Personality Exam 2

Free association

bring mental content from unconscious into conscious

- analyst is neutral, not reactive

Transference

transfer feelings & attitudes from a past relationship on to someone in the present

goal of therapy

opportunity for relearning "corrective emotional experience"

why could therapy work?

- analyst unlike parent

- realization

- acceptance of conflict as human condition

Projective Tests

1. ambiguous stimuli

2. free response format

3. response interpretation is hidden

Limitations of Projective Tests

- problems with inter-judge reliability

- no guarantee that the person's thinking style will manifest itself when confronted with abstract stimuli

Michael Anderson's Motivated Forgetting

brain regions involved in suppression of unwanted memory

- frontal cortex: more active

- hippocampus: less active

Cognitive Unconscious

normal mental processes outside of awareness

Contributions of Anna Freud

- refined defense mechanisms

- developed techniques for child psychoanalysis

- gave rise to "ego psychology"

Jung's definition of a persona

persona is a mask, designed to make a definite impression on others, and to conceal true nature of individual

What is Jung's definition of archetypes?

Universal patterns of human nature and function

Collective unconscious

Jung's theory concept that refers to shared memories and ideas across humanity

What does Jung suggest is a struggle within the psyche?

Struggle with opposing forces.

Animus

masculine aspect of Jung's archetypes

Anima

feminine aspect of Jung's archetypes

Which personality assessment was inspired by Jung's archetypes?

MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator)

Humanistic Psychology

approach to understanding human nature that emphasizes the positive potential of human beings

- strive for self-actualization

Carl Rogers' Phenomenological Theory

- people are positive, social animals; not inherently bad

- Freud believed people were perverts

Phenomenal Field

psychological field; totality of individual's subjective experience

- self-awareness is important

Double Stimulation

perceiver and target of perception is the same person

Body Boundary

capacity to distinguish the boundary between self and others

- ex. pushing shopping cart off of mat requires awareness of body movement

Mirror Image Recognition

most species cannot recognize their reflection as themselves

- humans, great apes, elephants, dolphins, and magpie are exceptions

ex. Mark test on elephants

Two types of self-domains

Private and public

Two processes of private self-awareness

1. clarification (ex. keeping a journal)

2. intensification (rumination and depression)

Asch's conforming study

higher private self-awareness is linked to less conforming

evidence of clarification and intensification

- less conforming

- less attitude changes

Sentence Completion Test

starting with a sentence stem (e.g., if a child does not participate in group activities..._____)

Rorschach Inkblot Test

seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing inner interpretations of blots

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

- affiliation needs: behaviors indicative of warm and caring interaction with others

- power needs: behaviors involving influence, force, and risk

Sentence Completion Test Limitations

problems with inter-judge reliability and no guarantee that thinking style will manifest when confronted with abstract stimuli

Critical points of departure from Freud

- expanding the role of the ego

- broadening concept of drives

- move to "two person psychology"

- revisiting developmental scheme

3 sensory and cognitive processes that show that we have a self

- Double Stimulation

- Body Boundary

- Mirror Image Recognition

Do all species have a sense of self?

no; mammals DO however

The Mark test

if elephants use mirror to remove mark from themselves, they demonstrate mirror-image recognition

How do self-awareness and self-consciousness differ?

Self-awareness helps you understand yourself more deeply, while self-consciousness expands your awareness beyond your identity

How do private and public self-awareness differ?

- Private is more covert; thoughts and feelings

* private has clarification and intensification

- Public is more overt; looks and appearance

Self-objectification theory

extreme form of public self-awareness

ex. bathing suit study

Bathing suit study results

women wearing bathing suit reported higher body shame and engaged in restricted eating; no differences in men

Self-objectification theory consequences

depression, anxiety, and eating disorders

Narcissistic personality characteristics

lack of empathy, grandiosity, attention-seeking, entitlement

Factors predicting narcissism

individualistic culture value, rich, urban environments, only child

Little Emperors

only child, Chinese boys that are spoiled as a result of the one child policy

Narcissism and Self-enhancement Bias Relationship

Narcissists are self-enhancers

- self-enhancement bias not equal to self-deception

Self-enhancers are not necessarily narcissists

Are self-enhancement biases good for adjustment?

Self-enhancement biases are a mixed blessing

- leads to miscalibration and social exclusion

BUT

- makes for best first impression, is good for competition, and buffers against extreme adversity

Self-Esteem Contingencies

1. academics and achievement

2. competition

3. appearance

4. relationships and social approval

5. virtue

6. God's love

Eddie the Eagle

heroic failure; the worste he performed, the more popular he became

Where does self-esteem come from?

