Personality Flashcards
Agreeableness
Dimension of personality associated with being accepting, willing to work with others, and caring
Cognitive processes
work with life narratives to shape natural interactions between a storyteller and listener, helping organize life stories
Conscientiousness
Dimension of personality in which people tend to be hard-working, ambitious, energetic, scrupulous, and persevering
Dispositional trait
A relatively stable, enduring aspect of personality
Ego development
Development in ego functioning and maturity. Moving from one stage to another depends on both internal biological shifts and external social changes.
Epigenetic principal
In Erikson’s theory, the notion that development is guided by an underlying plan in which certain issues have their own particular times of importance
Extraversion
Personality trait dimension associated with the tendency to thrive on social interaction, to like to talk, to take charge easily, to readily express opinions and feelings, to keep busy, to have boundless energy, and to prefer stimulating and challenging environments
Life narrative
The aspects of personality that pull everything together, those integrative aspects that give a person an identity or sense of self
Life-span construct
In Whitbourne’s theory of identity, the way people build a perspective of who they are
Midlife correction
Reevaluating one’s roles and dreams and making the necessary corrections
Neuroticism
Personality trait dimension associated with the tendency to be anxious, hostile, self-conscious, depressed, impulsive, and vulnerable
Openness to experience
Personality dimension that reflects a tendency to have a vivid imagination and dream life, an appreciation of art, and a strong desire to try anything once
Personal concerns
Things that are important to people, their goals, and their major concerns in life
Personality adjustment
Involves developmental changes in terms of their adaptive value and functionality such as functioning effectively within society and how personality contributes to everyday life running smoothly
Possible selves
Aspects of the self-concept involving oneself in the future in both positive and negative ways
Self-concept
The organized, coherent, integrated pattern of self-perceptions
Self-regulatory processes
works with personal concerns to set expectations
Spiritual support
Includes seeking pastoral care, participating in organized and nonorganized religious activities, and expressing faith in a God who cares for people as a key factor in understanding how older adults cope
State processes
personality aspects that acts with dispositional traits to create transient, short-term changes in emotion, mood, hunger, anxiety, and the like
Trait
Any distinguishable, relatively enduring way in which one individual differs from others
Trait theories
Theories of personality that assume little change occurs across adulthood
Personality growth
growth in aspects of personality like greater self-awareness, wisdom, and integrity
