Personality Flashcards
anal stage
at around age 1.5 years, children get psychosexual pleasure from sensations of bowel movements
Someone fixed at this stage goes through life “holding things back”, or go the opposite extreme by becoming messy and wasteful
archetypes
vague images that have always been part of the human experience
catharsis
a release of pent-up emotional tension
collective unconscious
present at birth, relates to the cumulative experience of preceding generations. it contains archetypes
defence mechanism
the ego defends itself against anxieties by relegating unpleasant thoughts and impulses to the unconscious mind. Such mechanisms includes: repression, denial, rationalisation, displacement, regression, projection, reaction formation, and sublimation
denial
the refusal to believe unpleasant information. It is an assertion that the information is incorrect
displacement
by diverting a behaviour or though away from its natural target toward a less threatening target, displacement lets people engage in the behaviour with less anxiety
ego
the rational, decion-making aspect of the personality
fixation
the person continues to be preoccupied with the pleasure area associated with one of the 5 stages
genital stage
beginning at puberty, young people take a strong sexual interest in other people
humanistic psychology
it deals with consciousness, values, and abstract beliefs, including spiritual experiences and the beliefs that people live and die for
Id
consists of sexual and other biological drives that demand immediate gratification
ideal self
an image of what they would like to be
individual psychology
a psychology of the person as a whole rather than parts such as id, ego and superego. Adler emphasised the importance of conscious, goal-directed behaviour
inferiority complex
It is an exaggerated feeling of weakness, inadequacy, and helplessness and it is produced due to persistent failures and excessive criticism
latent period
at ages 5 to 6 to adolescence, children suppress their psychosexual interest
libido
psychosexual energy which Freud claims people have
Neo-freudians
psychologists which kept parts of Freud’s theory while modifying other aspects
oedipus complex
every boy goes through this phase which is when a boy develops a sexual interest in his mother and competitive aggression towards his father
oral stage
at birth to the age 1.5 years, the infant derices intense pleasure from stimulation of the mouth, particularly while sucking at the mother’s breast
Someone fixated at this stage continues to receive great pleasure from eating, drinking and smoking and may also have lasting concerns with dependence and independence
personality
it consists of all the consistent ways in which the behaviour of one person differs from that of others, especially in social situations
phallic stage
at around age 3 years, children begin to play with their genitals and become sexually attracted to the opposite sex parent
projection
attributing one’s own undesirable characteristics to other people
psychoanalysis
Freud’s method of explaining and dealing with personality, based on the interplay of conscious and unconscious forces
psychodynamic theory
it relates personality to the interplay of conflicting forces, including unconscious ones, within the individual. That is, internal forces that we do not understand push us or pull us
psychosexual pleasure
it includes all strong, pleasant excitement arising from body stimulation
rationalisation
when people attempt to show that their actions are justifiable
reaction formation
to avoid awareness of some weakness, people use this to present themselves as the opposite of what they really are
regression
a return to a more immature level of functioning. It is an effort to avoid the anxiety of the current situation
repression
it is motivated removal of something to the unconscious
self-actualisation
the achievement of one’s full potential
self-concept
an image of what they really are
social interest
a sense of solidarity and identification with other people that leads to constructive action. Adler believes that people’s needs for one another requires this
striving for superiority
a desire to seek personal excellence and fulfilment. According to Adler, everyone has it naturally
sublimation
the transformation of sexual aggressive energies into culturally acceptable, even admirable behaviour
superego
it contains the memory of rules and prohibitions we learned from our parents and others
transference
you might react to your therapist, or your husband or wife, or other people in a particular way because they remind you of someone else, especially your parents
unconditional positive regard
it is the complete, unqualified acceptance of another person as he or she is
unconscious
a repository of memories, emotions, and thoughts, many of them illogical, that affect our behaviour even though we cannot talk about them.
What are Freud’s psychosexual stages?
Freud believed that many unconscious thoughts and motives are sexual in nature. He proposed that people progress through stages or periods of psychosexual development-oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital-and that frustration at any stage fixates the libido at that stage.
