Personality Psychology Flashcards
Personality psychology
is the study of why people act the way they do and why different people act differently.
William Sheldon
Created an early theory of personality. Defined physical/biological variables that related to human behaviors. Characterized people by body type, relating body type (somatotypes) to personality type.
endomorphy
body type that is soft, short and spherical -> pleasure seeking, social behavior
mesomorphy
body type that is hard, muscular, athletic and rectangular -> energetic, aggressive behavior
ectomorphy
body type thin, fragile and lightly muscled -> inhibited, intellectual behavior
list the 3 body types according to William Sheldon
- Endomorphy
- Mesomorphy
- Ectomorphy
How was abnormal behavior seen before renaissance?
It was seen as evidence of demonic possession or even witchcraft.
E.G. Boring
Suggested that the development of psychology is due not primarily to the efforts o great people, but to the Zeitgeist or the changing spirit of the times.
Edward Titchener
created the method of introspection and structuralism with it. It was the first major system if psychology
Mention the major systems of psychology (7)
1) Structuralism
2) Functionalism
3) Behaviorism
4) Gestalt psychology
5) Cognitive psychology
6) Psychoanalysis
7) Humanism
Which was the first comprehensive theory on personality and abnormal psychology
Sigmund Freud’s theory of personality. He pioneered the psychoanalytic system of thought.
When did humanism develop?
Mid 20th century. In opposition to both psychoanalysis and behaviorism.
Believes in the notion of free will and the idea that people should be considered as wholes rather than in terms of stimuli and responses (behaviorism) or instincts (psychoanalysis)
describe the conditions of early asylums for mentally ill (5)
1) Patients were treated like animals
2) Cells were dark with no provisions of heat for the winter
3) Hands and feet were chained
4) Patients slept on straw rather than in beds.
5) Patients were shackled to the wall forced to sit on their own filth
Philippe Pinel
Paris
Believed that people in asylums should be treated with consideration and kindness. Removed shackles, put beds, and treated them humanely. This change spread to other asylums.
Dorothea Lynde Dix
She was a zealous advocate of treating hospitalized mentally ill with humanity. One of the founders of the American Movement to provide better care for the mentally ill.
Etiology
cause
General paresis (4)
disorder characterized by:
1) delusions of grandeur
2) mental deterioration
3) eventual paralysis
4) death
What causes general paresis and why it is important?
It is due brain deterioration caused by syphilis (untreatable until 1909). The mental disorder was caused by organic brain pathology ->mental disorders could be caused by physiological causes and not necessarily by demons.
Cerletti and Bini
Introduced the use of the electroshock for the artificial production of convulsive seizures in psychiatric patients. Convulsions were so violent that they could cause fractures.
What did Cerletti and Bini thought about electroshock?
they thought epileptic-like convulsions could cure schizophrenia. (they were wrong)
Prefrontal lobotomies
The frontal lobes of the brain were severed from the brain tissue in order to treat schizophrenia. Tens of thousands of patients were subjected to it. This procedure didn’t cure schizophrenia, it made patients more calm and without feelings at the same time that it withdrew form patients the lob responsible for most human traits.
What was the effect of introducing antipsychotic drugs in mental hospitals? (3)
1) Many patients were completely released from mental hospitals
2) Electroshock were not performed
3) Lobotomies were not performed
Emil Kraepelin
Described and classified mental disorders by seeing patterns of symptoms. Precursor of DSM-IV
What are the types of theories of personality? (4)
1) psychodynamic (psychoanalitic)
2) behaviorist
3) phenomenological
4) type and trait
Psychoanalytic theory of personality overview
1) postulates the existence of unconscious internal states that motivate the overt actions of individuals and determine personality
2) involved 3 major systems
What are the 3 major systems that psychoanalysis involves?
1) id
2) ego
3) superego
Describe the id (3)
1) Reservoir of all psychic energy and consists of everything psychological that’s present at birth.
2) Functions according to the pleasure principle
3) Uses primary process and wish fulfillment
What is the aim of the pleasure principle?
To immediately discharge any energy build-up - relieve tension
Primary process
id’s response to frustration operating under the dictum of “obtain satisfaction now, not later”.
Example: when you feel hungry - the primary process brings up a memory of food to alleviate the frustration experienced -> wish fulfillment
Wish fulfillment
mental image of the object
reality principle
objetive reality guides or inhibits the activity of the id and the id’s pleasure principle.
Its aim is to postpone the pleasure principle until the actual object that satisfy the need has been discovered or produced. While the ego’s functioning suspends the workings of the primary process, it does so only in the service of the id to pragmatically meet the demands of objective reality.
What is the result of the processes of give and take of the ego and secondary process with reality?
Promotes the growth and elaboration of:
1) perception
2) memory
3) problem solving
4) thinking
5) reality testing
Ego
can be understood to be the organization of the id. It receives it s power from the id and can never be independent of it.
Superego
strives for the ideal rather than the real. It represents the moral branch of personality and strives for perfection. Has two subsystems.
