Chapter 13: Theories Of Personality Flashcards
Two components of personality
Character and temperament
A component of personality which refers to value judgments made about a person’s morals or ethical behavior
Character
A component of personality which refers to the enduring characteristics a person is born with
Temperament
Four perspectives regarding personality
Psychoanalytic
Behaviorist
Humanistic
Trait perspectives
This perspective originated with the theories of Freud and focuses on the role of unconscious thoughts and desires
Psychoanalytic
Freud believed the mind was divided into three parts:
Conscious
Preconscious
Unconscious
Part of the mind which contains all the things a person is aware of at any given moment
Conscious
Part of the mind which contains all the memories and facts that can be recalled with only minimal effort
Preconscious
Part of the mind which remains hidden at all times
Unconscious
Freud believed that personality can be divided into three components
Id
Ego
Superego
Component of personality that resides completely in the unconscious mind and represents the most primitive part of the personality containing basic biological drives such as hunger, thirst and sex
Id
The id operates on the __ which attempts to seek immediate gratification of needs with no regard for consequences
Pleasure principle
Refers to the psychological tension created by a person’s unconscious desires
Libido
Represents the mostly conscious and rational aspect of personality
Ego
Ego operates on the __ attempting to satisfy the desires of the id in a way that will minimize negative consequences
Reality principle
The last part of the personality to develop and represents the moral center of personality
Superego
The superego contains the __
Conscience
The __ demands immediate satisfaction
The __ places restrictions on which behaviors are morally acceptable
The __ is left in the middle to come up with a compromise
Id
Superego
Ego
Ways of dealing with stress through unconsciously distorting one’s perception of reality
Psychological defense mechanisms
10 defense mechanisms
Denial Repression Rationalization Projection Reaction formation Displacement Regression Identification Compensation (substitution) Sublimation
Unresolved conflicts at any of the psychosexual stages can lead to __
Fixation
First psychosexual stage wherein the erogenous zone is the mouth
Oral
Second psychosexual stage during which the anus serves as the erogenous zone and the conflict centers around toilet training
Anal stage
Third psychosexual stage and focuses on the child’s own genitals
Phallic
Process that leads to the development of the superego
Identification
Fourth psychosexual stage which consists of repressed sexual feelings during which children focus on intellectual, physical and social development but not sexual development
Latency stage
Final psychosexual stage that occurs around the start of puberty when sexual feelings can no longer be repressed
Genital stage
Psychologists who agreed with Freud’s theories but not all aspects
Neo-Freudians
He believed that there were two parts of the unconscious
Carl Gustav Jung
Two parts of the unconscious
Personal unconscious
Collective unconscious
Part of the unconscious which contains universal human memories called ____
Collective unconscious
Archetypes
He believed that the motivating factor of behavior was not the pleasure-seeking drive of the libido suggested by Freud, but rather the seeking of superiority through defense mechanisms such as compensation
Alfred Adler
She disagreed with Freud’s emphasis on sexuality and thought personalities were shaped more by a child’s sense of basic anxiety
Karen Horney
A child’s basic anxiety, if unattended, could lead to the development of
Neurotic personalities
Personality consists of a set of learned responses or
Habits
Theorists who emphasize the role of conditioning along with an individual’s thought processes in the development of personality
Social Cognitive Learning theorists
A proponent of the _____, he suggested that the environment, behavior and personal/cognitive factors all act together to determine an individual’s actions
Social Cognitive View
Albert Bandura
Process wherein the environment, behavior and personal/cognitive factors all act together to determine an individual’s actions
Reciprocal determinism
An important component of the cognitive factors which is a perception of how effective a behavior will be in a particular context
Self-efficacy
He proposed that individual’s develop a relatively set way of responding and this behavior represented “personality.”
Julian Rotter
An important determinant of the individual’s response was his or her sense of
Locus of control
The individual’s __ and the response’s reinforcement value were the two key factors that determined how an individual would react
Expectancy
Perspective of personality which focuses more on qualities that are considered uniquely human such as free will and subjective emotions
Humanistic perspective
He proposed that humans are always striving to fulfill their innate capacities
Carl Rogers
Process wherein humans are always striving to fulfill their innate capacities
Self-actualizing tendency
Defined as warmth, affection, love and respect that comes from significant others
Positive regard
In order for an individual to work toward self-actualization, they need to be exposed to a certain level of
Unconditional positive regard
Rogers felt that this would restrict a person’s ability to become a fully functioning person
Conditional positive regard
An individual’s image of oneself
Self-concept
Self-concept can be divided into a __ and an __
Real self
Ideal self
Theories focused on describing personality and predicting behavior based on that description
Trait theories
A consistent, enduring way of thinking, feeling or behaving
Trait
He identified approximately 200 traits in the English language that he felt were wired into each person’s nervous system
Gordon Allport
He narrowed the number of traits down further by dividing traits into surface traits and source traits
Raymond Cattell
An example of a source trait
Introversion
Five source traits of the Five Factor Model
Openness Conscientiousness Extra version Agreeableness Neuroticism
Studies the role of inherited traits in personality
Behavioral genetics
He conducted a cross-cultural study for IBM that resulted in a description of each country along four basic dimensions
Geert Hofstede
Four basic dimensions studied by Hofstede
Individualism/collectivism
Power distance
Masculinity/Femininity
Uncertainty Avoidance
A method of personality assessment in which the professional asks questions of the client and allows the client to answer in either a structured or unstructured manner
Interview
The tendency of a person’s first impression to influence later assessments
Halo effect
Tests which attempts to assess a person’s unconscious conflicts or desires by having them projected onto an ambiguous visual stimulus
Projective tests
Two of the most commonly used projective tests
Rorschach inkblot test
Thematic apperception test
A method of personality assessment wherein an individual would be observed in a specific setting
Direct observation
Used to record an individual’s behaviors during direct observation
Rating scale
Frequency count
Questionnaire that has a standard list of questions that require specific answers
Personality inventory
Unique way in which each individual thinks, acts and feels throughout life
Personality
