Personality Flashcards
Personality
the long-standing traits and patterns that propel individuals to consistently think, feel, and behave in specific ways.
hstorical perspectives of the personality
Hippocrates, Galen, Franz Gall, Emmanuel Kant, Wilhem Wundt
personnality according to Wundt
1 emotional / non-emotional
2. Changeable/Unchangeable
psychodynamic perspectives (Freud)
unconscious drives influences by sex, agression and childhood sexuality influence personality
Unconscious
mental activity that we are unaware of and are unable to access.
Freudian slip
Freud suggested that slips of the tongue (saying a word you did not intend to say) are sexual/aggressive urges accidently slipping out of our unconscious.
competing forces that forms personality
1.Biological aggressive and pleasure-seeking drives.
2.Internal (socialized) control over these pleasure-seeking drives.
Id
Contains primitive urges (for hunger, thirst, and sex).
Impulsive, instinctual.
Operates on the ”pleasure principle” – seeks immediate gratification.
Superego
Develops through interactions with others, learning social rules for right and wrong.
Moral compass that tells us how we should behave based on rules..
Strives for perfection.
Judges behavior - leads to feelings of pride or guilt.
ego (self)
Attempts to balance the id with the superego.
Rational
Operates on the “reality principle” – helps the id satisfy desires in a realistic way.
The part of the personality seen by others.
effects of Id and ego on personality
Balanced id and superego → healthy personality.
Imbalanced id and superego → neurosis (tendency to experience negative emotions), anxiety disorders, or unhealthy behaviors.
defense mechanism function
- Unconscious protective behaviors that work to reduce anxiety.
- Used by the ego to restore balance between the id and superego.
- Freud believed them to be used by everyone but that overuse could be problematic.
stages of psychosexual development
oral stage (birth - 1yo), anal stage (1-3yo), phallic stage (3-6yo), latency stage (6-12yo), genital stage (12+)
oral stage
erogenous zone is mouth, pleasure from eating and sucking, major conflict is being weaned from bottle or breast, adult fixation is smoking, overeating and nail biting
anal stage
Erogenous zone – anus.
Pleasure – from bowel and bladder movements.
Major conflict – toilet training.
Adult fixation – anal-retentive personality (stingy, stubborn, need for order and neatness), anal-expulsive personality (messy, careless, disorganized, prone to emotional outbursts).