Chapter 11 – Personality (Psychology 2e, OpenStax)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key theorists, concepts, and assessments from the Personality chapter, designed to aid exam review.

Personality

Long-standing traits and patterns that cause individuals to think, feel, and behave consistently in particular ways.

Temperament (Humor Theory)

Ancient belief that personality stems from four bodily fluids—yellow bile, black bile, blood, and phlegm—each creating a distinct temperament.

Choleric

Hot-tempered, passionate, ambitious, and bold temperament linked to excess yellow bile.

Melancholic

Reserved, anxious, and unhappy temperament linked to excess black bile.

Sanguine

Joyful, eager, and optimistic temperament linked to abundant blood.

Phlegmatic

Calm, reliable, and thoughtful temperament linked to excess phlegm.

Phrenology

Discredited theory that skull bumps reveal personality traits (Franz Gall).

Immanuel Kant

Enlightenment thinker who classified people into the four temperaments and listed associated traits.

Wilhelm Wundt

Proposed describing personality along two axes: emotional vs. non-emotional and changeable vs. unchangeable.

Psychodynamic Perspective

Freudian view that unconscious drives—especially sex and aggression—shape personality.

Sigmund Freud

Founder of psychoanalysis; developed id, ego, superego and psychosexual stages.

Unconscious (Freud)

Mental activity outside awareness that influences behavior; stores repressed urges.

Freudian Slip

Accidental speech error thought to reveal unconscious sexual or aggressive urges.

Id

Primitive, instinctual part of personality that operates on the pleasure principle.

Ego

Rational part of personality that mediates id and superego using the reality principle.

Superego

Internalized moral conscience striving for perfection and judging behavior.

Defense Mechanisms

Unconscious ego strategies that reduce anxiety by distorting reality.

Psychosexual Stages

Freud’s five developmental periods where id energies focus on different erogenous zones.

Oral Stage

Birth–1 yr; pleasure from mouth; fixation may cause smoking, overeating, nail-biting.

Anal Stage

1–3 yrs; pleasure from bowel control; fixation may lead to anal-retentive or anal-expulsive traits.

Phallic Stage

3–6 yrs; pleasure centers on genitals; involves Oedipus/Electra complexes.

Oedipus Complex

Boy’s unconscious sexual desire for mother and rivalry with father; linked to castration anxiety.

Electra Complex

Girl’s unconscious desire for father and resentment toward mother; associated with penis envy.

Latency Stage

6–12 yrs; sexual feelings dormant while child focuses on school and same-sex peers.

Genital Stage

12 yrs+; mature sexual interests directed toward peers, not parents.

Alfred Adler

Neo-Freudian who founded individual psychology and emphasized social motives.

Individual Psychology

Adler’s approach focusing on overcoming feelings of inferiority and striving for superiority.

Inferiority Complex

Deep feelings of inadequacy that can drive overcompensation or helplessness (Adler).

Birth-Order Theory

Adler’s idea that sibling position (oldest, middle, youngest, only) influences personality.

Erik Erikson

Developed psychosocial theory of eight life-span stages emphasizing social crises.

Psychosocial Theory

Erikson’s model where successful resolution of eight social crises fosters healthy personality.

Carl Jung

Analytical psychologist who proposed collective unconscious and archetypes.

Analytical Psychology

Jung’s system balancing conscious and unconscious forces within the personality.

Collective Unconscious

Universal, inherited reservoir of memory traces (archetypes) shared by all humans.

Archetypes

Universal symbolic patterns (e.g., Hero, Mother) residing in the collective unconscious.

Persona (Jung)

Social mask we present, balancing true self with societal expectations.

Extroversion (Jung)

Attitude characterized by energy gained from social interaction and external focus.

Introversion (Jung)

Attitude characterized by energy gained from solitude and internal focus.

Karen Horney

Neo-Freudian who emphasized culture, basic anxiety, and rejected penis envy.

Basic Anxiety

Childhood sense of helplessness from unmet needs, driving three coping styles (Horney).

Womb Envy

Horney’s counter-concept: men envy women’s capacity to bear children.

Moving Toward People

Horney’s compliant coping style seeking affection and approval.

Moving Against People

Horney’s aggressive coping style seeking power over others.

Moving Away from People

Horney’s detached coping style seeking independence and isolation.

