Week 11 Flashcards
What is psychoanalytic theory
Unconscious forces act as determinants of personality
* Conscious is tip of the iceberg
Unconscious
Unconscious: contains memories, knowledge, beliefs, feelings, urges, instincts – outside of awareness
- Freud argued much of our behaviour is motivated by unconscious
- To understand personality, must expose the unconscious – slips of the tongue, fantasies, dreams
What are the 3 separate interacting components of psychoanalytic theory
Id: pleasure principle, unconscious urges & desires (immediate gratification)
Ego: reality principle, the executive
Superego: ego ideal, moral guardian, “perfect person”
What happens during the development periods
Developping personality psychosexual stages
encounter conflicts between the demands of society & their own sexual urges
- Focused on erogenous zones
- Failure to resolve conflicts results in fixations (i.e.,
overindulgence, overly pampered, neglect)
Freud’s stages of personality (psychosexual) development)
Stage 1
(1) Oral stage
* 1st year of life
* Pleasure in sucking & eating
Oral fixation:
* Can occur with improper weaning
* Can lead to excessive oral behaviours
(e.g., smoking, overeating, talking)
Freud’s stages of personality (psychosexual) development)
stage 2
(2) Anal stage
* Ages 2-4 (toilet training in western cultures)
* Pleasure from retention or expulsion
Anal fixation:
* Messy, wasteful, sloppy OR
* Obsessively clean & organized, stingy
Freud’s stages of personality (psychosexual) development)
3
(3) Phallic stage
- Ages 4-6
- Pleasure in manipulating genitals
Explain Oedipus complex and elektra complex
Oedipus complex: unconscious wish to take father’s place because of desire for mother
* Worry of punishment by father (castration anxiety)
* Fixation à preoccupation with manhood, acting macho
Elektra complex: desire for fathers & penis envy
* fixation à feelings of inferiority to men, flirting, seeking father figures to overpower
Freud’s stages of personality development
stage 4 and 5
(4) Latency stage (6-12 years)
* Sexual desires dormant, focus shifts to skills & hobbies
* Consolidates personality traits developed in earlier stages
(5) Genital stage (12+)
* Focus on mature sexual intimacy and relationships
* Success leads to well-balanced relationships & mature personality) – fixations in intimacy difficulties, etc.
Name the defense mechanisms
Repression: blocking certain thoughts/feelings from consciousness
Denial: refusal to acknowledge repressed feelings/thought
Regression: retreating to earlier stage of psychosexual development when under stress
Projection: attributes threatening impulses to others
Displacement: divert impulses toward a more acceptable object
Neo freudian psychoanalysts
Psychoanalysts who were trained in traditional Freudian theory but who later rejected some of its major points
- Less emphasis on sex! Focus on social relationships, cultural influences, etc
. - Expanded views on unconscious (e.g., Jung’s collective unconscious)
- Optimistic view of human nature (not primitive of fixed from childhood)
What is the collective unconscious
shared reservoir of memories and experiences common to all humans, distinct from personal unconscious
Archetypes
Archetypes – universal symbols appearing in art, myths, stories & dreams (e.g., love for the mother)
- Guide our instincts & behaviors, shape common responses
- Personality growth involves nitrating archetypes into consciousness
Who is Karen Horney
- Challenged Freudian & psychodynamic sex bias
- Women’s social status can explain feelings of inferiorty - women want independence, success, and freedom –
not a penis! - Womb envy
Alfred adler
+inferiority complex
Alfred Adler – motivation – striving for superiority rather than sexual conflict
* Inferiority complex: affects adults who have not been able to overcome inferiority feelings from childhood – compensation
What did Carl Jung introduce
Collective unconscious, archetypes, and he introduced the concept of introversion and extreversion
Are personalities linked to genetics
- Important components are inherited
- Twins studies (Tellegen et al., 1988)
- Certain traits more heavily influenced by heredity than others
- BUT unlikely that any single gene linked to specific trait
What did Gordon Allport do
Gordon Allport
* Found 4,500 words in English language to describe people and organized them into three categories:
1. Cardinal traits – single characteristics that direct most of a person’s activities
2. Central traits – major characteristics of an individual
3. Secondary traits – characteristics that affect behaviour in fewer situations, less influence
What is factor analysis
cattell & eysenck
A statistical method for identifying relationships aomng a large number of variables to reveal patterns
What are Eysenck’s 3 major dimensions
extraversioon, neuroticism, and psychoticism
What did cattell suggest
Suggested 16 pairs of source traits
What did trait theorists believe
Believe that people have certain traits degree to which a given trait applies can be quantified
Big five / five factor model
In the Five Factor Model, each person has five traits, known as the Big Five personality traits.
* Each trait is scored on a continuum from high to low.
The first letter of each trait spells the mnemonic OCEAN.
C shows highest positive correlation w/ work-related success!
