lecture Flashcards
The Royal Tenenbaums
Individual differences
3 kids are adopted and are not related
Continuity of personality across lifespan
Life experiences in childhood influence personality
Family dynamics shape personality
What is personality?
1)Descriptive characteristics (traits)
-Intelligent, hard working
2)Motive and goals
achievement
-motivated,relationship-motivated
3)Values
-honest,loyal,selfish
4)Emotional tendencies
-Moody,anxious,optimistic
5)Memories/life stories
Defining personality
thoughts,feelings,behavior
3 levels of personality analysis
Every human being is
… like all others:human nature
…like some others:
…like no others:
Application of Theory:Aggression
Aggression(universal case)
All people will respond aggressively
if their life depends on it
Aggression (individual differences)
Some people respond aggressively where others don’t
Aggression(unique case)
Some acts of aggression can only be understood from the particular individuals perspective
Abu Ghraib Prison scandal
Human nature perspective
All people are capable of evil, circumstances at abu ghraib unleashed dark side of human nature
Individual differences
Some people are more aggressive, inclined towards anti-social behavior
Unique case
Graners personal history suggest a unique predisposition toward violence
Charles Graner JR: history of domestic violence, aggressive behavior
Lynndie England: overly obedient
Stanley Cup riots
Riot occurred downtown vancouver after canucks lost stanley cup
Personality contributed to what people did in this situation
Measuring Personality
Prescientific methods
Astrology
Assessments of personality on birthday
Physiognomy
Assessment based on shape of body
Phrenology
Based on shape of skull
Descriptive methods
life history,observer report,test data, self report
observer report pro and cons
Advantages:
Capture spontaneous behaviors
Avoid bias of self reports
Disadvantages
Researcher interference
How naturalistic is the observation
Rarity of some behaviors
Research on criminality
Observer bias and selective attention
Time consuming
Self report
Advantages:
quick and easy to obtain data
Allows study of difficult to observe behaviors(such as what youre like at a party)
Disadvantages
Respondents might not be representative
Responses may be biased or untruthful
What did freud do for psychological science and personality research?
A talking cure(talking about your problems)
Mind-body connection
Psychic issues can influence behavior even when people aren’t aware of them
1)Modern view of Repression
Freud view:unacceptable thoughts were pushed into unconscious
george franklin
1990: george franklin accused of raping and murdering susan nason in 1969, by his daughter Eileen, now 29
Should we allow convictions based on repressed memories
Some therapists say yes(book:the courage to heal)
Empirical evidence says:not necessarily
False memory study
psychedelic therapy
(typically with psilocybin, or magic mushrooms) often aims to help clients uncover repressed memories
unconscious Motivated view
we bury hidden needs/desires in the unconscious
Cognitive view
information perceived may become unconscious and influence us but it is not “buried” there
Subliminal priming
Concepts may be perceived and influence us without us even knowing it
Ego psychology(anna freud, erik erikson)
Focus on the strengths of conscious
Control over one’s environment
-goal is to establish a secure identity, failure leads to identity crisis
Eriksons’s 8 stages of development
cover full lifespan
disagree with Freud’s research that development only lasts until puberty and there is a latency period
8 stages of development
1)Trust vs mistrust
2)autonomy vs shame and doubt
3)initiative vs guilt
4)industry vs inferiority(feeling as if they can work to achieve what they want vs failure to achieve)
5)identity vs role confusion
6)intimacy vs isolation
7)generativity vs stagnation(has the person generated something they care about in life)
8)integrity vs despair
self-serving bias
common tendency for people to take credit for successes yet to deny responsibility for failure
Narcissism
inflated self esteem and constant desire to draw attention to oneself
Narcissistic paradox
people who seem to think they’re great may feel insecure underneath
narcissim as a defense mechanism:Reaction formation
something they don’t like about themselves, they express the opposite)
Narcissism in the DSM
Dsm: grandiosity, dominance, entitlement, superiority
What causes narcissism?
Parents over-idealize child, set up unrealistic standards
Simultaneously, they excessively criticize child for failing to meet unrealistic standards
“Narcissistic wound”- early humiliation experience
Narcissists overcompensate for insecurities by self-aggrandizing
Measuring Narcissism
Unrealistically positive beliefs about abilities and achievements
Preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success,power,brilliance, and beauty
Strong sense of entitlement
Grandiose sense of self-importance
narcissim in work
repeated failures, not living up to their own career expectations
narcissim and therapy
tend to go to therapy for external life problems
narcissm and love
idealization and devaluation of romantic partner
always need to be center of attention
Research findings on normal range narcissism
Look in mirror often
Take credit for accomplishments but blame others for failure
Self-promote more on social networking sites
Tend to adopt a game playing style in relationships
Become angry and aggressive in response to failure or negative feedback
narcissism study
for normal people(low on narcissism) in the control, after viewing the self-focused(video of themselves), their self-perceived performance is lower
Narcissistic people after watching a video of themselves, their score on the self-focused condition was even higher than the control
Grandiose narcissist
Has exaggerated self importance
Fragile narcissist
-individuals who exhibit narcisstic traits but are sensitive to criticism
Tend to feel unhappy, depressed
Tends to be critical of other
Tends to feel anxious
Tends to feel envious
Prone to painful feelings of emptiness
Appears to feel privileged and entitled
Tends to feel he/she is inadequate, inferior, or a failure
Object Relations Theory
Early relationship in childhood with parents serves as a basis for relationships with others in adulthood
early childhood attachment
early bond with parent s influence personality
Harlow Monkey experiments
Surrogate cloth mother and surrogate wire mothers
Bowlby
noticed a similar pattern in humans similar to behavior in monkeys
-separation anxiety
Ainsworth: Strange situation procedure
3 attachment styles: secure, avoidant, anxious-ambivalent
ainsworth devised “Internal working models” for later relationships
Unconscious expectations for how people will treat them
Now referred to as adult attachment styles
adult attachment (Hazan and Shaver)
Found similar patterns of attachment in adult relationships
1 Secure relationship style
2 Avoidant relationship style
3 anxious-ambivalent(preoccupied) relationship style
Stress Test Study
Romantic couples brought into lab told that male must participate in experiment involving the machine
The way female partner responds shows their attachment style
Do early childhood experiences predict adult relationship styles?
2015 study shows link between childhood and adult relationships
Moms who shown less sensitivity in childhood(less attending to baby needs) had
larger skin conductance response to conflict with partner (they were more stressed with the partner)
can attachment styles change across lifespan
yes, but not a major shift
-you can be highly anxious when your young but it can decline in adulthood by a little
motives
internal states that direct behavior
-based on needs/tension
-can be unconscious
Achievement vs.affiliation
Individual differences in the various motives
-Always focused on grades or always focused on relationships
motive contribute to
major life outcomes such as career, success, and marriage
motives are
stable over time and tell us why people behave the way they do
Early motive theorists:
Murray, Mclelland, Mcadams
