Personality Flashcards
Personality
An individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting
Psychodynamic theory
Theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences
Psychoanalysis
Freuds theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts
treatment techniques for interpreting unconscious tensions
Unconscious (according to freud)
unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories
Unconscious (according to modern psych)
information processing that occurs without our awareness
Free association
exploring the unconscious where the patient relaxes and says whatever comes to mind no matter how trivial or disturbing
Id
unconscious psychic energy that strives to satisfy basic sexual needs and aggressive drives,
operates on the pleasure principle, demands gratification
Ego
Largely conscious “executive” part of the personality, mediates Id, superego, and reality
Superego
Part of the personality that represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgement (the conscience) and for false aspirations
Psychosexual stages
Childhood stages of development during which the Id’s pleasure seeking energies focus on a distinct body part
List Freuds psychosexual stages
OAPLG (oh-a-plag) Oral Anal Phalic Latency Genital
Oedipus complex
Freud’s belief that a boy’s sexual desires for his mother create jealousy and a conflict with his father
Electra complex
Freud’s belief that a girl’s sexual desires for her father create jealousy and a conflict with her mother
Identification (according to Freud)
The process by which children incorporate their parents values into their developing superegos
Fixation (according to Freud)
A lingering of the Id’s energies locked into one of the psychosexual stages in which conflicts were unresolved
Defense mechanisms =
1- Repression 2- Sublimation 3- Reaction Formation 4- Denial 5- Projection 6- Rationalization 7- Displacement
Repression
Prohibited thoughts or urges are pushed away from the conscious into the unconscious (e.g., trauma).
Sublimation
Expressing an unacceptable urge in a socially appropriate manner (e.g., painting nudes, becoming a surgeon).
Reaction Formation
Concealing an unacceptable urge by expressing fierce opposition to that urge (e.g., Ted Haggard).
Denial
Refusal to acknowledge an unpleasant reality (e.g., smoking and health)
Projection
Attributing one’s own negative behavior to others (e.g., an unfaithful husband blaming his wife for infidelity).
Rationalization
Providing a rational explanation for behavior and concealing the true motive (e.g., “I live with my parents to save money”).
Displacement
Substituting the target of an unacceptable urge with a less threatening or more available target (e.g., kicking the dog).
Neo freudians
students/followers of Freud who took his principles and furthered them
Alfred Adler + Horney
Neo freudians who focused on childhood but from a perspective of social tensions instead of sexual
Carl Jung
Neo freudian who focused on the scope of the unconscious
Jung’s collective consciousness
Concept of a shared inherited reservoir of memory, traces from our history as a species
projective tests
Evaluating personality from an unconscious mind’s perspective would require a psychological instrument (projective tests) that would reveal the hidden unconscious mind.
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes.
Rorschach Inkblot Test
The most widely used projective test uses a set of 10 inkblots and was designed by Hermann Rorschach. It seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.
error management theory
Theory of death related anxiety, explores people’s emotional and behavioural responses to reminders of their impending deaths
Humanistic theories
Theories that view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth
Order of the hierarchy of needs
Biological, safety, belongingness + love, esteem, self actualization
Self-Actualizing Person
we as individuals are motivated by a hierarchy of needs. Beginning with physiological needs, we try to reach the state of self-actualization—fulfilling our potential.
Growth and Fulfillment
Carl Rogers also believed in an individual’s self-actualization tendencies. He said that Unconditional Positive Regard is an attitude of acceptance of others despite their failings.
The Trait Perspective
- An individual’s unique constellation of durable dispositions and consistent ways of behaving (traits) constitutes his or her personality. o Honest o Dependable o Moody o Impulsive
Trait
A characteristic pattern of behaviour, a disposition to feel + act in a certain way as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports
Biological impacts on traits
Frontal lobe area involved in inhibition is less active ins extroverts
Dopamine + related neural activity and circuitry is higher in extroverts
Temperament has hereditary component
Factor Analysis
- Cattell found that large groups of traits could be reduced down to 16 core personality traits based on statistical correlations.
Personality Dimensions
- Hans and Sybil Eysenck suggested that personality could be reduced down to two polar dimensions, extraversion-introversion and emotional stability-instability.
The Big Five Factors
o Conscientiousness o Agreeableness o Neuroticism o Openness o Extraversion
Extraversion
tendency to experience positive emotions and moods and feel good about oneself and the rest of the world
Neuroticism
tendency to experience negative emotions and moods, feel distressed, and be critical of oneself and others
Conscientiousness
tendency to be careful, scrupulous, and persevering
Openness to Experience
tendency to be original, have broad interests, be open to a wide range of stimuli, be daring and take risks
Social cognitive perspective
proposed by Bandura, views behaviour as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits and their social context
Reciprocal determinism
The interacting influences of behaviour, internal cognition, and environment
Self serving bias
A readiness to perceive oneself favourably
Narcissism
Excessive self love and self absorption
Personally construct theory
Kelly’s personality theory presents an optimistic, even flattering, image of human nature (Kelly, 1969).
We need no push from internal drives or needs because we are motivated by the fact of being alive People perceive and organize their world of experiences the same way scientists do. We observe the events of our life and interpret them in our own way.
cognitive styles
differences in how we perceive or construe the people, objects, and situations in our environment
cognitive complexity
A cognitive style or way of construing the environment characterized by the ability to perceive differences among people.
cognitive simplicity:
A cognitive style or way of construing the environment characterized by a relative inability to perceive differences among people.
Machiavellianism
self-interest, deception, manipulation, etc….
Psychopathy
- Primary psychopathy (selfish, callous, charm, lack of remorse)
- Secondary psychopathy (antisocial)
What is id ego and superego examples?
The ego mediates between the id and the superego. The id is trying to get you to do things like eat cakes and not go jogging, and the superego is trying to get you to make good decisions and be an upstanding person. … And the ego operates on something that’s called the reality principle
