Theories of Personality in Psychology

Personality

the unique and relatively stable ways in which people think, feel, and behave.

Character

value judgments of a person's moral and ethical behavior.

Temperament

the enduring characteristics with which each person is born.

Psychoanalytic Perspective

a perspective in the study of personality that focuses on unconscious processes and childhood experiences.

Behavioristic Perspective

a perspective that emphasizes observable behaviors and the effects of learning and environment.

Humanistic Perspective

a perspective that emphasizes personal growth and the concept of self-actualization.

Trait Perspective

a perspective that focuses on the identification and measurement of personality traits.

Sigmund Freud

Founder of the psychoanalytic movement in psychology.

Preconscious Mind

level of the mind in which information is available but not currently conscious.

Conscious Mind

level of the mind that is aware of immediate surroundings and perceptions.

Unconscious Mind

level of the mind in which thoughts, feelings, memories, and other information are kept that are not easily or voluntarily brought into consciousness.

Id

part of the personality present at birth and completely unconscious.

Libido

the instinctual energy that may come into conflict with the demands of a society's standards for behavior.

Pleasure Principle

principle by which the id functions; the immediate satisfaction of needs without regard for the consequences.

Ego

part of the personality that develops out of a need to deal with reality, mostly conscious, rational, and logical.

Reality Principle

principle by which the ego functions; the satisfaction of the demands of the id only when negative consequences will not result.

Superego

part of the personality that acts as a moral center.

Ego Ideal

part of the superego that contains the standards for moral behavior.

Conscience

part of the superego that produces pride or guilt, depending on how well behavior matches or does not match the ego ideal.

Psychological Defense Mechanisms

unconscious distortions of a person's perception of reality that reduce stress and anxiety.

Denial

psychological defense mechanism in which the person refuses to acknowledge or recognize a threatening situation.

Repression

Psychological defense mechanism in which the person refuses to consciously remember a threatening or unacceptable event, instead pushing those events into the unconscious mind.

Rationalization

Psychological defense mechanism in which a person invents acceptable excuses for unacceptable behavior.

Projection

Psychological defense mechanism in which unacceptable or threatening impulses or feelings are seen as originating with someone else, usually the target of the impulses or feelings.

Reaction formation

Psychological defense mechanism in which a person forms an opposite emotional or behavioral reaction to the way he or she really feels to keep those true feelings hidden from self and others.

Displacement

Redirecting feelings from a threatening target to a less threatening one.

Regression

Psychological defense mechanism in which a person falls back on childlike patterns of responding in reaction to stressful situations.

Identification

Defense mechanism in which a person tries to become like someone else to deal with anxiety.

Compensation (substitution)

Defense mechanism in which a person makes up for inferiorities in one area by becoming superior in another area.

Sublimation

Channeling socially unacceptable impulses and urges into socially acceptable behavior.

Fixation

Disorder in which the person does not fully resolve the conflict in a particular psychosexual stage, resulting in personality traits and behavior associated with that earlier stage.

Psychosexual stages

Five stages of personality development proposed by Freud and tied to the sexual development of the child.

Oral stage

First stage occurring in the first year of life in which the mouth is the erogenous zone and weaning is the primary conflict.

Anal stage

Second stage occurring from about 1 to 3 years of age, in which the anus is the erogenous zone and toilet training is the source of conflict.

Anal expulsive personality

A person fixated in the anal stage who is messy, destructive, and hostile.

Anal retentive personality

A person fixated in the anal stage who is neat, fussy, stingy, and stubborn.

Phallic stage

Third stage occurring from about 3 to 6 years of age, in which the child discovers sexual feelings.

Oedipus complex

Situation occurring in the phallic stage in which a child develops a sexual attraction to the opposite-sex parent and jealousy of the same-sex parent.

Latency

Fourth stage occurring during the school years, in which the sexual feelings of the child are repressed while the child develops in other ways.

Genital

Sexual feelings reawaken with appropriate targets.

Psychoanalysis

Freud's term for both the theory of personality and the therapy based on it.

Neo-Freudians

Followers of Freud who developed their own competing theories of psychoanalysis.

Personal unconscious

Jung's name for the unconscious mind as described by Freud.

Collective unconscious

Jung's name for the memories shared by all members of the human species.

Archetypes

Jung's collective, universal human memories.

Feelings of inferiority

The driving force behind personality as proposed by Adler.

Birth order theory

Adler's theory that suggests birth order influences personality.

Basic anxiety

Anxiety created when a child is born into the bigger and more powerful world of older children and adults.

Neurotic personalities

Maladaptive ways of dealing with relationships in Horney's theory.