Behavioral Perspective

View that personality is a set of learned behaviors shaped by reinforcement (Skinner).

B.F. Skinner

Behaviorist who saw personality as patterns of operant conditioning across life.

Social-Cognitive Theory

Bandura’s model combining learning with cognition to explain personality differences.

Reciprocal Determinism

Bandura’s idea that behavior, cognition, and environment mutually influence each other.

Observational Learning

Acquiring behaviors by watching others and noting consequences.

Self-Efficacy

One’s belief in personal capability to perform behaviors necessary for goals (Bandura).

Julian Rotter

Proposed locus of control as a cognitive factor in personality.

Locus of Control

Belief about whether outcomes are controlled internally or externally.

Internal Locus of Control

Belief that outcomes result from one’s own efforts and actions.

External Locus of Control

Belief that outcomes are due to luck, fate, or outside forces.

Walter Mischel

Launched person-situation debate; studied self-regulation via the marshmallow test.

Person-Situation Debate

Argument over whether traits or situations better predict behavior (Mischel).

Marshmallow Study

Mischel’s delay-of-gratification experiment linking preschool self-control to later success.

Self-Regulation

Ability to control impulses and delay gratification.

Humanistic Approach

Perspective focusing on healthy growth, free will, and personal potential.

Abraham Maslow

Humanistic psychologist known for hierarchy of needs and study of self-actualized individuals.

Carl Rogers

Humanistic theorist who emphasized self-concept, congruence, and unconditional positive regard.

Self-Concept

Totality of thoughts and feelings about oneself (Rogers).

Ideal Self

Person you would like to be (Rogers).

Real Self

Person you actually are at present (Rogers).

Congruence

Alignment between ideal and real self leading to well-being (Rogers).

Biological Approach

View that genetic factors and physiology underlie personality traits.

Minnesota Twin Study

Found high personality similarity in identical twins reared apart, indicating heritability.

Reactivity (Temperament)

Degree of physiological arousal to new or challenging stimuli.

Self-Regulation (Temperament)

Ability to control emotional and behavioral responses.

Trait Theory

Approach that describes personality as stable characteristics (traits).

Cardinal Traits

Dominant traits that define a person’s entire behavior (Allport).

Central Traits

General characteristics forming basic personality (Allport).

Secondary Traits

Context-specific preferences or attitudes that appear in certain situations (Allport).

Raymond Cattell

Reduced trait list to 16 factors measured by the 16PF questionnaire.

16 Personality Factors (16PF)

Cattell’s questionnaire assessing 16 trait dimensions.

Hans Eysenck

Proposed two genetic temperament dimensions: extroversion and neuroticism.

Sybil Eysenck

Collaborated with Hans Eysenck on the two-factor personality model.

Neuroticism (Eysenck)

Tendency toward anxiety and emotional instability; linked to overactive SNS.

Five Factor Model (Big Five)

Trait model including Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism (OCEAN).

Openness to Experience

Curiosity, imagination, and willingness to try new things.

Conscientiousness

Organization, dependability, and self-discipline.

Agreeableness

Cooperativeness, trust, and kindness toward others.

HEXACO Model

Six-factor trait model adding Honesty-Humility to the Big Five.

Honesty-Humility

Sincerity, fairness, and modesty trait in HEXACO.

Emotionality (HEXACO)

Sentimentality and anxiety dimension similar to neuroticism.

Culture

Shared beliefs, customs, art, and traditions influencing personality expression.

Collectivist Culture

Society valuing group harmony and social roles above personal goals.

Individualist Culture

Society valuing independence, competition, and personal achievement.

Selective Migration

Tendency for people to move to areas compatible with their personalities.

Self-Report Inventory

Objective personality test using questionnaires (e.g., MMPI).

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

Large self-report measure originally for diagnosing psychological disorders; now assesses personality and psychopathology.

Likert Scale

Rating scale (e.g., 1–5) commonly used in personality inventories to measure agreement.

Projective Test

Assessment using ambiguous stimuli to uncover unconscious motives (e.g., inkblots).

Rorschach Inkblot Test

Projective test where individuals interpret symmetrical inkblots.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Projective test requiring stories about ambiguous pictures to reveal motives and conflicts.

Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank (RISB)

Projective test where people complete sentence stems to disclose concerns and desires.