General Psychology Unit 4

Personality

Individuals' characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Psychoanalytic Theory

Freud’s theory suggesting that behavior is influenced by the conscious and unconscious mind, and childhood experiences.

Id

The part of personality that operates on the pleasure principle.

Ego

The part of personality that operates on the reality principle.

Superego

The part of personality that represents the conscience and moral standards.

Psychosexual Stages

Freud's theory that personality develops through a series of childhood stages where the Id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones.

Oedipus Complex

A child's feelings of desire for their opposite-sex parent and jealousy toward their same-sex parent.

Defense Mechanisms

Ego's protective strategies for reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.

Repression

A defense mechanism that involves keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the unconscious.

Regression

A defense mechanism where an individual retreats to an earlier stage of development in response to stress.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

A projective psychological test consisting of ambiguous pictures about which the subject makes up stories.

Reciprocal Determinism

The concept that behavior, personal factors, and environmental influences all interact to shape an individual's personality.

Individualist Cultures

Cultures that emphasize independence and self-reliance, such as the United States.

Collectivist Cultures

Cultures that stress group cohesion and interdependence, such as China.

Attribution Theory

The theory that explains behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to overestimate personal disposition and underestimate situational influences when analyzing others' behavior.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

The theory that people experience discomfort when their actions conflict with their beliefs, leading to a change in beliefs or behaviors.

Social Facilitation

The improved performance on tasks when in the presence of others.

Groupthink

The phenomenon where the desire for group harmony leads to poor decision-making.

Passion, Intimacy, and Commitment

The three components of love according to the triangular theory of love.

Altruism

Unselfish concern for the welfare of others.

Bystander Effect

The tendency for individuals to be less likely to help a victim when other people are present.

James-Lange Theory

The theory that emotion is the result of physiological responses to stimuli.

Cannon-Bard Theory

The theory that emotion and physiological reactions occur simultaneously.

Facial Feedback Effect

The phenomenon where facial expressions can influence emotional experiences.

Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory

A psychological theory proposing that unconscious motives and conflicts drive human behavior, emphasizing the importance of early childhood experiences.

Oral Stage

A developmental phase in Freud's theory of psychosexual development where the infant's pleasure centers on the mouth, typically occurring from birth to around 1 year.

Anal Stage

A developmental phase in Freud's psychosexual development where the child's pleasure focuses on the control of bowel movements, usually occurring from about 1 to 3 years.

Phallic Stage

A developmental phase in Freud's psychosexual development where the child's pleasure centers on the genitals, typically occurring from ages 3 to 6.

Latent Stage

A phase in Freud's psychosexual development where sexual feelings are suppressed, typically occurring from ages 6 to puberty, allowing children to focus on social and intellectual skills.

Genital Stage

The final stage in Freud's psychosexual development, occurring from puberty onward, where sexual maturity is achieved and individuals direct their sexual urges toward romantic relationships.

Repression

A defense mechanism in which unwanted or distressing thoughts and memories are unconsciously blocked from awareness.

Regression

A defense mechanism where an individual reverts to earlier stages of development in response to stress or anxiety.

Reaction Formation

A defense mechanism in which an individual behaves in a way that is opposite to their actual feelings or impulses, often to conceal or deny those feelings.

Projection

A defense mechanism where an individual attributes their own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or impulses to others, projecting their insecurities onto those around them.

Rationalization

A defense mechanism whereby an individual justifies their behavior or feelings with plausible but inaccurate reasoning, often to avoid confronting the true reasons.

Displacement

A defense mechanism where an individual redirects feelings, often anger or frustration, toward a less threatening target instead of the original source.

Denial

A defense mechanism in which an individual refuses to accept reality or facts, effectively ignoring the existence of unpleasant feelings or thoughts.

Thematic Apperception Test

A projective psychological test used to assess an individual's personality and emotional functioning by having them create stories based on ambiguous images.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

A projective test consisting of 10 inkblots created by Hermann Rorschach, used to assess a person's personality characteristics and emotional functioning through their interpretations of the blots.

Neo- Freudians and Psychodynamic Theorists

Psychologists who expanded on Freud's theories, emphasizing the influence of the unconscious mind and childhood experiences while incorporating social and cultural factors.

Roger’s person-centered perspective

A therapeutic approach developed by Carl Rogers emphasizing unconditional positive regard, empathy, and the importance of the individual's self-concept in achieving personal growth.

Trait Theories

Theories that focus on identifying and measuring individual personality characteristics, often using various assessments to predict behavior.

