Personality Flashcards
What are the three levels of personality analysis?
- Human Nature (Like all other persons): Universal psychological traits (e.g., need to belong).
- Individual and Group Differences (Like some other persons):
-Individual Differences: Variations in traits (e.g., extraversion levels).
-Group Differences: Cultural and demographic trends (e.g., gender differences in aggression).
- Individual Uniqueness (Like no other person): -Unique personal qualities (e.g., specific way of expressing love).
What are the four ways personality interacts with the environment?
- Perceptions: How individuals interpret the world (e.g., a friendly gesture may be seen as genuine or manipulative).
- Selections: Choosing environments based on personality (e.g., extraverts choosing social careers).
- Evocations: Unintended reactions personality traits elicit from others (e.g., dominance causing others to submit).
- Manipulations: Intentional influence over others (e.g., using charm or coercion).
What are the four main sources of personality data?
- Self-Report Data (S-Data): Information individuals provide about themselves (e.g., questionnaires, interviews).
- Observer-Report Data (O-Data): Personality assessments by others (e.g., peers, professionals).
- Test Data (T-Data): Standardized testing and experiments (e.g., reaction time tasks, physiological tests).
- Life-Outcome Data (L-Data): Real-world outcomes linked to personality (e.g., job success, criminal records).
What are common issues in personality assessment?
Honesty: Social desirability bias in self-reports.
Reactivity: Participants altering behavior when aware of being tested.
Observer Bias: Subjectivity in observer ratings.
Context Dependence: Traits may vary across different situations (e.g., work vs. home).
What is reliability in personality measurement?
Reliability refers to the consistency of a measurement. Types include:
- Test-Retest Reliability: Consistency over time.
- Internal Consistency Reliability: Consistency across test items.
- Inter-Rater Reliability: Agreement among multiple observers.
What is validity in personality measurement?
Validity determines whether a test measures what it claims to. Types include:
Content Validity: The extent to which test items represent the entire construct.
Predictive Validity: The ability of a test to predict future outcomes (e.g., IQ predicting academic success).
Construct Validity: Whether the test actually measures the intended personality trait.
What is generalizability in personality research?
Generalizability refers to how well personality measures apply across different:
-People: Cultures, genders, age groups.
-Situations: Home, work, different social settings.
What are the three main research designs in personality psychology?
- Experimental Methods:
Manipulation of an independent variable (IV).
Randomization ensures group equivalence.
Example: Studying whether high stress increases neuroticism.
- Correlational Studies:
Examining relationships between traits without manipulation.
Example: Investigating the link between conscientiousness and job performance.
- Case Studies:
In-depth studies of individuals.
Example: Studying a person with an unusual personality disorder
Who was Sigmund Freud?
-Born in 1856 in Freiberg, Moravia (now the Czech Republic).
-Studied medicine in Vienna, specializing in neurology.
-Influenced by Jean-Martin Charcot’s hypnosis studies.
-Developed psychoanalytic theory, emphasizing unconscious processes.
-Published The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), marking the start of his theories.
What are the fundamental assumptions of psychoanalytic theory?
- Psychic Energy: All mental processes stem from a fixed amount of psychic energy.
- Basic Instincts:
- Eros (Libido): Life and pleasure-driven forces.
- Thanatos: Death and aggression-driven forces. - Unconscious Motivation:
- Conscious: Thoughts we are aware of.
- Preconscious: Thoughts we can retrieve.
- Unconscious: Hidden, repressed desires and fears.
Eg. A person unaware of childhood trauma but experiencing anxiety may have repressed unconscious memories affecting behavior.
What is psychic determinism?
- Nothing happens by chance; all behaviors are determined by unconscious motives.
• Freudian Slips: Accidental speech errors revealing unconscious thoughts.
• Unconscious conflicts manifest as mental disorders (e.g., repressed guilt leading to compulsions).
What are the three structures of personality in Freud’s theory?
- Id (Pleasure Principle):
• Unconscious, primitive desires.
• Immediate gratification of needs (e.g., hunger, aggression). - Ego (Reality Principle):
• Balances the id’s desires with societal norms.
• Uses rational strategies (secondary thinking). - Superego (Moral Compass):
• Internalized societal values and rules.
• Guilt and pride stem from the superego’s influence.
Eg. Seeing money fall from someone’s pocket creates an internal conflict:
• Id: “Take it!”