What are the two subsystems of the superego?
1) conscience
2) ego-ideal
Conscience
whatever the child caregivers say is improper and the child is punished for is the conscience
Ego-ideal
whatever the child’s caregivers approve of or reward tends to be incorporated in the ego-ideal
What happens with the conscience and ego ideal when the person grows?
The system of right or wrong is substituted for the the parental punishment-reward system.
Instinct
innate psychological representation (wish) or a bodily (biological) excitation (need). There are 2 types: life and death instincts (eros and thanatos)
Eros
life instincts, serve the purpose of individual survival (hunger, thirst and sex) The form of energy by which they perform their work is called libido.
Libido
The form of energy by which life instincts perform their work
Thanatos
death instincts - represent an unconscious wish for the ultimate absolute state of quiescence.
Defense mechanisms
ego’s resource to releasing excessive pressures due to anxiety.
What are the 2 characteristics of all defense mechanisms
1) the deny, falsify or distort reality
2) they operate unconsciously
List the 8 main defense mechanisms
1) repression
2) suppression
3) projection
4) reaction formation
5) rationalization
6) sublimation
7) displacement
Repression
unconscious forgetting of anxiety-producing memories
Suppression
is a more deliberate, conscious form of forgetting
Projection
when a person attributes his forbidden urges to others. For instance, the thought “I hate my uncle” may cause too much anxiety so the person thinks “my uncle hates me”.
Reaction formation
a repressed wish is warded off by its diametrical opposite.
Rationalization
developing socially acceptable explanations for inappropriate behavior or thoughts.
Regression
A person reverting to an earlier stage of development in response to a traumatic event.
Sublimation
transforming unacceptable urges into socially acceptable behaviors.
Displacement
pent-up feelings (often hostility) are discharged on objects or people less dangerous than those objects or people causing the feelings. Example: problems at work, provoking arguments at home with one’s wife.
Carl Jung perspective on libido
Is a psychic energy in general, not just rooted in sexuality)
Carl Jung’s perspective on the ego
The ego is the conscious mind
What are the 2 divisions of the unconscious according to Jung
1) personal unconscious - similar to Freud’s notion of the unconscious
2) collective unconscious
Collective unconscious
powerful system that is shared among all humans and considered to be a residue of the experiences of our early ancestors. It includes images that are a record of common experiences -> archetypes
Archetypes
building blocks of the collective unconscious. An archetype is a thought or image that has an emotional element.
List main Jung’s archetypes (5)
1) the persona
2) the anima
3) the animus
4) the shadow
5) the self
The persona
is a mask adopted in response to the demands of social convention. Originates from social interactions in which the assumption of a social role has served a useful purpose to humankind.
The anima
feminine. Helps us understand gender, the feminine behaviors in males.
The animus
masculine. Helps us understand the masculine behaviors in females.
The shadow
animal instincts of humans inherited from lower forms of life. Responsible for the appearance in consciousness and behavior of unpleasant and socially reprehensible thoughts, feelings and actions.
The self
Is the person’s thriving for unity. The point of intersection of the collective unconscious and the conscious. Symbol: Mandala -> magic circle meaning the reconciler of opposites and the promoter of harmony.
Jung’s typology of personality (3 aspects)
distinguished 2 major orientations of personality: extroversion and introversion. The 2 orientations are both present in one’s personality but generally there is a dominant one.
Jung also described 4 psychological functions. One of those functions is more differentiated than the other 3.
Systems, attitudes and functions all interact in dynamic ways to form personality.
Extroversion according to Jung
orientation towards the external, objective world.
Intraversion according to Jung
orientation towards the inner, subjective world.
Alfred Adler
focused on social imperatives of family and society on unconscious factors.
Originated the concept of inferiority complex
It is striving toward superiority that drives personality.When striving is socially oriented ((leading to endeavors that benefit all people) it enhances the personality. When striving is selfish and not socially oriented, it becomes the root of personality disturbances.
Originated the notions of creative self and style of life. Coined the term life style
Inferiority complex
individual’s sense of incompleteness, imperfection, physical inferiorities and social disabilities.
Creative self
Alfred Adler
force by which each individual shapes his or her uniqueness and makes his/her own personality
Style of life
The manifestation of the creative self. A person’s unique way of achieving superiority (as opposed to inferiority)The family environment is crucial in molding the person’s style of life.
Fictional finalism
Notion that an individual is motivated more by his/her expectations of the future than by past experiences. Human goals are based on a subjective or fictional estimate of life’s values rather than objective data from the past.
What is the main difference between Freud, Jung and Adler?
Freud -> behavior is motivated by inborn instincts
Jung -> behavior is motivated by inborn archetypes
Adler -> people are motivated by striving for superiority.
Karen Horney
the neurotic personality is governed by one of ten needs than becomes a central focus. Each of these needs is directed toward making life and interactions bearable.
Examples of these neurotic needs: need for affection and approval, exploit others, self-suficiency and independence. These could be normal needs to a certain point.