Unit 10

Question 1

personality

Answer 1

an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Question 2

psychodynamic theories

Answer 2

theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences

Question 3

free association

Answer 3

in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing.

Question 4

psychoanalysis

Answer 4

Freud’s theory of personality and therapeutic technique that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts. Freud believed the patient’s free associations, resistances, dreams, and transferences—and the therapist’s interpretations of them—released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self-insight.

Question 5

unconscious

Answer 5

according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware.

Question 6

ego

Answer 6

the largely conscious, “executive” part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.

Question 7

id

Answer 7

contains a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.

Question 8

psychosexual stages

Answer 8

the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones.

Question 9

superego

Answer 9

the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations.

Question 10

fixation (Freud’s Theory)

Answer 10

according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage in which conflicts were unresolved.

Question 11

identification

Answer 11

the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos.

Question 12

Oedipus [ED-uh-puss] complex

Answer 12

according to Freud, a boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father.

Question 13

defense mechanisms

Answer 13

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.

Question 14

displacement

Answer 14

psychoanalytic defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet.

Question 15

projection

Answer 15

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

Question 16

rationalization

Answer 16

defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one’s actions.

Question 17

reaction formation

Answer 17

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites. Thus, people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings.

Question 18

regression

Answer 18

psychoanalytic defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated.

Question 19

repression

Answer 19

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness.

Question 20

displacement

Answer 20

psychoanalytic defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet

Question 21

sublimation

Answer 21

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people re-channel their unacceptable impulses into socially approved activities.

Question 22

denial

Answer 22

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people refuse to believe or even to perceive painful realities.

Question 23

collective unconscious

Answer 23

Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history.

Question 24

projective test

Answer 24

a personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics.

Question 25

Rorschach inkblot test

Answer 25

the most widely used projective test, a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.

Question 26

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Answer 26

a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes.

Question 27

terror-management theory

Answer 27

proposes that faith in one’s worldview and the pursuit of self-esteem provide protection against a deeply rooted fear of death.

Question 28

humanistic theories

Answer 28

theories that view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth

Question 29

hierarchy of needs

Answer 29

Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active

Question 30

self-actualization

Answer 30

according to Maslow, the ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one’s potential.

Question 31

self-transcendence

Answer 31

according to Maslow, the striving for identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self

Question 32

self-concept

Answer 32

(1) a sense of one’s identity and personal worth. (2) all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, “Who am I?”

Question 33

unconditional positive regard

Answer 33

according to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person.

Question 34

trait

Answer 34

a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports.

Question 35

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

Answer 35

the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes.

Question 36

personality inventory

Answer 36

a questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits.

Question 37

empirically derived test

Answer 37

a test (such as the MMPI) developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups.

Question 38

reciprocal determinism

Answer 38

the interacting influences between personality and environmental factors.

Question 39

social-cognitive perspective

Answer 39

views behavior as influenced by the interaction between persons (and their thinking) and their social context.

Question 40

behavioral approach

Answer 40

focuses on the effects of learning on our personality development

Question 41

self

Answer 41

in contemporary psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions

Question 42

spotlight effect

Answer 42

overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us).

Question 43

self-esteem

Answer 43

one’s feelings of high or low self-worth.

Question 44

self-serving bias

Answer 44

a readiness to perceive oneself favorably

Question 45

oral stage

Answer 45

Psychosexual stage (0-18m) Pleasure centers on the mouth - sucking, biting, chewing

Question 46

anal stage

Answer 46

Psychosexual stage (18-36m) Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; coping with demands for control

Question 47

phallic stage

Answer 47

Psychosexual stage (3-6y) Pleasure zone is the genitals; soping with incestuous sexual feelings; Oedipus complex

Question 48

latency stage

Answer 48

Psychosexual stage (6-puberty) Dormant sexual feelings

Question 49

genital stage

Answer 49

Psychosexual stage (puberty on) Maturation of sexual interests

Question 50

Carl Jung

Answer 50

collective unconscious - shared, inherited unconscious

Question 51

archetypes

Answer 51

ideas and images of the accumulated experience of all human beings

Question 52

Alfred Adler

Answer 52

inferiority complex, overcoming childhood feelings of inferiority

Question 53

Albert Bandura

Answer 53

social-cognitive; personality comes from observing others and modeling ourselves after them.

Question 54

Sigmund Freud

Answer 54

Austrian neurologist who originated psychoanalysis (1856-1939); Said that human behavior is irrational; behavior is the outcome of conflict between the id (irrational unconscious driven by sexual, aggressive, and pleasure-seeking desires) and ego (rationalizing conscious, what one can do) and superego (ingrained moral values, what one should do).

Question 55

pleasure principle

Answer 55

The motive to obtain pleasure and avoid tension or discomfort; the most fundamental human motive and the guiding principle of the id.

Question 56

reality principle

Answer 56

According to Freud, the principle on which the ego operates, which seeks to delay gratification of the id’s urges until appropriate outlets and situations can be found.

Question 57

self-efficacy

Answer 57

our view of our ability to succeed, control over our success

Question 58

Carl Rogers

Answer 58

Humanism; self-concept and unconditional positive regard drive personality

Question 59

narcissism

Answer 59

excessive self-love and self-absorption

Question 60

Individualism

Answer 60

giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

Question 61

collectivism

Answer 61

giving priority to the goals of one’s group (often one’s extended family or work group) and defining one’s identity accordingly