Unit 10- Personality Flashcards
What are all of the personality theory perspectives and how are they put in order in terms of how much they weigh nature and nurture?
TPCHB (Trait, Psychodynamic, Cognitive, Humanism, Behaviorism) is put in to order in a way that the Trait perspective gives much of its weight to the role of nature and that the Behaviorism perspective gives much of its weight to the role of nurture.
Define everything about heritability.
Heritability: to what degree do differences in genes account for differences in our personality traits.
Heritability ranges from 0 (genetics explains nothing about traits) to 1 (genetics explains everything about traits); where personality traits fall in the middle.
Heritability studies rely on measuring the personality of twins often using assessments that may be unreliable and thus not valid.
Define Personality
the psychological qualities that bring continuity to an individual’s behavior in different situations and at different times.
According to the psychodynamic, humanistic, and cognitive theories, personality is a continuously _____ process, shaped by our _____ and _____ and by _____ from the social environment.
Changing- Internal Needs- Cognitions- External Pressures
Most psychodynamic theories of personality call attention to _____, especially _____ motives, and the _____ on our mental health.
Motivation- Unconscious Motives- Influence of Past Experiences
Humanistic theories emphasize our _____, _____ reality: What we believe is important now and how we think of ourselves in relation to others.
Present- Subjective
Define Psychoanalysis
Freud’s system of treatment for mental disorders. The term is often used to refer to psychoanalytic theory, as well.
Define the Psychoanalytic Theory
Freud’s theory of personality.
Define the Unconscious
in Freudian theory, this is the psychic domain of which the individual is not aware but that is the storehouse of repressed impulses, drives, and conflicts unavailable to consciousness.
Define Libido
the Freudian concept of psychic energy that drives individuals to experience sensual pleasure.
According to Freud, what did the personality of every individual consist of?
According to Freud, the personality of an individual was constructed of three main parts: id, ego, superego (IES)
Define Id
the primitive, unconscious portion of the personality that houses the most basic drives and stores repressed memories; like a child, the id always acts on impulse and pushes for immediate gratification and it is the only present aspect of personality at birth.
Define Superego
the mind’s storehouse of values, including moral attitudes learned from parents and society; roughly the same as the common notion of conscience.
How does the superego act with respect to the id?
Understandably, the superego frequently conflicts with the id’s desires because the id wants to do what feels good, while the superego insists on doing what is right and moral.
Define Ego
the conscious, rational part of the personality, charged with keeping peace between the superego and the id.
Define Psychosexual Stages
successive, instinctive patterns of associating pleasure with stimulation of specific bodily areas at different times of life.
What are the psychosexual stages?
The psychosexual stages are oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital (OAPLG)
Describe everything about The Oral Stage
The Oral Stage occurs during the first year of birth; desires include oral stimulation by sucking, eating, crying, and babbling while the challenge is overcoming dependency. Later signs of problems beginning at this stage include smoking and chewing.
Describe everything about The Anal Stage
The Anal Stage occurs between approximately between 1-3 years; desires include anal stimulation by bladder function while the challenges are toilet training and self-control. Later signs of problems beginning at this stage include messiness and temper tantrums.
Describe everything about The Phallic Stage
The Phallic Stage occurs between approximately 3-6 years; desires include stimulation of genitals while challenges include resolving the Oedipus complex, involving erotic attraction to the parent of opposite sex and hostility to the parent of the same sex. Later signs of problems beginning at this stage include jealousy and egocentric sex.
Describe everything about The Latency Age
The Latency Stage occurs between approximately 6 years to puberty; desires include repression of sexual and aggressive desires, including those involved in the Oedipus complex while challenges include learning modesty and shame and dealing with the repressed Oedipal conflict. Later signs of problems beginning at this stage include excessive modesty and preference for company of the same sex.
Describe everything about The Genital Stage
The Genital Stage occurs between puberty and adulthood; desires include mature sexual relationships while challenges include displacing energy into healthy activities and establishing new relationships with parents.
Define the Oedipus Complex
according to Freud, a largely unconscious process whereby boys displace an erotic attraction toward their mother to females of their own age and, at the same time, identity with their fathers.
Define Identification
the mental process by which an individual tries to become like another person, especially the same-sex parent.
Define Penis Envy
according to Freud, the female desire to have a penis- a condition that usually results in their attraction to males.
Define Fixation
occurs when psychosexual development is arrested at an immature stage; for instance, an oral stage fixation, caused by a failure to throw off the dependency of the first year of life, may lead to dependency on others in later childhood and adulthood.
Define Ego Defense Mechanisms
largely unconscious mental strategies employed to reduce the experience of conflict or anxiety.
Define Repression
an unconscious process that excludes unacceptable thoughts and feelings of awareness and memory; for example, repression may explain the behavior of a student who suspects she failed an important test and “forgets” to attend class the day the graded tests are returned.
