Chapter 13 & 15: Personality and Stress Flashcards
stress
state brought on by any situation that threatens or appears to threaten a person’s sense of well-being, thus challenging the individual’s ability to cope
stressor
a situation/circumstance that triggers the stress response
acute stress
short term and definite endpoint
chronic stress
long terms and lacks definite endpoint
frustration
emotion felt when thwarted in the pursuit of a goals
pressure
expectation or demand that someone act in certain way
conflict
discomfort brought about by 2+ incompatible goals/impulses
approach-approach conflict
person just choose b/w 2 equally desirable options
avoidance-avoidance conflict
person must choose b/w two equally undesirable options
approach-avoidance conflict
when many available choices both have good and bad qualities
daily hassles
everyday annoyances
life changes
shifts that require adjustment
traumatic events
unexpected sever events that create extreme disruptions
posttraumatic stress disorder
anxiety disorder characterized by lingering, persistent, frightening thoughts/memories of event/depression
general adaptation syndrom
Hans Selye 3 stage response to stress
alarm and aroused, then resistance but susceptible to diseases of adaptation, exhaustion
primary appraisal
an evaluation of a situation to determine whether it poses a threat or not
appraisal to determine how sever your stress is
secondary appraisal
appraisal of one’s personal resources and ability to cope w/ a stressor
type A
competitiveness, impatience, anger, hostility
type b
less aggressive, more relaxed, less hostile than type a
type c
difficulty in expressing or acknowledging negative feelings
coping
efforts to manage, reduce or tolerate stress
problem-focused
strategies dealing directly with stressor such as changing stressor in some way
emotion focused
strategies focused on changing one’s feelings about the stressor
psychoneuroimmunology
area of study focusing on links b/w stress, immune system, health
stress slows down lymphocytes and reduces their ability to fight
norepinephrine helps slow functioning of immune system in face of high/continuing stress
cortisol lowers immune system functioning during periods of extended stress
distress
stress caused by unpleasant situations or circumstances
eustress
optimal level of stress needed to promote physical and psychological health
inoculation
exposing oneself to a relatively low level of stress in a controlled situation in order to improve later performance in a more stressful situation
the more complex the task the less stress is required for optimal performance
personality
the unique characteristics that account for the enduring patterns of inner experience and outward behaviour
conscious mind
composed of the thoughts and feelings of which we are aware at any given moment
preconscious
contains the mental content that can easily be brought up to the conscious if attended to
unconscious
contains the content of our mind that we are unaware of unless circumstances
id
personality element representing basic instinctual drives
ego
personality elements that works to help satisfy the drives of id while complying w/ constraints placed on behaviour by the environment
superego
personality element that determines which impulses are acceptable to express openly
psychosexual stages
stages in development of personality labelled oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital influenced by sexuality and aggression
oaplg
neurosis
abnormal behaviour pattern caused by unresolved conflict with ego, id, superego
defense mechanism
unconscious tactics by ego to protect individual from anxiety
repression
most basic defense mechanism of keeping unpleasant memories/thoughts buried
denial
process of refusing to recognize an existing situation
weakness of freud theories
lack of predictive power
small sample size and not cross cultural
alfred adler
social needs/conscious thoughts more important than sexual needs/unconscious thoughts
carl jung
collective unconscious with shared memories or achetypes
karen horney
cultural influences on behaviour, basic anxiety
self-actualization
need for humans to fulfill their full and special potential
Abraham Maslow
self-concept
a pattern of self-perception that remains consistent over time and characterizes someone
carl rogers
unconditional positive regard
acceptance w/o terms or conditions
carl rogers
personality traits
tendencies to behave in certain ways that remain relatively the same across situations
superfactors
fundamental dimension of personality made up of clusters of related traits
Raymond D. Cattell
factor analysis to find main super traits 16PF
Gordon Allport
4500 dictionary based words to describe personality traits
Hans Eysenck and factor analysis
superfactors: extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism
five factors (OCEAN)
openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism
McRae abd Costa
situationism
behaviour is governed primarily by the variables in given situation rather than by internal traits
interactionism
relationship b/w person’s underlying personality traits and the reinforcing aspects of situations in which they choose to put themselves in
phrenology
method of assessing a person’s mental/moral qualities by shape of their skull
3 tempermants bruh
negative emotionality, positive emotionality, disinhibition versus constraint
social role theory
gender difference occur because boys and girls develop different behaviours and skills based largely on difference of gender role expectations
personality disorders
inflexible pattern of inner experience and outward behaviour that causes distress or difficulty with daily functioning
narcissistic peronsality disorder
high degree of self-interest and a high, often unrealistic degree of self importance
antisocial personality disorder
extreme and callous disregard for feelings and rights of others
borderline personality disorder
sever instability in emotions and self-concept and high levels of volatility
personality inventory
paper-pen questionnaire designed to assess aspects of personality
socially desirable responding
create good impression by tailoring answers
projective tests
personality assessment devices intended to tap a person’s unconscious by presenting an ambiguous stimuli and asking them to interpret it
