Personality Development Flashcards
Psychosexual
Freud. Personality develops through the interaction of personal needs and environment. Past is essential in present behaviors. Personality involves transforming three basic instincts into socially acceptable, rational behavior.
Libido
Freud. Basic, instinctual life force.
Id
Present at birth. Basic instincts (libido, sex. aggression, survival, pleasure). Pleasure principle. Strives to reduce tension by seeking immediate gratification of needs.
Ego
Emerges during first year of life. Reality principle. Make socially acceptable, reality-based resolution to the urges of the id and demands of super-ego.
Superego
Morality principle. Emerges at 5 years old. Morals and standards are internalized through social interactions and societal rules and mores. Counterbalances id.
Anxiety according to Freud
Ego is unable to reconcile id’s urges with superego’s moralized response. You create defense mechanisms to control anxiety.
Repression
Pushing undesirable thoughts and feelings from consciousness
Regression
Return to an earlier, more comfortable (childlike) period in life
Displacement
Redirecting feelings onto a less threatening person or object.
Projection
Placing personal feelings, thoughts, or motives on someone else.
Rationalization
Justifying one’s behavior with logical-sounding reasons, thus concealing the real reason for a behavior.
Compensation
Substituting a successful experience for one that produced failure.
Reaction formation
Expressing opposite motives than was originally intended to help prevent unwanted attitudes or feelings from becoming expressed.
Psychosexual theory
People must resolve various conflicts resulting from the psychic or libidinal energy.
Fixation
Inability to resolve important conflict due to either over gratification or under gratification of a need in any stage.
Oral stage
Birth to one year. Source of pleasure is through mouth. Fixation results in oral needs continuing to influence personality (dependence, passivity, gullibility, sarcasm, smoking, gum chewing, thumb sucking, overeating)
Anal stage
1-3 years. Primary source of gratification is the anus. Pleasure is attained through retention and expulsion of feces and urine. Fixation results in retentiveness (stingy, obsessive thinking, compulsive behavior, cleanliness, orderliness) or explosiveness (messiness, destructiveness, cruelty)
Phallic stage
3-5 years. Primary source of gratification is genitals. Pleasure from manipulating genitals. Oedipus complex (male child desires to eliminate father and be with mother), Electra complex (female child desires to eliminate mother). Fixation involves sexual exploitation of others.
Latency stage
6-11 years. Secual desires become dormant. Focus turns to mastery of social skills, personal awareness, and ego refinement. Learn how to relieve anxiety through use of defense mechanisms.
Genital stage
Puberty causes reemergence of sexual impulses. Show interest in sex and capable of real love. Potential remergence of Oedipus/Electra complexes. Success leads to sexual maturation, marriage, and child rearing.
Psychosocial theory
Proposed by Erik Erikson. Focuses on individual’s learned social interactions within the environment as a key influence on ego development. Personality continues to develop throughout one’s life and developmental problems are reversible. Successfully resolving these crises at each stage holds potential for positive growth.
Basic trust vs. mistrust
Birth to 1 or 2. Caretaker’s responsibility is to create a trusting environment for, and positive relationship with, the infant. Mistrust occurs when infants are not comforted, encounter unpredictability, or handled in an uncaring manner.
Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
1 or 2 - 3 years. Toddlers use their developing motor and cognitive skills to decide for themselves. Positive interactions with caretakers leads to autonomy (reasonable balance of freedom and control rather than forcing the child to comply, resulting in feelings of shame or doubt over one’s ability to operate on the social environment)
Initiative vs. Guilt
3 - 5 years. Display sense of ambition and responsibility. Parents can help further these characteristics by helping children set goals and carry out their plans without being too controlling, which leads to guilt and inhibition. Family relationships are key social interactions and children must recognize and respect rights of others.
Industry vs. inferiority
6 - 11 years. Productivity in work and play is emphasized and children strive for competence. Must master social and academic tasks while learning to cooperate. Or else they develop sense of inferiority, incompetence, and failure. School and neighborhood social interactions become essential.
Identity vs. Role Confusion
Adolescents (12-19) recognize and integrate a sense of uniqueness, personal identity (“who am I?”) and future direction (“Where do I fit in society?”). Choose goals and values to establish a personal identity. Adolescents who do not choose goals experience confusion and question their purpose and direction.
Intimacy vs. Isolation
Young adult. Main task is to establish intimate bonds of love and friendship, rather than isolation and self-absorption. Peer relationships are central social supports. Learn to trust and trade independence for intimacy and love.
