Chapter 14: Personality Flashcards
A distinctive, relatively stable pattern of behaviour, thoughts, motives, and emotions that characterizes an individual
Personality
Psychodynamic theories
These explain behaviour and personality in terms of unconscious energy dynamics within the individual
A psychodynamic theory, originally formulated by Sigmund Freud, which emphasizes the role of unconscious motives and conflicts
Psychoanalysis
Explain the Freud iceberg
Id: the reservoir of unconscious psychological energies and the motives to obtain pleasure and avoid pain (contains libido)
Ego: a referee between the needs of instinct and the demands of society
Superego: the voice of conscience, representing a learned sense of morality and authority
What do defense mechanisms contain?
Repression
Projection
Displacement (includes sublimation)
Regression
Denial
How did Freud believe that personality develops?
In psychosexual stages:
• oral (0-2)
• anal (2-3)
• phallic (3-7)
• latency (7-11)
• genital (11+)
What did Jung believe?
Believed that all humans shared a collective unconscious, which contained archetypes
This is an unscientific measure that sorts individuals into personality “types”
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
What is a personality classifier that is better than the MBTI?
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
What can objective tests (inventories) provide information about?
Values
Interests
Self-esteem
Emotional problems
Typical situational responses
What did Cattell contribute to the study of core personality traits?
A statistical method called factor analysis
What is the HEXACO model of personality?
A six-factor theory that generally replicates the 5 factors of the FFM:
> adds Honesty-Humility
What is the Dark Triad?
3 traits that lead to negative personality traits:
- Machiavellianism
- manipulative
- low morality
- focus on personal gain - Psychopathy
- manipulative
- impulsive
- lack of remorse/empathy - Narcissism
- idealized image of self
- low empathy
- attention seeking/self-centered
What makes up the Big 5 model of personality?
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
What is temperament?
A physiological disposition to respond to the environment in certain ways, which emerge at birth or early in life. Aspects include:
- reactivity
- soothability
- positive or negative emotionality
What are the different types of temperament in children?
Well-adjusted: capable of self-control, confident, not overly upset by new people/situations
Under-controlled: impulsive, restless, distractible, emotionally volatile
Inhibited: socially uncomfortable, fearful, easily upset by strangers
Why do people often behave inconsistently?
In different contexts, different behaviours:
- rewarded
- punished
- ignored
What do social-cognitive learning theorists argue?
People acquire central personality traits from their learning history and resulting expectations
What is reciprocal determinism?
The 2-way interaction between aspects of the environment and aspects of the individual in shaping personality traits
What are 3 kinds of evidence that challenge the assumption that parents have the greatest impart their children’s personalities and behaviour?
• the shared environment of the home has relatively little influence on most personality traits
• parenting style often changes over time
• there may be little relation between what they do and how children turn out
What are the 2 general types of culture?
Individualist & Collectivist
What did the leaders of humanist psychology argue?
It was time to replace psychoanalysis and behaviourism with a “3rd force” in psychology. Psychologists who take a humanist approach to personality emphasize our uniquely human capacity to determine our own actions and futures
What did Carl Rogers stress the importance of?
Unconditional positive regard in creating a “fully functioning” person
What did Rollo May emphasize?
Some of the inherently difficult and tragic aspects of the human condition (eg. loneliness, anxiety, etc).
Existentialism emphasized the search for the meaning of life, the need to confront death, and taking responsibility for one’s own actions
What is positive psychology?
It follows in the footsteps of humanism by focusing on positive human traits
