PSYC 100 Chapter 12 Flashcards
personality
Patterns of thought and behavior that make a person react to certain situations in relatively consistent ways.
unconscious
The part of our mental life that influences our thoughts, feelings, and actions that we cannot directly observe and of which we are unaware
id
The component of personality in Freud’s psychoanalytic theory that is the manifestation of unconscious and instinctual drives and need
3 components of personality in Freud’s psychoanalytic theory
Superego, ego, id
pleasure principle
where behavior is driven purely by what feels good, with no real filter or concern about what is polite or possible
assumptions of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory
Psychic Determinism, Symbolism, Unconscious motivation
Psychic Determinism
All psych events have a cause (usually early childhood experiences), behind every single behavior there is often a deep underlining
Symbolism
no action is meaningless
believes everything ties back to sex
Unconscious motivation
mostly unaware of motivation (drives of hunger, sex, agression, etc)
when are the 3 stages of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory developed
Id- When we are born
Ego- Within the first 6 months
Superego- 5-6 years of age
Ego
The component of personality in Freud’s psychoanalytic theory which represents the largely conscious awareness of reality and the ability to mediate the needs of the id within the constraints of reality (both conscious and preconscious). Operates according to the reality principle.
Preconscious
where thoughts and motives have the potential to become consciously accessible if they are cued.
superego
The component of personality in Freud’s psychoanalytic theory that represents the internalized cultural rules and ideals to guide our moral conscience. Operates at conscious, preconscious and unconscious levels.
Freudian slips
Freud believed that slips of the tongue revealed deep unacknowledged wishes.
Defense Mechanisms
The various ways in which the ego is thought to cope with conflict between the unconscious desires of the id and the moral constraints of society
Displacement
A defense mechanism in which the ego redirects the aggressive impulses of the id from their intended targets to more defenseless targets
Projection
A defense mechanism in which people, instead of acknowledging it in themselves, see others as possessing a disliked trait or feeling.
Repression
A defense mechanism in which the ego keeps unwanted feelings, thoughts, and memories below the level of conscious awareness
Denial
A defense mechanism in which the ego prevents the perception of a painful or threatening reality as it is occurring.
rationalization
when we come up with ways to make undesirable feelings sound reasonable
intellectualization
ignoring emotion and focusing on abstract/impersonal thoughts
regression
return to an earlier stage in psychological development. reverting back to old ways of acting.
reaction formation
transforming unwanted feelings into the exact opposite
sublimation
channeling unwanted feelings into a socially acceptable, or even beneficial behavior
what impact does Freud’s psychoanalytic theory have to this day
- The existence of unconscious thought. Freud popularized the idea that thoughts can occur below our conscious awareness.
- The importance of early development
- The influence of mind on body (psychosomatic symptoms)
- The talking cure. (psychotherapeutic approaches to treating clinical disorders)
Allport’s three main traits:
Cardinal, Central and Secondary
Cardinal traits
are those that dominate someone’s personality. (barely anyone has one)
Central traits
the more general dispositions that we use to describe someone
Secondary traits
those that are relevant only in certain contexts
Functionally equivalent
When a given trait might lead us to behave in a similar way in what seem like very different situations. Those situations will be functionally equivalent
Ex. extravert vs introvert’s different ways of interpreting and behaving in different situations
Lexical Hypothesis
The hypothesis that the traits that provide useful ways to differentiate among people’s personality characteristics are necessarily encoded in language.
4 general classes of Allport and Odbert’s lexical hypothesis (approx. 18000 total)
Traits (approx. 4500 terms)
Temporary states and moods (approx. 4500 terms)
Evaluative judgments (approx. 5200 terms)
Physical characteristics and talents (approx. 3700 terms)
factor analysis
A statistical technique developed by Charles Spearman that involves analyzing the interrelations among different tests to look for the common factors underlying the scores.
