Chapter 6: Identity and Personality Flashcards
Self concept.
Our awareness of ourselves as distinct from others, and our own internal list of answers to the question Who am I? The idea of self concept goes beyond the self-schemata. It also includes our appraisal of who we used to be and who we will become.
Self-schema
A self-given label that carries with it a set of qualities.
Identity
Individual components of our self concept related to the group to which we belong. Whereas we have one self concept, we have multiple identities that define who we are and how we should behave within any given context.
Gender identity.
Describes people’s appraisals of themselves on a scale of masculinity or femininity. Gender identity is not necessarily tied to biological sex or sexual orientation, although in many cultures this concept are seeing closely related.
Androgyny
The state of being simultaneously very masculine and very feminine, while those who achieve low scores of both scales are referred to as undifferentiated.
Gender schema
Key components of general danity are transmitted through cultural and societal means.
Ethnic and national identity.
Referring to the part of ones identity associated with membership in a particular racial or ethnic group. Members in a given ethnic group often share common ancestry, cultural health, heritage and language. Ethnicity is largely an identity into which we were born.
Nationality.
Is based on political borders. National identity is the result of share history, media, cuisine and national symbols such as countries flag.
Hierarchy of salience.
The way our identities are organized. Such that we let the situation dictate which identity holds the most importance for us at any given moment. Researchers have found that the more salient the identity, the more we conform to the role expectations of the identity. Salience is determined by a number of factors, including the amount of work we have invested into the identity, the rewards and gratifications associated with the identity, and the amount of self esteem we have associated with the identity.
Self discrepancy theory.
Maintains that each of us has three selves and that perceived differences between these cells lead to negative feeling. Our self concept make up our actual self, The way we see ourselves as we currently are. Our ideal self is the person we would like to be. And our ought self is our representation of the way others think we should be. The closer these three cells are to each other, the higher our self esteem or self worth will be.
Where is self esteem in the Maslow’s hierarchy?
It is fourth in priority
Self efficacy.
Our belief in our ability to succeed. Self efficacy can vary by activity for individuals.
Overconfidence.
Can lead us to take on tasks for which we are not ready, leading to frustration, humiliation or sometimes even personal injury.
Learned helplessness.
An individual can develop a perceived lack of control over the outcome of a situation. It is strongly related to clinical depression.
Locus of control.
Refers to the way we characterize the influences in our lives. People with the internal locus of control viewed themselves as controlling their own faith, whereas those with external locus of control feel that the event in their lives are caused by luck or outside influences.
Freud: Psychosexual Development.
Human psychology and human sexuality were inextricably linked. He made the assumption that the libido (sex drive) is present at birth. He believed that libidinal energy and the drive to reduce libidinal tension, were the underlying dynamic force that account for human psychological process.
He hypothesized 5 distinct stages of psychosexual development, in each stage, children are faced with a conflict between society demands and the desire to reduce the libidinal tension associated with different erogenous zones of the body.
Fixation
Occurs when a child is overindulged or overly frustrated during a stage of development. The child forms of personality pattern based on that particular stage, which persists into adulthood as a functional mental disorder known as a neurosis.
Stages of Freud Psychosexual development.
1) First stage is the Oral Stage. Spanning from zero to one years of age. Gratification is obtained primarily through putting objects into the mouth, biting and sucking. Libidinal energy is centered on the mouth.
2) Second stage is the anal stage. From one to three years, during which the libido is centered on the anus and gratifications gained through the elimination and retention of waste materials.
3) The third stage is the phallic stage. Sometimes known as the Oedipal stage. Children aged three to five years old in this developmental stage. This stage centers on resolution of the Oedipal conflict for male children are the analogous Electra conflict for female children. In Freud’s view, the male child envies his father’s intimate relationship with his mother and fears castration at his father’s hands. He wishes to eliminate his father and possesses his mom, but the child feels guilty about his wishes. The child, to a large extent, de-eroticizes or sublimates his libidinal energy. Females have penis envy, are expected to exhibit less stereotypically female behavior.
4) Once the libido is sublimated. The child has entered the latency stage, which lasts until poverty is reached.
5) Final stage of the genital stage. Beginning in puberty, lasting through adulthood. If prior development has proceeded correctly, the person should enter into healthy heterosexual relationship at this point. However, that if sexual traumas of childhood have not been resolved to, such behaviors as homosexuality, sexuality or fetishism may result.
Erikson: Psychosocial Development.
Theorizes that personality development is driven by the successful resolution of a series of social and emotional conflicts. The conflicts that Erikson describes arise because an individual lacks some critical social or emotional skill. Each conflict therefore presents an opportunity to learn a new social or emotional skill. Each conflict has either a positive or negative resolution. Phychosocial development means not only resolving each conflict but obtaining a positive resolution. An individual who fails to obtain a positive resolution at one stage can still advance to later stage. And later in life may even learn the skill that they fail to learn during the developmental conflict.
Erikson: Psychosocial Development Conflicts
The first such conflict is that of trust VS mistrust, which occurs during the first year of life. The psychosocial conflict that a newborn faces is whether or not to trust caregivers to reliably provide the support.
The second conflict is Autonomy VS shame and doubt (1 to 3 years). The favorable outcome here is feeling able to exert control over the world and to exercise choice as well as self-restraint. However, if children are overly controlled and criticized, their unfavorable outcome is a sense of doubt and a persistent external locus of control.
The next conflict confronted is initiative VS guilt ( 3 to 6 years), in which children learn basic cause and effect principles in physics and starting and finishing out tasks for purpose. Favorable outcomes include a sense of purpose, the ability to initiate activities and the ability to enjoy accomplishment. If guilt wins, children will be so overcome by the fear of punishment that they may either unduly restrict themselves.