Generativity vs. Stagnation
MIddle adulthood consider family relations, partners, and intimate friendships to be of greatest importance, and people seek to enhance future generations through child rearing and nurturing others. Work productivity is also essential as people seek a peak in personal abilities. Negative outcomes reflect feelings of meaninglessness in one’s accomplishments.
Integrity vs. Despair
Old age. Come to terms with mortality and limitations to reflect on their life with a sense of pride, achievement, satisfaction, and integrity and face death. Others reflect on life with regret and despair. All humankind is now the social focus.
Criticisms of Erikson’s theory
It is ethnocentric and gender-based because of its focus on independence rather than community.
Ego development theory
By Jane Loevinger. Includes 10 stages: Presocial stage > Symbiotic stage > Impulsive stage > Self-protective stage > Conformist stage > Self-awareness and self-conscious stage > Conscientious > Individualistic > Autonomous > Integrated
Presocial stage
Babies self-differentiate from an outer world
Symbiotic stage
Differentiation of self from others
Impulsive stage
Affirms separate identify; demanding
Self-protective stage
Self-control; rule-governed behavior
Conformist stage
Obey group rules; strive for acceptance from family
Self-awareness and self-conscious stage
Strive for stability and maturity
Conscientious
Internalize rules and morality
Individualistic
Strive for individuality; awareness of inner conflict
Autonomous
Strive for self-fulfillment; cope with inner conflict
Integrated
Consolidated identity
Humanistic Theory
By Abraham Maslow. Whole is greater than sum of its parts (holistic). View humans as intrinsically good. People make choices about themselves based on self-perceptions and perceived circumstances.
Hierarchy of needs.
Humans have an innate need for self-actualization, which can only be attained when lower order needs are met.
Order of needs
Physiological > Safety > Belongingness > Esteem > Self-actualization
Physiological need
Food, water, rest
Safety need
Shelter, warmth, physical security, emotional security
Belongingness
Loving relationships, sense of belonging
Esteem
Self-respect, self-confidence, feelings of success
Self-actualization
Sense of purpose
When are self-actualization needs met?
Middle adulthood (60 years old) if at all.
Characteristics of self-actualization
Acceptance of self and others, spontaneity, autonomy, creativeness, resistance to enculturation, problem centering, continued freshness of appreciation.
Five factor model
Evidence-based model of personality. Considered most important, influential, and comprehensive explorations into personality ever developed. Five factors: OCEAN. Openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism.
Openness (big five personality)
High degree of openness = rich imaginations, strong awareness of their emotions, intellectual curiosity, desire to seek out new experiences. Opposite = closed/conventional
Conscientiousness (big five personality)
High degree of conscientiousness = plan carefully, act responsibly, strive for achievement, adept at self-regulating behavior. Low = spontaneous/risk takers
Extraversion (big five personality)
high degree of extraversion = social, outgoing, energetic. Low degree = introvert, spend more time alone and engaged in quieter activities.
Agreeableness (big five personality)
High degree of agreeableness = friendly, easy to get along with, interested in other people, sympathetic, compassionate, trusting. Low degree = disagreeable, care less about people’s feelings and more about achieving their own wants and needs.
Neuroticism (big five personality)
High degree of neuroticism = Emotionally imbalanced, anxious, depressed. Frequently have trouble coping with stress and experience negative moods. Low degrees = more stable and better able to regulate emotions.
NEO Personality Inventory–Revised
Big 5
Ethological theories
emphasize role of instinct in human development––people are born with innate capacities (affected by evolution) that affect learning experiences.
Konrad Lorez
Imprinting experiments using ducks/goslings. Attaches to first moving object it encounters shortly after hatching. Concept of critical period or sensitive period.
John Bowlby
Infants are born with potential for attachment. Form natural bond with caregiver. This enables them to explore the environment without fear of abandonment. Failure affects trust and intimacy.
Protest (attachment theory)
Infant refuses to accept separation and cries
Despair (attachment theory)
Infant seems to give up all hopes of summoning caretaker and become quiet, inactive, and withdrawn.
Detachment (attachment theory)
Begins to accept attention from others and seems less unhappy. When caretaker reemerges, infant appears uninterested, getting even for perceived abandonment.
