Personality And Attitudes Flashcards
What truly defines our individuality?
Personality
What encompasses one’s characteristic patterns of feelings, thoughts, motivations and behaviours that make him or her unique?
Personality
Does personality change through life?
Remains fairly consistent
What does personality do to one’s actions?
Guides their choices
What are the six major theories of personality’s effect on behaviour?
1) humanistic
2) psychoanalytic
3) trait
4) social cognitive
5) behaviourist
6) biological
Who influenced the psychoanalytic theory of personality?
Sigmund Freud
What does the psychoanalytic theory of personality emphasise?
Emphasises the dynamic interaction between the conscious and the unconscious mind on the development of personality and the discourse of behaviour
Where did Freud believe that human personality arose from?
Conflict
What is conflict according to Freud?
The struggle between our pleasure seeking, aggressive, biological impulses and our internalised social restraints
What components did Freud organise the components of conflict into?
The id, ego, and superego
What is the id?
Unorganised and operates entirely unconsciously, constantly seeking to relieve tension associated with hunger, sex, aggression, and other primal urges
According to what function does the id operate under?
Pleasure principle
What is the pleasure principle?
It seeks immediate gratification regardless of external factors or consequences
What is the ego?
It operates both unconsciously and consciously to compromise realistically with the ID and the outside world
According to what principle does the ego work under?
Reality principle
What is the reality principle?
Delaying immediate gratification in order to way its costs and benefits appropriately
Is the superego conscious or unconscious?
Unconscious
Does the ID operate consciously or unconsciously?
Unconscious
Does the ego operate consciously or unconsciously
Both
What does the superego do?
Develops a sense of conscience (moral compass) that forces the id’s desires to be met not only realistically, but also morally
What does the superego do to actions?
Judges them
What types of feelings is the superego responsible for?
Positive and negative
Oftentimes the id’s impulsive demands oppose the superegos restraining demands, what does this cause the ego to act as?
Executive mediator
What image is used to illustrate the interaction between the id, ego and superego?
Iceberg
Freud argued that the id, ego, and superego are continually in ____ with one another.
Conflict
If The conflict between the id, ego, and superego is not made effectively by the ego, what does this generate?
Anxiety
Freud postulated that when the ego feels it’s self succumbing to the internal struggle, the ego protects itself via?
Defense mechanism
What are defence mechanisms?
Tactics that redirect or reduce conflict and anxiety by distorting reality
Do defense mechanisms operate on the conscious or unconscious?
Unconscious
What is it called when a repressed impulse comes to the surface?
Freudian slip
What is repression?
Pushing unacceptable and anxiety inducing thoughts or impulses into the unconscious
Is repression done consciously or unconsciously?
Unconsciously
What is regression?
Returning to an earlier stage of development when faced with unacceptable impulses or realities
What are the eight defense mechanism?
Repression, regression, reaction formation, rationalisation, denial, displacement, projection, sublimation
What is reaction formation?
Replacing anxiety inducing impulses with their opposites
What is rationalisation?
Supplying false, yet believable explanations to justify inappropriate behaviours or realities
What is denial?
Refusing to believe or acknowledge that an anxiety provoking reality exists
What is displacement?
Redirecting impulses to be less threatening or more acceptable target
What is projection?
Disguising one’s own unacceptable impulses or feelings by attributing them to others
What is sublimation?
Substituting unacceptable impulses with socially acceptable behaviours
What stages did Freud propose that personality developed through?
Psychosexual stages
What are the psychosexual stages?
Stages in which the pleasure seeking impulses of the id become focused onto pleasure sensitive body parts
What are pleasure sensitive areas of the body?
Erogenous zones
What is libido?
The psychosexual sexual energy that drives impulses and behaviours
What are the five psychosexual stages?
Oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital
According to the psychosexual stages, when does a normal personality result?
Results if psychosexual stages are completed successfully
If any conflict remains unresolved during a particular psychosexual stage, what can occur?
Fixation
What is fixation ?
The persistent focus of libido to the stage that is unresolved
How long is the oral stage of Freud’s psychosexual stages?
From birth to around 18 months
What is the oral stage of psychosexual stages characterised by?
A time where the infants primary source of interaction occurs through the mouth
What behaviours is the infant focused on during the oral stage of the psychosexual stages?
Sucking and rooting (finding the nipple)
What is the major problem of the oral stage? What does too little or too much of this result in?
