Unit sum

Personality

An individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

Psychodynamic theories

Theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences.

psychoanalysis

Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions.

unconscious

According to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware.

free association

In psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing.

id

A reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.

ego

The largely conscious, executive part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.

superego

The part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations.

psychosexual stages

The childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones.

Oedipus complex

According to Freud, a boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father.

identification

The process by which, accordion to Freud, children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos.

fixation

In psychoanalytic theory, according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved.

defense mechanisms

In psychoanalytic theory, the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.

repression

In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.

collective unconscious

Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history.

projective test

A personality test, such as the Rorschach, that provides ambiguous images designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics.

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Thematic Apperception Test

A projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes.

Rorschach inkblot test

The most widely used projective test; a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.

terror-management theory

A theory of death-related anxiety; explores people’s emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death.

humanistic theories

Theories that view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth.

hierarchy of needs

Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active.

self-actualization

According to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one’s potential.

self- transcendence

According to Maslow, the striving for identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self.

unconditional positive regard

A caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help people develop self-awareness and self-acceptance.

self-concept

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All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, “Who am I?”

trait

A characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act in certain ways, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports.

personality inventory

A questionnaire on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

The most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes.

empirically derived test

A test (such as the MMPI) created by selecting from a pool of items those that discriminate between groups.

social-cognitive perspective

Views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits (including their thinking) and their social context.

behavioral approach

Focuses on the effects of learning on our personality development.

reciprocal determinism

The interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment.

self

In contemporary psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions.

spotlight effect

Overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us).

self-esteem

One’s feelings of high or low self-worth.

self-serving bias

A readiness to perceive oneself favorably.

narcissism

Excessive self-love and self-absorption.

individualism

Giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications.

collectivism

Giving priority to the goals of one’s group (often one’s extended family or work group) and defining one’s identity accordingly.

motivation

Need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

instinct

Complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned.

physiological need

Basic bodily requirement.

drive-reduction theory

Idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state that motivates an organism to satisfy the need.

homeostasis

Tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level.

incentive

Positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior.

Yerkes-Dodson law

The principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases.

hierarchy of needs

Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active.

glucose

The form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues. When its level is low, we feel hunger.

set point

The point at which your weight thermostat may be set. When your body falls below this weight, increased hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may combine to restore lost weight.

basal metabolic rate

The body’s resting rate of energy output.

obesity

A body mass index measurement of 30+.

asexual

Having no sexual attraction to others.

testosterone

The most important male sex horome. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs during the fetal period and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty.

estrogens

Sex horomones, such as estradiol, that contribute to female sex characteristics and are secreted in greater amounts by females than by males. Estrogen levels peak during ovulation. In nonhuman mammals, this promotes sexual receptivity.

sexual response cycle

The four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson-excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution.

refractory period

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In human sexuality, a resting period that occurs after orgasm, during which a person cannot achieve another orgasm.

affiliation need

The need to build relationships and to feel part of a group.

ostracism

Deliberate social exclusion of individuals or groups.

narcissism

Excessive self-love and self-absorption.

achievement motivation

Desire for significant accomplishment, for mastery of skills or ideas, for control, and for attaining a high standard.

grit

In psychology, passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals.

emotion

A response of the whole organism, involving physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience.

James-Lange theory

Theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to an emotion-arousing stimulus. Stimulus then arousal then emotion.

Cannon-Bard theory

The theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers physiological responses and the subjective experience of emotion.

two-factor theory

The Schachter-Singer theory that to experience emotion one must be physically aroused and cognitively label the arousal.

polygraph

Machine used in attempts to detect lies that measures several of the physiological responses (such as perspiration, heart rate, and breathing changes), accompanying emotion.

facial feedback effect

the idea that using the muscles involved in a certain emotion will make you feel that emotion

behavior feedback effect

the tendency of behavior to influence our own and others' thoughts, feelings, and actions

stress

1A state of psychological tension or. strain

general adaptation syndrome (GAS)

a series of physical reactions to stress. There are three stages: the alarm reaction, the resistance stage, and the exhaustion stage

tend-and-befriend response

under stress, people (especially women) often provide support to others (tend) and bond with and seek support from others (befriend)

health psychology

Branch of psychology that investigates the psychological factors related to wellness and illness

psychoneuro-
immunology

the study of how psychological, neural, and immunologic processes interact and affect human health and behavior.

coronary heart disease

the clogging of the vessels that. nourish the heart muscle

Type A

Friedman and Rosenman's term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people.

Type B

Friedman and Rosenman's term for easygoing, relaxed people

catharsis

maintains that "releasing" aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges

aerobic exercise

sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness

mindfulness meditation

a type of meditation in which a person focuses attention on his or her breathing and thoughts, feelings, and sensations are experienced freely as they arise.

feel-good, do-good phenomenon

the tendency for people to be more willing to help or aid others when they feel good about themselves or are already in a good mood.

positive psychology

the scientific study of human flourishing, and an applied approach to optimal functioning

subjective well-being

self perceived happiness or satisfaction with life

adaptation-level phenomenon

our tendency to form. judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral. level defined by our prior experience.

relative deprivation

the perception by an individual that the amount of a desired resource (e.g., money, social status) he or she has is less than some comparison standard