Assessment
The process of developing and validating tools to accurately measure and quantify traits and other features of personality
Traits
relatively enduring predispositions that influence our behavior across contexts, a characteristic
informant reports
ratings made by family members and close friends of research participant
projective tests
tasks in which people interpret ambiguous pictures or images in ways that might reveal underlying motivations or preferences that they might not be willing to explicitly self-report
Five-Factor model
Also known as the big five, it is the dominant model of the building blocks that make up human variation. It is the dominant model in the trait approach to personality, which posits five key dimensions along which humans vary: open-mindedness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
Who coined the term Big Five and the OCEAN mnemonic
Lewis Goldberg
OCEAN
O: Open-mindedness
C: Conscientiousness
E: Extraversion
A: Agreeableness
N: Neuroticism
Personality factors can be divided into
Facets
Potential 6th personality factor
Honesty-Humility
Big Five across life span
Open-mindedness: Stays about the same
Consciousness: Increases
Extraversion:
-Social Vitality: Stays about the same
-Social Dominance: Increases
Agreeableness: Increases
Neuroticism: Decreases
Two dimensions of Extraversion
Social Dominance (how assertive or dominant one is)
Social Vitality (how socially active one is)
Can a person’s personality change?
yes, but the relative position in their cohorts stays the same
Chinese potential Big Five trait
interpersonal relatedness (emphasizing social harmony and tradition)
PERSON model
Shapes how we perceive other
P: Personality ( the actual personality of the person)
E: Error (random mistakes in the judgement we make)
R: Residual (idiosyncratic biases about certain types of people)
S: Stereotypes (cultural biases)
O: Opinion (idiosyncratic biases about certain types of behavior)
N: Norms (guide how we perceive certain behaviors)
What type of people are easiest to accurately perceive?
Those who are well-adjusted and secure.
Behavioral Genetics
The study of how genetic factors influence trait variation between individuals
heritability
If a trait is heritable, then identical twins will be similar to each other even if they were raised separately
genetic essentialism
the tendency to assume that just because something has a genetic basis it is natural and unchangeable.
gene x environment interactions
The interaction between environmental factors and a person’s genetic predispositions that determine the unique phenotypes expressed in personality.
Behavioral Activation System (BAS)
A biological system that governs people’s general tendencies toward approaching things that are rewarding
Behavioral Inhibition (BIS)
A biological system that governs people’s general tendencies toward avoiding things that are threatening
Higher BAS
Left frontal cortical activity
Less Impulsivity
Right frontal cortical activity
Neuroticism biological evidence
Smaller Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and posterior hippocampus, larger midcingulate gyrus
Agreeableness biological evidence
Smaller superior temporal sulcus and a larger cingulate cortex and fusiform gyrus
Conscientiousness biological evidence
larger middle frontal gyrus and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
default mode network
an interconnected set of brain regions that are active when a person is resting and not explicitly engaged in some other task
Extraversion biological evidence
heightened sensitivity to rewards which may be linked to dopamine functioning
Openness biological evidence
greater activation in default mode network
(an interconnected set of brain regions that are active when a person is resting and not explicitly engaged in some other task)
who proposed a social-cognitive approach to personality.
Walther Mischel
What is a social-cognitive approach to personality?
Emphasizes the role that the immediate environment can play in shaping who people are
Mischle’s 3 main points
- correlations between traits and behavior are modest at best
- trait approaches assume that a person with a given trait will behave in a consistent way across different situations
- traits were not something internal to people that direct their behavior, but rather are the templates we use to perceive and categorize others
person x situation interactions
A model positing that in order to understand and predict behavior, it is necessary to account for both personal dispositions and the situation people find themselves in, as well as the interaction between the two
criticisms of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory
nearly impossible to study scientifically
claims are unfalsifiable
no evidence and failed predictions
based on an unrepresentative sample
Bandura’s social learning theory
a theory stating that learning is a cognitive process derived from social observation, rather than direct reinforcement of motor actions. Thinking as a cause of personality
reciprocal determinism
The idea that personality guides cognition about the world in ways that can shape the environments people choose, serving to reinforce or amplify their personality.
locus of control
A person’s perception of what determines their outcomes: intrinsic (internal) characteristics or random, external forces.
outcome efficacy
The belief that if a person can perform a behavior, a desired outcome will result
self-efficacy
The belief that one can successfully execute a behavior linked to a desired outcome.