The next conflict is industry VS inferiority ( 6 to 12 years). Favorable outcome is the children will feel competent, be able to exercise their abilities and intelligence in the world, and be able to affect the world in a way that they desire. Unfavorable resolution result in a sense of inadequacy, a sense of inability to act in a competent manner.
The next conflict is identity VS role confusion ( 12 to 20 years). At this stage, individuals either form a single entity or become unsure about their place in society. The favorable outcome is fidelity, the ability to see oneself as a unique and integrated person with sustained loyalties. Unfavorable outcomes are confusion about one’s identity and amorphous personality that shifts from day-to-day.
The next conflict is intimacy VS isolation ( 20 to 40 years). Favorable outcomes are love, the ability to have intimate relationships with others, the ability to commit oneself to another person. Unfavorable outcomes will be avoidance of commitment, alienation, and distancing of oneself from others and one’s ideals.
The next conflict is generativity VS stagnation ( 40 to 65 years). Successful resolution of this conflict results in individuals capable of being productive, caring and contributing member of society. If this crisis is not overcome, one acquires a sense of stagnation and may become self indulged, bored and self-centered with little care for others.
The last conflict is old age, which is integrity VS despair (above 65 years). If favorably resolved, we will see a wisdom which he defined as detached concern with life itself, with assurance in the meaning of life, dignity and acceptance of the fact that one’s life has been worthwhile, along with the redness to face death. If not resolved favorably, there will be feelings of bitterness about one’s life, a feeling that life has been worthless, and at the same time fear of death.
Kohlberg: Moral reasoning.
It is often called Kohlberg theory of moral reasoning. Focus is not on urges or on resolving conflicts but rather on the development of moral thinking. His reasoning was that as our cognitive abilities grow, we are able to think about the world in more complex and nuanced way, and this directly affects the way in which resolved moral dilemmas and perceived the notion of right or wrong. He organized 3 phases consisting of two stages each.
Kohlberg: Moral reasoning phases
Phase 1 - Preconventional morality: Typical of preadolescence thinking and places an emphasis on consequences of moral choices. Stage 1 obedience is concerned with avoiding punishment. While stage 2 is self-interest and is about gaining rewards. Stage two is often called Instrumental relativist stage.
Phase 2 - Conventional morality: begins to develop in early adolescence when individuals begin to see themselves in terms of their relationships to other. This phase is based on understanding and accepting social rules. Stage 3 conformity, Places emphasis on the nice person orientation, in which an individual seeks the approval of others. Stage 4 Law and order maintains the social order in the highest regard.
Phase 3 - Postconventional morality: Describes the level of reasoning that Kohlberg claimed not everyone was capable of. Stage 5 Social contract, views more rules as conventions that are designed to ensure the greater good with reasoning focus on individual rights. Stage 6 universal human ethics, reasons that decision should be made in consideration of abstract principles.
Vygotsky: Cultural and Biosocial development.
Was focused on understanding cognitive development. The engine driving cognitive development was the children’s internalization of various aspects of culture, rules, symbols, languages, and so on.
Zone of proximal development.
Vygotsky concept, refers to those skills and abilities that have not yet fully developed but are in the process of development. Gaining these skills successfully requires the help of a more knowledgeable other, typically an adult.
Role-talking.
Good practice for later in life, when a child begins to understand the perspectives and roles of others.
Theory of mind.
The ability to sense how others minds works. Our reactions to how other perceives us can be varied, maintaining, modifying, downplaying, or accentuating different aspects of our personality.
Looking Glass self.
Our understanding of how other ceases, which relies on perceiving a reflection of ourselves based on the words and actions of others.
Reference group.
The group that we use as a standard to evaluate ourselves. Our self concept often depends on whom we are comparing ourself to.
Personality
Describes the set of thoughts, feelings, traits, and behaviors that are characteristic of an individual across time and location. Identity describes we are, while personality describes how we act and react to the world around us.
What are the categories of personality?
Psychoanalytic, humanistic, type and trait, Behaviorist.
Psychoanalytic.
It is also called psychodynamic theories of personality. Contains some of the most widely varying perspectives on behavior, but they all have in common the assumption of unconscious internal states that motivates the overt Actions of individuals in determined personality.
Sigmund Freud.
He was the one who proposed that it involves three major entities, the ID, ego, and super ego.
id
Consist of all the basic, primal, inborn urges to survive and reproduce. It functions according to the pleasure principle, In which the aim is to achieve immediate gratification to relieve any pent up tension. The primary response in the id’s Response to frustration based on the pleasure principle obtains satisfaction now, not later.
Wish fulfillment.
Mental imagery, such as daydreaming or fantasy that fulfills this need for satisfaction.
Ego
The ego operates accordingly to the reality principle, taking into account objective reality as the guides or inhibits the activity of the ID and the ID’s pleasure principle. This guidance is referred to as a secondary process. The aim of the Reality principle is to postpone the pleasure principles until satisfaction can actually be obtained. The ego can be understood to be the organizer of the mind, It receives its power from the ID.
Superego
The personalities perfectionist, judging our actions and responding with pride at our accomplishments, in guilt, in our failures.
Conscience.
Collection of the improper actions for which a child is punishment.
Ego ideal.
Consist of those proper actions for which a child is rewarded.
Preconscious.
thought that we aren’t currently aware of.
Unconscious
Thoughts that have been repressed. It is different than subconscious.
Instinct
To Freud it is an innate psychological representation of a biological need. If I was into two categories, life and death instinct. Life instincts is referred to as Eros, promote an individual quest for survival through thirst, hunger and sexual needs. Death instincts refer to as Thanatos epresent an unconscious wish for death and destruction.