Weaning; too much or too little oral gratification from weaning at an improper time can result in oral fixation
What types of behaviours are oral fixations suggested to predict?
Eating, drinking, smoking, or nail biting
During what age does the anal phase occur of the psychosexual stages of personality occur?
18 and 36 months of age
What is the anal stage of the psychosexual stages of personality?
The time where the libidos primary focus is pleasure associated with bowel and bladder elimination
What is the major conflict during the anal stage of the psychosexual stages of personality?
Toilet training
What does successful completion of toilet training in the anal stage of the psychosexual stages of personality lead to?
Develops control and independence
What traits are developed from successful completion of toilet training?
Creativity, competence, and productivity
In the anal stage of the psychosexual stages of personality, Freud contends that too lenient societal pressure from parents can lead to what type of personality?
Anal expulsive personality–the person is disorganised and destructive
In the anal stage of the psychosexual stages of personality, Freud contends that too stringent societal pressure from parents can lead to what type of personality?
Anal retentive personality–the individual is obsessive and controlling
During what ages does the phallic stage last?
Ages 3 to 6
What shift is the phallic stage characterised by?
A libidinal shift in focus to the genitals
During which of the psychosexual stages of personality does the Oedipus complex develop?
Phallic stage
During which of the psychosexual stages of personality does the Electra complex develop?
Phallic stage
What is the Oedipus complex?
Boys develop unconscious sexual desires for their mothers while simultaneously developing jealousy and hatred for their fathers
What is the Electra complex?
Girls develop unconscious sexual desires for their fathers while simultaneously developing jealousy and hatred for their mothers
What does the child do with the desires of developing the Electra or Oedipus complex? What do they replace this with?
Represses the threatening feelings while identifying with the same sex parent as part of the coping strategy
What is the phallic stage crucial in developing?
Gender identity
What is gender identity?
The sense of being male or female
What might a phallic fixation result in?
Overindulgence or avoidance of sex as well as weak or confused gender identity
During what years is the latency phase?
From age 6 to puberty
What is the latent stage characterised by?
A period of ego and super ego development as well as libido suppression
During what stage of the psychosexual stages of personality do individuals Focus on hobbies and interests while their sexual feelings typically lie dormant?
Latency stage
During what years is the genital stage?
From puberty onward
What is the genital stage of the psychosexual stages of personality characterized by?
Maturation and intensification of sexual interests, generally aimed at members of the opposite sex
What is the primary libidinal focus during the final psychosexual stage?
The genitals
Which psychoanalytic stage is the most widely known and controversial?
Freud’s psychosexual stages of personality
What types of theories focus on the different ways normal, healthy people utilise free will to develop personality and strive for self realisation and self-determination?
Humanistic theories
What two American psychologists are responsible for humanistic theories?
Carl rogers and Abraham Maslow
What do humanistic theories focus on?
One’s ability to think consciously and rationally while acting with self control
According to Maslow, what governs our motivations?
Hierarchy of needs
What is our greatest need according to Maslow?
Self actualisation
What is self actualisation?
Fulfilling our potential and finding purpose
According to carl rogers, what three environmental conditions are required to promote one’s growth successfully?
Genuineness, acceptance, and empathy
What does genuineness allow for one to do?
Be transparent with his or her feelings
What does acceptance do?
Fosters and attitude unconditional positivity that teaches self-worth despite individual shortcomings
What is empathy allow people to do?
Share and understand each other feelings
What did Carl Rogers believe that a fundamental aspect of personality is?
Self concept
What is self concept?
All the feelings, thoughts, beliefs, and perceptions that a person has about himself or herself
Does one’s self concept generally match or not match reality?
Does not match reality which affects personality
What is congruence in self concept?
A fairly accurate fit between one’s self concept in reality
What does congruence in self concept result in?
Results in a positive self-concept and a satisfied personality with positive perceptions and intentions
When does incongruence in self concept occur?
Occurs when self concept differs from reality
What does incongruence result in?
Negative self concept and anxiety
What types of personalities are associated with negative self concept?
Insecure, dissatisfied, and unhappy
Are psychoanalytic theories mostly positive or negative?
Negative
Are humanistic theories mostly positive or negative?
Positive
Are trait theories mostly positive or negative?
Neither, are generally neutral
What do you treat theories describe personality in terms of?
Traits
What are traits?
Relatively stable characteristics that predictably guide behaviour
What are the four main trait theories?