What are all of the ego defense mechanisms?
All of the ego defense mechanisms include: Denial-Rationalization-Reaction Formation-Repression-Regression-Sublimation-Progression-Displacement (D2R4SP)
Describe everything about Denial
“I don’t have a problem.” Denial is a defense frequently seen, for example, in alcoholics, child abusers, people who have problems managing anger, and people who engage in risky behavior, such as casual, unprotected sex.
Describe everything about Rationalization
people using this defense mechanism give socially acceptable reasons for actions that are really based on motives that they believe to be unacceptable. A student who feels stressed by academic pressure may decide to cheat on a test, rationalizing by saying that “everyone does it.”
Describe everything about Reaction Formation
this ego defense mechanism occurs when people act in exact opposition to their true feelings. Accordingly, those troubled by their own sexual desires may initiate a crusade against “dirty books” in the city library.
Describe everything about Regression
under stress, some people hide; others cry, throw things, or even wet their pants. That is, they adopt immature, juvenile behaviors that were effective ways of dealing with stress when they were younger.
Describe everything about Sublimation
gratifying sexual or aggressive desires in ways that are acceptable in one’s culture, as in acting or sports.
Describe everything about Projection
when we are upset or aroused, we may use the defense of projection to attribute our own unconscious desires to other people or objects. An example frequently seen in small children involves each accusing one another of starting a conflict.
Define Projective Tests
personality assessment instruments, such as the Rorscach and TAT, which are based on Freud’s ego defense mechanism of projection.
Define the Rorschach Inkblot Technique
a projective test requiring subjects to describe what they see in a series of ten inkblots.
Define the Thematic Apperception Test
a projective test by Henry Murray requiring subjects to make up stories that explain ambiguous pictures.
Describe everything about a Freudian Slip
A Freudian Slip occurs when “accidental” speech or behavior belies an unconscious conflict or desire. You might commit such a slip, as you leave a boring social function, by telling your host,”I really had a terrible- I mean terrific- time.” According to Freud, your behavior expresses the way that you feel unconsciously; this idea supposes that nothing we do is accidental.
Define Psychic Determinism
Freud’s assumptions that all our mental and behavioral responses are caused by unconscious traumas, desires, or conflicts. UDC
Define Neo-Freudians
literally “new Fredians”; refers to theorists who broke with Freud but whose theories retain a psychodynamic aspect, especially a focus on motivation as the source of energy for the personality.
Define Personal Unconscious
Jung’s term for that portion of the unconscious corresponding roughly to the Freudian id.
Define Collective Unconscious
Jung’s addition to the unconscious, involving a reservoir for instinctive “memories,” including the archetypes, which exist in all people.
Define Archetypes
the ancient memory images in the collective unconscious. Archetypes appear and reappear in art, literature, and folktales around the world.
How does Carl Jung portray each personality?
Jung’s principle of opposites portrays each personality as a balance between opposing pairs of tendencies or dispositions.
Define Introversion
the Jungian dimension that focuses on inner experience- one’s own thoughts and feelings- making the introvert less outgoing and sociable than the extrovert.
Define Extraversion
the Jungian personality dimension involving turning one’s attention outwards, towards others.
Define Basic Anxiety
an emotion, proposed by Karen Horney, that gives a sense of uncertainty and loneliness in a hostile world and can lead to maladjustment.
Define Neurotic Needs
signs of neurosis in Horney’s theory, these 10 needs are normal desires carried to a neurotic extreme.
Define Inferiority Complex
a feeling of inferiority that is largely unconscious, with its roots in childhood.
Define Compensation
making up for one’s real or imaginary deficiencies.
In comparison to Freud, what did the Neo-Freudians do?
They put greater emphasis on ego functions, including ego defenses, development of the self, and conscious thought as the major components of personality- whereas Freud focused primarily on the unconscious; They viewed social variables (culture, family, and peers) as having an important role in shaping personality- whereas Freud focused mainly on instinctive urges and conflicts.
Define Traits
stable personality characteristics that are presumed to exist within the individual and guide his or her thoughts and actions under various conditions.
What are traits divided into?
Traits are divided into central traits, cardinal traits, and secondary traits. (CCS)
Define Central Traits
according to trait theory, traits that form the basis of personality.
Define Secondary Traits
in trait theory, preferences and attitudes.
Define Cardinal Traits
personality components that define people’s lives; very few individuals have cardinal traits.
Define Self-Actualizing Personalities
healthy individuals who have met their basic needs and are free to be creative and fulfill their potentialities.
Define a Fully Functioning Person
Carl Rogers’s term for a healthy, self-actualizing individual, who has a self-concept that is both positive and congruent with reality.
Define Phenomenal Field
our psychological reality, composed of one’s perceptions and feelings.
