chapter 13 Flashcards
what is personality?
characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting
(a set of characteristics that is consistent across time, consistent across situations, and distinguishes individuals from each other)
freud: consciousness
- conscious mind: normal awareness
- preconscious mind: easily brought to consciousness
- unconscious mind: hidden thoughts and desires
freud: structural model
- id: present at birth, home to sexual and aggressive drive
- superego: develops in childhood, home to morality and conscience, governed by the ego ideal
- ego: develops in childhood (before superego), acts as a referee between id and superego, governed by the reality principle
oral stage
- 0-18 months
- pleasure centers on the mouth- sucking, biting, chewing
anal stage
- 18-36 months
- pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination
- coping with demands for control
phallic stage
- 3-6 years
- pleasure zone is the genitals
- coping with incestuous sexual feelings
latency stage
- 6-puberty
- dormant sexual feelings
genital stage
- puberty on
- maturation of sexual interests
freud: defense mechanisms
- unconscious attempts to silence the id
- when the inner war gets out of hand, the result is anxiety
- ego protects itself via defense mechanisms
- defense mechanisms reduce/redirect anxiety by distorting reality
- put out by ego
what are the defense mechanisms?
repression
denial
rationalization
displacement
projection
reaction formation
sublimation
regression
what is repression
pushing threatening or conflicting events or situations out of conscious memory
what is denial
refusing to believe something unpleasant has occurred
what is rationalization
creating false but plausible excuses to justify unacceptable behavior
what is displacement
you take out your anger and frustration on a person or object not the actual target of your anger
what is projection
attributing one’s own thoughts, feelings, or motives to another
what is reaction formation
acting opposite of what one thinks or feels, assuming attitudes and behaviors that one consciously rejects (woman who never wanted kids becomes a super mom)
what is regression
slipping to an earlier stage of development when faced with stress
what is sublimation
a person channels unacceptable urges or impulses, often of a sexual or aggressive nature, into socially acceptable actions or behaviors
measurement of personality: projective tests
- rorschach
- thematic apperception test (TAT)
- high level of subjectivity in scoring and interpretation
freud problems: alfred adler & karen horney
childhood’s important ( not sexual but social )
adler: inferiority complex, much of behavior driven by desire to overcome inferiority experienced in childhood
horney: childhood anxiety triggers desire for love & security
freud problems: modern research
lifelong, not fixed in childhood; infants’ neural network not mature enough; overestimates parental influence, underestimates peer influence; gender identity forms earlier than 5 or 6; childhood sexuality theories not accurate; dreams are not a form of wish fulfillment; and more
what is the basis of humanistic theory?
humanists believe people try to improve
we are motivated by a hierarchy of needs
maslow’s hierarchy of needs
physiological -> safety -> love -> esteem -> self-actualization
self-actualization
self-fulfillment, namely the tendency for him [the individual] to become actualized in what he is potentially. This tendency might be phrased as the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming
self-concept (carl rogers)
self-image, ideal-self, self-esteem
if self image is different from ideal image self actualization is difficult
if self image is similar to ideal image, self actualization will be able to happen
roger’s person-centered perspective
people have natural tendencies to grow, become healthy, and move toward self-actualization; 3 conditions that facilitate growth
1. genuineness: being honest, direct, not using a facade
2. acceptance aka unconditional positive regard: acknowledging feelings without passing judgement
3. empathy: tuning into the feelings of others, showing your efforts to understand, listening well
positives and criticisms of humanistic theories
positives: influenced many areas (counseling, child raising, education), laid groundwork for today’s field of positive psychology
criticisms: concept vague and subjective, too much emphasis on individualism (can lead to self-indulgence, selfishness, and erosion of moral restraint), humanistic psychology is naive (fails to appreciate human capacity for evil)
what is a trait?
pattern of behavior/ disposition to feel and act in certain ways
traits describe but dont really explain personality
eyesenck’s trait theory
unstable vs stable
extraversion vs introversion
biological temperament: indicating an individual’s inherent tendency to seek novel, intense, and varied experiences, often linked to variations in neurotransmitter levels and brain activity
the big 5 trait theory
openness
conscientiousness
extraversion
agreeableness
neuroticism
(OCEAN)
openness
imagination, feelings, actions, ideas
high: curious, wide range of interests, independent
low: practical, conventional, prefers routine
conscientiousness
competence, self discipline, thoughtfulness, goal-driven
high: hardworking, dependable, organized
low: impulsive, careless, disorganized
extroversion
sociability, assertiveness, emotional expression
high: outgoing, warm, seeks adventure
low: quiet, reserved, withdrawn
agreeableness
cooperative, trustworthy, good-natured
high: helpful, trusting, empathetic
low: critical, uncooperative, suspicious
neuroticism
tendency towards unstable emotions
high: anxious, unhappy, prone to negative emotions
low: calm, even-tempered, secure
how stable are these traits?
up to 40 years, become more conscientious and agreeable and less neurotic
do these traits reflect differing brain structure?
yes
high conscientiousness = larger frontal lobe
nigh neuroticism = stress sensitivity
do these traits reflect birth order?
no
do these traits cross to various cultures?
to some extent
do the big 5 predict our actual behavior?
yes
conscientiousness and agreeableness predict workplace success, etc.
how heritable are these traits?
roughly 40% (average) for each factor
evaluating trait theories
person-situation controversy: extrovert in every situation?, conscientious in every situation?, low correlation, weak predictor of behavior
social-cognitive theory
- emphasizes traits with our situations
- social: learn behavior by conditioning and observation/ imitation
- cognitive: behavior influenced by thoughts about a situation
- reciprocal influences (us & environment) determine behavior
- reciprocal determinism
reciprocal determinism
internal cognitive factor (thoughts and feelings about risky activities)
environmental factors (bungee-jumping friends)
behavior (learning to bungee jump)
a) we choose environments which then shape us
b) our personality affects how we interpret/ react to things
c) our attitudes can affect how others treat us
focus on self
self = assumed to be the center of personality
self-esteem = feelings of self worth
self- efficacy = feelings of self competency
high self esteen and high self efficacy have many benefits (greater accomplishments and greater health)
benefits of life lead to high self esteem and efficacy
when people recieved good things that weren’t earned, it did not increase well-being
low self esteem leads to high behavior of criticism of others
the age of self focus
self concepts can lead to the spotlight effect: overestimation of how much others notice and critique our appearance and actions
self-serving bias: a readiness to percieve ourselves favorably
more likely to accept praise then criticism
more likely to take responsibility for good behavior
most people think they are better than average
can we compare personality across cultures ?
difficult because of collectivism vs individualism
collectivism: focus on the group ( chinese, african, latin american, arab)
individualism: focus on needs of the individual (us, canda, great britain, australia)
the age of self focus pt. 2
narcissism: excessive self-love and self-absorption
the age of the selfie
secure self-esteem is characterized by a realistic, positive attitude toward the self, while defensive self-esteem is more likely to be characterized by blaming others, making excuses, and verbal defensiveness
mmpi-2
used to measure personality
produce personality profile
easy to score and statistically analyze
