Lecture on Personality Psychology

These flashcards cover key concepts from a lecture on personality psychology, including theories, constructs, and assessment methods.

Personality

An enduring pattern of distinctive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize the way an individual adapts to the world.

Psychodynamic Perspective

A theory that believes personality is primarily unconscious and shaped by various forces in our thoughts.

Unconscious

A part of the mind where unacceptable wishes, feelings, and thoughts are stored beyond conscious awareness.

Psychoanalysis

Freud's therapeutic technique for analyzing an individual's unconscious thoughts.

Ego

The part of personality that deals with the demands of reality, operating on the reality principle.

Id

The component of personality that contains unconscious drives and operates on the pleasure principle.

Superego

The moral part of personality that judges behavior and contains one's conscience.

Defense Mechanisms

Strategies used to resolve conflicts among the demands of reality.

Rationalization

A defense mechanism that involves reasoning about anxiety in a way that satisfies both the id and the superego.

Repression

A defense mechanism that pushes unacceptable impulses out of awareness.

Displacement

Directing unacceptable impulses at a less threatening target.

Projection

Seeing in others the impulses a person fears in themselves.

Reaction Formation

Feeling consciously the exact opposite of one's true unconscious feelings.

Psychosexual Stages

Freud's theory that personality develops in stages during childhood.

Oedipus Complex

A boy's intense desire to replace his father and be with his mother.

Castration Anxiety

A boy's intense fear of being mutilated by his father.

Latency Period

A stage of development where sexual interest is repressed.

Fixation

An unresolved conflict at any stage of psychosexual development that can influence adult personality.

Humanistic Perspective

A viewpoint that emphasizes personal growth and the capacity for self-actualization.

Self-Actualization

The motivation to develop one's full potential as a human being.

Conditions of Worth

Conditions under which a person feels valued, impacting their self-concept.

Self-Concept

An individual's overall perception and assessment of their abilities and personality.

Big Five Traits

A model identifying five broad dimensions of personality: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

Gordon Allport

A theorist who emphasized the uniqueness of individuals and their capacity to adapt.

Albert Bandura

The psychologist known for his work on social cognitive theory and observational learning.

Reciprocal Determinism

The concept that behavior, environment, and cognitive factors influence each other.

Locus of Control

The degree to which individuals believe they can control events affecting them.

Situationism

The belief that personality can change according to situational contexts.

Behavioral Activation System (BAS)

A neurological system that influences sensitivity to rewards and risk-taking behaviors.

Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)

A neurological system that influences sensitivity to punishment and avoidance behavior.

Behavioral Genetics

The study of how genetic factors influence personality traits.

Self-Report Test

A test that asks individuals to report on their own personality traits.

Empirically Keyed Test

A self-report questionnaire developed by comparing answers between different groups.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

A projective test that involves creating stories about ambiguous pictures.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

A projective test using inkblots to reveal personality characteristics.

Cognitive Assessment

An evaluation method that measures intellectual processes like perception and reasoning.