Theories of Personality

A collection of vocabulary flashcards based on the theories of personality as discussed in the lecture.

Personality

Distinctive amalgam of behavior, mannerisms, thoughts, motives, and emotions that characterize an individual over time and across different situations.

Personality Traits

Characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behavior.

Psychodynamic Theories

Theories that explain behavior and personality in terms of unconscious energy dynamics within the individual.

Id

The reservoir of unconscious psychological energy, particularly sexual and aggressive instincts.

Ego

The balancing force of reason; responsible for self-control.

Superego

The locus of conscience, morality, and social standards.

Defence Mechanisms

Methods used by the ego to prevent unconscious anxiety or threatening thoughts and desires from entering consciousness.

Repression

A defence mechanism where a threatening idea, memory, or emotion is blocked from consciousness.

Projection

A defence mechanism where a person’s own unacceptable feelings are repressed and then attributed to someone else.

Displacement

A defence mechanism in which a person directs their emotions toward things that are not the real object of their feelings.

Regression

A defence mechanism in which a person reverts to a previous stage of psychological development.

Denial

A defence mechanism where a person refuses to admit that something wrong or unpleasant is occurring.

The Big Five Personality Traits

Five core traits identified by personality theorists: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism.

Factor Analysis

A statistical method for analyzing the intercorrelations among various measures or scores.

Core Personality Traits

The fundamental traits that are thought to vary among individuals; often summarized in the Big Five model.

Heritability

Statistical estimate of the proportion of the total variance in a trait attributable to genetic differences.

Projective Hypothesis

The idea that responses to ambiguous stimuli are influenced by nonconscious needs, feelings, and experiences.

Cattell's Trait Theory

Identifies core trait clusters through factor analysis, leading to the identification of the Big Five traits.

Objective Personality Tests

Scientifically validated personality assessments that measure various psychological traits.