Studied by 105 peoplePersonality
An individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.
Free Association
A method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing.
Unconscious
A reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories; information processing of which we are unaware.
Id
A reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives; it operates on the pleasure principle.
Ego
The largely conscious, “executive” part of personality that mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality; it operates on the reality principle.
Superego
The part of personality that represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgement (the unconscious) and for future aspirations.
Psychosexual Stages
The childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) which the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones.
Oedipus Complex
A boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father.
Identification
The process by which children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos.
Fixation
A lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved.
Defense Mechanism
The ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.
Repression
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 that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics.
TAT
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.
Self-Actualization
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.
Unconditional Positive Regard
A caring, accepting, non-judgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help clients to develop self-awareness and self-acceptance.
Self-Concept
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, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports.
Personality Inventory
A questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors used to assess selected personality traits.
MMPI
The most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests; originally developed to identify emotional disorders, this test is now used for many other screening purposes.
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 our thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Spotlight Effect
Overestimating others’ noticing and evaluating our appearance, performances, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us).
Self-Esteem
One’s feelings of high or low self-worth.
Self-Efficacy
One’s sense of competence and effectiveness.
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 groups 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.
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