Comprehensive Psychology: Personality, Social Influence, and Prosocial Behavior

Personality

An individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

Psychodynamic theory

Suggests that behavior is the dynamic interaction between the conscious and unconscious mind

Id

Operates on the pleasure principle; unconsciously strives to satisfy basic drives to survive, reproduce, and aggress

Ego

Operates on the reality principle; seeks to realistically gratify the id's impulses to bring long-term pleasure; contains perceptions, thoughts, judgments, and memories

Superego

Focuses on ideal behavior; strives for perfection; acts as moral conscience

Projective tests

Designed to trigger the projection of one's inner dynamics and reveal unconscious motives

Rorschach inkblot test

Most widely used projective test; seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots

Abraham Maslow's self-actualizing person

Focused on the potential for healthy personal growth and people's striving for self-determination and self-realization

Hierarchy of needs

People are motivated by a hierarchy of needs and strive for self-actualization and self-transcendence

Carl Rogers's person-centered perspective

Posited that characteristics of growth-promoting environment include genuineness, acceptance, and empathy

Unconditional positive regard

A key component in Carl Rogers's person-centered perspective

Trait theorists

See personality as a stable and enduring pattern of behavior

Factor analysis

Used to identify clusters of behavior tendencies that occur together

Eysenck Personality Questionnaire

Extraversion and emotionality factors inevitably emerged as basic personality dimensions

Brain-activity scans of extraverts

Indicate that they seek stimulation because normal brain arousal is relatively low

Dopamine and dopamine-related neural activity

Tend to be higher in extraverts

Stigma of introversion

Introversion is often misunderstood as shyness, but introverted people often simply seek low levels of stimulation from their environment

Personality inventories

Questionnaires where people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

An example of a personality inventory used to assess selected personality traits

The Big Five

Most widely accepted picture of personality

Social psychology

The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.

Fundamental attribution error

The tendency for observers, when analyzing others' behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition.

Attitudes

Feelings influenced by beliefs, which predispose people to have specific reactions to objects, people, and events.

Foot-in-the-door phenomenon

The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.

Cognitive dissonance theory

When attitudes do not fit with actions, tensions are often reduced by changing attitudes to match actions.

Peripheral route persuasion

Occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker's attractiveness.

Central route persuasion

Occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts.

Social contagion

The spread of ideas, attitudes, or behavior patterns in a group through imitation and conformity.

Asch's Conformity Experiments

Experiments that found people are most likely to adjust their behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard under certain circumstances.

Milgram's Obedience Experiments

Experiments showing that people obeyed orders even when they thought they were harming another person.

Social facilitation

The presence of others arouses people, improving performance on easy tasks but decreasing performance on difficult tasks.

Social loafing

The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal.

Deindividuation

A loss of self-awareness and self-restraint that occurs in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity.

Groupthink

A desire for harmony within a decision-making group that overrides realistic appraisal of alternatives.

Group polarization

Group discussions with like-minded others strengthen members' prevailing beliefs and attitudes.

Prejudice

An unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members.

Stereotype

A generalized belief about a group of people.

Discrimination

Unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members.

Ingroup bias

The tendency to favor our own group.

Scapegoat theory

The theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame.

Altruism

An unselfish concern for the welfare of others.

Socialization norm

Social expectation that prescribes how we should behave.

Reciprocity norm

Expectation that people will respond favorably to each other by returning benefits for benefit.

Social-responsibility norm

Expectation that people should help those who depend on them.

Bystander effect

Tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present.