Intro to Psychology: Personality

Personality

Psychological qualities that bring continuity to an individual's behavior in different situations and at different times

Preconscious Mind

thoughts are not currently in consciousness but can be accessed

Conscious Mind

current thoughts and attention.

Unconscious Mind

forbidden or dangerous memories, urges, and conflicts. Beyond awareness, come from experiences in childhood, cause anxiety

Modern View of Unconscious

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Activation-Synthesis Theory

theory that dreams begin with random electrical activation coming from the brain stem; dreams are brain's attempt to make sense of this random activity

Ego Defense Mechanisms

largely unconscious mental strategies employed to reduce the experience of conflict or anxiety

Repression

pushing thoughts back deep in the brain to not think about them.

Denial

defense mechanism that is the belief that there is nothing wrong/ no problem

Projection

person projects their problems onto somebody else

Projective Personality Tests

personality assessment instruments based on Freud's concept of projection

Rorschach

type of personality test, ink blots.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

type of personality test

Introversion

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Extroversion

talkative, sociable, fun-loving, affectionate

Self-Concept

how we view ourselves and want to act

Positive Regard

people want others to think of them fondly and act towards them in positive ways

Fully Functioning Person

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Conditions of Worth

how others expect us to act

Incongruence

discrepancies between self-conflict and conditions of worth

Self-Actualization

needs to fulfill potential, have meaningful goals

Self-Actualizing Personalities

individuals with a healthy personality have met their basic needs (on hierarchy pyramid). They are free to be creative and fulfill their potential

Hierarchy of Needs

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Reciprocal Determinism

process in which the person, situation, and environment mutually influence each other

Self-Efficacy

beliefs a person holds about his/her own ability (can be general or for different tasks)

Locus of Control

an individual's sense of where his or her life influences originate (within or outside self).

Internal

Person sees that the environment responds to his/her actions

External

Person does not see they can affect their own environment

Temperament

Biologically based personality dispositions that are apparent in early childhood and establish the foundation of the personality and the mood of an individual's approach to life

Trait

Multiple stable personality characteristics that are presumed to exist within the individual and guide his or her thoughts and actions under various conditions

Type

Especially important dimentions or clusters of traits that are not only central to a person's personality but are found with essentially the same pattern in many people

The Big Five

extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to experience, conscientiousness

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2)

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Meyers-Briggs

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Sigmund Freud

Founder of Psychodynamic Theory, stage theory of personality.

Carl Rogers

Founder of Humanistic Theory

Abraham Maslow

Self Actualization