Personality Flashcards
Personality
A person’s enduring general style of dealing with others and with the world around them
Psychodynamic
A psychological approach based on Freudian concepts (i.e. unconscious), with more modern ideas
Id
The source of metal energy and drive; encompasses all of the basic human needs and desires, includiding those for food and sex (pleasure principle)
Superego
The internal representation of all society’s rules, morals, and obligations
Ego
The part of the mind that allows a person to function in the environment and be logical; reality principle
Repression
The process by which memories or desires that provoke too much anxiety to deal with are pushed to the unconscious
Displacement
A defense mechanism that directs anger away from the source of the anger to a less threatening person or object
Reaction function
Ego reverses the direction of a disturbing desire to make the desire safer or more socially acceptable
Compensation
Making up for families in one area through success in others
Rationalization
Creating logical excuses for emotional or irrational behavior
Regression
Reverting to childish behaviors
Denial
The refusal to acknowledge or accept unwanted beliefs or actions
Sublimation
The channeling or redirecting of sexual or aggressive feelings into a more socially acceptable outlet
Karen Horney
Basic anxiety is a central theme in childhood
Carl Jung
The mind comprises pairs of opposing forces
Persona
The mask that a person presents to the outside world
Shadow
The deep, passionate inner person
Personal unconsciousness
Comprised of repressed memories and clusters of throughout
Collective unconscious
Stored shared sense of universal experiences common to all
Archetypes
The behaviors and memories in the collective unconscious
Inferiority complex
Hidden feelings of inferiority by flaunted superficial indicators of superiority such as wealth, status, and good luck
Humanistic theories
Emphasizes the uniqueness and richness of being human
Self-concept (Carl rogers)
Our mental representation of who we feel we truly are
Incongruencias
Discrepancies between our self-concept and our actual thoughts and behaviors
Collectivistic culture
Stresses the importance of community
Individualistic cultures
Prioritizes personal independence and autonomy
Self-efficiency
A person’s beliefs about his or her own abilities in a given situation
Internal locus of control
Believe that success or failures are a direct result of their efforts
External locus of control
Are more likely to attribute success or failure to luck or change
Big five personality traits
Introversion-extroversion, neuroticism-stability, agreeableness-antagonism, conscientiousness-undirectedness, and openness-nonopenness
Nomothetic traits
Universal traits
Idiographic traits
Traits that are unique to the individual
Cardinal traits (Allport)
Traits that override a person’s whole being
Central traits (Allport)
The primary characteristics of the person
Secondary traits (Allport)
Traits that constitute interests
Surface traits
Traits readily seen in the individual
Self concept
How we view ourselves
Self-esteem
How much we value ourselves
Temperament
The early appearing set of individual difference sin reaction and regulation that form the nucleus of personality
