and openness to experience / unimaginativeness.
id
According to psychoanalytic theory, the personality element representing basic instinctual drives, such as those related to eating, sleeping, sex, and comfort.
Interactionism
A view emphasizing the relationship between a person’s underlying personality traits and the reinforcing aspects of the situation in which they chose to put themselves.
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.
Neurosis
An abnormal behaviour pattern caused by unresolved conflicts between the id, ego, and superego.
Personality
The unique characteristics that account of enduring patterns of inner experience and outward behaviour.
Personality Disorder
An inflexible pattern of inner experience and outward behaviour that causes distress or difficulty with daily functioning.
Personality Traits
Tendencies to behave in certain ways that remain relatively constant across situations.
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.
Projective Test
A personality assessment device intended to tap a person’s unconscious by presenting the person with an ambiguous stimulus and asking the person to interpret what the stimulus means.
Psychosexual Stages
According to psychoanalytic theory, stages in the development of personality; the stages – Labelled oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital – are primarily influenced by sexuality and aggression.
Repression
The most basic defence mechanism; the process of keeping unpleasant memories or thoughts buried deep within the unconscious mind.
Self-actualization
The need of humans to fulfill their full and special potential; the highest level of need in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Self-concept
A pattern of self-perception that remains consistent over time and can be used to characterize an individual.
Situationism
A view of personality, which notes that in many social situations people respond in similar ways, meaning that the situation drives their response rather than their personality.
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.
