Chapter 14 - Personality Flashcards
Personality
People’s typical thinking, feeling and behaving
Traits
Enduring predispositions influence our behaviour across many situations
Influences on personality
Genetics, environmental, non environmental
Sigmund freud
Believed mental disorders were caused by physical problems in the body
What allowed Freud to conclude that psychological problems were in fact just psychology problems?
Grande hysteria —> psychoanalytic theory
Psychic determinism
All psychological problems have a deeper cause
-dreams are important
-no mistakes or by chance
-no free will
Symbolic meaning
Everything we do, even non deliberate, has meaning
-usually sexual in nature
-dreams and symbols
Unconscious motivation
Not being able to always understand what and why we do things
-unconsciously based
Three core assumptions of psychoanalytic theory
- Psychic determinism
- Symbolic meaning
- Unconscious motivation
How does Freud view personality
Three main components: ID, Superego, ego
ID- (unconscious) most primal instincts operating at a primal level (sex and aggression), operates at pleasurable interval (like a baby, always needing), disregards consequences
Superego- largely unconscious, morality/right and wrong, decision making, everything in moderation (example of guilt)
Ego- pushes us to act consciously, delays gratification until appropriate,
Anxiety
Ego takes action against outside threats
Defense mechanism
Unconscious steps to minimize anxiety
Examples of structure of personality: someone makes you mad
ID-> we should punch them in the face
Superego—> is it appropriate to punch someone in the face
Ego—> lets take our anger out on something else
Denial
Used to forget distressing stimuli
-death of a loved one
-Defense mechanism
Displacement
Redirect our impulses to a more appropriate target
-Defense mechanism
Rationalization
Provide reasonable explanation for our behaviour or failures
-form of justification
-Defense mechanism
Psychosexual development
Resolving each stage bears implication for your personality development
Oral stage birth to 18 months
Focusing on the mouth
-unresolved: react to stress by depending on others reassurance, unhealthy oral behaviours (eating, drinking, smoking)
Anal stage 18 to 3yr
Excessivness, loathing, stingy
Phallic stage (3-6)
Powerful attraction to opposite sex
-girls: understand they are inferior to boys due to missing organ, desire a power that they do not physically hold