1) Allport’s trait theory
2) cattell’s 16 personality factor questionnaire
3) eyesenck’s 3 dimensions of personality
4) the big five factor theory
What is Allport’s trait theory?
Allport took 4500 personality describing words and classified them into three levels of traits: cardinal traits, central traits, and secondary traits
What are the three levels of traits in Allport’s theory?
Cardinal traits
Central traits
Secondary traits
What are examples of Cardinal traits?
Altruism and ambition
What do cardinal traits do?
Dominate an individual’s life and shape his or her behaviour
When do you cardinal traits develop in life and shape his or her behaviour?
Later in life
What traits from Allport’s trait theory characterise the most evident and persistent traits in personality?
Cardinal traits
What are examples of central traits?
Honesty and kindness
Which are more dominant, Cardinal traits or central traits?
Cardinal traits
What are the general characteristics found in varying degrees from person to person?
Central traits
What type of traits are the basic foundation of personality?
Central traits
What are examples of secondary traits?
Stage fright and love of the outdoors
What traits only present themselves under specific circumstances?
Secondary traits
What type of traits refer to the detailed, less obvious aspects of one’s personality?
Secondary traits
How did Cattell’s 16 personality factor questionnaire build on Allport’s trait theory?
Cattell Took Allport’s comprehensive list of 4500 traits and narrowed it down to 16 Key personality traits
In what two ways did cattell narrow down 4500 traits into 16 traits?
Eliminated uncommon traits and used factor analysis
What is factor analysis?
A statistical technique that identifies clusters of test items and combines them
What did Eysenck’s 3 dimensions of personality theory focus on what three universal traits?
Extroversion – introversion, emotional stability – instability (neuroticism), and psychoticism
What is extraversion?
Describes ones tendency to focus more attention on other people and the environment
What is introversion?
Describes ones tendency to focus on inner experiences
What is emotional stability?
Once tendency to maintain constant emotion or mood
What is emotional instability?
Where one tends to become easily upset or emotional
What is another name for emotional instability?
Neuroticism
What is psychoticism?
Refers to an individuals difficulty in dealing with reality
What type of person might be considered manipulative, antisocial, nonempathetic, or hostile?
Psychotic
Of Eysenck’s three universal traits, which two have varying degrees of the trait and which are either present or absent?
People naturally have varying degrees of extraversion – introversion and emotional stability – instability but not varying levels of psychoticism
Depending on the combination of one’s extraversion – introversion and emotional stability – instability, his or her personality is characterised as one of what four traits? What do these mean?
1) melancholic (unhappy and depressed)
2) choleric (angry and hot tempered)
3) phlegmatic (dull and unemotional)
4) sanguine ( passionate and cheerful)
What does the big five factor theory postulate?
There are five core traits that interact to produce human personality
What are the five traits of the big five factor theory?
Openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism
What does OCEAN stand for in the big five factor theory?
The five traits Openness Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism
What is the most excepted and researched theory of personality?
Big Five Factor theory
What do social cognitive theories of personality emphasise?
Emphasise the collaboration between an individual’s traits and his or her current situation
What does the social aspect of the social cognitive theory posit?
Humans learn many of their behaviours through traditional conditioning or observing and imitating those around them
What does the cognitive aspect of the social cognitive theory posit?
Posits that our thoughts and perceptions concerning a particular situation affect our behaviour
What are reciprocal determinisms?
Behaviour is influenced by and influences one’s social environment and cognitive processes
Social cognitive theory is emphasise the individuals sense of what control?
Personal control
What is personal control?
Whether the individual believes that he or she controls or is controlled by the environment
What is and internal locus of control?
People who believe that they control their own fate
What is an external locus of control?
People who believe that chance or external factors decide their fate
Regardless of one’s internal or external perception of control, if one consistently experiences disheartening events in which they have no control, one begins passively to accept defeat in a phenomena called?
Learned helplessness
What do behaviourist theories of personality explain?
Explain personality through learning and suggest that personality results from an individual interacting with his or her environment
How do behaviourist theorists Believe that internal thoughts or emotions affect personality?
They do not believe that internal thoughts or emotions affect personality
Who is considered one of the founders of behaviourism?
BF Skinner
BF Skinner. Postulated that people have consistent personalities and behavioural patterns because, over time, they develop certain _____.
Response tendencies
According to the behaviourist theory, behaviour is formed through what type of processes?
