Chapter 14: Personality

Question 1

dark triad

Answer 1

three related socially aversive personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy

Question 2

defence mechanism

Answer 2

self-deceptive means by which the mind defends itself against anxiety (psychoanalytic theory)

Question 3

differential susceptibility to environmental influence

Answer 3

idea that people are differentially susceptible to being influenced by their environment
highly susceptible children (orchid children) will flourish in good environments and do especially poorly in adverse environments
less susceptible children (dandelion children) are less effected by their rearing conditions so that extreme environments (both good or bad) will have less of an impact on their psychological outcomes

Question 4

displacement

Answer 4

defens mechanism by wich a drive is diverted from one goal to another that is more realistic/acceptable
also called sublimation in cases where the goal toward which the drive is diverted is highly valued by society (artistic, scientific, or humanitarian endeavors)

Question 5

factor analysis

Answer 5

statistical procedure for analyzing the correlations among various measurements taken from a given set of individuals; it identifies hypothetical, underlying variables called factors that could account for the observed pattern of correlations and assesses a degree to which each factor is adequately measured by each of the measurements that were used in the analysis

Question 6

five-factor model

Answer 6

model holding that a person’s personality is most efficiently described in terms of they score on each of five independent global trait dimensions: openness to experience, consciousness, extraversion, neuroticism

Question 7

grit

Answer 7

personality trait defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals, composed of two lower-order factors: perseverance of effort, consistency of interest

Question 8

humanistic theories

Answer 8

personality theories that attempt to focus on the whole, unique person, especially on the person’s conscious understanding of they self and the world

Question 9

locus of control

Answer 9

person’s perception of the typical source of control over rewards

• internal locus control: perception that people control their own rewards through their own behaviour
• external locus control: perception that rewards are controlled by external circumstances/fate

Question 10

Machiavellianism

Answer 10

personality type in which the person is predisposed to manipulate other people, often through deception

Question 11

narcissism

Answer 11

extreme selfishness in which a person has a grandiose view of they own abilities and a need for admiration

Question 12

personality

Answer 12

relatively consistent patterns of tought, feeling, and behaviour that characterize each person as a unique individual

Question 13

phenomenological reality

Answer 13

humanistic theorists’ term for each person’s conscious understanding of they world

Question 14

projection

Answer 14

defense mechanism by which a person consciously experiences their own unconscious emotion/wish as though it belongs to someone else or some part of the environment

Question 15

psychoanalysis

Answer 15

1. psychoanalytic theory: theory of the mind developed by Freud, which emphasizes the roles of unconscious mental processes, early childhood experiences, and the drives of sex and aggression in personality formation
2. Freud’s therapy technique in which such methods as free association, dream analysis, and analysis of transference are used to learn about the person’s unconscious mind; the goal is to make the unconscious conscious

Question 16

psychodinamic theory

Answer 16

any theory that describes personality and its development in terms of inner mental forces that are often in conflict with one another and are shaped by experiences in early childhood

Question 17

psychopathy

Answer 17

personality trait involving amoral/antisocial behaviour, coupled with a lack of empathy and an inability to form meaningful personal relationships; at its extreme, psychopathy is a personality disorder, but it can also be expressed at precinical level

Question 18

rationalization

Answer 18

defense mechanism by which a peron uses conscious reasoning to justify/explain away they harmful/irrational behaviours/thoughts

Question 19

reaction formation

Answer 19

defense mechanism by which the mind turns a frightening wish into its safer opposite

Question 20

repression

Answer 20

defense mechanism by which the mind prevents anxiety provoking ideas from becoming conscious

Question 21

self-actualization

Answer 21

fulfillment of drives that go beyond one’s survival needs and pertain to psychological growth, creativity, and self-expression (humanistic psychology)

Question 22

self-efficacy

Answer 22

person’s subjective sense of their own ability to perform a particular task/set of tasks

Question 23

sibling contrast

Answer 23

tendency to emphasize and exaggerate the differences between siblings

Question 24

social-cognitive theories (social-learning, social-cognitive-learning theories)

Answer 24

theories of personality that emphasize the roles of beliefs and habits of thought that are acquired through one’s unique experiences in the social environment

Question 25

split-parent identification

Answer 25

tendency for each of two sibling s to identify with a different one of their two parents

Question 26

trait

Answer 26

hypothetical, relatively stable, inner characteristic that influences the way a person responds to various environmental situations

Question 27

trait theories of personality

Answer 27

theories of personality that are based on the idea that people can be described and differentiated in terms of hypothetical underlying personality dimensions (traits), which can be measured by questionnaires or other quantitative means