Unit 6 Key Terms Flashcards
Personality
An individual’s unique, relatively consistent pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
Sigmund Freud
The father of Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
A method of studying the mind and treating psychiatric disorders by exposing the unconscious mind
Unconscious
a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories
Free Association
A method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing
Id
the impulsive part of your personality that is driven by pleasure; made of unbiological urges that seek satisfaction
Ego
The conscious part of your personality that moderates impulses between the id, superego, and reality; makes decisions
Superego
The “morally correct” part of the personality; represents our morals and conscience
Psychosexual Stages
Stages that capture the main growth points of a person from infancy to adulthood. Focuses on different wants, needs, and desires.
Oedipus Complex
(according to Freud) The attachment of a child to the parent of the opposite sex, accompanied by envious and aggressive feelings toward the parent of the same sex.
Repression (Freudian Slip)
A defense mechanism where one aims to keep information out of conscious awareness. Ex) A soldier cannot remember a traumatic event, or a liar accidentally tells the truth (freudian slip)
Displacement
A defense mechanism where one takes out their frustrations, feelings, and impulses on people or objects that are less threatening. Ex) taking your anger out on your friend because you mom made you mad.
Projection
A defense mechanism where one projects their insecurities on other people. Ex) making fun of someone about their weight because you are insecure about being oversized
Regression
A defense mechanism where one reverts back to previous behavior from earlier in life when faced with a stressful situation. Ex) an adult throwing a tantrum because things didn’t go their way.
Denial
A defense mechanism where one denies the truth about what is actually happening and tries to convince themselves that it’s not real/true. Ex) you see a video of your boyfriend cheating on you, but you refuse to believe that it’s him in the video.
Rationalization
A defense mechanism where a person does something wrong, but tries to convince themselves using logic or reasoning as to why it’s okay. Ex) A student watches TV instead of studying, saying that “additional study wouldn’t do any good anyway”
Reaction-Formation
A defense mechanism where a person hides their true feelings by doing something opposite. Ex) A parent who unconsciously resents a child spoils the child with outlandish gifts
The Big Five Factors
This theory says that there are five main personality traits that people could fall under:
1. openness (being imaginative vs. practical)
2. consciousness (being careful vs. careless)
3. extraversion (being sociable vs. reserved)
4. agreeableness (being compliant vs. unwilling)
5. neuroticism (being optimistic vs. pessimistic).
Humanistic Theories
This theory puts priority on free will and independence in the development of personality.
Environmental Determinism
This theory states that people’s behavior is caused by outside environmental forces.
Self
A systematic and consistent set of beliefs and perceptions about ourselves, that is developed by life experiences
Self-esteem
confidence in your worth or abilities
Self-efficacy
believing that you can perform a specific task largely increases the chances that you can actually do it
Self-serving bias
seeing yourself in an overly positive light (a good bias) to improve your self-esteem
Narcissism
a personality trait where you think of yourself to be superior to others, with a lack of empathy and a need for admiration
Identification
according to Freud, the process where children integrate the values of their parents into their developing superegos
Fixation
when a person is “stuck” in one stage of psychosexual development due to an attachment to a person or thing
