Personality Flashcards
Personality
the unique and relatively stable ways in which people think, feel and behave
Character
value judgments of a person’s moral and ethical behavior
Temperament
the enduring characteristics
Preconscious mind
level of the mind in which information is available but not currently conscious
Conscious mind
level of the mind that is aware of immediate surroundings and perceptions
Unconscious mind
level of the mind in which thoughts, feelings, memories, and other information are kept that are not easily or voluntarily brought into consciousness
Id
part of personality present at birth and completely unconscious
Libido
instinctual energy that may come into conflict with the demands of a society’s standards for behavior
Pleasure principle
principle by which the id functions; the immediate satisfaction of needs without regard for the consequences
Ego
part of the personality that develops out of a need to deal with reality, mostly conscious, rational, and logical
Reality principle
principle by which the ego functions; the satisfaction of the demands of the id only when negative consequences will not result
Superego
part of the personality that acts as a moral center
Ego ideal
part of the superego that contains the standards for moral behavior
Conscience
part of the superego that produces pride or guilt, depending on how well behavior matches or does not match the ego ideal
Defense mechanism
unconscious distortions of a person’s perception of reality that reduce stress and anxiety
Denial
psychological defense mechanism in which the person refuses to acknowledge or recognize a threatening situations
Repression
person refuses to consciously remember a threatening or unacceptable event, instead of pushing those events into the unconscious mind
Rationalization
person invents acceptable excuses for unacceptable behavior
Projection
unacceptable or threatening impulses or feelings are seen as originating with someone else, usually the target of the impulses or feelings
Reaction formation
a person forms an opposite emotional or behavioral reaction to the way he or she really feels to keep those true feelings hidden from self and others
Displacement
redirecting feelings from a threatening target to a less threatening one
Regression
a person falls back on childlike patterns of responding in reaction to stressful situations
Identification
a person tries to become like someone else to deal with anxiety
Compensation (substitution)
a person makes up for inferiorities in one area by becoming superior in another area
Sublimation
channeling socially unacceptable impulses and urges into socially acceptable behavior
Psychosexual stages
five stages of personality development proposed by Freud and tied to the sexual development of the child