Personality Flashcards
________________ is the unique way in which each individual thinks, acts and feels throughout life.
Personality
______________ refers to value judgments made about a person’s morals or ethical behaviour.
Character
________________ refers to the biologically innate and enduring characteristics with which each person is born, such as irritability or adaptability.
Temperament
Both _____________ and ______________ are vital parts of personality, however they do not fully define personality.
Each adult personality is a combination of _____________ and personal history of social networks, family, culture, environment and the time during which they grew up.
character, temperaments
temperaments
What are the two main approaches to studying personality?
The dispositional approach (descriptive) and the process approach (explanatory).
What is the dispositional approach of studying personality?
Focuses on describing relatively stable personality characteristics by focusing on temperaments, traits and types, which are then used to predict behaviour and to detect similarities or differences.
It is merely descriptive and does not explain why an individual has such personality characteristics.
What is the process approach of studying personality?
It explains how personality develops and changes in terms of internal mental processes (e.g. motivation, emotions, perceptions), development, and social interactions.
Stems from 3 major perspectives: psychodynamic, behavioural and socio-cognitive, and humanistic.
How can temperaments change or vary?
Temperaments can vary based on differences in brain functions, structures and balance of neurotransmitters. They can also change over-time due to self-regulation and regulation of reactivity.
Is shyness an example of a temperamental change?
Yes, it is due to self-regulation which may be caused by negative experiences in social interaction.
______________ are a consistent, enduring way of thinking, feeling, or behaving.
Traits
____________ _______________ are used to describe the key characteristics that make up human behaviour in an effort to predict future behaviour.
Trait theories
A ______________ ________________ is a questionnaire that has a standard list of questions that only requires certain specific answers, such as “yes”, “no,” and “can’t decide.”
personality inventory
One issue that personality inventories face is that it is a form of self-report, what issue can be seen from this?
As they are still a form of self-report, it may lead to the responses being distorted truths or lies, due to the social desirability bias.
Why are personality inventories more objective and reliable than projective tests?
The standard nature of the questions and the lack of open-ended answers make these assessments far more objective and reliable than projective tests.
A ______________ ________________ _______________ is a form of personality assessments that present ambiguous visual stimuli to the client, the client then responds with their interpretation of the visual stimuli.
personality projective test
Raymond Cattell categorised traits into two different forms, ______________ traits, which are personality characteristics easily seen by others, and _____________ traits, which are traits that form the core of one’s personality.
surface, source
What is Raymond Cattell’s 16 personality factor theory?
Cattell used factor analysis (a technique to look for grouping and commonalities in numerical data) to identify 16 source traits (or trait dimensions) amongst 100s of individuals. Cattell then developed the bipolar scale where opposing traits were placed at each end of the scale.
What is the Five-Factor Model or the Big-Five personality inventory?
The Big Five personality traits are a set of five broad personality dimensions that are used to study personality.
What are the five personality dimensions in the Big Five personality inventory?
Openness (Imagination, feelings, actions, ideas)
Conscientiousness (Competence, self-discipline, thoughtfulness, goal-driven)
Extraversion (Sociability, assertiveness, emotional expression)
Agreeableness (Cooperative, trustworthy, good-natured, teamwork-driven)
Neuroticism (Emotional instability)
OCEAN
Can one personality dimension of the Big Five model predict another?
No, they are independent.
What is the MMPI-2?
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory is designed to detect abnormal behaviour or abnormal thinking patterns in personality.
It is typically used in clinical settings for psychological disorders or for psychological resilience for vocational guidance or job screening.
How does the MMPI-2 measure tendencies towards psychological disorders?
It uses a true/false questionnaire to measure 10 clinical traits.
What is MBTI?
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a personality inventory which simplifies human personalities into 16 distinct types.
These types resemble traits, however they exist as distinct categories and not as continuous dimensions. This means that an individual would align to characteristics of one type and not the other.
What is the Barnum-Forer effect?
A common psychological phenomenon whereby individuals give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically to them, yet which are in fact vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people.
How does the Barnum effect apply to the MBTI personality inventory?
The MBTI’s description of the personality types are rather vague and may apply to a wide range of individuals.
________________ __________________ is a field of study devoted to discovering the genetic bases for personality characteristics.
Behavioural genetics
____________________ is how much some trait within a population can be attributed to genetic influences.
Heritability is how much some trait within a population can be attributed to genetic influences.
