Personality Flashcards
What are psychodynamic theories used to explain?
Psychodynamic theories relates personality to the interplay of conflicting forces, including unconscious ones, within the individual.
What is the concept of the unconscious?
The unconscious, according to Freud’s theory, is a repository of memories, emotions, and thoughts, many of them illogical, that affect our behavior even though we cannot talk about them.
What are the stages of psychosexual development in Freud’s theory of personality?
- Oral (birth - 1.5y)
- Anal (1.5 - 3)
- Phallic (3 - 5/6)
- Latent (5/6 - puberty)
- Genital (puberty onwards)
What are the three aspects of personality, according to Freud?
Id - sexual and other biological drives
Ego - rational, decision-making aspect of the personality
Superego - memory of rules and prohibitions we learned from our parents and others
What are the defense mechanisms that the ego employs against anxieties?
- Repression - motivated removal of something to the unconscious
- Denial - refusal to believe unpleasant information
- Rationalisation - when people attempt to show that their actions are justifiable
- Displacement - diverting a behavior or thought away from its natural target toward a less threatening target
- Regression - avoid the anxiety of the current situation by returning to a more immature level of functioning
- Projection - attributing one’s own undesirable characteristics to other people
- Reaction Formation - present themselves as the opposite of what they really are
- Sublimation - transformation of sexual or aggressive energies into culturally acceptable, even admirable, behaviors
What is the collective unconscious and its archetypes, according to Jung?
The collective unconscious, present at birth, is the cumulative experience of preceding generations.
It contains archetypes, which are vague images— or at least the predisposition to form images—that have always been part of the human experience.
According to Adler, what is an inferiority complex and how does it form?
The inferiority complex is an exaggerated feeling of weakness, inadequacy, and helplessness.
Adler postulated that feelings of inferiority stem from infancy, when we are small, dependent, and surrounded by others who seem so superior.
According to Adler, what is an inferiority complex and how does it form?
The inferiority complex is an exaggerated feeling of weakness, inadequacy, and helplessness.
Adler postulated that feelings of inferiority stem from infancy, when we are small, dependent, and surrounded by others who seem so superior.
What is the difference between self-concept and the ideal self, according to Rogers?
A self-concept is an image of what they really are.
An ideal self is an image of what they would like to be.
What is unconditional positive regard, and how does it manifest as compared to conditional positive regard?
Unconditional positive regard is the complete, unqualified acceptance of another person as they are.
This means you are likely to accept and love the person despite disapproval of their actions or intentions, as compared to conditional positive regard, where you might also feel restrained about opening themselves to new ideas or activities for fear of losing someone else’s support.
According to Maslow, what are the characteristics of a self-actualised personality?
- Accurate perception of reality; accept ambiguity
- Independence, creativity, and spontaneity
- Acceptance of themselves and others
- Problem-centered over self-centered outlook
- Enjoyment of life
- Good sense of humur
What are some criticisms of Maslow’s theory on self-actualised personalities?
- It’s based on his own examples, and thus may just reflect characteristics he admired
- Circular reasoning - defined certain people as self-actualized and then inquired what they had in common to decide what “self-actualized” means
What’s the difference between the nomothetic and idiographic approach towards studying personality?
Nomothetic approach seeks broad, general principles of personality based on studies of groups of people.
Idiographic approach concentrates on intensive studies of individuals, looking for what makes someone special.
What is a strong belief in a just world and what are some examples of how it manifest?
People with a strong belief in a just world believe that that life is fair and people usually get what they deserve.
These people are more likely to handle stressful situations well, offer help to someone in distress or seek revenge to restore a sense of justice.
What are some issues in personality measurement?
- Behaviour is not always entirely consistent.
- Self-esteem
