chapter 11 personality

Personality

An individual’s unique set of consistent behavioral traits

Consistency in personality

The stability in a persons behavior over time and across situations

Distinctiveness in personality

Behavioral differences among people reacting to the same situation

Personality traits

A durable disposition to behave in a particular way in a variety of situations

Factor analysis

Statistical analysis of correlations among many variables to identify closely related clusters if variables; most approaches to personality assume that some traits are more basic than others

5 factor model of personality traits

Most differences based on gender; show reliable correlations in personal tendencies and life outcomes

Extraversion

Outgoing, sociable, upbeat, friendly, positive outlook, motivated to pursue social contact, intimacy, and interdependence

Neuroticism

Anxious, hostile, self-conscious, insecure, and may exhibit more impulsiveness and emotion

Openness to experiences

Curiosity, flexibility, imaginativeness, intellectual pursuits, unconventional attitudes. Tend to be tolerant of ambiguity

Agreeableness

Warm, sympathetic, compassionate, cooperative, modest, straightforward. Correlated with empathy and helping behavior

Conscienctiousness

Diligent, well-organized, punctual, dependable. Associated with strong self-discipline and ability to regulate oneself effectively

Psychoanalytic theory of personality

Descended from the work of Freud that focused on the unconscious mental forces; psychoanalysis required lengthy verbal interactions with patients, during which Freud probed deeply into their lives; this theory focused on the influence of early childhood experiences, unconscious conflicts, and sexual urges

ID

Primitive, instinctive component of personality that operates according to the pleasure principle

Ego

The decision-making component that operates according to the reality principle

Superego

Moral component that incorporates social standards about right and wrong

Defense mechanisms

Largely unconscious reactions that protect person from unpleasant emotions such as anxiety and guilt

Psychosexual stages of development

Developmental periods with a characteristic sexual focus affect adult personality

Oral stage

Age 0-1, erotic focus on mouth; sucking, tasting

Anal stage

2-3 years old, children often begin potty training

Phallic stage

3-6 years old; boys are more attracted to mother, girls more attracted to father

Latency stage

6-puberty; children spend more time with and interact with mostly the same sex peers

Genital stage

Beyond puberty; individuals are attracted to opposite sex peers.

Collective unconscious (Jung)

Each person has conscious and unconscious levels of awareness; the entire human race shares a collective unconscious, which is a storehouse of hidden ancestral memories, called archetypes

Individual psychology (Alder)

Superiority is the foremost source of human motivation; Alder focused on early childhood experiences and parent-child relations

Compensation

Efforts to overcome inferiorities by developing ones abilities

Social cognitive theory

Personality is shaped through learning, like behaviorism; people seek and process info about their environment to maximize favorable outcomes

Observational learning

Ones responses are influenced by observing others; classical and operant conditioning can occur indirectly; self-efficacy is ones belief about ability to perform behaviors that should lead to expected outcomes

Humanistic personality development

Conditional love leads to a need to distort experience; fosters an incongruent self-concept, which makes one prone to recurrent anxiety, which triggers defensive behavior, which fuels more incongruence

Maslow’s Theory of self actualization

People must satisfy basic needs before they can satisfy higher needs; from bottom to top: physiological needs, safety and security needs, belongingness and love needs, esteem needs, cognitive needs, aesthetic needs, need for self actualization

Eysenck’s biological model

Eysenck believed personality is structured like a pyramid, where small repeated behaviors build into habits, habits form traits, and traits create broad personality dimensions like extraversion.

Terror management theory

Aimed to explain the need for self-esteem; self preservation instincts and inevitability of death create anxiety

Mortality salience

The degree to which subjects mortality is prominent in their minds; increased ___ leads people to work harder at defending cultural worldview

Narcissism

Personality trait marked by inflated sense of importance, a need for attention and admiration, a sense of entitlement, and a tendency to exploit others

Grandiose narcissism

Characterized by arrogance, Extraversion, immodesty, and aggressiveness

Vulnerable narcissism

Characterized by hidden feelings of inferiority, introversion, neuroticism, and need for recognition