What have twin studies determined with regards to personality factors?
Monozygotic twins (twins that share 100% of genetic material) were more similar in intelligence, leadership, empathy and assertiveness.
There were also studies that showed the big-five personality factors of monozygotic twins were believed to be about 25% to 50% inherited.
What are the limitations of the dispositional approach for studying personality?
Portrays personality as fixed and static rather than a dynamic process that can undergo changes with developmental change
Oversimplifies describing personality with a limited number of dimensions.
Only describes behaviour, does not fully explain the full range of temperaments and personality traits.
How can self-fulfilling prophecy apply to the dispositional approach in studying personality?
When an individual is given a label, others and themselves might hold expectations based on their label, making it difficult to change behaviours or thinking
What are the strengths of the dispositional approach for studying personality?
Evidence from studies of temperament and heritability of personality traits that support the validity of considering dispositions.
It can explain individual differences given similar environments and also has the ability to predict behaviour in common situations (e.g. in jobs).
What are the 4 main perspectives of personality?
Psychodynamic, behavioural and socio-cognitive, humanistic and trait.
What are the main tenets of the psychodynamic perspective of personality?
People change over time
Past experiences shape who we are
We are not always aware of why we do the things we do
The ______________ ______________ of personality focuses on the role of the unconscious mind in the development of personality, development of abnormal behaviour and psychological disorders.
psychodynamic perspective
The ____________ _____________ of personality focuses on the role of each person’s unique conscious life experiences and choices, and how they influence personality.
humanistic perspective
What is the trait perspective of personality?
Concerned with the characteristics themselves, much like the dispositional approach.
How did Sigmund Freud’s history shape his perspective?
As Freud was born and raised in Europe during the Victorian Age, there was a period of sexual repression. Freud’s focus with sexual explanations for abnormal behaviour seems more understandable in light of his cultural background and that of his patients.
Sigmund Freud believe that the mind was divided into three parts, what were these 3 parts called?
The conscious, preconscious and the unconscious.
What is the unconscious stage of the mind according to Sigmund Freud?
Information not easily or voluntarily brought into consciousness, it was thought to be a part of the mind that remains hidden at all times. For example, manifest content in dreams.
What is the preconscious stage of the mind according to Sigmund Freud?
Information is available but not brought to conscious awareness yet, the information was believe to be just beneath the surface of awareness.
What is the conscious stage of the mind according to Sigmund Freud?
Information that is easily available and in one’s immediate awareness, it also has interactions with the outside world.
Sigmund Freud believed that personalities were divided into three parts, what are the names of these three parts?
Id, superego and ego.
What is the id of the personality according to Sigmund Freud?
It is the first and most primitive part of personality, it exists in the unconscious awareness and is the pleasure-seeking, amoral part of personality existing at birth.
It contains basic biological drives such as hunger, thirst, self-preservation and sex.
The id follows the _____________ ______________, where it functions based on the desire for immediate satisfaction of needs without the regard for consequences.
pleasure principle
According to Sigmund Freud, the ______________ of the personality exists in all stages of consciousness and acts as a moral core or conscience, differentiating between right and wrong. It also produces guilt, or moral anxiety, depending on how acceptable behaviour is.
superego
According to Sigmund Freud, the ______________ of the personality is the executive director between the id and the superego, it engages with reality and is rational and logical under the reality principle.
It attempts to satisfy the demands of the id in ways that does not lead to negative consequences taking consideration of the restrictions put by the superego.
ego
According to Sigmund Freud, what happens when the id and superego is conflicted?
Anxiety is created when the id or superego is conflicted and when it gets out of hand, psychological disorders may develop.
______________ ______________ ______________ are ways of dealing with anxiety through unconsciously distorting one’s perceptions of reality.
Psychological defence mechanisms
How are psychological defence mechanisms useful according to Sigmund Freud?
In order for the three parts of personality (id, superego and ego) to function, the constant conflict among them must be managed. Freud assumed that the defence mechanisms were among the most important tools for dealing with the anxiety caused by this conflict.
What are the 10 types of psychological defence mechanisms?
Denial
Displacement
Projection
Rationalisation
Reaction Formation
Regression
Repression
Sublimation
Identification
Compensation (Substitution)
Do Dogs Play Really Rough? Recently Rough Snoopy Isn’t Cool.