learned helplesness
A state of passive resignation to an aversive situation that one has come to believe is outside of one’s control
depressive realism
The painful awareness of personal limitations that render outcomes uncontrollable, in contrast to a more commonly held illusion of control for those who are not depressed
sex
refers to the biological and anatomical differences that make us male or female
gender identity
refers to the psychological identity we have as being male, female, or nonbinary
gender expression
the way in which our personality and behavior are expressions of masculine and feminine traits.
sexual selection
An evolutionary perspective posits that men and women develop distinct profiles of personality traits because of the different reproductive challenges they face.
agency
High agency involves an orientation toward the self and being assertive, dominant, competitive, and independent
Communion
High communion involves an orientation towards others and being gentle, cooperative, caring, and aware of other’s feelings.
social role theory
A theory positing that the roles people find themselves in can profoundly shape their personality.
Humanism
we can achieve our potential when we are accepted by others
Self-actualization
The desire to realize one’s full potential by gaining a sense of personal autonomy, accepting oneself, and accepting other people. The ultimate goal according to Carl Rogers
Peak Experiences
a phenomenon of being completely in the moment during some activity of intrinsic value
Flow
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s way of saying peak experiences.
hierarchy of needs
- Physiological: Hunger, thirst, warmth, shelter, air, sleep
- Safety: Security, protection, freedom from threats
- Belonging: Acceptance, friendship
- Esteem: Good self-opinion, accomplishments, reputation
- Self-actualization: Living life to full potential, achieving personal dreams and aspirations
- Self-transcendence: Cause beyond th self
Self-determination theory
A theory positing that well-being and success are most likely to be achieved when a person’s environments support three key motivations: autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
Autonomy
a sense that our behavior is motivated from within
Competence
the opportunity to demonstrate our strengths
Relatedness
the opportunity to feel affiliated with others
Self-Concept
The broad network of mental representations that a person has of themselves.
reflected appraisals
the means by which we gather information about ourselves through our interactions with others
social comparison
sizing ourselves up to people around us
The more an aspect of the self is activated, the more likely you are to become ___ for that trait or attribute
schematic
self-esteem
the general attitude we have towards ourselves
what are self-serving biases
Characteristic ways of processing information to maintain a positive attitude toward the self
self-serving attributions
the tendency to attribute good outcomes to something about us, but to discount bad outcomes as due to the situation or bad luck
above-average effect
whenever a group of people rate themselves on just about any positive dimension the “average” score is above average
Idiosyncratic trait definitions
defining traits in ways that seem true to us
overestimating our contributions:
people have a general tendency to overestimate their own contributions
examples of self-serving biases
overestimating our contributions
Idiosyncratic trait definitions
above average effect
self-serving attributions
sociometer theory
A theory positing that people use self-esteem, a judgment of self-worth, to assess the degree to which they are accepted by others.
terror management theory
A theory positing that self-esteem allows people to cope with existential terror stemming from their awareness of their own mortality
Narcissism
The tendency to have unrealistic and self-aggrandizing views of the self.
independent self-construal
A notion of the self as a bounded and stable entity that is distinct from others.
interdependent self-construal
A notion of the self as defined by one’s connections to other people.
What is personality according to behaviorists
Personalities are bundles of habits acquired through conditioning . Does not cause behaviors, IS behaviors. Is affected by genes and past rewards/punishments
Determinism
we think we’re in control, but we’re unaware of the situational influences
conditions of worth
expectations we place on ourselves for appropriate and inappropriate behavior
incongruence
inconsistency between current personality and true self
structured tests
consists of questions that people respond to in one of a few fixed ways (ie. T/F or Likert Scale)
easy to administer, objectively graduated
projective tests
consists of ambiguous stimuli that examines must interpret or made sense of
answers must be interpreted
projective tests
consists of ambiguous stimuli that examine must interpret or make sense of
answers must be interpreted
Rorschach Inkblot Test
Examinees say what each inkblot resembles
Thematic Apperception test (TAT)
Tell a tale, examinees construct a story based on the picture
Human figure drawings (Draw-A-Person)
Examinees draw a person any way they want
graphology
psychological interpretation of handwriting
