Unit 10 Flashcards
Personality
An individual’s characteristics pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting
Psychodynamic theories
Theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experience
Psychoanalysis
Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts
Unconscious
According to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware
Free association
In psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious where a person relaxes and says the first thing that comes to mind
id
Reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. Demands immediate gratification
Ego
Largely conscious “executive” part of personality that mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality
Superego
Part of personality that represents internalized ideals (our conscience/moral compass)
Psychosexual stages
Childhood stages of development when id’s pleasure - seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones
(Oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital)
Oral stage
0-18 months, pleasure sensors on mouth —> sucking, biting, chewing
Anal stage
Pleasure focuses on bowel & bladder elimination; coping with demands for control
18-36 months
Phallic stage
3-6 years, pleasure zone is the genitals, coping with incestuous sexual feelings
Latency stage
6-puberty, a phase of dormant sexual feelings
Genital stage
Puberty on, maturation of sexual interests
Oedipus (ED-un-puss) complex
A boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and jealousy for the “rival” father
Electra complex
A girl’s sexual attraction toward her father & jealousy toward her mother
Identification
Process by which children incorporate their parent’s values into their developing superegos
Fixation
A lingering focus of pleasure - seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage where conflicts were unresolved
Defense mechanisms
The ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality
Repression
Defense mechanism that unconsciously banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories
Regression
Retreating to an earlier psychosexual stage where some psychic energy remains fixated on
Reaction formation
Acting in the opposite way
Projection
Disguising one’s own thoughts by attributing them to others
Rationalization
Offering self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening reasons
Displacement
Shifting impulses toward a more acceptable/less threatening object or person
Sublimation
Transferring unacceptable impulses to socially acceptable motives
Denial
Refusing to believe & perceive painful realities
Collective unconscious (archetypes)
Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history
Why, for many people, spiritual concerns are deeply rooted and why people in different cultures share certain myths (such as flood myths) and images
Projective test
Personality test that shows ambiguous images designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics
Themantic apperception test (TAT)
Projective test where people express their inner feelings and interests through stories they make up about ambiguous scenes
Rorschach inkblot test
Most widely used projective test, seeks to analyze people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots
Terror management theory
Theory of death-related anxiety, explores people’s emotional and behavior responses to reminders of their impending death
Humanistic theories
Theories that view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth
Hierarchy of needs
Maslow’s pyramid of human needs = physiological needs —> safety —> love & belonging —> self-actualization —> self-trancendencce
Self-actualization
The motivation to fulfill one’s potential
Self-transcendence
The striving for identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self
Unconditional positive regard
Carl rogers: a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude would help people develop self-awareness and self acceptance
Trait
A characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act in certain ways
Personality inventory
A questionnaire (T or F) which response items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors - used to assess selected personality traits
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
The most widely research and clinically used of all personality test. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders, now use for many other screening purposes.
Empirically derived test
Test created by selecting from a pool of items those that discriminate between groups.
Conscientiousness
(C
A
N
O
E)
Disorganized, careless, impulsive <— —> organized, careful, disciplined
Agreeableness
(C
A
N
O
E)
Ruthless, suspicious, uncooperative <— —> soft-hearted, trusting, helpful
Neuroticism (emotional stability vs. instability)
(C
A
N
O
E)
calm, secure, self-satisfied <— —> anxious, insecure, self-pitying
Openness
(C
A
N
O
E)
Practical, prefers routine, conforming <— —> imaginative, prefers variety, independent
Extraversion
(C
A
N
O
E)
Retiring, sober, reserved <— —> sociable, fun-loving, affectionate
Social-cognitive perspective
Fuse behavior as influenced by the interaction between peoples traits - (thinking) - and their social context
Behavioral approach
Focuses on the effects of learning on our personality development
Reciprocal determinism
The interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment
Self
Center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions
Spotlight effect
Overestimating others, noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and mistakes
Self-esteem
One’s feeling of high or low self-worth
Self-efficacy
One sense of competence and effectiveness
Self-serving bias
A readiness to perceive oneself favorably
Individualism
Giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals, and defining ones identity in terms of personal attributes
Collectivism
Giving priority to the goals of one’s group (work or family) and defining one’s identity accordingly
Collectivism
Giving priority to the goals of one’s group (work or family) and defining one’s identity accordingly
Role of ego
The ego is the personality “executive”m mediating among the impulsive demands of the id, the restraining demands of the superego, and the real-life demands of the external world
