chp 10 Flashcards
Personality
The organized combination of attributes, motives, values, and behaviors that is unique to each individual.
Dispositional traits
Relatively enduring dimensions or qualities of personality along which people differ (e.g., extraversion, aloofness).
Characteristic Adaptations
Compared to traits, more situation-specific and changeable aspects of personality; ways in which people adapt to their roles and environments, including motives, goals, plans, schemas, self-conceptions, stage-specific concerns, and coping mechanisms
Life Stories
Unique and integrative life narratives that we construct about our lives— past, present, and future—to give ourselves an identity and our lives meaning; sometimes called narrative identities.
Self-Concept
People’s perceptions of their unique attributes or traits.
Self-Esteem
People’s overall evaluation of their worth as based on an assessment of the qualities that make up the self-concept.
Psychosocial Theory
Erikson’s highly influential theory of lifelong personality development, emphasizing social influences beyond parents, the rational ego and its adaptive powers, possibilities for overcoming harmful early experiences, and the potential for growth and change throughout the life span.
Identity
A self-definition or sense of who one is, where one is going, and how one fits into society.
Id
A psychoanalytic term for the inborn component of the personality that is driven by instincts or selfish urges.
Ego
Psychoanalytic term for the rational component of the personality.
Superego
The psychoanalytic term for the component of the personality that consists of the individual’s internalized moral standards.
Trust vs. Mistrust
The psychosocial conflict of infancy in which infants must learn to trust others to meet their needs in order to trust themselves; the first stage in Erikson’s theory.
Trait Theory
A theory that defines personality as a set of dispositional trait dimensions. Traits are thought to be genetically and environmentally influenced, consistent across situations, and relatively enduring throughout life.
Big Five
A theory that defines personality as a set of dispositional trait dimensions. Traits are thought to be genetically and environmentally influenced, consistent across situations, and relatively enduring throughout life.
Self-recognition
The ability to recognize oneself in a mirror or photograph, which occurs in most infants by 18–24 months of age.
Categorical Self
A person’s classification of the self along socially significant dimensions such as age and sex.
Individualistic Culture
A culture in which individuals define themselves as individuals and put their own goals ahead of their group’s goals and in which children are socialized to be independent and self-reliant.
Collectivist Culture
A culture in which people define themselves in terms of group memberships, give group goals higher priority than personal goals, and socialize children to seek group harmony.
Surgency/extraversion
Dimension of temperament that involves the tendency to actively and energetically approach new experiences in an emotionally positive way (rather than to be inhibited and withdrawn).
Negative Affectivity
Dimension of temperament that concerns the tendency to be sad, fearful, easily frustrated, and irritable (as opposed to laid-back and adaptable).
Effortful Control
Dimension of temperament pertaining to being able to sustain attention, control one’s behavior, and regulate one’s emotions (as opposed to unable to regulate one’s arousal and stay calm and focused).
Goodness of fit
The extent to which the child’s temperament and the demands of the child’s social environment are compatible or mesh, according to Thomas and Chess; more generally, a good match between person and environment.
Social Comparison
The process of defining and evaluating the self through comparisons with other people.
Self-control
The ability to control or regulate one’s desires, impulses, and behavior.
Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
The psychosocial conflict in which toddlers attempt to demonstrate their independence from and control over other people; the second of Erikson’s stages.
Initiative vs. Guilt
The psychosocial conflict in which preschool children must learn to initiate new activities and pursue bold plans or become self-critical; the third of Erikson’s stages.
Industry vs. Inferiority
The psychosocial conflict in which school-aged children must master important cognitive and social skills or feel incompetent; the fourth of Erikson’s stages.
Identity vs. Role Confusion
The psychosocial conflict in which adolescents must form a coherent self-definition or remain confused about their life directions; the fifth of Erikson’s stages.
Moratorium Period
A period of time in high school or college when young adults are relatively free of responsibilities and can experiment with different roles to find their identities.
Diffusion Status
Identity status characterizing individuals who have not questioned who they are and have not committed themselves to an identity.
Foreclosure Status
An identity status characterizing individuals who appear to have committed themselves to a life direction but who have adopted an identity prematurely, without much thought.
Moratorium Status
Identity status characterizing individuals who are experiencing an identity crisis or actively exploring identity issues but who have not yet achieved an identity.
Identity Achievement Status
An identity status characterizing individuals who have carefully thought through identity issues and made commitments or resolved their identity issues.
Ethnic/Racial Identity
A sense of personal identification with one’s ethnic or racial group—or more than one—and its values and cultural traditions.
Ideal Self
Idealized expectations of what one’s attributes and personality should be like.
Ageism
Prejudice and discrimination against older adults.
Self-stereotyping
Applying stereotypes of one’s group (e.g., negative stereotypes of older adults) to oneself.
Age Attributes
Blaming old age for any limitations one has.
Maturity Principle
A shift toward greater emotional stability, agreeableness, and conscientiousness in personality from adolescence to middle adulthood.
Intimacy vs. Isolation
The psychosocial conflict in which young adults must commit themselves to a shared identity with another person or remain aloof and unconnected to others; the sixth of Erikson’s stages.
Generativity vs. Stagnation
The psychosocial conflict in which middle-aged adults must gain the sense that they have produced something that will outlive them and genuinely care for younger generations to avoid self-preoccupation; the seventh of Erikson’s stages.
Midlife Crisis
A period of major questioning, inner struggle, and reevaluation hypothesized to occur in an adult’s early 40s.
Integrity vs. Despair
The psychosocial conflict in which older adults attempt to find a sense of meaning in their lives and to accept the inevitability of death; the eighth of Erikson’s stages.
Life Review
Process in which older adults reflect on unresolved conflicts of the past and evaluate their lives; it may contribute to a sense of integrity and readiness for death.
Successful Aging
An aging experience that is better overall than typical aging; it has been defined by Rowe and Kahn as freedom from disease and disability, good cognitive and physical functioning, and active engagement with life, but can be defined in other ways.
Psychological well-being
A positive state involving subjective well-being (feeling happy or having high life satisfaction) or personal self-fulfillment (fulfilling one’s potential as a human being).
Activity Theory
A theory of successful aging emphasizing the value of remaining active in later life by either continuing or replacing previous activities.
Disengagement Theory
Theory of successful aging emphasizing that our needs change in later life and that successful aging involves a mutual withdrawal of the individual and society.
