Chapter 8 Flashcards
What is personality?
enduring ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that characterize a person’s response to situations
What is Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory on personality?
unconscious part of mind has influence on behavior
powerful influence on behavior
psychic energy
conscious: immediate awareness of current environment
preconscious: available to awareness
unconscious: unavailable to awareness
What are common defense mechanisms?
displacement
repression
sublimation
regression
What is the humanistic approach to personality?
personal constructs
cognitive categories which sort the people and events in their lives
fixed role therapy
Carl Rodgers Self Theory: central concept = self concept
self consistency
congruence
when experience does not “match” the self-concept
anxiety: why do people treat me like that?
healthy individuals modify self-concept
What is self-esteem?
self-esteem: how positively or negatively we feel about ourselves
high self-esteem: fewer interpersonal problems, higher achievement
poor self-esteem: anxiety, depression, poor achievement and relationships
What is the relationship between self-regard and the humanistic approach?
need for positive regard: need for acceptance, sympathy, love
positive self-regard: experience of being understood and valued gives us freedom to grow, lack of creates “conditions of wealth”
What is self-verification?
motivated to confirm self-concept, seek out self-confirming relationships
What is self-enhancement?
tendency to preserve positive self image
How do you evaluate humanistic theories?
too much reliance on self-reports
not scientific enough?
contribution to psychotherapy approaches
perceived self vs. ideal self
What are biological perspectives on personality?
trait theorists: describe basic aspects of personality then predict behavior based on that
factor analysis: each dimension reflects a “continuum” of behavior
What is Eysenck’s Extraversion-Stability Model?
only 2 dimensions needed
extraversion/introversion
neuroticism (instability)/stability
psychoticism/socialized (self control)
What is the five factor model of personality?
openness
conscientiousness
extraversion
agreeableness
neuroticism
What is the evidence for the biological perspective of personality?
extraversion vs introversion
neuroticism-stability: differences in autonomic nervous system arousal
novelty seeking, impulsivity: dopamine and serotonin
What is the stability of personality traits?
some patterns remain stable (optimism-pessimism)
behavior: little stability
difficult to predict behavior from personality due to 3 factors: traits interact with traits, “importance” of trait influences consistency, variation in “self-monitoring”
How do you evaluating trait approach?
pros: focused on identifying and measuring personality dispositions
cons: cannot explain underlying psychological mechanism
Who was Julian Rotter?
behavior governed by 2 factors
expectancy: likelihood of consequences given behavior
reinforcement: how much we desire or dread consequences
What are social cognitive theories on personality?
locus of control
expectancy concerning personal control in our lives
internal: events under personal control, self-determined, seek out information, becoming involved
external: luck, chance, powerful others
What is self-efficacy?
person’s beliefs concerning ability to perform behaviors needed to achieve outcomes
Who was Walter Mischel?
consistency paradox: level of consistency in behavior is low
cognitive affective personality system (CAPS): interplay between personality characteristics and situations
How do you evaluate social cognitive theories?
puts insights from other perspectives into cognitive-behavioral concepts
explains inconsistency in behaviors
What are interviews as a form of personality assessment?
structured set of questions
note behaviors, appearance, speech patterns
drawbacks: characteristics of interviewer, co-operation, honesty
What are behavioral assessment as a form of personality assessment?
frequency, specific situations, under what conditions?
remote behavioral sampling
What are personality scales as a form of personality assessment?
use standard questions and agreed upon scoring key
disadvantage: validity of answers (truthful?)
What are rational tests as a form of personality assessment?
based on conception of trait
NEO-PI (Costa and McCrae)
What are empirical tests as a form of personality assessment?
items chosen due to past research
Who uses what tools?
psychodynamic: projective tests
humanistic: self-report measures
social-cognitive: behavioral assessments
biological: physiological measurements
trait theorists: inventories (MMPI, NEO-PI)
