Theories of Personality Flashcards
Neurotic defense mechanisms:
Over-intellectualizing and removing emotional components from a situation
Intellectualization
Example:
Someone with a new cancer diagnosis spends all their time reading scientific literature
Neurotic defense mechanisms:
Justifying questionable behavior in a seemingly logical and rational manner by plausible means
Rationalization
Example:
“I had a perfectly good reason for doing that”
Neurotic defense mechanisms:
Returning to previous developmental states
Regression
Example:
Throwing a temper tantrum (acting like a baby)
Neurotic defense mechanisms:
Keeping certain thoughts, feelings, or urges out of conscious awareness
Repression
Example:
Putting unpleasant thoughts out of mind entirely
Neurotic defense mechanisms:
Negative feelings are transferred from the original source of the emotion to a less threatening person or object
Displacement
Example:
Boss yells at you at work, you go home and yell at your partner
Neurotic defense mechanisms:
Person does not accept or tolerate their feelings, so they overcompensate with the opposite, often to an extreme degree
Reaction formation
Example:
Mother bearing an unwanted child may become overprotective to convince herself and others that she is a good mother
Personality theories. Behavior is due to:
Unconscious conflicts between impulses and social restraints
Psychoanalytic Perspective
Personality theories. Behavior is due to:
Consistent and enduring personality tendencies
Trait Perspective
Personality theories. Behavior is due to:
Inner drive directs growth and self-actualization
Humanistic Perspective
Personality theories. Behavior is due to:
Learning from the environment
Behavioral Perspective
Personality theories. Behavior is due to:
Cognitive expectations, social learning and modeling
Social cognitive Perspective
Personality theories. Behavior is due to:
Genetic predispositions, brain structure/function, evolution
Biological Perspective
What is observational learning?
Learning by watching and imitating others - modeling the actions of another
The basis of the social cognitive theory of Albert Bandura
Also known as social learning or vicarious learning
Observational learning:
Mirror neurons
Nerve cells that fire both when we perform an action and when we observe another person doing the same action
Believed to play a role in the experience of vicarious emotions (feel how someone else feels) and imitation
Observational learning:
Learning-performance distinction
Learning how to do a behavior is different from actually performing it
Example: Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment: Showed kids someone violently hitting an inflatable Bobo Doll. Even kids who didn’t actually do this behavior had internally learned how to do it.
The kids were able to later imitate the aggressive behavior when incentivized to (by giving them juice as a reward)
This experiment is cited in the argument to ban violent video games.
Observational learning:
Bandura’s social cognitive theory
Theory of how people learn by observing others and imitating them
Comprised of attention, memory, imitation, and motivation
Mnemonic: AM I Motivated
Example: Teaching someone to use a stethoscope. They need the attention to watch you use it, memory to remember how to use it. Then they imitate using the stethoscope if they have the motivation to learn
What is humanistic theory?
Proposes that the basic motive of all people is the actualizing tendency, the innate, self-motivated drive to enhance oneself to reach maximal potential
Sees humans as inherently good and possessing free will
Associated with Carl Rogers
Humanistic theory:
Climate to facilitate self-actualization
Carl Rogers believed this climate requires 2 conditions:
Genuineness by the individual, being open and true to themself
Acceptance from others, meaning unconditional positive regard
Humanistic theory:
Maslow versus Rogers
Maslow described a hierarchy of needs where self-actualization was the final physiologic need, and therefore rarely ever achieved
Rogers believed self-actualization is a much more attainable process that occurs in a nurturing climate that meets two conditions: genuine and acceptance (positive energy from others)
Humanistic theory:
self-concept
How someone perceives themselves
Congruency between self-concept and actions is necessary to feel fulfilled under humanistic theory
Defense mechanisms:
Denial – category, description, and example.
Defense mechanisms:
Projection – category, description, and example.
Defense mechanisms:
Passive aggression – category, description, and example.
Defense mechanisms:
Humor – category, description, and example.
Defense mechanisms:
Sublimation – category, description, and example.
Defense mechanisms:
Suppression – category, description, and example.
Defense mechanisms:
Altruism – category, description, and example.
Freudian principles:
Ego
Part of personality that shapes our perceptions and thoughts. Acts as the mediator between the id and superego
Follows the reality principle, assessing the reality of the world
Part of both the unconscious and conscious minds
Freudian principles:
Superego
The “moral conscience” – the part of the mind that internalizes society’s rules
Part of both the unconscious and conscious minds
