CHAPTER 14 Flashcards
PERSONALITY
personality
people’s typical ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving”
trait
relatively enduring predisposition that influences our behavior across many situations
nomothetic approach
approach to personality that focuses on identifying general laws that govern the behavior of all individuals
idiographic approach
approach to personality that focuses on identifying the unique configuration of characteristics and life history experiences within an individual
Broad sets of influences on personality
- Genetic factors.
- Shared environmental factors—experiences that make individuals within the same family more alike. If parents try to make all of their children more outgoing by reinforcing them with attention and succeed in doing so, their parenting in this case is a shared environmental factor.
- Nonshared environmental factors—experiences that make individuals within the same family less alike. If a parent treats one child more affectionately than another and as a consequence this child ends up with higher self-esteem than the other child, the parent-ing in this case is a nonshared environmental factor.”
“molecular genetic study
investigation that allows researchers to pinpoint genes associated with specific characteristics, including personality traits
psychic determinism
the assumption that all psychological events have a cause
id
reservoir of our most primitive impulses, including sex and aggression
pleasure principle
tendency of the id to strive for immediate gratification
ego
psyche’s executive and principal decision maker
reality principle
tendency of the ego to postpone gratification until it can find an appropriate outlet
superego
our sense of morality
defense mechanisms
unconscious maneuvers intended to minimize anxiety
repression
motivated forgetting of emotionally threatening memories or impulses
denial
motivated forgetting of distressing experiences
regression
returning psychotically to a younger and safer time
reaction-formation
transforming a anxiety-producing experience to the opposite
projection
unconscious attribution of our negative qualities on to others
displacement
directing an impulse from a socially unacceptable target to an acceptable one
rationalization
providing reasonable sounding explanations for unreasonable failures or behavior
intellectualization
avoiding the emotions associated with anxiety-provoking experiences by focusing on abstract impersonal( not influenced by, showing, or involving personal feelings) thoughts
identification with aggressor
adopting psychological traits of people we find threatening
sublimation
transforming a socially unacceptable impulse into a admired socially valued goal
denial
refusal to acknowledge current events in our lives
regression
the act of returning psychologically to a younger, and typically simpler and safer, age
the oral stage
” The first stage of psychosexual development, the oral stage, which generally lasts from birth to 12–18 months, focuses on the mouth. During this stage, infants obtain sexual pleasure primarily by sucking and drinking. Freud believed that adults who are orally fixated tend to react to stress by becoming intensely dependent on others for reassurance—a form of regression, according to Freud—just as infants depend on their mother’s breast as a source of satisfaction. These adults also are prone to unhealthy “oral” behaviors like overeating, drinking excessively, or smoking.”
the anal stage
” At the anal stage, which lasts from about 18 months to 3 years, chil-dren first come face to face with psychological conflict. During this stage, children want to alleviate tension and experience pleasure by moving their bowels, but soon discover they can’t do so whenever nature calls. Instead, they must learn to inhibit their urges and wait to move their bowels in a socially appropriate place—ideally, the toilet. If children’s toilet training is either too harsh or too lenient, they’ll become fixated and prone to regressing to this stage during anxiety-provoking circumstances. Freudians believe that anally fixated individuals—anal personalities—tend toward excessive neatness, stinginess, and stub-bornness in adulthood.”
the phallic stage
“The phallic stage, which lasts from approximately three to six years, is of paramount importance to Freudians in explaining personality. During this stage, the penis (for boys) and clitoris (for girls) become the primary sexual zone for pleasure. Simultaneously, children enter into a love triangle involving their par-ents. According to Freud, whether we resolve this love triangle successfully bears enormous implications for our later personality development.”
anal stage
psychosexual stage that focuses on toilet training
phallic stage
psychosexual stage that focuses on the genitals
Oedipus complex
conflict during phallic stage in which boys supposedly love their mothers romantically and want to eliminate their fathers as rivals
latency stage
psychosexual stage in which sexual impulses are submerged into the unconscious
genital stage
psychosexual stage in which sexual impulses awaken and typically begin to mature into romantic attraction toward others
neo-Freudian theories
theories derived from Freud’s model but with less emphasis on sexuality as a driving force in personality and more optimism regarding the prospects for long-term personality growth
style of life
according to Alfred Adler, each person’s distinctive way of achieving superiority
inferiority complex
feelings of low self-esteem that can lead to overcompensation for such feelings
collective unconscious
according to Carl Jung, our shared storehouse of memories that ancestors have passed down to us across generations
archetype
cross-culturally universal symbol
social learning theorists
theorists who emphasize thinking as a central cause of personality
internal locus of control
(“internals”) believe that life events are due largely to their own efforts and personal characteristics
external locus of control
(“externals”) believe that life events are largely a product of chance and fate
self-actualization
drive to develop our innate potential to the fullest possible extent
conditions of worth
according to Carl Rogers, expectations we place on ourselves for appropriate and inappropriate behavior
incongruence
inconsistency between our personalities and innate dispositions
peak experience
transcendent moment of intense excitement and tranquility marked by a profound sense of connection to the world
Big Five
five traits that have surfaced repeatedly in factor analyses of personality measures”
lexical approach
assumption that the most crucial features of personality are embedded in our language”
