classic perspectives on personality

Question 1

personality

Answer 1

an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

Question 2

psychodynamic theories

Answer 2

theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences.

Question 3

psychoanalysis

Answer 3

(1) Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts. (2) Freud’s therapeutic technique. Freud believed the patient’s free associations, resistances, dreams, and transferences—and the analyst’s interpretations of them—released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self-insight.

Question 4

unconscious

Answer 4

according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware.

Question 5

free assoiation

Answer 5

in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing.

Question 6

id

Answer 6

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.

Question 7

ego

Answer 7

the partly conscious, “executive” part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, the superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.

Question 8

superego

Answer 8

the partly conscious part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations.

Question 9

pyschosexual stages

Answer 9

the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones.

Question 10

oedipus complex

Answer 10

according to Freud, a boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father.

Question 11

identifaction

Answer 11

the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos.

Question 12

fixation

Answer 12

in psychoanalytic theory, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved.

Question 13

defense mechanism

Answer 13

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.

Question 14

repression

Answer 14

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.

Question 15

collective unconscious

Answer 15

Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history.

Question 16

thematic apperception test

Answer 16

a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes.

Question 17

projective test

Answer 17

a personality test, such as the TAT or Rorschach, that provides ambiguous images designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics.

Question 18

rorschach inkblot test

Answer 18

a projective test designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing how they interpret 10 inkblots.

Question 19

humanistic theories

Answer 19

theories that view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth.

Question 20

hierarchy of needs

Answer 20

Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before people can fulfill their higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs.

Question 21

self actualization

Answer 21

according to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one’s potential.

Question 22

self transcendence

Answer 22

according to Maslow, the striving for identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self.

Question 23

unconditional positive regard

Answer 23

a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help people develop self-awareness and self-acceptance.

Question 24

self concept

Answer 24

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, “Who am I?”