Gordon Allport

A key figure in personality psychology known for developing the trait theory and emphasizing the uniqueness of individuals' personality traits.

Big Five Trait Theory of Personality

A model proposing five core dimensions of personality, which are openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism, used to describe human personality.

Eysenck

Personality theory that categorizes individuals based on three dimensions: extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism.

The Person-Situation Debate

Discussion about the relative contributions of personality traits and situational factors in determining behavior.

Social-Cognitive Theories

approaches that emphasize the interplay of personal and environmental factors in shaping behaviors and personality.

Reciprocal determinism

is a concept in social-cognitive theory that proposes that personal factors, behavior, and environmental influences all interact to shape an individual's actions and personality.

Individualist

refers to a person who prioritizes personal goals, independence, and self-reliance over collective or group goals, common in cultures that value autonomy.

Collectivist

refers to a person who emphasizes group goals, interdependence, and community over individual goals, commonly found in cultures that prioritize social harmony.

Attribution Theory

is a psychological framework that explains how individuals interpret and explain the causes of their own and others' behavior, often distinguishing between internal (dispositional) and external (situational) attributions.

Fundamental Attribution Error

is a cognitive bias that leads individuals to overemphasize personal characteristics and downplay situational factors when explaining others' behaviors, often resulting in misattributions.

Foot in the door phenomenon

is a psychological phenomenon where individuals are more likely to comply with a large request after agreeing to a smaller, related request, demonstrating the impact of consistency on decision-making.

Cognitive dissonance theory

is a psychological theory that describes the mental discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, values, or attitudes, leading to an alteration in one of the conflicting elements to reduce the discomfort.

Asch’s Experiments

demonstrated the power of conformity in groups, showing how individuals often conform to the majority opinion even when it contradicts their own beliefs.

Milgram’s Obedience Experiments

were a series of social psychology experiments conducted by Stanley Milgram to measure the willingness of participants to obey authority figures, even when instructed to perform actions that conflicted with their personal conscience.

Social facilitation

is the tendency for individuals to perform differently when in the presence of others compared to when they are alone, often leading to enhanced performance on simple or well-learned tasks.

Social loafing

is the phenomenon where individuals exert less effort when working collectively on a task compared to when they work alone, often leading to decreased productivity in group settings.

Deindividuation

is a psychological state characterized by a loss of self-awareness and individual accountability that can occur in group settings, often leading to increased impulsive and deviant behavior.

Group polarization

is the tendency for group members to enhance their preexisting attitudes through discussion, leading to more extreme positions after group interaction.

Groupthink

is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity results in irrational or dysfunctional decision-making, often leading to poor outcomes.

Proximity effect

refers to the tendency for people to form relationships or attract attention based on their physical closeness to one another. This effect can influence social interactions and perceptions.

Mere exposure effect

is a psychological phenomenon whereby individuals develop a preference for things merely because they are familiar with them. This effect can influence attitudes and social behaviors.

Bystander effect

is a social psychological phenomenon in which individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present. The likelihood of helping decreases as the number of bystanders increases, often due to diffusion of responsibility.

James-Lange Theory

is a theory of emotion that suggests emotions arise from physiological reactions to stimuli. According to this theory, we experience emotion after we perceive our body's responses to an event.

Cannon-Bard Theory

is a theory of emotion that proposes that we experience emotions and physiological reactions simultaneously, rather than sequentially. This theory contrasts with the James-Lange Theory.

Schachter-Singer Two Factor Theory

is a theory of emotion which posits that emotion is based on physiological arousal and cognitive labeling of that arousal. According to this theory, we identify our emotions based on the context of our physiological response.

Facial feedback effect

is the theory that facial expressions can influence emotional experiences. This means that changing one's facial expression can affect the individual's emotional state.

stress

is a psychological and physical response to perceived challenges or threats, often characterized by feelings of tension and the activation of the body's fight-or-flight response.

learned helplessness

is a condition in which individuals believe they have no control over the outcomes of their situations, leading to a passive acceptance of adverse circumstances. This phenomenon often results from repeated exposure to uncontrollable stressors.

Explanatory styles

optimists vs. pessimists

Pessimists

tend to interpret negative events as permanent, pervasive, and personal, often leading to feelings of helplessness.

Optimists

interpret negative events as temporary, specific, and not their fault, which fosters resilience and motivation.

Problem-focused coping

changing the stressor directly

Emotion- focused coping

ignoring or avoiding the stressor