Chapter 1-7: Personality Theories and Cultural Perspectives (Vocabulary Flashcards)

A vocabulary-focused set of flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the lecture notes on personality theories, development, and cross-cultural perspectives.

Personality

Long-standing traits and patterns that propel individuals to consistently think, feel, and behave in specific ways; thought to be stable and unique.

Persona

Latin term meaning ‘mask’; origin of the word personality, referring to the character traits an individual presents.

Temperament

Early-in-life differences in emotional reactivity and self-regulation believed to have a biological basis, influencing later personality.

Choleric temperament

A fiery, ambitious, and bold temperament associated with yellow bile from the liver.

Melancholic temperament

A reserved, anxious, and unhappy temperament associated with black bile from the kidneys.

Sanguine temperament

A joyful, eager, and optimistic temperament associated with red blood from the heart.

Phlegmatic temperament

A calm, reliable, and thoughtful temperament associated with white phlegm from the lungs.

Galen’s four temperaments

Historical theory linking personality to four bodily humors (choleric, melancholic, sanguine, phlegmatic).

Phrenology

Pseudoscience claiming skull surface and bumps reveal personality traits; popular in the past and later discredited.

Two major axes of personality (Kant/Wundt)

Proposed dimensions: emotional vs non-emotional and changeable vs unchangeable traits.

Freud’s psychodynamic perspective

Theory emphasizing unconscious drives (often sexual and aggressive) and early experiences shaping personality.

Id

Primitive, unconscious reservoir of instincts and drives; operates on the pleasure principle.

Ego

Rational part of personality that mediates between id, superego, and reality; operates on the reality principle.

Superego

Moral conscience; internalized societal rules guiding behavior.

Pleasure principle

Id’s drive to seek immediate gratification of urges.

Reality principle

Ego’s regulation to satisfy id desires in socially acceptable, realistic ways.

Defense mechanisms

Unconscious protective strategies the ego uses to reduce anxiety.

Repression

Ego defense that blocks unacceptable memories from conscious awareness.

Reaction formation

Defense that expresses opposite of one’s true feelings.

Regression

Defense that involves returning to an earlier developmental stage.

Projection

Defense that attributes one’s own unacceptable thoughts to others.

Rationalization

Defense that creates logical excuses to justify unacceptable impulses.

Displacement

Defense that shifts emotions from the original object to a safer substitute.

Sublimation

Defense that channels unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable activities.

Iceberg model of the mind

Freud’s idea that most mental processes are unconscious, like the submerged portion of an iceberg.

Unconscious mind

Mental processes of which we are not aware, yet influence behavior.

Three interacting systems (Freud)

Id (impulses), ego (reality), superego (moral constraints) in constant interaction.

Oedipus complex

A boy’s desire for his mother and rivalry with his father; resolves by identification with the father.

Electra complex

Girl’s desire for her father and competition with her mother; later linked to Jung’s theories.

Penis envy

Freud’s controversial concept that girls envy males’ anatomy; later critiqued.

Phallic stage

Third psychosexual stage (ages 3–6) where the erogenous zone is the genitals and conflicts around opposite-sex parent arise.

Oral stage

First psychosexual stage focusing on the mouth and gratification from sucking; fixation may lead to oral habits.

Anal stage

Second psychosexual stage focusing on toilet training; fixation can lead to anal-retentive or anal-expulsive traits.

Latency period

Psychosexual period of sexual feelings dormancy; focus on school and peer activities.

Genital stage

Final psychosexual stage from puberty onward, mature sexual interests and relationships.

Anna O.

Bertha Pappenheim; patient treated by Breuer; case that inspired the ‘talking cure’ and influenced Freud’s development.

Talking cure

Freud-Breuer’s early concept that talking about traumatic experiences reduces symptoms.

Neo-Freudians

Freud followers who kept psychoanalysis but de-emphasized sex, emphasizing social and cultural factors.

Three major non-Freudian perspectives

Learning, humanistic, biological, evolutionary trait, and cultural perspectives.

Erik Erikson

Psychosocial theory of development with eight lifespan stages emphasizing social relationships.

Carl Jung

Analytical psychology; emphasized balance of conscious/unconscious and introduced collective unconscious and archetypes.

Collective unconscious

Jung’s concept of shared, universal psychic structures across humanity.

Archetypes

Universal, symbolic patterns (e.g., hero, mother, trickster) in the collective unconscious.

Persona (Jung)

Mask we present to the world, balancing true self with societal expectations.

Introversion/Extroversion (Jung)

Two attitudes: energy from inner reflection (introversion) vs. energy from social interaction (extroversion).

Self-actualization

Maslow’s highest level of need; realizing one’s fullest potential.

Unconditional positive regard

Rogers’ concept of accepting a person without judgment to foster growth.

Congruence

Harmony between real self and ideal self; high congruence linked to healthy functioning.

Incongruence

Discrepancy between real and ideal self; can lead to maladjustment.

Self-concept

One’s thoughts and feelings about oneself; identity.

Locus of control

Beliefs about what controls outcomes: internal (self-driven) vs external (outside forces).

Internal locus of control

Belief that outcomes result from one’s own actions.

External locus of control

Belief that outcomes are due to luck, fate, or powerful others.

Self-efficacy

Belief in one’s own abilities to succeed in specific tasks; affects motivation and persistence.

Reciprocal determinism

Bandura’s concept that personal factors, behavior, and environment all influence each other.

Observational learning

Learning by watching others’ behavior and consequences (modeling).

Minnesota twins reared apart study

Research showing higher similarity in identical twins raised apart, indicating genetic influence on personality.

Heritability

Proportion of observed variation in a population attributed to genetics.

Big Five (OCEAN)

Five core personality dimensions: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism.

HEXACO model

Six-factor model: Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness.

Cultural comparative approach

Testing Western personality theories in other cultures to assess universality.

Indigenous approach

Developing personality assessments grounded in local cultural constructs.

Combined approach

Integrating Western and indigenous methods to study personality cross-culturally.

Individualist vs collectivist cultures

Cultural orientations: individualism emphasizes independence; collectivism emphasizes group harmony.

MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory)

Widely used self-report inventory for clinical assessment; originally 504 items; later MMPI-2 with 567 items and MMPI-2 RF.

MMPI scales

Clinical scales (e.g., Depression, Hysteria, Paranoia) and validity scales (e.g., Lie scale) used to assess reliability and bias.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

Projective test using symmetric inkblots to infer unconscious processes; scored with Exner system.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Projective test using ambiguous pictures; examinees tell stories revealing motives and concerns.

Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank (RISB)

Projective test with incomplete sentences to assess adjustment and concerns.

CTCB (Contemporized Theme Concerning Blacks)

Culturally relevant version of a projective test using Black life scenes.

THEMIS

Tell Me a Story; culturally relevant storytelling test designed for minority youths.