Learning processes
What is a type of learning process in which responses either result in positive or negative consequences that reinforce behaviour?
Operant conditioning
According to Skinner, personality develops and changes over one’s Life time to maximise behaviour associated with _____ and minimise behaviour associated with _____
Rewards; punishments
Behaviourist theory is contended that personality is what type of psychological concept? How is it influenced?
Dynamic psychological concept; influenced by environment
In addition to operate conditioning, what is another way in which individuals and their environment interact to form one another?
Classical conditioning
What occurs when a conditioned stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus, causing an association formed between the two?
Classical conditioning
What type of theories of personality focus primarily on how and why personality develops?
Biological theories
What are the three main focuses of biological theories of personality development?
Evolutionary, genetic, and biological perspectives
How does evolution impact the development of personality?
Personality is developed in line with natural selection and are adapted and selected for depending on social and environmental influences
Studies following children from infancy to adolescence revealed that _______ remain relatively constant over time
Temperament
What is temperament?
Innate, often emotional personality dispositions
What do twin studies suggest about personality in identical and fraternal twins raised in the same household?
Identical twins were even more similar in some personality traits compared to fraternal twins indicating genes play a role in personality
What is found about the brain structures and stimulation among different personalities?
Different structures may be larger or smaller based on different personality traits
What is the hypothesis of the psychoanalytic personality theory?
Personality is the result of fixation at various psychosexual stages and conflict between the conscious and unconscious; defence mechanisms prevent the onset of anxiety
What is the hypothesis of the humanistic personality theory?
People are inherently good and strive for self realisation
What is the hypothesis of the tree personality theory
Personality is the combination of relatively stable characteristics called traits
What is the hypothesis of the social cognitive theory?
Personality results from the interaction of social environment, cognitive processes, and current behaviour
What is the hypothesis of the behaviourist theory of personality?
Personality results from the interaction between the individual and the environment; cognitive processes excluded
What is the hypothesis of the biological theory of personality?
The development of personality is largely influenced by biological processes
What are learned tendencies to about things with some degree of favour or disfavour?
Attitudes
What are ideas, objects, people, or events that someone may have a positive or a negative view of?
Attitude objects
Attitudes can be either…. or …..?
Explicit or implicit
What are explicit attitudes?
Attitudes that influence our beliefs and behaviours on a conscious level of which we are fully aware
What are implicit attitudes?
Attitude is that influence our beliefs and behaviours on an unconscious level
What are the three components simultaneously associated with each attitude?
An affective component, A behavioural component, and a cognitive component
What is the affective components of attitude?
Encompasses one’s emotions and feelings about the attitude object
What is the behavioural component of attitude?
Encompasses the way in which an attitude affects how one behaves
What is a cognitive component of an attitude?
Encompasses ones thoughts and beliefs about the attitude object
What describes the ratio of positive and negative evaluations that constituted attitude?
Attitude ambivalence
What are the three main types of learning that influence attitudes?
Observational learning, operant conditioning, and classical conditioning
How does observational learning affect attitudes?
Observing someone such as parents allows us to develop some of the same mannerisms and perspectives
How does operant conditioning affect attitude?
Receiving positive or negative feedback when you express a certain attitude typically affects your perception of their attitude causing it to strengthen or weaken
How does classical conditioning influence attitude?
In marketing, it attempts to pair a positive attitude with a product
In what two ways socially are attitudes influenced?
Social roles and social norms
What are social roles?
The expected patterns of appropriate behaviour for a particular person in a particular situation
What are social norms?
Describe societies rules for appropriate behaviour
What are the two types of social norms?
Explicit or implicit
Social norms often encompass a related, but not identical, concept of?
Subjective norms
What are subjective norms?
An individual’s opinions of whether to perform or not perform a particular behaviour in a particular situation
What is another term for subjective norms?
Normative beliefs
What are the three main characteristics of a message that influences our evaluation of the message, and in turn, our attitude concerning that message?
1) target characteristics
2) message characteristics
3) source characteristics
What are target characteristics?
Encompass many different features that influence the individuals interest in the message
What are examples of target characteristics?
intelligence, alertness, self-esteem, mood, and hunger
What are message characteristics?
The various features of The message itself, ranging from its logic in flow to its length and vocabulary
What are source characteristics?
Encompass features of who and where is message came from
What are examples of traits of source characteristics?
