Unit 7: Personality, Motivation & Emotion

Personality

An individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

The Barnum Effect

Refers to the psychological phenomenon in which people believe that vague general statements about their personality are highly accurate even if it could apply to anyone to anyone.

Psychodynamic Theories

News personally with a focus on the unconscious mind and importance of childhood experience.

Psychoanalysis

Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions of unconscious motives, and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions.

Free Associations

a technique where individuals share any thought, word, or feeling that comes to mind without censorship or self-criticism

Unconscious

According to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware.

Id

A reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that according to Freud, strives to satisfy the basic sexual pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.

Ego

The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying that id’s desire in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.

Defense Mechanism

In psychoanalytic theory, the ego’s productive methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.

Denial

Refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities.

Ex. Insists there was an error on the team list and he’s going to set things right with the coach

Displacement

Shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable less threatening object or person.

Ex. Yells at his brother for little or no reason

Projection

Disgusting one’s own threatening impulses by attributing them to others.

Ex. Tells everyone how mad his parents are at the coach

Rationalization

Offering self-justifying explanations in place the real, more threatening unconscious reasons for one’s actions.

Ex. Explains that he wasn’t working very hard in tryouts and could have made the team if he’d really wanted.

Reaction Formation

Switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites.

Ex.Feeling the urge to cry with disappointment, instead declared loudly that “Getting cut from the soccer team was the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

Regression

Retreating to an earlier psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated.

Ex. Curls up with an old stuffed animal and watches cartoons for comforts.

Repression

The basic defense mechanism that banished from consciousness anxiety, arousing thoughts, feelings and memories.

Sublimation

Transferring of unacceptable impulses into socially valued motives.

Ex. Feels an urge to go practice and yell at coach, offers to teach his litttle brother to play soccer that day.

Projective Tests

A personality test, such as the TAT or Rorschach that provided ambiguous images designed to trigger protection of ones’s inner dynamics and explore preconscious and unconscious mind.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

A projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the storied they make up about ambiguous scenes.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

A projective test designed by Herman Rorschach seeks to identify people’s inner feelings to analyzing how they interpret 10 inkblots.

Humanistic Theories

Theories that view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth.

Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s levels of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological need. Often visualized as a pyramid, with needs nearer the base taking priority until they are satisfied.

Self-Actualization

According to Maslow’s, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved. The motivation to fulfill one’s potential.

Self-Transcendence

According to Maslow, the striving for identity, meaning and purpose beyond the self.

Unconditional Positive Regard

A caring accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Roger’s believed would help clients develop self-awareness and self acceptance.

Self-Concept

All our thoughts, feelings about ourselves in answer to the question “Who am I?”

Traits

A characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act in certain ways, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports.

Trait Theory

Psychological theory that describes personality in terms of identifiable behavior, patterns or traits.

Factor Analysis

Statistical procedure that identifies factors of terms items that tap basic components of a trait.

Personality Inventories

A questionnaire on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors used to asses selected personality traits.

MMPI

The most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (Still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes.

Empirically Derived

A test (such as the MMPI) created by selecting from a pool of items those that discriminate between groups.

Big Five Factors

Five traits that describe a personality

O-Openness

C- Consciousness

E-Extraversion

A-Agreeableness

N-Neuroticism

Person-Situation Controversy

Debate in psychology about the extent to which a person’s behavior is influenced by their internal traits vs external situational factors.

Social-Cognitive Perspective

A view of behavior as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits (including their thinking) and their social context.

Reciprocal Determinism

The interacting of behavior, internal cognition and environment.

Self

In modern psychology, assumed to be the center of personality the organizer of our thoughts, feelings and actions.

Spotlight Effect

Overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us)

Self-Esteem

Our feelings of high or low self worth

Self-Efficacy

Our sense of competence and effectiveness

Self Concept

How you view yourself

Self Serving Bias

A readiness to perceive ourselves favorably

Motivation

A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

Instinct

A complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a specie and is unlearned

Drive-Reduction

The idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need.

Physiological Need

A basic bodily movement

Homeostasis

A tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level.

Incentive

A positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior

Arousal

Focused on finding the right level of stimulation

Yerkes-Dodson Law

The principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performances decreases.

Sensation Seeking Theory

The tendency to pursue new and diffrent sensations, feelings, and experiences

Experience

Traveling to new and exotic locations, trying new cuisines, or exploring different art forms

Thrill/Adventure

Engaging in activities like skydiving, bungee jumping, or extreme sports

Disinhibition

Engaging in activities like social gatherings, alcohol consumption, or experimenting with drugs, often in situations that are socially unconventional

Boredom Susceptibility

Seeking out new and different activities to avoid boredom and maintain a sense of engagement.

Affiliation Need

The need to build and maintain relationships and to feel part of a group

Self-Determination Theory

The theory that we feel motivated to satisfy our needs competence autonomy, and relatedness.

Intrinsic Motivation

The desire tot perform a behavior effectively for its own sake

Extrinsic Motivation

The desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment.

Achievement Motivation

A desire for significant accomplishment, for mastery of skills or ideas, for control, and for attaining high standard.

Over-justification Effect

When external reward decreases a person’s intrinsic motivation to perform a task.

Grit

In psychology the passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long term goals.

Lewin’s Motivation Conflicts: Approach-Approach

This occurs when an individual must choose between two desirable options. For example, deciding between two equally appealing vacation destinations

Lewin’s Motivation Conflicts: Approach-Avoidance

This type of conflict involves a situation with both positive and negative aspects. For instance, wanting to accept a job offer with high pay but also fearing the long commute

Lewin’s Motivation Conflicts: Avoidance-Avoidance

This arises when an individual has to choose between two undesirable options. For example, deciding between cleaning the house or doing laundry, both of which are unpleasant

Glucose

The form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues. When it’s level is low we feel hunger.

Ghrelin

A hunger-arousing hormone secreted by an empty stomach

Leptin

A hunger-suppressing hormone secreted by the fat cells.

James-Lange

Emotions arise from our awareness of our specific bodily response to emotion arousing stimuli.

Stimulus → Arousal → Emotion

Cannon-Bard

Emotion-arousing stimuli trigger our bodily responses and simultaneous subjective experience

Stimulus → Stimulus experience of arousal and emotion

Schachter-Singer (Two-Factor)

A two-factory theory: Our experience of emotion depends on a) general arousal and b) a conscious cognitive label

Stimulus → Arousal + Cognitive Label → Experienced Emotion

Zajonc-LeDoux

Some embodied responses happen instantly, without conscious appraisal

Experience emotion → No Conscious appraisal

Lazarus

Cognitive appraisal- sometime with our awareness- defines emotion

Cognitive appraisal without awareness → Emotion

Display Rules

Culturally learned norms that govern how people express themselves in social situations

Facial Feedback Effect

The tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feeling, such as fear, anger, or happiness

Behavior Feedback Effect

The tendency of behavior to influence our own and other’s thoughts, feelings and actions

Broaden-and-Build Theory

Suggests that positive emotions can help build personal resources and skills.