Unit 10

Personality

A pattern of enduring, distinctive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize the way a person adapts to the world.

Psychodynamic Perspectives

Theoretical views emphasizing that personality is primarily unconscious (beyond awareness).

Psychoanalysis

Freud’s approach to personality from his work with hysteria.

Hysteria

Physical symptoms that have no physical cause.

Id

The part of the person that Freud called the 'it,' consisting of unconscious drives; the individual’s reservoir of sexual energy.

Pleasure Principle

Freud’s concept that the id always seeks pleasure and immediate gratification.

Ego

The Freudian structure of personality that deals with the demands of reality.

Superego

The Freudian structure of personality that serves as the harsh internal judge of the individual’s behavior; often referred to as conscience.

Defense Mechanisms

Tactics the ego uses to reduce anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.

Denial

The defense mechanism where the Ego refuses to acknowledge a reality.

Displacement

Defense mechanism where an unacceptable impulse is directed at a less threatening target.

Sublimation

A special form of displacement in which the person expresses an unconscious wish in a socially acceptable way.

Projection

Defense mechanism in which we see impulses that we fear in ourselves and project them at others.

Reaction Formation

A defense mechanism in which a person’s conscious experiences is exactly the opposite of true desires.

Repression

The most powerful defense mechanism which pushes unacceptable impulses into the unconscious mind.

Oedipus Complex

According to Freud, a boy’s intense desire to replace his father and enjoy the affections of his mother.

Collective Unconscious

Jung’s term for the impersonal, deepest layer of the unconscious mind, shared by all human beings.

Archetypes

Jung’s term for emotionally laden ideas and images in the collective unconscious that have rich symbolic meaning.

Individual Psychology

Adler’s view that people are motivated by purposes and goals, and that perfection, not pleasure, is the key motivator.

Humanistic Perspectives

Theoretical views stressing a person’s capacity for personal growth and positive human qualities.

Unconditional Positive Regard

Rogers’s construct referring to the individual’s need to be accepted, valued, and treated positively regardless of behavior.

Conditions of Worth

The standards that the individual must live up to in order to receive positive regard from others.

Trait Theories

Theoretical views stressing that personality consists of broad, enduring dispositions (traits) that tend to lead to characteristic responses.

The Big Five Factors of Personality

The five broad traits that are thought to describe the main dimensions of personality: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

Neuroticism

Feeling negative emotion more often than positive emotion in one’s daily life.

Extraversion

People more likely to engage in social activity.

Openness to Experience

Related to liberal values, open-mindedness, tolerance, creativity, and the capacity to experience awe.

Agreeableness

Related to generosity and altruism, to reports of religious faith, and more satisfying romantic relationships.

Conscientiousness

A key predictor in positive outcomes, capturing people's strong desire to achieve.

Subjective Well-Being

A person’s assessment of their own level of positive affect relative to negative affect.

Social Cognitive Perspectives

Theoretical views emphasizing conscious awareness, beliefs, expectations, and goals.

Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory

Behavior, environment, and person/cognitive factors are all important in understanding personality.

Reciprocal Determinism

Describes the interaction of behavior, environment, and personal/cognitive factors in creating personality.

Self-Efficacy

The belief that one can master a situation and produce positive change.

Cross-Situational Consistency

The idea that personality traits may not be consistent across different situations.

Situationism

The concept that a person's behavior is influenced by the specific situation they are in.

Cognitive Affective Processing Systems

Mischel’s model describing how thoughts and emotions affect behavior in significant ways.

Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory

Theory identifying two biological systems linked to learning associations between behaviors and rewards or punishers.

Behavioral Genetics

The study of the inherited factors influencing behavior.

Observational Learning

Learning that occurs by watching and imitating another's behavior.

Self-Report Test

A method of measuring personality characteristics that directly asks individuals about their traits.

Social Desirability

The tendency for individuals to respond in a way that is favorable or acceptable to others.

Empirically Keyed Test

A type of self-report test that evaluates personality based on differences in responses from distinct groups.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

The most widely used and researched empirically keyed self-report personality test.

Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory

A self-reported test based on the five-factor model of personality.

Face Validity

The degree to which a test item appears relevant to the trait being measured.

Projective Test

A personality assessment that asks individuals to interpret ambiguous stimuli.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

A projective test that uses inkblots to reveal aspects of an individual's personality.

Thematic Apperception Test

A projective test designed to uncover stories that reveal aspects of an individual's personality.