The sources expertise, trustworthiness, locational context, and attractiveness
What do you source characteristics all contribute to?
An individual’s perception of the messages credibility
What does the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion describe?
Describes how attitudes form and change based on the three characteristics of messages (target, message, source)
According to the elaboration likelihood model, in what order are the characteristics of attitude determining message processed?
1) target characteristics
2) messages
3) source
Which two types of routes does the elaboration likelihood model of processing follow?
Peripheral and central routes
What is the peripheral route of processing of the elaboration likelihood model?
Occurs when the individual has little interest in the subject and a low motivation and/or ability to think systematically about the message
When evaluating a message via the peripheral route, are people more likely to rely on superficial cues (source attractiveness or number of arguments) or message content and credibility?
Superficial cues
Which route in the elaboration likelihood model leads to a shallow processing of message?
Peripheral route
Which route in the elaboration likelihood model creates an attitude that is either and changed or easily susceptible to further persuasion?
Peripheral route
What route in the elaboration likelihood model occurs when an individual not only has a high interest in and motivation for the subject, but also cognitive ability to evaluate the message critically?
Central route
In which of the routes of the elaboration likelihood model is the person evaluating a message more likely to rely on the quality of the information presented?
Central route
What type of processing and attitude does the central route provide in the elaboration likelihood model?
Deep processing and attitude that is strong and long lasting
What are the three target characteristics of the central route of the elaboration likelihood model?
High interests
High motivation
High ability
What are the target characteristics of the peripheral route of the elaboration likelihood model?
Low interest
Low motivation
Low ability
What do people focus on in the central route of the elaboration likelihood model?
Information quality (logic, credibility)
What is the main focus of the peripheral routeof the elaboration likelihood model?
Superficial cues (Number of points, attractiveness)
What is the attitude change of the central route of the elaboration likelihood model?
Deep processing and a strong/enduring attitude
What is the attitude change of the peripheral route of the elaboration likelihood model?
Shallow processing and a weak/temporary attitude
What is attitudes strength?
The degree to which an attitude is held
What do social psychologists believe is a good predictor of behaviour?
Attitude strength
What type of attitude strength is more likely to affect behaviour?
Strong attitude strength
What is attitude strength depend on?
The individuals interest in, knowledge of, and connection to the attitude object
an increased level of interest, knowledge, and personal relevance all contribute towards?
Stronger attitudes
Social psychologists emphasise the various ______ factors influence the relationship between attitude and behaviour
Situational
When are people more likely to behave according to their attitudes?
Something is gained or lost, the attitude is popular, or they expect to impress someone of interest
What is the theory of reasoned action?
A theory that posits that an individual’s behaviour is most accurately determined by his or her intention or cognitive readiness to perform the behaviour
The intention of the individuals action in the theory of reasoned action is based on what two characteristics related to behaviour?
1) individual’s attitude
2) function of the subjective norms related to the behaviour
A more favourable attitude and subjective norm creates _______ ______. What does this lead to?
Stronger intention; increases the likelihood of performing a particular behaviour
What are three behavioural theories that affect attitude?
1) Foot – in – the – door phenomenon
2) role playing
3) cognitive dissonance
What is the foot-in-the-door phenomenon?
Describes the tendency for people to be more likely to comply with large, difficult requests, if they have agreed to a smaller or easier request
What does role-playing refer to?
Refers to the expected actions of people who feel a certain social position
Philip Zimbardo created what study to demonstrate how the roles influence peoples attitudes?
Prison study
What is the main explanation for how behaviours come to affect attitudes?
Cognitive dissonance
What is cognitive dissonance?
The psychological distress we experience by having conflicting thoughts or beliefs at the same time
What does the theory of cognitive dissonance posit?
Posits that we strive to reduce the tension between conflicting thoughts or beliefs at the same time often by revising our thoughts and attitudes to make them more consistent with one another
What theory is especially pertinent for explaining discrepancies between behaviour and attitudes?
Cognitive dissonance theory
Why do we change attitudes rather than behaviours according to the cognitive dissonance theory?
It is much easier to change an attitude then a behaviour that has occurred or is recurring
What are the four main strategies that people utilise to eliminate or reduce cognitive dissonance?
1) acquire new information, cognitions, or attitudes
2) reduce importance of conflicting cognition or attitude
3) modify or deny conflicting cognition or attitude
4) change in conflicting cognition, attitude, or behaviour
