Chapter 14: Personality

Question 1

Personality

Answer 1

People’s fixed ways of thinking, feeling and behaving

Question 2

What causes personalities to form?

Answer 2

Genetics: Indirectly, our genes influence our neurotransmitters and their levels of functioning is associated with traits

Shared & Nonshared environmental factors

Question 3

Twin Studies & Personality

Answer 3

• Identical twins are more genetically similar than fraternal twins therefore have higher correlations of traits when environments are comparable
• Identical twin correlation < fraternal twin correlation = non-shared environmental factors
• Identical twins reared apart are similar in traits

Question 4

Adoption Studies & Personality

Answer 4

• Permits us to separate the effects of genes & environment
• Correlations between bio parent & adopted-away kids > correlation between adoptive parents & their adopted children

Question 5

Freud

Answer 5

Initially thought mental disorders were physiologically caused

Seeing grand hysteria jn women led him to think mental issues are psychological

Question 6

Freud & Psychic Determinism

Answer 6

We have no free will and all psychological events have a subconscious meaning

Question 7

Freud & Symbolic Meaning

Answer 7

Events and objects in dreams as well as the things we do that we don’t have an explanation for represent our subconscious desires

Question 8

Freud & Unconscious Motivation

Answer 8

We rarely understand why we do things. Also we have access to a “common” unconscious containing our ancestors’ thoughts which guide us

Question 9

The Id (3)

Answer 9

Unconscious, immediate reward, basic instincts like sex & aggression

Question 10

The Ego (3)

Answer 10

Conscious, “the boss”, makes decisions

Question 11

Reality Principle

Answer 11

The tendency of the Ego to postpone satisfaction

Question 12

The Superego

Answer 12

Moral standards, conscious & unconscious

Question 13

Freud thought psychological distress results from…

Answer 13

conflict between the Id, the Ego & the Superego

Question 14

Defence Mechanisms

Answer 14

Unconscious manoeuvres intended to minimize anxiety (“coping tools”

Freud thought these were essential, without them we’d suffer uncontrollable anxiety

Question 15

Freud’s Beliefs of Psychosexual Development (3)

Answer 15

Freud thought sexually begins in infancy

The extent to which we resolve each stage are crucial in affecting personality development

We become stuck in a stage if we were either deprived of sexual gratification or were excessively gratified

Question 16

Oral Stage

Answer 16

Birth - 18 months

Didn’t pass?
-React to stress by being dependent on others
-Unhealthy oral behaviours (overeating, smoking)

Question 17

Anal Stage (through the bowels)

Answer 17

10 months - 3 years

If toilet training is too strict or lenient we become fixed

Didn’t pass? Anal personalities include excessive neatness, rules, aggression & stubbornness

Question 18

Phallic Stage (Oedipus Complex)

Answer 18

3 - 6 years

Powerful attraction for opposite sex parent & elimination of same sex parent

Must befriend father to pass

Didn’t pass? “Penis envy”: girls find themselves inferior because of their “missing organ”

Question 19

Latency Stage

Answer 19

6 - 12 years

Impulses are unconscious

Kids find opposite sexes gross

Question 20

The Genital Stage

Answer 20

Impulses reawaken

Passed? Develop mature romantic relationships

Question 21

Psychoanalytic Theory Evaluated

Answer 21

• Unfalsifiable
• Failed predictions
• Questionable conception of the unconscious
• Reliance on unrepresentative samples
• Flawed assumption of shared environmental influence

Question 22

Neo-Freudian Development

Answer 22

Less emphasis on sexuality as a driving force
More emphasis on social drives like culture and the need for approval
More optimistic concerning personality growth
Social influences must be considered

Question 23

Alder

Answer 23

Motive in human personality is not sex but the striving for status (style of life)

Children pampered or neglected by their parents are at risk for an inferiority complex resulting in over demonstration of dominance

Question 24

Jung

Answer 24

Collective Unconscious: we recognize our mothers immediately after birth because of this

Archetypes: cross-culturally universal models in the collective unconscious

*Archetypes might just be universal because they stem from the environment OR shared experiences

Question 25

Hornet

Answer 25

Women’s inferiority stems from dependency on men ingrained by society

Oedipus complex is a symptom not a cause of mental problems: when the opposite parent is too protective and the same sex parent is overly critical

Worked in the restrictive impact of culture on our growth and development

Question 26

Skinner & Behaviourism (5)

Answer 26

-Differences in personality stem from differences in learning histories
-Actions are pre existing causal influences (determinism)
-Personalities are HABITS through conditioning
-Personality is under control of GENETICS and CONTINGENCIES IN THE ENVIRONMENT
-Personality CONSISTS of behaviours not CAUSES them
STIMULUS -> RESPONSE

Question 27

Skinner & Freud

Answer 27

-Rejects belief that the first yrs of life are critical in personality development
-We have no free will
-Denies existence of “the” unconscious

Unconscious processing: We’re unconscious of things because we’re unaware of immediate situational influences

Question 28

Social Learning Theories

Answer 28

Thinking, perception & reactions shape our personality

stimulus -> thinking -> response

Question 29

Reciprocal Determinism

Answer 29

Personality, behaviour & environment all mutually influence each other

Question 30

Humanistic Models

Answer 30

Reject determinism

Embrace free will

Self actualization: Core motive in personality is the drive to develop our potential to the fullest extent

Freudians would say this is disastrous because the Id needs to be controlled

Question 31

The Organism

Answer 31

Innate & genetically influenced blueprint, like the Id but more helpful

Question 32

The Self

Answer 32

Our self-concept: set of beliefs of who we are

Question 33

Conditions of Worth

Answer 33

Expectations we place on ourselves for good & bad behaviour

Comes from society, parents

Different conditions of worth are our individual differences

Unhealthy behaviour results from conditions of worth which blocks self actualization

Question 34

Humanistic Models Evaluated

Answer 34

Human nature is not entirely positive

Our capacity of aggression is inherent in chimpanzees

Twin studies show aggression is part of genetics

So actualization of our full genetic potential is unlikely to be so positive

Question 35

The Big Five Evaluated

Answer 35

Does not fairly reflect all cultures like openness to experience