Personality

Question 1

Personality

Answer 1

The unique characteristics that account for our enduring patterns of inner experience (e.g., thoughts and feelings) and outward behavior.

Question 2

Consistency/distinctness

Answer 2

We want to explain why people are the way they are, in the sense that they are different/unique from others, over time

Question 3

Psychodynamic perspective

Psychodynamism, psychoanalysis
By Sigmund Freud

Answer 3

Argument that personality forms as a result of the tension between primal (often socially unacceptable) needs and social and moral restraints

Question 4

Conscious mind

Answer 4

Thoughts and feelings (things that are available in the present)

Question 5

Preconscious mind

Answer 5

Knowledge and memories (information and feelings that’s re not presently conscious, that can be recalled)

Question 6

Unconscious mind

Answer 6

Fears, unconscious motives, selfish needs, unpleasant experiences, undesirable urges, immoral sexual desires

Question 7

Id

Answer 7

• instinctual desires and needs (e.g. sleeping, eating, sex, comfort) fed by libido
• impulses governed by the pleasure principle
• childlike, immature
• resides mostly int he unconscious mind

Question 8

Pleasure principle

Answer 8

The demand for immediate gratification of it’s urges

Question 9

Ego

Answer 9

• develops as we grow and learn our impulses cannot always be satisfied
• impulses governed but the reality principle
• rational, problem solving voice
• content resides in both conscious and unconscious mind

Question 10

Reality principle

Answer 10

The delay of gratification of the id’s urges until appropriate outlets and situations can be found

Question 11

Superego

Answer 11

• develops as we grow and internalize values, morals, norms, and etiquettes displayed in people’s behaviours
• impulses governed but he morality principle
• conscience or parent voice
• content resides in both conscious and unconscious mind

Question 12

5 Psychosexual stages

What are the 2 drives most constrained by society?

Answer 12

Oral = weaning
Anal = toilet training
Phallic = attraction to opposite sex parent (e.g castration anxiety and penis envy)
Latency = repression of sexual impulses; identification with same sex parent
Genital = sexual maturation

Sexuality and agression

Question 13

Fixations

Answer 13

Result of unresolved psychic energy

Question 14

Defence mechanisms

Answer 14

Unconscious tactics of redirecting energy fixated by unresolved conflict between Id (impulse) and Superego (guilt)

Question 15

Name defence mechanisms (8) and a short description (By Freud)

(Taken from pp 442)

Answer 15

Repression: keeping distressing feelings and thoughts in the unconscious

Projection: attributing one’s own thoughts, feelings or motives (usually one that would make you feel guilty) to another (e.g. a woman who dislikes her boss thinks she likes her boss but her boss doesn’t like her)

Displacement: diverting emotional feelings (usually anger) from their original source to a substitute target (taking it out on someone else)

Reaction formation: behaving the exact opposite way as one truly feels

Regression: a reversion to immature ways of behaving

Rationalization: creating false but false but plausible excuses to justify unacceptable behaviour

Identification: bolstering self-esteem by forming an imaginary or real alliance with someone or some group

Sublimation: occurs when unconscious, unacceptable impulses are channeled into socially acceptable, perhaps even admirable, behaviours

Question 16

Neo-Freudians

Answer 16

Psychoanalysts who revised and expanded Freudian concepts

Question 17

Alfred Alder

Answer 17

Argued social needs and conscious thought are more important than sexual needs and unconscious motivations

Believed innate feelings or inferiority and how people mask it or compensate for it

Defines need for power as a motivation for behaviour

Question 18

Carl Jung

Answer 18

Agreed with importance of the unconscious, but argues for collective unconscious

Agreed with sexual and agression drives, but argued for positive drives as well (e.g. for harmony within self, creativity, joy)

Question 19

Situationist

Answer 19

Idea that personality is comprised of response tendencies to situational cues

Personality is the culmination of learned behaviours, which in the past helped you acquire your incentives or avoid negative outcomes

Question 20

Interactionism

Answer 20

Personality is shaped by the interactions made between the person and the environment

Question 21

Self efficacy

Answer 21

Confidence in ability to succeed

Introduced by Albert Bandura

Question 22

Self-fulfilling prophesy

Answer 22

Textbook def

Question 23

Reciprocal determinism

Answer 23

The idea that internal mental events, external environmental events, and overt behaviour all influence one another

Question 24

Humanistic perspective

Answer 24

Personality perspective which emphasizes human potential, consciousness, free will, resilience, perseverance and other positive qualities

Question 25

Self-actualisation

Answer 25

The need to reach a state with the full use of ones capacities, talents, and potentialities

By Abraham Maslow

Question 26

Self-concept

Answer 26

Pattern of self perception that remains consistent over time and can be used to characterize an individual

By Carl Rogers

Question 27

Unconditional positive regard

Answer 27

What young children need, especially when unrealistic or harsh conditions of worth are learned (especially when young), it results in maladaptive behaviours associated with disjointed self-concept.

By Carl Rogers

Question 28

Personality traits

Answer 28

Domains of general disposition that lead to relatively consistent behavioural tendencies across situations

In line with physical traits, genetic traits, etc. But personality traits don’t guarantee consistent behaviour

Question 29

Gordon Allport

Answer 29

Identified personality types

Question 30

Hans Eysenck

Answer 30

Argued that our biology influences personality, manifested as traits

Created the Eysenck Personality Questionaire

Question 31

What is the precedent for personality research ever since?

Answer 31

Hans Eysenck and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire

Question 32

What are the superfactors identified in the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire? Briefly explain each one

Answer 32

Extroversion
High = enjoy interacting, outgoing, sociable
Low = enjoy alone time, thoughtful, passive

Neuroticism: degree to which a person experiences negative emotions
High = mentally unstable, dissatisfaction, frustration, annoyance
Low = emotionally stable, calm, slow to anger

Psychoticism: degree to which a person is vulnerable to psychoses (perceived reality is different from actual experience - hallucinations, delusions, etc)

Question 33

The Five-Factor Model (“The Big 5”)

Answer 33

5 continuums that define personality

Extroversion - Introversion
Agreeableness - Disagreeableness
Conscientiousness - Irresponsibility
Neuroticism - Emotional Stability
Openness to experience - Unimaginative

Question 34

Give 4 brain structures that regulate behavioural tendencies according to the biological perspective

Answer 34

1. Amygdala: emotional volatility, motivation, processing negative stimuli (fear, avoidance)
   Sensitive = heightened response, over-stimulation, potentially shy
   Insensitive = lessened response, de-stimulation, potential lack of fear
2. Hemisphere dominance
   Right hemisphere = more negative emo, withdrawal, sad, distress
   Left hemisphere = more positive, engaged, optimistic
3. Neurotransmitter activity
   High dopamine and pleasure
   Low serotonin and depression
4. Hormones and stress
   Cortisol and adrenal cortex

Question 35

Give 3 differences in personality

Answer 35

Gender difference: Social Role Theory - many “differences” are learned behaviours associated with gender roles that receive reinforcement when acted and vary by culture

Cultural difference

Socio-economic status (SES): suggests that environnemental opportunities interact with personality in an accommodating or maladaptive way