LCT13: Personality Flashcards
Personality
distinctive and relatively stable pattern of behaviors, thoughts, motives, and emotions that characterizes a person throughout life
Trait
a characteristic of an individual, describing a habitual way of behaving, thinking, and feeling
Psychodynamic Theory
assumed that unconscious forces, such as wishes and motives, influence behavior
Psychologist associated with the psychodynamic theory/approach
Sigmund Freud
Levels of Consciousness
- conscious
- preconscious
- unconscious
Conscious
aware of the thoughts
Preconscious
thoughts could be brought to awareness - unthreatening
Unconscious
not easily retrieved - thoughts and feelings are threatening
Unconscious content
wishes, desires, motives associated with conflict, anxiety, or pain
“Freudian Slips”
accidntally revealing a hidden thought or motive through a slip of the tongue –> unconscious content rarely stay buried
Psychosexual Stages
stages of personality development that are defined by the part of the body that is most sensitive (or an issue) at the time
Erogenous zone
body part that satisfies urges (usually erotic)
Fixation
a “stopping-point” in psychosexual development that can cause re-organization of the personality before moving on to the next stage (either due to too much or too little gratification of needs during the stage)
Five Psychosexual Stage
1) Oral
2) Anal
3) Phallic
4) Latency
5) Genital
Oral Stage
birth to 18 months
- babies mouth is where pleasure is derived
- nursing, exploring
Anal Stage
2-3 years old
- toilet training - learning to hold and release bowls - the focus of this stage
- Self-control
Phallic Stage
4-6 years old
- genitals become focus of interest and pleasure
- noticing sex of parents; learning roles
- new interpretation: “how do I fit in to this group?”
Latency Stage
7-12 years old
- sexual impulses dormant
- focus on friends and schoolwork
(the calm between the storms)
Genital Stage
puberty to adult
- adult sexual urges appear
- coping with conflict between biological drives and social prohibitions
3 Fixations
- Oral Fixation
- Anal Fixation
- Phallic Fixation
Oral Fixation
problems feeding or weaning can cause later need for oral gratification (eating, drinking, smoking OR acting needy, dependent, demanding, passive)
Anal Fixation
problems with toilet training or learning self-control (parent too harsh or rigid) can lead to becoming anal-retentive or anal-expulsive
Anal-Retentive
tight, stubborn, over controlled
Anal-Expulsive
rebellious, messy, disorganized
Phallic Fixation
prohibiting genital exploration can lead to excessive masculinity or femininity
Oedipus Complex
tendency to become attracted to opposite-sex parent and hostile toward same-sex parent
What stages don’t have fixations?
Latency stage and Genital stage
Structural Model of Personality
three interacting parts of the human personality, in conflict with each other
- Id
- Ego
- Superego
Id
a primitive and unconscious part of personality that contains basic drives and instincts - operates according to the Pleasure Principle (“I want it, and I want it NOW”)
Superego
internalized rules of society and parents; moral ideas and conscience (“you should be ashamed of yourself”)
Ego
the part of the personality that tries to satisfy the wishes of the Id while being responsive to the rules of the Superego (mediates between the two)
Reality Principle
rational thinking and problem solving are used to satisfy needs and wants appropriately
Defense Mechanisms
unconscious mental strategies the mind uses to protect itself from distress, conflict, and desires
Denial
refusing to acknowledge source of anxiety
Repression
excluding source of anxiety from awareness
Projection
attributing unacceptable qualities of the self to someone else
Reaction Formation
warding off an uncomfortable thought by overemphasizing its opposite (homophobia)
Rationalization
concocting a seemingly logical reason or excuse for behavior that might otherwise be shameful
Displacement
when people direct their emotions (especially anger) toward things, animals, or other people who are not the real object of their feelings
Sublimation
channeling socially unacceptable impulses into constructive, even admirable, behavior
Humanistic approach for personality
emphasizes personal experience and belief systems
Self-Actualization (psychologist)
people seek to fulfill their potential for personal growth through greater self-understanding (Abraham Maslow)
Person-Centered Approach (psychologist)
focused on people’s personal understandings (Carl Rogers)
Unconditional Positive Regard
acceptance and love from others is unqualified (love regardless of behavior
What part of the structural model of personality operates on the reality principle?
Ego
Personal constructs (psychologist)
personal theories of how the world works - develop through our experiences and represent our interpretations and explanations for events in our social worlds (George Kelly)
Expectancy-Value Approach (psychologist)
the idea that behavior is a function of two things: our expectations for reinforcement and the values we ascribe to particular reinforcers (Julian Rotter’s)
Internal/External Locus of Control (psychologist)
Internal - believe they bring about their own rewards
External - believe rewards result from forces beyond their control (Julian Rotter’s)
Cognitive-Social Theories of Personality
emphasize how personal beliefs, expectancies, and interpretations of social situations shape behavior and personality
Cognitive-Affective personality system (psychologist)
(CAPS) our personalities often fail to predict our behavior across different circumstances (Walter Mischel)
Personality Traits
behavioral dispositions that endure over time and across situations
Trait Approach
focuses on the extent to which individuals differ on those personality dispositions
Eysenck’s Hierarchical Model
Three traits:
1) Introversion-Extroversion: shy/reserved vs social/outgoing
2) Emotional stability: how changeable are your moods and emotions
3) Psychoticism (Constraint): are you restrained or uninhibited
Five Factor Model
1) Openness to experience - receptiveness to new ideas and experiences
2) Conscientiousness - tendency to be reliable
3) Extraversion - desire for stimulation, activity, and social interaction
4) Agreeableness - selfless concern for other
5) Neuroticism - proneness to anxiety and negative emotion
Genetic influence accounts for approximately how much of the variance between individuals in personality traits?
about half (40-60%)
Temperaments
psychological dispositions to respond to the environment in certain ways
- present in infancy, assumed to be innate
- relatively stable over time
Several temperamental aspects measured are…
- Activity level: overall amount of energy
- Emotionality: intensity of emotional reactions
- Sociability: tendency to affiliate with others
Long-term implications of temperaments
research has demonstrated that early temperament is predictive of later personality and behaviors
Age-related Change
in general, people become less neurotic, less extraverted, and less open to new experiences as they get older
- people also tend to become more agreeable and much more conscientious with age
Behavior Approach System (BAS)
the brain system involved in the pursuit of incentives or rewards (Jeffrey Gray)
Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)
the brain system that is sensitive to punishment and therefore inhibits behavior that might lead to danger or pain (Jeffrey Gray)
Objective Measures
Relatively direct assessment of personality, usually based on information gathered through self-report questionnaires or observer ratings.
Projective Measures
Personality tests that examine unconscious processes by having people interpret ambiguous stimuli.
