Sigmund Freud and Personality Theory Lecture

Flashcards covering the influential psychologists of the 20th century, Freudian psychoanalytic concepts, art movements influenced by the unconscious, and modern personality models including OCEAN and HEXACO.

Thanatos (Greek Mythology)

The personification of death, son of Nyx (Goddess of Night) and twin brother of Hypnos (God of Sleep), representing non-violent death.

Thanatos (Freudian Theory)

The death drive representing a basic human instinct towards destruction, aggression, and a return to an inanimate state.

Surrealism

An art movement that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind through spontaneous, automatic creation and irrational juxtaposition of images.

Abstract Expressionism

An art movement where painters expressed emotions and universal themes through shapes, colors, and lines, rooted in the collective unconscious and often using massive canvases.

Automatism

A method used by Surrealists and Abstract Expressionists to make the invisible visible by suppressing conscious control and allowing the unconscious mind to lead.

Automatic Writing

Writing that occurs without thinking or editing, often in a trancelike state, intended to provide a truthful record of unconscious psychic forces.

Automatic Drawing

A method where an artist suppresses conscious control over the drawing process and allows the unconscious mind, dreams, or drug-induced states to control the hand.

Psychoanalysis

A theory and therapy founded by Freud that identifies pent-up emotions and repressed memories to lead a client to catharsis and healing.

The Unconscious

According to Freud's Iceberg Model, the part of the mind containing things we are unaware of and cannot become aware of, such as fears, violent motives, and traumatic experiences.

Id

The part of the psyche that operates on the pleasure principle, containing the biological instincts Eros and Thanatos.

Ego

The rational part of the psyche that mediates between the Id's instinctual desires and the Superego's moral standards, operating primarily at the conscious level.

Superego

The moral compass of the psyche representing internalized societal values and rules that guide an individual toward righteous action.

Psychosexual Stages of Development

A Freudian theory stating that personality develops through a series of stages where the libido is fixated on different erogenous zones.

Defense Mechanisms

Strategies used by the Ego to protect itself from anxiety, including repression, denial, projection, displacement, rationalization, and regression.

Repression

A defense mechanism involving the unconscious blocking of disturbing thoughts or feelings.

Manifest Content

The remembered storyline of a dream, consisting of images, thoughts, and emotions that mask the dream's hidden meaning.

Latent Content

The hidden meaning of a dream representing unconscious thoughts, drives, and desires that are blocked from consciousness by repression.

Personality

The stable characteristics and behaviors including major traits, motivations, values, self-concept, and emotional patterns that make up each unique person.

Lexical Hypothesis

The theory that all important personality characteristics are reflected in the everyday words that people use.

The Five-Factor Model (O.C.E.A.N.)

A personality group consisting of five traits: Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

HEXACO Model

A six-dimensional model of personality created by Michael Ashton and Kibeom Lee, adding the Honesty-Humility dimension to the standard five factors.

Honesty-Humility Factor

A personality dimension in HEXACO where high scorers avoid manipulating others, feel little temptation to break rules, and lack interest in lavish wealth or social status.

Emotionality Factor (HEXACO)

A dimension assessing fearfulness, anxiety, dependence, and sentimentality; high scorers feel a need for emotional support and experience fear of physical danger.

Authoritarianism

A personality trait characterized by a tough attitude towards violations of social rules and a desire for a strong leader to impose order against external threats.

The Bell Curve

A statistical distribution pattern showing that most people score toward the middle of a trait scale, with fewer people at the extreme high or low ends.