Psych (personality)-chat study guide

What do personality researchers study?

traits, behaviors, thoughts, emotions, and motivations to understand why people think and act differently.

Sigmund Freud-Psychoanalysis

Personality is influenced by unconscious thoughts, desires, and childhood experiences

3 Sigmund Freuds

Unconscious, Free association, Dreams

Unconscious

Thoughts and feelings we are not aware of.

Free association

Saying whatever comes to mind without filtering it, helping reveal unconscious thoughts.

Dreams

Freud called them the "royal road to the unconscious" because he believed they revealed hidden wishes.

3 parts of personality

Id, Ego, Superego

Id

Wants immediate pleasure; “I want it now!”

Ego

Makes realistic decisions; “I’ll wait until later”

Superego

Focuses on morals and right vs. wrong; “That’s wrong to do”

Psychosexual Stages

Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital

Oral

0-18; pleasure through the mouth

Anal

18 months-3 years; toilet training and control

Phallic

3-6 years; awareness of genitals

Latency

6 years-puberty; friendships and social skills

Genital

Puberty onward; mature relationships

Oedipus complex

Freud's theory that a boy experiences unconscious attraction toward his mother and rivalry with his father.

Electra complex

A related concept involving a girl's attraction toward her father and rivalry with her mother.

FIxation

Freud believed unresolved childhood conflicts could cause unhealthy behaviors later in life.

Defense mechanisms

Repressions, denial, projection, displacement, regression, rationalization, reaction formation, sublimation

Repression

Blocking painful memories from awareness; not remembering a traumatic event

Denial

Refusing to accept reality; refusing to believe a breakup happened

Projection

attributing your feelings to someone else; accusing someone of being jealous when you are

Displacement

redirecting emotions toward someone else; yelling t your friend after a bad day

Regression

Returning to childish behavior; throwing a tantrum when stressed

Rationalization

making excuses; the test wasn’t important anyway

Reaction formation

acting opposite to your feelings; being overly nice to someone you dislike

Sublimation

turning unacceptable impulses into positive action; channeling aggression into sports

Neo-Freduians

Alfred adler, Karen horney, Carl jung

Alfred alder

feelings of inferiority and desire to succeed

karen Horney

Social relationships, culture, and anxiety

Carl jung

collective unconscious

Projective tests

TAT, Rorschach

TAT

make up stories about pictures

Rorschach

describe what you see in inkblots

Criticism of Freud

His theories are difficult to scientifically test. This is an additional clarification of the criticism question in your notes.

Humanistic perspective main psychologists

Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers

Maslows hierachy of needs

Self-actualization (reaching potential); Esteem (respect, achievement); Love & belonging (friendships, relationships); Safety (security, protection); Physiological (food, water, sleep)

Carl Rogers – Three Conditions for Growth

Genuineness, Unconditional positive regard, Empathy

Genuineness

Being honest and authentic.

Unconditional positive regard

Accepting someone without judging them.

Empathy

Understanding someone else's feelings.

How is personality assessed?

Questionnaires and personal interviews.

Criticism to humanistic theories

may be overly optimistic and difficult to measure scientifically.

Big Five Personality Traits – OCEAN

O (openness; creative and curious)

C (conscientiousness; organized and responsible)

E (extraversion; outgoing and social)

A (agreeableness; kind and cooperative)

N (neuroticism; experiences worry and negative emotions)

Can traits predict other attributes?

yes

Criticism to trait theory

describes personality but does not fully explain why traits develop or how situations influence behavior.

Social-cognitive perspective main psychologist

Albert Bandura

Social-cognitve perspective main idea

Personality develops through interactions between thoughts, behaviors, and the environment

Social-cognitve perspective ideas

Conditioning, observational learning, cognitive processes, situations

Conditioning

Learning from rewards and consequences.

Observational learning

learning by watching others

Cognitive processess

how we think and make decisions

Situations

how environments influence behavior

Internal locus of control

You believe your actions influence outcomes; “I passed because I studied”; “I can improve with practice”

External locus of control

you believe outside forces influence outcomes; “I passes because I got lucky”; “my success depends on others”

Criticism of Social Cognitive Perspective

May underestimate unconscious emotions, biological influences, and stable personality traits.