• Superego: “That’s stealing!”
• Ego: “Return it; you’d feel guilty if you didn’t.”
What are the three structures of personality in Freud’s theory?
- Id (Pleasure Principle):
• Unconscious, primitive desires.
• Immediate gratification of needs (e.g., hunger, aggression). - Ego (Reality Principle):
• Balances the id’s desires with societal norms.
• Uses rational strategies (secondary thinking). - Superego (Moral Compass):
• Internalized societal values and rules.
• Guilt and pride stem from the superego’s influence.
Eg. Seeing money fall from someone’s pocket creates an internal conflict:
• Id: “Take it!”
• Superego: “That’s stealing!”
• Ego: “Return it; you’d feel guilty if you didn’t.”
What are Freud’s three types of anxiety?
- Objective Anxiety: Real external threats (e.g., fear of an attacker in a dark alley).
- Neurotic Anxiety: Inner conflict between the id and ego (e.g., feeling guilty for aggressive thoughts).
- Moral Anxiety: Conflict between ego and superego (e.g., intense guilt for minor moral lapses).
What are Freud’s defense mechanisms?
- Repression: Pushing unpleasant memories or urges into the unconscious (e.g., forgetting a traumatic event).
- Denial: Refusing to acknowledge reality (e.g., a smoker insisting smoking isn’t harmful).
- Displacement: Redirecting negative feelings onto a safer target (e.g., yelling at a friend after a bad day at work).
- Rationalization: Creating logical reasons for unacceptable behavior (e.g., failing an exam and blaming the professor).
- Reaction Formation: Acting opposite to unconscious desires (e.g., being overly nice to someone you dislike).
- Projection: Attributing personal flaws to others (e.g., accusing others of being dishonest when you are).
- Sublimation: Channeling unacceptable urges into socially acceptable activities (e.g., aggressive tendencies redirected into sports).
What are Freud’s psychosexual stages?
- Oral Stage (0-18 months):
• Pleasure from sucking, biting.
• Fixation → Nail biting, smoking, excessive dependency. - Anal Stage (18 months-3 years):
• Control over elimination (toilet training).
• Fixation → Obsessive cleanliness or extreme messiness. - Phallic Stage (3-5 years):
• Awareness of gender differences.
• Oedipus Complex (boys): Desire for mother, fear of father’s punishment (castration anxiety).
• Electra Complex (girls): Penis envy, identifying with the mother. - Latency Stage (6 years-puberty):
• Dormant sexual impulses.
• Focus on school, friendships, and skill-building. - Genital Stage (Puberty-adulthood):
• Maturation of sexual interests.
• Ability to form healthy relationships.
What is psychoanalysis?
-A therapeutic method designed to bring unconscious conflicts to awareness and resolve them.
What techniques did Freud use to access the unconscious?
- Free Association: Saying whatever comes to mind without censorship.
- Dream Analysis:
• Manifest Content: The actual storyline of a dream.
• Latent Content: The hidden meaning behind the dream. - Projective Techniques:
• Rorschach Inkblot Test: Interpreting ambiguous inkblots.
• Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): Creating stories from pictures to reveal unconscious thoughts.
What are Freud’s key contributions to psychology?
• Introduced the concept of the unconscious mind shaping behavior.
• Developed talk therapy, the foundation for modern psychotherapy.
• Influenced theories on childhood development and personality structure.
• Created widely used concepts like defense mechanisms and psychosexual stages.
What are the major criticisms of Freud’s theory?
- Lack of Scientific Evidence:
• Based on case studies, not empirical research.
• Concepts (e.g., Oedipus Complex) are difficult to test. - Overemphasis on Sexuality:
• Critics argue childhood is not solely driven by sexual urges. - Bias and Unrepresentative Sample:
• Many patients were upper-class women in Vienna. - Deterministic View of Personality:
• Freud suggested personality is set by age 5, ignoring later development. - Limited View of Women:
• Freud’s ideas (e.g., penis envy) are considered outdated and sexist.
How does Freud’s theory influence modern psychology?
• Although not widely used in scientific research, psychoanalysis influenced modern psychodynamic theories.
• Concepts like unconscious motivations, childhood experiences, and talk therapy are still relevant today.
• While some ideas are outdated, Freud laid the foundation for personality psychology and psychotherapy.
