Personality

Question 1

Psychoanalysis

Answer 1

Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

Question 2

Unconscious

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Id

Answer 3

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 4

Ego

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Superego

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Psychosexual stages

Answer 6

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 7

Oedipus complex

Answer 7

A boys sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

Question 8

Identification

Answer 8

The process by which, children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos

Question 9

Fixation

Answer 9

A lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved

Question 10

Defense mechanisms

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Repression

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Psychodynamic theories

Answer 12

Modern day approaches that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences

Question 13

Collective unconscious

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Projective test

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Thematic apperception test

Answer 15

A proven move test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

Question 16

Rorschach ink blot test

Answer 16

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 17

False consensus effect

Answer 17

The tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and our behaviors

Question 18

Terror-management theory

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Humanistic theories

Answer 19

View personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth

Question 20

Self-actualization

Answer 20

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 21

Unconditional positive regard

Answer 21

According to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person

Question 22

Self concept

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Trait

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Personality inventory

Answer 24

A questionnaire on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits

Question 25

Free association

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory

Answer 26

Most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders

Question 27

Empirically derived test

Answer 27

A test developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups

Question 28

Social-cognitive perspective

Answer 28

Views behavior as influenced by the interaction between peoples traits and their social context

Question 29

Behavioral approach

Answer 29

In personality theory, this perspective focused on the effects of learning on our personality development

Question 30

Reciprocal determinism

Answer 30

The interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment

Question 31

Positive psychology

Answer 31

The scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive

Question 32

Self

Answer 32

Assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions

Question 33

Spotlight effect

Answer 33

Overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders

Question 34

Self esteem

Answer 34

One’s feelings of high or low self worth

Question 35

Self-efficacy

Answer 35

One’s sense of competence and effectiveness

Question 36

Self-serving bias

Answer 36

A readiness to perceive oneself favorably

Question 37

Narcissism

Answer 37

Excessive self-love and self-absorption

Question 38

Individualism

Answer 38

Giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

Question 39

Collectivism

Answer 39

Giving priority to the goals of one’s group and defining one’s identity accordingly

Question 40

Sigmund Freud

Answer 40

First to focus clinical attention on the unconscious mind

Question 41

Alfred Adler

Answer 41

Believed that childhood social tensions are crucial for personality formation

Question 42

Karen Horney

Answer 42

Said childhood anxiety triggers desire for love and security

Question 43

Carl Jung

Answer 43

Believes the unconscious is the very source of the creative impulse

Question 44

Abraham Maslow

Answer 44

Proposed we are motivated by a hierarchy of needs, studied healthy people other than clinical cases

Question 45

Carl Rogers

Answer 45

Believed that people are basically good and are endowed with self-actualizing tendencies

Question 46

Robert McCrae

Answer 46

Did work showing where we fall on these dimensions: conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extra version

Question 47

Paul Costa

Answer 47

Helped develop most active personality research topic, best approximation of the basic trait dimensions

Question 48

Albert Bandura

Answer 48

Proposed social cognitive perspective, emphasizes the interaction of our traits with our situations

Question 49

Martin Seligman

Answer 49

Positive psychology; thriving western cultures have a parallel opportunity to create, as a “humane, scientific monument”