Identity Flashcards
Personality
Collection of lasting characteristics that makes a person unique
Trait theory of personality
Personality consists of a set of traits (characteristics that vary b/w people and are stable over a lifetime regardless of environment)
Biological theory of personality
Biological contributions to certain traits (genome)
Heredity
Genetic inheritance
Temperament
Innate, genetically influenced baseline of personality (modified by environment throughout life)
Twin studies
Help separate effects of genetics and environment
Monozygotic twins have identical genomes
Dizygotic twins are like regular siblings
Psychoanalytic theory (Freud)
Universal personality structure that contributes both to behavior and to differences b/w people
Internal processes that shape personality
Id
Primitive, seeks instant gratification and to avoid pain
Doesn’t care about morality or social norms
Present from birth
(Devil)
Superego
Develops later in life through internalization of society’s rules for moral behavior, interactions w/ caregivers
(Angel)
Ego
Directs behavior/balances demands of id and superego
Forces delay of gratification of id’s desire until socially acceptable method is found
Behaviorist theory
Personality = due to series of learning experiences that occur through interactions b/w individual and environment
Environment shapes personality more than biology/psychology
External factors > internal factors
Social cognitive theory
Learning experiences and observable behaviors
- Change behavior as a result of environmental factors
Observational learning
Learn from experiences of others and apply lessons of previous experiences to new situations
Reciprocal causation
Behavior, personal factors, and environment interact/influence each other
Humanistic theory
People seek experiences that make them better, more fulfilled individuals
Individual shapes own personality
Conscious decisions (vs. impulses) make people who they are
Situational approach to explaining behavior
Challenge to trait-based personality theories
Variation in behavior across different situations => concept of enduring personality traits is flawed
People behave according to interpretations of situations
Mead’s Components of Self - ME
Socialized aspect of person
Learned in interactions w/ others
Mead’s Components of Self - I
Active aspect of person
Acts creatively
Held in check by Me
Identity
Person’s view of who they are (perception of self)
Self-concept
Knowledge of oneself as a person both separate from others and constant throughout changing situations
Different types of identities
Race/ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, class
Imitation
Allows kids to view selves as similar to imitated person
Role-taking
Adopting role of another person
Symbolic interaction
Looking-glass self
Taking role of others lets you view yourself
Influenced by how we perceive that others are viewing us (if stigmatized => internalize stigmatization)
Social comparison
Evaluating oneself by contrast with others
Reference group
Model for appropriate actions, values, and worldviews
Self-esteem
Overall judgement of self (levels out as you age)
High self-esteem = positive self-concept
Self-efficacy
Feeling of being able to carry out an action successfully
Locus of control
Belief about extent to which internal/external factors play role in shaping life
Internal locus of control
I have complete control over behavior/events
External locus of control
External factors decide behavior/events
Freud’s theory of developmental stages
Sequential series of psychosexual stages in early childhood
In terms of impulses of id
Fixation
Permanent aspect of personality related to urge
Due to child getting too much/little satisfaction of urge at particular stage => fail to move on to next stage
Oral stage (Freud)
Infancy
Oral processes (sucking/biting)
Successful weaning => trust and capacity for delayed gratification
Anal stage (Freud)
Conflict b/w child and parents
Child wants to control bowel movements while parents impose toilet-training
Successful => self-control
Phallic stage (Freud)
Sexual impulses on opposite sex parent
Identify w/ same sex parent
Internalize society’s rules and develop superego
Latent period (Freud)
Suppressed sexual impulses
Focus on other developmental tasks
Genital stage (Freud)
Adolescence
Return of sexual urges => adult sexuality
Erikson theory of development (identity)
Interaction b/w self and society experienced across lifespan
Each stage = crisis that must be resolved
Erikson Stage 1
Trust vs. mistrust
First year of life
Erikson Stage 2
Autonomy vs. shame and doubt
Child’s growing sense of whether he/she is competent to carry out self-care
Erikson Stage 3
Initiative vs. guilt
Attempt to develop ability to execute plan
Erikson Stage 4
Industry vs. inferiority
Complex social environment of school
Views self as capable of mastering societally valued skills or not
Erikson Stage 5
Identity vs. role confusion
Explore different possibilities for role in society
Personal beliefs and goals
Erikson Stage 6
Intimacy vs. isolation
Young adulthood
Ability to form emotionally significant relationships with others
Erikson Stage 7
Generativity vs. stagnation
Middle adulthood
Determine extent to which they want to “put back” energy into work/family or just care for selves
Erikson Stage 8
Integrity vs despair
Old age => evaluate lifetime
Identity achievement
Strong sense of identity
Identity foreclosure
Failed to have identity crisis, but adopted identity of others
Identity moratorium
Midst of identity crisis, active
Identity diffusion
No sense of identity or motivation to engage in identity exploration
Vygotsky theory of development
Sociocultural - learning through interactions w/ others => promotes acquisition of culturally valued behaviors/beliefs
Zone of proximal development
Range of activities b/w current and potential developmental levels (Vygotsky)
Kohlberg’s theory of moral development
Developing kids have predictable sequence of stages of moral reasoning
Preconventional level
Moral judgements based only on consequences
Conventional level
Moral judgements based on opinions of others
Postconventional level
Own belief of right and wrong beyond consequences/disapproval of others
Sensitive period
Point in early development that can have significant influence on physiological/behavioral functioning later on
Insecure attachment
Individuals have negative/unpredictable experiences w/ caregiver
Attribution theory
Conclusions drawn about causes that explain observed behavior of others
Dispositional attribution
Attributing cause of behavior to inherent quality/desire
Assign internal locus of control to other person
Situational attribution
Attributing cause of behavior to environmental forces
Assign external locus of control
Fundamental attribution error
Inherent constraints on our ability to accurately judge causes of behaviors
Automatically favor dispositional attributions over situational ones
Self-serving bias
Tendency to attribute one’s success to internal factors
Attribute failures to external factors
How culture affects attributions
Western viewpoint sees individual as central to events
Eastern viewpoint pays more attention to situational factors
Psychological disorders
Sets of psychological abnormalities that are maladaptive to the individual
Somatic symptom and related disorders
Characterized by bodily symptoms along with associated psychological symptoms
Pain, fatigue, motor impairment
Anxiety disorders
Unwarranted fear and anxiety, physiological tension
Response to stress
Stress
Excessive SNS activation in absence of threat
Body prepares for fight/flight situation
Mood disorders
Disruptions in emotions that influence personal functioning
Depression
Extreme depressive mood disorder
Pervasive feelings of sadness/hopelessness, loss of interest in activities
Elevated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis hormones, deficient monoamine neurotransmitters (serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine)
Schizophrenia
Impaired connection with reality
Symptoms = hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech
Elevated dopamine, brain structural abnormalities
Dissociative disorders
Split b/w different aspects of cognitive functioning
Disruption in identity, memory, or consciousness
Dissociative amnesia
Forget about past events
Negative symptom
Loss of something (psychological function, memory)
Positive symptom
Abnormal disruptive experience (hallucinations)
Personality disorders
Some aspect of personality = psychologically unhealthy for individual
Endure across different situations and over a lifetime
