Chapter 6: Identity and Personality Flashcards
Self-concept
The sum of the ways in which we describe ourselves: in the present, who we used to be, and who we might be in the future.
Identities
Individual components of our self-concept related to the groups to which we belong. Religious affiliation, sexual orientation, and ethnic and national affiliations are examples of identities.
Self-esteem
Describes our evaluation of ourselves. Generally, the closer our actual self is to our ideal self (who we want to be) and our ought self (who others want us to be), the higher our self-esteem will be.
Self-efficacy
The degree to which we see ourselves as being capable at a given skill or in a given situation. Our ability to succeed.
Locus of Control
Locus of control is a self-evaluation that refers to the way we characterize the influences in our lives. People with an internal locus of control see their successes and failures as a result of their own characteristics and actions, while those with an external locus of control perceive outside factors as having more of an influence in their lives.
Androgyny
Defined as the state of being simultaneously very masculine and very feminine.
Undifferentiated
Those who achieve low scores on both masculinity and femininity scales.
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Personality Development Overview
Freud’s psychosexual stages of personality development are based on the tensions caused by the libido. Failure at any given stage leads to fixation that causes personality disorders.
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Personality Development Chart
Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development
These conflicts are the result of decisions we are forced to make about ourselves and the environment around us at each phase of our lives.
What happens if you have a problem resolving one of Erikson’s conflicts?
You will move on but won’t acquire the skills you could have by answering that existential question
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
He belived we progress through 6 stages in 3 phases: Preconventional (places emphasis on consequences), conventional (emphasis on relationships with other), and postconventional (he did not believe everyone could reach this phase but it consists of social mores, social contract, and human ethics that may not allign with laws).
What happens if one develops an issue during one of Kohlberg’s phases?
You would use the previous phase of moral reasoning to solve a problem instead of the more advanced one.
Vygotsky
Described the development of language, culture, and skills.
Vygotsky’s “Zone of Proximal Development”
Skills/abilities that have not fully developed but are in the process of developing. May require a “more knowledgeable other.”
ex: Learning how to ride a bike
Identity vs. Personality
Identity is who we are and personality is how we act/react to things.
Who is a noteworthy supporter of psychoanalytic theories of personality?
Sigmund Freud
What are the three major entities described by Freud to explain personality?
- Id
- Ego
- Superego
Describe the id component of Freud’s theory.
Consists of all basic, primal, inborn urges to survive and reproduce. Functions according to the pleasure principle, which is the aim to achieve immediate gratification to relieve tension. Primary process is id’s response to frustration (obtain satisfaction now). Wish fulfillment refers to daydreaming or fantasy that fulfills need for satisfaction.
Describe the ego component of Freud’s theory.
Operates according to the reality principle, which takes into account objective reality as it guides or inhibits the Id.
Secondary process refers to this guidance of Id’s activity. It is the organizer of the mind. The aim of the reality principle is to postpone the pleasure principle until satifaction can actually be obtained.
The ego receives its power from - and can never be fully independent of - the id.
Describe the superego component of Freud’s theory.
Superego is the personality perfectionist, judging our actions and responding w/ pride at our accomplishments and guilt at our failures. In this way it shapes the Id.
What are the two subsystems of the superego?
Conscience is a collection of the improper actions for which a child is punished.
Egoideal consists of proper actions for which a child is rewarded.
Conscious vs. Preconscious
Thoughts to which we have conscious access, thoughts that we aren’t currently aware of (preconscious), and thoughts that have been repressed (unconscious).
Defense Mechanisms
The ego’s recourse for relieving anxiety caused by the clash of the id and superego.
What are the different types of defense mechanisms?
- Repression: Unconsciously repressing throughts
- Suppression: More conscious form of repressing thoughts
- Reaction Formation: Convert urges to the opposite feelings
- You hate the woman you can’t have.
- Projection: Attributing undesired feelings to others.
- A man who has committed adultery is convinced his wife is cheating on him, despite a lack of evidence.
- Rationalization: Justification of behaviors that makes it okay to self/society
- Displacement: Changing the target of an emotion, while the feelings remain the same.
- When sent to his room as a punishment, a child begins to punch and kick his pillow.
- Sublimation: Transformation of unacceptable urges into socially acceptable ones.
- A boss who is attracted to his employee becomes her mentor and advisor.
Carl Jung
Also a psychoanaylical of personality believer. Assumed a collective unconscious that all humans share. Viewed personality as being influenced by archetypes.
Jung’s Archetypes
Images on common experiences that have an emotional element.
- Persona: mask we wear in public (adaptive to social situation)
- Anima (feminine) Animus (masculine): these words are used when the quality is an inappropriate one (man has an anima)
- Shadow: responsible for unpleasent and socially reprehensible thoughts, feelings actions
Fictional Finalism
Person is motivated more by expectation of future than by the past.
Main Idea of Freud, Jung, Adler
Freud: inbron instincts
Jung: Inborn archetypes
Adler: People strive for superiority
Neurotic Needs
People with neurotic personalities are governed by them. They are directed toward making life and interactions bearable.
Gestalt Therapy
Idea in which practitioners tend to take a holistic view of the self, seeing each individual as a complete person rather than reducing him to individual behaviors or drives.
Eysencks 3 Major Trains
- The acronym for these traits is PEN:
- psychoticism (nonconformity)
- extraversion (tolerance for social interaction and stimulation),
- neuroticism (arousal in stressful situations).
Later trait theorists expanded these traits to the Big Five: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.”
Allport Traits
- Cardinal traits are the traits around which a person organizes his or her life; not everyone develops a cardinal trait.
- Central traits represent major characteristics of the personality.
- Being an honest person.
- Secondary traits are more personal characteristics and are limited in occurrence.
- Being around friends vs. family.
- Central traits represent major characteristics of the personality.
Type A vs. Type B Personalities
Type A = Competitive and Compulsive
Type B = Laid-back and Relaxed
Social Cognitive Perspective
The social cognitive perspective holds that individuals interact with their environment in a cycle called reciprocal determinism. People mold their environments according to their personalities, and those environments in turn shape our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Behaviorist Perspective
The behaviorist perspective, based on the concept of operant conditioning, holds that personality can be described as the behaviors one has learned from prior rewards and punishments.
Biological Theorists
Biological theorists claim that behavior can be explained as a result of genetic expression.
