Personlaity Theory Flashcards
Personality =
The dynamic and organized set of characteristics possessed by a person that uniquely influences his or her cognitions, motivations ands behaviours in various situations
Personality traits
Enduring patterns of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and oneself
Traits are…
Stable over time
Differ across individuals
Dimensional in nature
Building blocks of personality
Social learning theory
Learn though our interactions with other individuals placed upon expectations about how new situations will turn out ans their influence upon our behaviours
Social cognitive theory
A combination of behaviourist, social leaning theory and cognitive te theory
Humanistic theorist
Emphasize the individuals creative potential and need for personal growth
Sigmund Freud
First and only grand theory of personality
Assessment techniques
Free association
Dream analysis
Transference
Free association
free association involved the patients self-report
of whatever thoughts and memories occurred to them without any
kind of censorship
Dream analysis
Dreams were seen to be disguised attempts at wish fulfillment. The wishes were seen as
unconscious motives that are unacceptable to the individual and were nearly always erotic in nature.
Transference
relive their old conflicts and interactions with authority
figures (usually parents) in their relationship with him
Freud assumption of our mental life
Conscious
Preconscious
Unconscious
Life instincts energy
Libido
Libido
The psychic and pleasurable feelings associated with gratification of life instincts
Death instincts
Thanatos
Three systems of mind
Id
Ego
Superego
Id
Original aspect of personality rooted in biology, the unconscious sexual and aggressive instincts
How does id operate
Pleasure principle aim for immediate and compete discharge and satisfaction
Maximized pleasure and minimize pain
Ego
Provide realistic direction for the persons id impulses
Acts to keep the impulses of the id in check until a suitable object is found
Superego
Individuals internalization of societal values
Conscience
Ego-ideal
Conscience
Learned through the use of punishment by the parents
Ego-ideal
Learned through reward
Goal of superego
To inhibit the urges of the id and to persuade the ego to substitute moralistic goals for realistic ones and to strive for perfection
Anxiety types
Reality anxiety
Neurotic anxiety
Moral anxiety
Reality anxiety
Source of the danger lies in the external world
Neurotic anxiety
Threat resides in instinctual object-choice of the id
Overwhelmed by an uncontrollable urge to commit some act or think smtg that will be harmful towards them
Moral anxiety
Threat is the conscience of the super ego system
Punish by consequence for doing or thinking smtg which is contrary to standards
Development of personality
Adaptations and mechanisms formed in the ego top deal with the neurotic and moral anxiety
Defense mechanism
Protect person against anxiety
Défenseur mechanisms of the ego are irrational
Because they distort, hide, or deny reality and hinder psychological development
Repression
Preventing unpleasant experiences that are repulsive to the ego from reaching consciousness
The driving forces repression
Cathexis
Anticathexiss
Suppression attempts
To stop anxiety-provoking thoughts by simply not thinking about them
Denial
Refusal to perceive an unpleasant events in external reality in adults
Displacement
Unconscious attempto obtain gratification for id impulses by shifting them to substitués objects that would directly satisfy the impulses are not available
Sublimation
Unacceptable id impulses themselves are transformed
Projection
Attributing their own desirable characteristics to others
Reaction formation
Conversion of an undesirable impulse into its opposite
Intellectualisation
allows individuals to protect themselves against
unbearable pain. It involves dissociation between ones thoughts and feelings.
[psychosexual development
Oral
Anal
Phallic
Latency
Genital
Dynamics of personality
Total personality
Psyche
Non physical
Space that has its own special reality
Psychic energy
A general life process energy, of which sexual urges are only one aspect
The psyche embraces what
Thought
Feeling
Behaviour
Both conscious and unconscious
The psyche interacting systems
Consciousness
Personal unconscious
Collective unconscious
Conscious
Only part of the mind which is known directly
Individuation
When your consciousness becomes individualized or differentiated from other people
Complexes
Powerful in controlling thoughts and behaviours (mother complex)
Collective unconsciousness
Storehouse of latent memories or our human and pre human ancestry
Consists of instincts and archetypes
Archetypes
Thought-forms or ideas that give rise to visions projected onto curent experiences
Dispositional theory
Measurement off traits, which can be defined as habitual patterns of behaviour, thought and emotion
Two categories of traits
Common
Individual
Individual traits (3)
Cardinal
Central
Secondary traits
Cardinal traits
Central to the core of the personality
Central traits
Characteristics that control less of a person’s behavior but are never the less important are calle
Secondary traits
Individuals preferences
Cat tell personality factors considered
Personality to be a pattern of traits providing the key to the understanding and predicting a persons behaviour
Types of traits 2
Surface traits
Source traits
Surface traits
Collection of trait elements which go together
Source trait
Underlying factor that controls the variation in the surface cluster
Hans Eysenck 3 factor model
Extraversion
Neuroticism
Psychoticism
Extraversion: Traits include: sociable, lively, assertive, sensation seeking, carefree,
dominant, surgent, venturesome.
• Neuroticism: traits include anxious, depressed, guilt feelings low self-esteem, tense,
irrational, shy, moody, emotional.
• Psychoticism: traits include aggressive, cold, egocentric, impersonal, impulsive,
antisocial, unempathetic, creative, and tough-minded. Interestingly, Eysenck
postulated that those who score higher on the psychoticism dimension tended to be
more original or divergent in their thinking.
