Chapter 16 Flashcards
Define personality.
a distinctive amalgam of behaviour, mannerisms, thoughts, motives, emotions that characterize an individual over time and across different situations
Personality traits are…
patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviour
What is Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis?
a theory of personality and a method of psychotherapy emphasizing unconscious motives and conflicts
Psychodynamic theories…
explain behaviour and personality in terms of unconscious energy dynamics within the individual
In Freud’s structure of personality, what is ‘the id’?
the reservoir of unconscious psychological energy, particularly sexual and aggressive instincts
In Freud’s structure of personality, what is ‘the ego’?
balancing force of reason; responsible for self-control
In Freud’s structure of personality, what is ‘the superego’?
locus of conscious, morality, and social standards (voice of good)
What is a defence mechanism, according to Anna Freud?
methods used by the ego to prevent unconscious anxiety or threatening thoughts and desires from entering consciousness
What are the five primary defence mechanisms, founded by Anna Freud?
Repression, projection, displacement, regression, and denial
Are defence mechanisms adaptive or harmful?
Play an important role in promoting self-esteem, maintaining relationships, short-term coping; problematic when they cause personal harm, harm to others, or lead to emotional problems
Describe projective hypothesis.
if a person is asked to describe or interpret ambiguous stimuli (things that can be understood in a number of different ways) their responses will be influenced by nonconscious needs, feelings, and experiences
What is the modern definition of personality traits?
specific characteristics of an individual; habitual ways of behaving, thinking, or feeling
Theorists generally assume traits…
Hint: there’s four
are relatively stable over time; differ among individuals; influence behaviour; are bipolar in nature (vary along a continuum between one extreme to the other)
What is Raymond Cattell’s factor analysis?
Hint: revealed 5 core trait clusters
a statistical method for analyzing the intercorrelations among various measures or scores; clusters of measures or scores; clusters of measures that are highly correlated are assumed to measure the same underlying trait or tendency
What are the “Big Five” traits?
Hint: OCEAN
Openness to experience versus resistance to new experience
conscientiousness vs impulsiveness
extroversion vs introversion
agreeableness vs antagonism
neuroticism (negative emotionality) vs emotional stabilitu