- Self-evaluation after success or failure

- Success in valued domains

- Societal values

- We evaluate ourselves against a standard.

Unconditional Positive Regard

accepting and respecting others as they are without judgment or evaluation

Which parenting style leads to high self-esteem?

Authoritative

Cultural differences in self-motives

- American students realize they were skilled at a diff. task and motivated to persist longer

- Japanese students were more motivated to persist longer when less skilled at a task

Self-compassion

being kind to yourself; treating yourself with the same sense of compassion that you would treat others

VR study of self-compassion

- practice delivering compassion to a child and then experienced receiving it

Self-guides in self-discrepancy theory

ideal and ought selves serve as guides for behavior

Self-regulation in self-discrepancy theory

people try to reduce the mismatch between self-guides and self-concepts

Emotional consequences of self-discrepancy

actual vs. ideal dissonance -> dejection

actual vs. ought -> agitation

Pathology of self-discrepancy

rationalization, fantasy, and projection

* all serve as a way to deal with incongruence via denial in awareness or distortion of perception

What is emphasized in client-centered therapy?

- person seeking help is more like partner than dependent patient

- identify conditions that interfere with growth

- unconditional positive regard

- congruence

- empathetic understanding

What is empathy training?

engage in perspective taking to increase compassion

ex. read books, appreciate differences, understand others

Self-Actualization

achieving one's full potential

- openness to experience

- complex and critical thinking

- acceptance and appreciation of self and others

- creativity

Big 5

openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism

What is conscientiousness

careful, methodical, thinks before speaking, task-focused, efficient, not easily distracted

physical cues to assess personalities of people

more accuracy in judging O and C

interpersonal interaction in assessing personalities of people?

more accuracy in judging E than A

Big 5 in important life outcomes

- juvenile delinquency: A- and C-

- grades: C+ and O+

- interpersonal effects:

- # of sex partners: E+

- likeability: A+

- longevity: C+

- happiness: E+, N-

How does personality change with age?

- decrease in N, O, E

- increase in C and A

stability and change across lifespan

less stability early on and in old age

- Big 5 individual differences are quite stable over years

Big 5 interventions: drug-induced changes

- antidepressants increase E and decrease N

- psychedelic drugs increase O

Big 5 interventions: psychotherapy

- 3+. months decreases N

- some success in increasing E

recent attention and effort to increase C

C as human capital: people high in C are better with finances, health, marriage, etc.

the Fundamental lexical approach

we have a word for whatever is important

- Allport, Cattell, Norman and Goldberg

What did Gordon Allport find in his work on FLA?

18000 descriptive words

How did Gordon Allport feel about the Big-5 personality traits?

He did not like them and regarded himself as the father of the trait approach.

What are cardinal traits?

The most fundamental traits.

Idiographic Method

a method tailored to the particular individual being studied

What did Raymond Cattell contribute to the FLA?

reductionism into 200 clusters, 35 variables, and 16 personality factors

What did Eysenck contribute to the FLA?

- pioneer in studying biological basis of personality

- PEN

- psychoticism, extraversion-introversion, neuroticism

Eysenck's Lemon Drop Test

introverts salivated significantly more than extroverts in response to lemon drops

- extroverts are less excitable than introverts with same stimuli

Which personality traits were found in nonhuman animals?

neuroticism and extraversion

- why not all 5?

If MZ twins are more similar than DZ twins with regard to a specific trait, it's evidence for _________

genetic influence

If twins who were raised together are more similar to each other with regard to a trait than twins raised apart, it's evidence for _________

environmental influence

ex. Mark and Scott Kelly

If biological siblings are more similar to one another than adoptive siblings, it's AND

If the adoptive siblings more similar to their biological parents than to their adoptive parents,

It's evidence for _________

genetic influence

What is the heritability coefficient, h squared?

- factors divided by total variance in trait

- population and measurement specific

James Fallon' work on gene environment interactions

James Fallon was predisposed to be a criminal but his life turned out very differently

Reactive gene-environment interaction

The same environmental experiences may have different effects on individuals.

Reactive gene-environment interaction example

the different responses of Trey Parker and Matt Stone compared to the Columbine Massacre shooters.

Evocative gene-environment interaction

individuals with different genetic makeup may evoke different responses from the environment.

Selective gene-environment interaction

individuals with different genetic makeup select and create different environments.

Epigenetics

dynamic mechanisms that control how DNA is expressed

- traumatic, stressful experiences -> more likely to become depressed