Personality & Psychopathology Flashcards
temperament
inherited physiological processes that predispose a child to display certain behaviors and emotions in particular contexts
kagan’s research
proves that temperament can predict personality in certain situations
inclination for shyness or outgoingness can be predicted by an infants reaction to stimuli
if an infant is irritable or stressed by the stimuli, they will most likely be shy
if an infant is still in face of stimuli, most likely outgoing
Difference between theories of attachment and Kagan’s research
Kagan believes that biological temperament can predict personality
Theories of attachment state that attachment style to the mother can predict future personality
personality
pattern of psychological qualities and behavioral characteristics by which each person can be compared to other people by
personality is more what we project to others than temperament
5 theories of pesonality
1) Dispositional (trait) approach
2) Behavioral approach
3) Cognitive-behavorial
4) Phenomenological/humanistic
5) Psychodynamic
traits
define a person’s relatively stable patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
Big 5 Personality dimensions
five crucial dimensions of personality determined through factor analysis of trait terms: extraversion neuroticism agreeableness conscientiousness openness to experience
How are the Big 5 personality dimensions normally measured?
by self-reporting and informant data
personality paradox
people behave differently in different situations
ex: may be outgoing with friends and shy at work
Self-Monitoring Scale
a personality measure that seeks to determine the degree to which a person alters or adjusts their behavior in order to act appropriately in new circumstances
ex: Mr. Ripley has high degree of self-monitoring
Genetic influence on personality
there is a high level of association in the Big Five Traits of monozygotic twins
shows that there is a genetic influence on personality
National character
the idea that people in different cultures have different personalities
ex: neuroticism is geographically distributed across the US
Psychogenic symptoms
Symptoms believed to result from some psychological cause rather than from tissue damage
Freud believed in psychological causes to hysteria rather than tissue damage
What did Freud believe about human nature?
He was pessimistic
Believes that natural tendencies are bad when we are motivated towards immediate satisfaction
repression
in psychoanalytic theory, a mechanism of defense by which thoughts, impulses, or memories that give rise to anxiety are pushed out of consciousness
psychoanalysis
a theory of human personality development formulated by Freud, based on assertions about unconscious conflict and early psychosexual development
ID
most primitive reactions of human personality
focuses on immediate biological satistifaction and the pleasure-seeking principle
ID is unconscious
Pleasure seeking principle
satisfaction now and not later, regardless of the cost
ego
a set of reactions that try to reconcile ID-driven needs with actual realities of the world (reality principle)
makes up preconscious and conscious
superego
reaction patterns that emerge from within the ego
represent internalized societal rules
come to control the ego by punishment and guilt
Different types of defense mechanisms
1) displacement
2) reaction formation
3) rationalization
4) projection
Displacement
a redirection of an impulse from a blocked channel to another, more available outlet
Reaction formation
a mechanism of defense in which a forbidden impulse is turned into its opposite
Rationalization
a mechanism where forbidden impulses are reinterpreted into more acceptable and less anxiety arousing impulses