Explain cardinal, central, and secondary traits
- Cardinal traits – single characteristics that direct most of a person’s activities
- Central traits – major characteristics of an individual
- Secondary traits – characteristics that affect behaviour in fewer situations, less influence
Maturity principle
overtime, people become more dominant, agreeable, conscientous, and emotionally stable
Individualistic vs collectivist cultures
Individualist
* Value independence, competition, personal
achievement
* Mainly Western Nations like U.S., England, Australia
* More personally oriented personality traits (self- confidence, openness, assertiveness)
Collectivist
* Value social harmony, respectfulness, group needs over individual needs
* Asia, Africa, South America
* People display more socially oriented personality traits
(humility, empathy and cooperativeness)
Does birth order impact personality? Rohrer et al., 2015
- Firstborns scored slightly higher on intelligence tests than later-borns
- Decline in self-reported intellect for later-borns (even after controlling for measured intelligence)
- No lasting effects of birth order on: extraversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, imagination
Take home: birth order affects intelligence slightly but has no lasting
impact on personality traits
Reciprocal determinism
Albert Bandura, suggests that an individual’s personality is shaped through the dynamic interplay between behavior, cognition, and the environment.
What is self efficacy
Belief in one’s ability to succeed in specific situations
- plays a role in shaping & influencing personality traits over time
* High self-efficacy leads to confidence, low results in anxiety or giving up (e.g., a student with high efficacy in math more likely to engage in problem solving task)
Carl rogers
Carl Rogers, a humanistic psychologist, believed in the fundamental goodness and potential for growth in all people. Here are the key points of his theory:
Self-Actualization: According to Rogers, all individuals have an inherent need to achieve their fullest potential, known as self-actualization. This is the driving force behind personal growth and fulfillment.
Positive Regard: People have a basic desire to be loved, respected, and accepted by others. This need for positive regard plays a crucial role in shaping one’s self-concept and behavior.
Dependence on Others: As individuals grow, they become dependent on others for positive regard. This leads to a tendency to see and judge ourselves through the eyes of others, which can influence our self-esteem and self-worth.
Ideal Self vs. True Self: Rogers highlighted the discrepancy between the “ideal self” (who we aspire to be) and the “true self” (who we actually are). This gap can result in feelings of anxiety, dissatisfaction, and incongruence.
Unconditional Positive Regard: To overcome the anxiety and dissatisfaction caused by the discrepancy between the ideal self and true self, Rogers emphasized the importance of unconditional positive regard. This means accepting and valuing a person without any conditions, allowing them to explore their true self and achieve self-actualization.
How to understand Carl Rogers & Self-Concept
Unconditional Positive Regard:
Like feeding your fish every day—no matter what happens. You accept it without judgment, encouraging growth.
* � Nourishing and supporting the fish regardless of performance.
Conditions of Worth:
Like feeding your fish only when it performs a specific trick or looks a certain way.
* � Leads to a hungry and uncertain fish—feeling unloved when not meeting expectations.
Congruence:
The fish feels in harmony—what you see in it matches what it actually feels.
* � A content and happy fish that feels authentic.
Incongruence:
The fish feels conflicted—what you want to express doesn’t align with how you feel inside.
* � Leads to stress and unhappiness because of the mismatch.
The P.T Barnum effect
- Refers to the tendency of people to believe vague, general, or broad statements about themselves, even if they could apply to anyone!
- We want to believe others can understand us on a deep level
- Vague statements match general human experiences
- Exploit cognitive biases (like confirmation bias)
What are projective tests
PErson is shown an ambiguous stimulus and ask to describe it or tell a story about it
Behavioural assessment
Behavioral assessment involves measuring an individual’s behavior to describe their personality characteristics. These assessments can be conducted either in naturalistic settings (everyday environments) or in controlled laboratory settings. Here are the key points:
Name the dark triad
Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy
Psychopathy traits
High impulsivity, high thrill seeking, low empathy, coldness, callousness
Narcissism
Grandiosity, entitlement, superiority, excessive self-love
Machiavellianism
Cynical, unprincipled, lack of empathy
Dark tetrad, sadism
Tendency to derive pleasure, often sexual, from inflicting pain, humiliation or suffering on others
- Cruel, manipulative or exploitative behaviour
- Low agreeableness & low conscientiousness
- Disinhibited
- Low levels of emotional regulation
Dating the dark triad
Psychopathy
* Short-term mating strategies
* Charm & boldness to attract
* Lack of remorse – emotional harm, lie & manipulate
* Exploitive relationships
Narcissism
* Focus on attracting attention &
admiration
* Value physical attractiveness & status to
boost own image
* Game-playing behaviours (e.g., love bombing) – may lose interest fast
Machiavellianism
* Dating strategists – charm to achieve specific goals (pick-up artists?)
* Prioritize short-term goals over long- term relationships
* Engage in mate poarching
* Use manipulation to maintain control
Humanistic approaches
(Carl rogers)
It believes that human nature is basically good and that humans are unique.
Studied why people succeed and exceptional people shared seversl common traits :
Creativity, realistic thinking, concern for others etc
