Chapter 13 Flashcards
personality
characteristic thoughts, emotional responses, and behaviors
personality trait
pattern of thought, emotion, and behavior that is relatively consistent over time and across situations
how much of personality is genes
about half
temperament
biologically based tendencies to feel or act a certain way, including amount of energy, intensity of emotions, self control, and sociability
psychodynamic theory
Freudian theory that unconscious forces determine behavior
id
completely unconscious, operates only to seek pleasure and avoid pain (libido)
superego
acts as a brake on the id, early socialization of proper conduct and morality
ego
mediates between id and superego, uses rational thought and problem solving
defense mechanism
unconscious mental strategies used to protect from distress caused by conflicts between id and superego (e.g. rationalization, denial, projection, sublimation) and protect self esteem
psychosexual stages
Freudian idea that there are developmental stages that correspond to libidinal urges (oral, anal, phallic) and can become fixated a certain stage
non-Freudian models of personality
cognitive affective personality system- personality doesn’t predict behavior across circumstances, people’s expectations of their behavior shape their responses, etc
Kelly- people have personal constructs: theories they are constantly testing
humanistic approaches
emphasize personal experience, belief system, and uniqueness of each person as a whole (in contrast to deterministic factors) Therapist creates a supportive and unconditionally loving environment
trait approach & five factor theory
focuses on how individuals different in certain personality traits (like OCEAN- openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism)
biological trait theory (Eysenck)
two major dimensions: introversion/extroversion and emotional stability (possible third dimension of psychoticism/constraint)
behavioral approach system vs. behavioral inhibition system
brain structures that lead organisms to approach stimuli in pursuit of rewards (“go” system) vs structures that inhibit dangerous behavior. Linked to extraversion and introversion (extraverts are more influenced by rewards than punishments)
situationism
behaviors are determined more by situations than personality traits, sparked person/situation debate. Consensus is that on average it still does predict behavior
interactionists
behavior is determined jointly by situations (strong like a funeral or weak like a party) and underlying dispositions
are personality traits consistent?
ya they tend to be relatively stable over long periods. Over all countries, conscientiousness tends to increase and neuroticism decreases
projective measures
explore unconscious by having people tell stories about ambiguous stimuli, hoping they will project onto them (like Rorschach blots)
working self concept
people access and describe themselves with personality traits that differentiate themselves from a group (a black man working with women will identify as a man, working with whites will identify as black)
self esteem
evaluative aspect of self concept where people feel worthy or unworthy
self serving bias
taking credit for success but blaming external factors for failure
