Unit 7: JUST Personality Flashcards
Sigmund Freud
his psychoanalytic theory proposed that childhood and unconscious motivations influence personality
Personality
an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting
psychodynamic theories
theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences
Psychoanalysis
Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts & actions to unconscious motives and conflicts;
techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions
unconscious
according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, memories.
info processing we are unaware of
Free Association
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
id
a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual & aggressive drives
id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.
ego
the largely conscious, “executive” part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, & reality.
ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.
superego
the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations
psychosexual stages
the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital)
according to Freud, the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones
oral stage
(0-18 months) pleasure centers on the mouth- sucking, biting, chewing
Anal stage
(18-26 months) pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination: coping with demands for control
Anal stage
(18-26 months) pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination: coping with demands for control
phalic stage
(3-6 years) pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with incestuous sexual feelings
Latent stage
(6 to puberty) a phase of dormant sex feelings
Genital Stage
(adulthood) maturation of sex interests
Oedipus complex
according to Freud, a boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father
can be coped thru identification w/ father
arrested development
failure to develop beyond a particular point of development
identification
children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos (FREUD)
Fixation
a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved (FREUD)
Defense Mechanisms
ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality
Displacement
defense mechanism that shifts sexual / aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable / less threatening object / person,
as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet
Sublimation
defense mechanism
people re-channel their unacceptable impulses into socially approved activities.
reaction formation
defense mechanism
ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites
ppl may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings.
Regression
defense mechanism
individual faced w/ anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated
Acting like a younger age when anxiety was not experienced.
Rationalization
defense mechanism
offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one’s actions.
Projection
defense mechanism
ppl disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others
difference between projection and displacement
projection = when a person credits others for their own undesirable impulses,
while displacement is releasing aggressive impulses toward a less threatening outlet
Repression
basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories
incomplete repression
an error in speech, memory, or physical action that is believed to be caused by the unconscious mind
Denial
Defense mechanism
ppl refuse to believe / even to perceive painful realities.
Alfred Adler
Neo-Freudian; introduced concept of “inferiority complex” and stressed the importance of birth order (believed personality = function of birth order)
Strive for superiority
according to Adler, tendency is a result of a need to compensate for our feelings of inferiority.
Inferiority Complex
a pattern of avoiding feelings of inadequacy rather than trying to overcome their source
Karen Horney
offered feminist critique of Freud’s theory
Penis envy
Freud, the female desire to have a penis - a condition that usually results in their attraction to males