Exam 4 Psychology Flashcards
(247 cards)
Personality Definition
Personality refers to the long-standing traits and patterns that propel individuals to consistently think, feel, and behave in specific ways
Where does the word “personality” come from?
The word personality comes from the Latin word persona. In the ancient world, a persona was a mask worn by an actor.
How long has the concept of personality been studied?
The concept of personality has been studied for at least 2,000 years, beginning with Hippocrates in 370 BCE
Hippocrates theorized that personality/behaviors are based on what four temperaments associated with the four fluids of the body?
- choleric temperament (yellow bile from the liver)
- melancholic temperament (black bile from the kidneys),
- sanguine temperament (red blood from the heart),
- phlegmatic temperament (white phlegm from the lungs)
What Greek physician built on Hippocrates theory centuries later?
Galen
What was Galen’s theory?
That both diseases and personality differences could be explained by imbalances in the humors and that each person exhibits one of the four temperaments.
(Ex: choleric person is passionate, ambitious, and bold)
In 1780, What German physician proposed that distances between bumps on the skull reveal a person’s personality traits, character, and mental abilities?
Franz Gall
Who else contributed to Galen’s development of the four primary temperaments?
- Immanuel Kant (in the 18th century)
- Wilhelm Wundt (in the 19th century)
What did Wundt separate his description of personalities into?
- Vertical axis: strong from weak
(the melancholic and choleric temperaments from the phlegmatic and sanguine). - Horizontal axis: changeable temperaments
(choleric and sanguine) from the unchangeable ones (melancholic and phlegmatic)
- The most controversial and misunderstood psychological theorist
- first to systematically study and theorize the workings of the unconscious mind (what we now associate with modern psychology)
Sigmund Freud (1865 - 1939)
What was Sigmund Freud’s psychodynamic perspective of personality?
He believed the unconscious drives influenced by sex and aggression, along with childhood sexuality, are the forces that influence our personality.
What are the three interacting systems within our minds?
Id, ego, and superego
What is the id?
- It contains our most primitive drives or urges
- Present from birth
- Directs impulses for hunger, thirst, and sex
What is the superego?
- Develops when a child interacts with others learning social rules for right and wrong
- Strives for perfection and judges our behavior
What is the ego?
- The rational part of our personality
- It helps the id satisfy its desires in a realistic way
Defense Mechanism
An unconcious protective behavior s that aim to reduce anxiety
What are the 8 defense mechanisms?
- Denial
- Displacement
- Projection
- Rationalization
- Reaction Formation
- Regression
- Repression
- Sublimation
Denial
Refusing to accept real events because they are unpleasant
Ex: Kailia refuses to admit she has an alcohol problem although she is unable to go a single day without excessively drinking
Displacement
Transferring inappropriate urges/behaviors onto a more acceptable or less threatening target
Ex: During lunch at a restaurant, Mark is angry at his older problem but doesn’t express it and becomes verbally abusive to the server
Projection
Attributing unacceptable desires to other
Ex: Chris often cheats on her boyfriend because she suspects he is already cheating on her
Rationalization
Justifying behaviors by substituting acceptable reasons for less-acceptable real reasons
Ex: Kim failed his history course because he did not study/attend class, but he told his roommates that he failed because the teacher didn’t like him
Reaction Formation
Reducing anxiety by adopting beliefs contrary to your own beliefs
Ex: Nadia is angry with her coworker Beth for always arriving late to work after a night of partying, but she is nice and agreeable to Beth and affirms the partying as “cool”
Regression
Returning to coping strategies for less mature stages of development
Ex: After failing to pass his doctoral examination, Giorgio spends days in bed cuddling his favorite childhood toy.
Repression
Suppressing painful memories and thoughts
Ex: LaShea cannot remember her grandfather’s fatal heart attack, although she was present