Chapter 14: Personality Flashcards
dark triad
three related socially aversive personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy
defence mechanism
self-deceptive means by which the mind defends itself against anxiety (psychoanalytic theory)
differential susceptibility to environmental influence
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
displacement
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)
factor analysis
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
five-factor model
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
grit
personality trait defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals, composed of two lower-order factors: perseverance of effort, consistency of interest
humanistic theories
personality theories that attempt to focus on the whole, unique person, especially on the person’s conscious understanding of they self and the world
locus of control
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
Machiavellianism
personality type in which the person is predisposed to manipulate other people, often through deception
narcissism
extreme selfishness in which a person has a grandiose view of they own abilities and a need for admiration
personality
relatively consistent patterns of tought, feeling, and behaviour that characterize each person as a unique individual
phenomenological reality
humanistic theorists’ term for each person’s conscious understanding of they world
projection
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
psychoanalysis
- 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
- 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
psychodinamic theory
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
psychopathy
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
rationalization
defense mechanism by which a peron uses conscious reasoning to justify/explain away they harmful/irrational behaviours/thoughts
reaction formation
defense mechanism by which the mind turns a frightening wish into its safer opposite
repression
defense mechanism by which the mind prevents anxiety provoking ideas from becoming conscious
self-actualization
fulfillment of drives that go beyond one’s survival needs and pertain to psychological growth, creativity, and self-expression (humanistic psychology)
self-efficacy
person’s subjective sense of their own ability to perform a particular task/set of tasks
sibling contrast
tendency to emphasize and exaggerate the differences between siblings
social-cognitive theories (social-learning, social-cognitive-learning theories)
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
split-parent identification
tendency for each of two sibling s to identify with a different one of their two parents
trait
hypothetical, relatively stable, inner characteristic that influences the way a person responds to various environmental situations
trait theories of personality
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