Define Positive Psychology
a recent movement within psychology, focusing on desirable aspects of human functioning as opposed to an emphasis on psychopathology.
Define Observational Learning
the process of learning new responses by watching others’ behavior.
Define Reciprocal Determinism
the process in which cognitions, behavior, and the environment mutually influence each other. (CBE)
Define Locus of Control
an individual’s sense of where his or her life influences originate.
Give examples of Locus of Control
Do you feel you can control the grade you can achieve in your psychology class? If you do, you have an internal locus of control. On the other hand, if you have the feeling that the professor will arbitrarily give you whatever he or she wants you to have- regardless of how much studying you do or the quality of your work- you have an external locus of control.
Define Humors
four body fluids- blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile-that, according to an ancient theory, control personality by their relative abundance. (BPBY)
Another approach describes personality in terms of stable patterns known as _____, _____, and _____.
Temperaments-Traits-Types
Define Temperament
the basic and pervasive personality dispositions that are apparent in early childhood and that establish the tempo and mood of the individual’s behaviors.
What are the Big Five Trait Characteristics?
Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. OCEAN
Define Five-Factor Theory
a trait perspective suggesting that personality is composed of five fundamental personality dimensions: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
Define MMPI-2
a widely used personality assessment instrument that gives scores on ten important clinical traits. Also called the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.
Define Reliability
an attribute of a psychological test that gives consistent results.
Define Validity
an attribute of a psychological test that actually measures what it is being used to measure.
Define Person-Situation Controversy
a theoretical dispute concerning the relative contribution of personality factors and situational factors in controlling behavior.
Define Type
refers to especially important dimensions or clusters of traits that are not only central to a person’s personality but are found with essentially the same pattern in many people.
Define Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
a widely used personality test based on Jungian types.
Define Implicit Personality Theory
assumptions about personality that are held by people (especially non psychologists) to simplify the task of understanding others.
Define Fundamental Attribution Error
the assumption that another person’s behavior, especially clumsy, inappropriate, or otherwise undesirable behavior, is the result of a flaw in the personality, rather than in the situation.
Define Neuroticism
susceptibility to neurotic problems.
Define Eclectic
either switching theories to explain different situations or building one’s own theory of personality from pieces borrowed from many perspectives.
What did Adler and Horney believe?
Believe that childhood social, not sexual, tensions are crucial in childhood formation
Horney challenged the idea of “penis envy” which is why women have weak superegos, instead said their was a masculine bias in psychology.
Focused on social behaviors
What did Carl Jung believe?
Unconscious contains more of our repressed thoughts and feelings
Collective unconscious (reservoir of images)
Believed in ideas of spirituality
What were some of Freud’s critiques?
Not enough scientific research
Development not limited to childhood
Doubt the Oedipus complex in shaping gender roles
Some say repression doesn’t exist
Right that we have limited access to what goes on in our minds
What did Abraham Maslow believe?
Self Actualizing person
If our physiological needs are met we become concerned w/ personal safety, then to love, then be loved, then self esteem etc.
Studied healthy creative people instead of sick people
Looked at notable figures, like Lincoln
People share characteristics, self aware and self accepting, open
What did Carl Rogers believe?
Person Centered Perspective
Meant for growth and fulfillment, basically good
Genuineness, acceptance (unconditional positive regard) and empathy
What were some of the Humanistic Perspective critiques?
Influenced counseling, education, child rearing and management
Influenced popular psychology
Some say it is vague and subjective
Some say it leads to self indulgence and selfishness (focus on the self)
Some say it is naïve, fails to appreciate the reality of evil is society
What did Gordon Alport believe?
Described personality in terms of traits (people’s characteristic behaviors and conscious motives)
Cared more about defining than explaining behavior
What did Hans Eyesenck believe?
Introversion-Extraversion
Emotionality-Stability (Neuroticism)
Psychoticism
What did Albert Bandura believe?
Reciprocal Determinism
Person – environment interaction
Choose our environments ( music, tv. Etc.)
Our personalities shape how we interpret and react to events
Anxious people see the world as threatening
Our personalities help create situations to which we react
If we think someone is angry w/us we give them the cold shoulder
Self-efficacy
Power to shape our environments
What did Julian Rotter believe?
Julian Rotter Locus of Control How much we control our lives Internal Locus Control our own destinies Achieve more in life Higher quality of life External Locus Chance or outside forces determine fate Expectancy Theory Act based on what we think will happen based on our locus of control
What did Walter Mischel believe?
Walter Mischel
Person-Situation Theory
Analyze behavior based on that person’s view of the situation
Delayed gratification
Study of little kids not eating marshmallows when left alone to get a greater reward
Those who refrained tended to do better in life
What were some of the Social-Cognitive perspective’s critiques?
Critics say it focuses too much on the situation that it fails to predict inner traits
Critics say our unconscious motives, emotions and pervasive traits dominate
