Humanistic, Trait, and Self theory

Self-actualizing person

Fulfilliing our potential (top of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs)

Unconditional Positive Regard

(Rogers) attitude of acceptance despite their failings

Assessing the self (rogers)

Describing oneself as they’d like to be and as they really are. the more similar the two, the more positive their self-concept is.

Criticisms to the Humanistic Perspective

cague and subjective concepts. ccan lead to self indulegences and selfishness. underestmates human’s capability of evil.

Trait perspective

one’s unique mixture of durable dispositions and constant ways of behaving (traits)

Factor analysis

statistical approach used to describe/relate personality traits [ex: Hans and Sybil Eysenck suggested personality can be reduced to 2 polar dimensions; extraversion-introversion & emotional stability]

Personality inventories

questionnaires (dis/agree options often) designed to obtain a wide range of feelings and behaviors assessing several traits at once

Minnesota Multiphasic Personalities Inventory

Most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. originally used to identify emotional disorders

Big 5 Factors

(Costa and McCrae): OCEAN
Openness

conscientiousness

extraversion

agreeableness

neurotocism

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

designed to sort people according to carl jung’s personality types based on 126 questions.

extra/intraverted, intuitive-sensing, feeling-thinking, judging-perceiving

Person-situation controversy

Walter-Mischel points out traiuts may be enduring, but does not predict behavior or various situations

Do extraverts seek low/high stim?

Extraverts seek more stimulation due to lower normal brain arousal

Social-Cognitive Perspective

(Bandura) Personality is the result of an interaction between a person and their social context.

Reciprocal Determinism

The Interacting Influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment.

External Locus of Control

perception that chance/outside forces beyond our control determine our fate

Internal Locus of Control

perception that we can control our own fate

Learned Helplessness

When unable to avoid repeated adverse events, an animal or human learns helplessness and stops trying to escape the situation.

Social-Cognitive Perspective - Critiques

Not enough attention is attributed to the unconscious mind, emotions, and genetics.

Self Theory

Researching focusing on the different selves we possess

Spotlight Effect

We overestimate our concern that others evaluate our appearance, performance, and blunders

Self-serving bias

readiness to percieve oneself favorably

Self-Esteem

One’s sense of self worth- competence, abilities, etc

Defensive Self-esteem

self esteem that is fragile and egoistic

secure self-esteem

less dependent on external evaluation

Self efficacy

(Bandura) One’s belief in their ability to succeed in a prospective situation