Personality

Question 1

internal locus of control

Answer 1

the perception that you control your own fate.

Question 2

learned helplessness

Answer 2

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.

Question 2

self-esteem

Answer 2

one’s feelings of high or low self-worth.

Question 3

self-serving bias

Answer 3

a readiness to perceive oneself favorably.

Question 4

collective unconscious

Answer 4

Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history.

Question 4

reciprocal determinism

Answer 4

the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment.

Question 4

unconditional positive regard

Answer 4

a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help clients to develop self-awareness and self-acceptance.

Question 5

trait

Answer 5

a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports.

Question 6

self

Answer 6

in contemporary psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Question 6

self-control

Answer 6

the ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards.

Question 6

superego

Answer 6

the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations.

Question 7

narcissism

Answer 7

excessive self-love and self-absorption.

Question 8

Oedipus complex

Answer 8

according to Freud, a boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father.

Question 9

personality inventory

Answer 9

a questionnaire (often with true-false or agreedisagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits.

Question 10

terror-management theory

Answer 10

a theory of death-related anxiety; explores people’s emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death.

Question 11

fixation

Answer 11

according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved.

Question 12

social-cognitive perspective

Answer 12

views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits (including their thinking) and their social context.

Question 13

self-concept

Answer 13

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, “Who am I?”

Question 15

humanistic theories

Answer 15

view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth.

Question 16

spotlight effect

Answer 16

overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us).

Question 17

repression

Answer 17

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness.

Question 17

self-actualization

Answer 17

according to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one’s potential.

Question 19

defense mechanisms

Answer 19

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.

Question 20

id

Answer 20

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.

Question 21

free association

Answer 21

in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing.

Question 23

positive psychology

Answer 23

the scientific study of human functioning, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive.

Question 24

psychosexual stages

Answer 24

the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones.

Question 25

unconscious

Answer 25

according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware.

Question 27

psychodynamic theories

Answer 27

view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences.

Question 28

projective test

Answer 28

a personality test, such as the Rorschach, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics.

Question 29

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

Answer 29

the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes

Question 31

empirically derived test

Answer 31

a test (such as the MMPI) developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups.

Question 32

personal control

Answer 32

the extent to which people perceive control over their environment rather than feeling helpless.

Question 34

identification

Answer 34

the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos.

Question 35

personality

Answer 35

an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Question 36

ego

Answer 36

the largely conscious, “executive” part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.

Question 37

Rorschach inkblot test

Answer 37

the most widely used projective test, a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.

Question 38

psychoanalysis

Answer 38

(1) Sigmund Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; (2) Freud’s therapeutic technique used in treating psychological disorders.

Question 39

external locus of control

Answer 39

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond your personal control determine your fate.