Theory based on social relationships

Erikson's theory that covers the entire life span.

Defense mechanisms

Psychological strategies used to cope with reality and maintain self-image.

Learned responses or habits

Behaviorists define personality as a set of these.

Habits

In behaviorism, sets of well-learned responses that have become automatic.

Social cognitive learning theorists

Theorists who emphasize the importance of both the influences of other people's behavior and of a person's own expectancies on learning.

Social cognitive view

Learning theory that includes cognitive processes such as anticipating, judging, memory, and imitation of models.

Reciprocal determinism

Bandura's explanation of how the factors of environment, personal characteristics, and behavior can interact to determine future behavior.

Self-efficacy

Individual's perception of how effective a behavior will be in any particular circumstance (NOT the same as self-esteem).

Humanistic perspective

The 'third force' in psychology that focuses on aspects of personality that make people uniquely human, such as subjective feelings and freedom of choice.

Self-actualizing tendency

The striving to fulfill one's innate capacities and capabilities.

Self-concept

The image of oneself that develops from interactions with important, significant people in one's life.

Real self

One's perception of actual characteristics, traits, and abilities.

Ideal self

One's perception of whom one should be or would like to be.

Positive regard

Warmth, affection, love, and respect that come from significant others in one's life.

Real Self

A person's actual perception of traits and abilities.

Ideal Self

The perception of what a person would like to be or thinks he or she should be.

Harmony and Contentment

Experiences when the ideal self and the real self are very similar.

Mismatch

Occurs when there is a discrepancy between the ideal self and the real self, leading to anxiety and neurotic behavior.

Unconditional Positive Regard

Positive regard that is given without conditions or strings attached.

Conditional Positive Regard

Positive regard that is given only when the person is doing what the providers of positive regard wish.

Fully Functioning Person

A person who is in touch with and trusting of the deepest, innermost urges and feelings.

Trait Theories

Theories that endeavor to describe the characteristics that make up human personality in an effort to predict future behavior.

Trait

A consistent, enduring way of thinking, feeling, or behaving.

Cattell's Factor Analysis

A method that reduced the number of traits to between 16 and 23.

Surface Traits

Aspects of personality that can easily be seen by other people in the outward actions of a person.

Source Traits

The more basic traits that underlie the surface traits, forming the core of personality.

Introversion

Dimension of personality in which people tend to withdraw from excessive stimulation.

Five-Factor Model (Big Five)

Model of personality traits that describes five basic trait dimensions.

Openness

Willingness to try new things and be open to new experiences.

Conscientiousness

The care a person gives to organization and thoughtfulness of others; dependability.

Extraversion

Dimension of personality referring to one's need to be with other people.

Extraverts

People who are outgoing and sociable.

Introverts

People who prefer solitude and dislike being the center of attention.

Agreeableness

The emotional style of a person that may range from easygoing, friendly, and likeable to grumpy, crabby, and unpleasant.

Neuroticism

Degree of emotional instability or stability.

Trait-Situation Interaction

The assumption that the particular circumstances of any given situation will influence the way in which a trait is expressed.

Behavior Genetics

A field of study of the relationship between heredity and personality.

Twin and Adoption Studies

Research that has found support for a genetic influence on many personality traits.

Identical Twins

Twins that share 100% of their genes and have a correlation of about 50 percent in personality scores.

Fraternal Twins

Twins that share about 50% of their genes and have a correlation of only about 15 to 20 percent in personality scores.

Cultural Personality Dimensions

Four basic dimensions of personality along which cultures may vary: individualism/collectivism, power distance, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance.

Interview

Method of personality assessment in which the professional asks questions of the client and allows the client to answer, either in a structured or unstructured fashion.

Halo Effect

Tendency of an interviewer to allow positive characteristics of a client to influence the assessments of the client's behavior and statements.

Projection

Defense mechanism involving placing, or 'projecting,' one's own unacceptable thoughts onto others.

Projective Tests

Personality assessments that present ambiguous visual stimuli to the client and ask the client to respond with whatever comes to mind.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

Projective test that uses 10 inkblots as the ambiguous stimuli.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Projective test that uses 20 pictures of people in ambiguous situations as the visual stimuli.

Subjective Assessment

Concepts and impressions that are only valid within a particular person's perception and may be influenced by biases, prejudice, and personal experiences.

Direct Observation

Assessment in which the professional observes the client engaged in ordinary, day-to-day behavior in either a clinical or natural setting.

Rating Scale

Assessment in which a numerical value is assigned to specific behavior that is listed in the scale.

Frequency Count

Assessment in which the frequency of a particular behavior is counted.