Mary Ainsworth
Described four patterns of attachment: Security, Avoidantly, Ambivalently, Disorganized
Securely attached
Normal and secure relationships in which children explore environment and protest separation
Avoidantly attached
Withdrawn behaviors in which children explore without regard for caretaker, ignore separations, and avoid reunions when caretaker reemerges
Ambivalently attached
Clinging behaviors in which child refuses to explore environment and protests separations vehemently
Disorganized attachment
Children show little emotion at separation and mostly confusion at reunion
Harry Harlow
Experiments using rhesus monkeys. Baby monkeys put in cages with wire caregivers. One with a bottle (for food) one with a terrycloth (comfort). Monkeys got the food, but preferred terrycloth.
Stranger anxiety
Around 6 months of age. Infants become fearful in the presence of strangers (or noncaretakers).
Separation anxiety
Occurs between 1 and 2 years old. Extreme distress when separation from a primary caregiver. This is normal development. This is different from separation anxiety disorder.
Identity vs. role diffusion
Preeminent stage of adolescence. Identity means an understanding of oneself as a separate, distinct individual.
Normative identity
Consistent with values and expectations of society or culture (becoming doctor, teacher, mother)
Deviant identity
Inconsistent with values and expectations of society or culture (addiction, criminal)
Achieved identity
Earned through effort and ability (counselor, teacher, monther)
Ascribed identity
Given by others or the result of another’s efforts and achievements
Identity achievement
Committing to gals and taking a course of action to achieve them.
Four types of identity
Marcia’s expansion on Erikson’s psychosocial crisis.
Identity moratorium
Continuing to take in and analyze information without agreeing on goals or a course of action.
Identity foreclosure
When others have determined goals of teen and teen pursues goals without question
Identity diffusion
When teens procrastinate or become so confused they are unable/unwilling to take in and analyze identity-related information that could lead to goal setting
Sexual identity
Biological features as determined by chromosome information.
Gender identity
Psychosocial awareness of one’s maleness or femaleness and has an environmental or cultural component.
Gender roles
socially defined behaviors associated with particular sex.
Androgyny
Gender neutral concepts (everyone drives cars, cleans living areas)
Gender role conflict
Individual feels anxiety and dissonance as previously held gender expectations conflict with changing gender roles
Social learning theory
Children learn gender roles through observation
Cognitive-developmental models
Children become more aware of gender identities.
Biological theories
Role of hormones. More aggressive females and males have higher levels of testosterone than less aggressive peers.
Psychoanalytic theory
Role of Oedipus and Electra complexes. Children emulate their parents.
Social development
To be accepted into a peer group, members must comply with patterns of interactions known as rituals and routines.
Prosocial behavior
Sensitivity to the needs of others.
Instrumental aggression
Acquiring territory, objects, rewards
Hostile aggression
Aimed at another person.
Sociodramatic play
Imitation of adult play and facilitates more mature social interactions
Social play categories
Nonsocial activity, parallel play, associative play, cooperative play
Nonsocial activity
Preschool years, children play by themselves, wander around, and observe but do not play with another child
Parallel play
Children play near each other, sometimes doing the same activity, but not with each other.
Associative play
While doing separate activities, they talk and comment on each other’s activities
Cooperative play
Children play with each other to attain a common goal
Disengagement theory
One theory of aging. Withdrawal from the social system is a natural process.
Activity theory
One theory of aging. As people age, they prefer to remain socially active in order to resist self-preoccupation and maintain close social relationships.
Four stages of retirement
Preretirement (making plans), immediately after retirement (honeymoon phase), period of disenchantment (novelty of retirement wears off, plans were unrealistic), reorientation (put together a realistic lifestyle)
Stages of grief (Elisabeth Kubler-Ross)
Shock and denial, anger, bargaining and guilt, Hopelessness, Acceptance
Freud believed that fixation results from
Both overgratification and undergratification
Erikson would consider a normal 4-year old child to be in the __________ stage of personality development.
Initiative vs. guilt
Desiree is an obedient daughter who wants to make sure her family approves of her choices. At school, she has always felt more comfortable following the rules than rebelling. She is in the _______ stage of Loveinger’s ego development theory.
Conformist.
According to Maslow, before people can meet their needs for esteem, they must feet their need for…
Safety, belongingness, survival.
Claire is three years old. When her mother leaves for work in the morning, she cries so loud and for so long that her grandparents shut all the apartment windows and doors. They fear that their neighbors will suspect child abuse. When Claire’s mother returns, Claire clings to her leg as she does her house chores for the evening. Claire would be considered by Mary Ainsworth to display…
Ambivilent attachment
