Personality and Psychodynamic Theories

A comprehensive set of 65 flashcards covering key concepts from the lecture on personality and psychodynamic theories.

What is personality?

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

Name two theories of personality.

Psychoanalytic theory and Humanistic theory.

What does psychodynamic theory focus on?

The unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences.

Who is the founder of psychoanalysis?

Sigmund Freud.

What is the unconscious according to Freud?

A reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories.

What is free association?

A method in psychoanalysis to explore the unconscious by saying whatever comes to mind.

Define the Id.

A reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives.

What is the ego?

The largely conscious part of personality that mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality.

What is the superego?

The part of personality that represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment.

What is fixation in psychosexual development?

A lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage where conflicts were unresolved.

What are the stages of psychosexual development?

Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, and Genital stages.

What does the Oedipus complex refer to?

A boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy for his rival father.

Define defense mechanisms.

The ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.

What is regression?

Retreating to an earlier psychosexual stage where some psychic energy remains fixated.

Define projection.

Disguising one’s own threatening impulses by attributing them to others.

What is rationalization?

Offering self-justifying explanations for one’s actions instead of the real, more threatening reasons.

What does displacement mean?

Shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person.

What is denial in the context of defense mechanisms?

Refusing to believe or perceive painful realities.

Who are the neo-Freudians?

Psychologists who accepted aspects of Freud's theory but modified them, such as Adler, Horney, and Jung.

What is the collective unconscious according to Carl Jung?

A shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species' history.

What are projective tests?

Personality tests designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics through ambiguous images.

What is the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)?

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

What is the Rorschach inkblot test?

A set of 10 inkblots designed to identify people's feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.

How do modern researchers view Freud's theories?

Many contradict his ideas, suggesting development is lifelong and not fixed in childhood.

What is self-actualization according to Maslow?

The motivation to fulfill one’s potential after basic needs and self-esteem are achieved.

What does humanistic psychology emphasize?

Focus on healthy people's striving for self-realization rather than struggles with mental illness.

What is unconditional positive regard?

Acceptance and support of a person regardless of what the person says or does.

What is the Big Five Factors model?

A personality model that includes Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

Define the trait theory of personality.

Traits are characteristic patterns of behavior or dispositions to feel and act in certain ways.

What is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)?

The most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests.

What is meant by 'reciprocal determinism'?

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

What is self-esteem?

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

What is self-efficacy?

One's sense of competence and effectiveness.

What is the Dunning-Kruger effect?

A cognitive bias where people with low ability overestimate their ability.

What are the criticisms of humanistic theories?

Concepts are vague, focus too much on individualism, and fail to appreciate human capacity for evil.

What influences behavior according to social-cognitive theories?

The interaction between people’s traits and their social context.

What is the importance of averaging behavior across situations?

It reveals distinct personality traits.

What do humanistic psychologists sometimes use to assess personality?

Questionnaires that evaluate self-concept.

Who proposed the three aspects of personality: id, ego, and superego?

Sigmund Freud.

What drives much of our behavior according to Alfred Adler?

Efforts to conquer childhood inferiority feelings.

What is the purpose of personality inventories?

To gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors for assessing personality traits.

Why is the study of traits significant in personality psychology?

It identifies stable and enduring characteristics influenced by genetic predispositions.

What is the role of the environment in shaping personality?

It interacts with inner dispositions to influence behavior.

How do social-cognitive theorists believe we learn behaviors?

Through conditioning or by observing and imitating others.

What does the term 'self' refer to in personality psychology?

The center of personality and organizer of thoughts, feelings, and actions.

What is the spotlight effect?

The tendency to overestimate others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance and performance.

What is the relationship between self-esteem and behavior?

Self-esteem can influence one’s behaviors and decision-making.

How can excessive optimism affect perception?

It can blind individuals to real risks.

What psychological concept involves preparing the person for events?

The enduring principles that influence our behavior and emotional responses.

What are some key criticisms of Freud's ideas?

Lack of objective observations and failure to provide testable predictions.

How do defense mechanisms help individuals?

By reducing anxiety through unconscious distortion of reality.

What is the emphasis of the trait theory in understanding people?

On specific characteristics that are consistent across time and situations.

What is the significance of self-serving bias?

It reflects a readiness to perceive oneself favorably.