Who is Freud, Jung and Adler?
- Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, proposed that much of what we do and say has hidden meanings. However, most psychologists today doubt most of his interpretations of those hidden meanings
- Carl Jung believed that all people share a collective unconscious that represents the experience of our ancestors.
- Alfred Adler proposed that people’s primary motivation is a striving for superiority. Each person adopts his or her own method of striving, and to understand people, we need to understand their goals and beliefs.
agreeableness
A tendency to be compassionate toward others. It implies a concern for the welfare of other people and it is closely related to Adler’s concept of social interest.
belief in a just world
maintain that life is fair and people usually get what they deserve
Big five personality traits or five-factor model
emotional stability, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to new experience
conscientiousness
A tendency to show self-discipline, to be dutiful, and to strive for achievement and competence
emotional stability
a tendency to minimise unpleasant emotions
extraversion
A tendency to seek stimulation and to enjoy the company of other people
idiographic approach
it concentrates on intensive studies of individuals, looking for what makes someone special
neuroticism
a tendency to experience negative emotions and respond poorly to stressors
nomothetic approach
it seeks broad, general principles of personality based on studies of groups of people
openness to experience
A tendency to enjoy new intellectual experiences and new ideas
self-esteem
the evaluation of one’s own abilities, performance and worth
state
temporary activation of a particular behaviour
trait
consistent tendency in behaviour such as shyness, hostility, or talkativeness
trait approach to personality
people have consistent characteristics in their behaviour
unshared environment
the aspects of the environment that differ from one individual to another, even with a family. It relates to the variation among people’s personalities
What are the 5 major personality traits?
emotionally stability, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to new experiences
What are determinants of personality?
Studies of twins and adopted children indicate that heredity contributes to the observed differences in personality. However, no single gene controls much of the variance. Family environment evidently contributes rather little. Some personality variation relates to an unshared environment, the special experiences that vary from one person to another even within a family.
Personality changes over age
Compared to younger people, older people tend to be higher in conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability. They are somewhat lower in extraversion.Openness to experience decreases with age in most countries.
Personality changes over generations
Measurements of anxiety have gradually increased over the decades so that normal people now report anxiety levels that used to characterise people in mental hospitals. American teenagers today report more desire for wealth than teenagers of the past did, while also reporting less intention to work hard.
what are problems with measurement personality?
personality researchers rely mostly on self-reports, which are not entirely accurate
Barnum Effect
it is the tendency to accept vague descriptions of our personality
implicit personality test
it measures some aspect of your personality without your awareness
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
it consists of true-false questions intended to measure certain personality dimensions, especially for identifying clinical conditions
MMPI-2
it is the second edition of the MMPI
NEO personality inventory revised (NEO PI-R)
it includes 240 items to measure neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness
projective techniques
they are designed to encourage people to project their personality characteristics onto ambiguous stimuli
Rorschach inkblots
a projective technique based on people’s interpretations of 10 ambiguous inkblots
standardised test
it is one that is administered according to rules that specify how to interpret the results
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
the person is asked to make up a story for each picture, describing what event led up to this scene, what is happening now, and what will happen in the future
The assumption is that when you tell a story about someone in the drawing, you probably identify with the person, and so the story is really about yourself
Why do people tend to accept personality test results?
because most people accept almost any interpretation of their personality based on a personality test, and the tests must be carefully scrutinised to ensure that they are measuring what they claim to measure
How do researchers detect lies?
The MMPI and other tests guard against lying by including items about common faults and rare virtues. Anyone who denies common faults or claims rare virtues is probably lying.
What are uses and misuses of personality tests?
Personality tests can help assess personality, but their results should be interpreted cau-tiously. Because the tests are not entirely accurate, a score that seems characteristic of a psychological disorder may occur also in many people without that disorder.
What about criminal personality profiling? Is it accurate?
Some psychologists try to aid police investigations by constructing personality profiles of the kind of person who would commit a certain crime. Research so far suggests low accuracy of personality profiles
