Studied by 58 people
what is personality?
a person’s general way of interacting with the world
what is personality consistancy?
stability of the behaviour over time and across situations
what is personality distinctiveness?
different people react to the same situation in different ways
what is a personality trait?
durable disposition to behave in a particular way
what is the five-factor model of personality traits (big five personality factors)
openness to experience
conscientiousness
extraversion
agreeableness
neuroticism
(OCEAN)
who made the five factor model of personality traits
mccrae and costa
what big five personality factor tends to be more politcally liberal
openness to experience
what big five personality factor tends to live longer
conscientiousness
what big five personality factor is less likely to be divorced
conscientiousness
what is uncontrollable stigma?
when we attach negative correlation (judgement) to people who we think have a “controllable fault”
aka, judging people for smoking because it’s a behaviour that they can control
what was freud’s theories focused on? (3)
early childhood experiences
unconcious motives and conflicts
inhibited sexual and aggresive urges
what are the three levels of awareness (freud)
conscious
unconcious
presconcious
according to freud, what is the structure of personality? (3)
id
ego
superego
what is id?
raw biological urges, innate drives we are born with
(eating, sleeping, bathroom, sex)
id operates according to what principle?
pleasure principle
what principle does superego operate according to?
idealistic principle
what is superego?
moral guide / conscience influenced by internalizing parents’ values and the voice of society
what works against id by inflicting guilt?
superego
what is ego?
assesses what is realistically possible in satisfying the id and/or superego
what principle does ego operate according to?
reality principle
what is consciousness?
acute awareness, things you are thinking about right now
what is preconsciousness?
just under awareness, easily known
ex. accessing the answer to the question “what are you having for dinner tonight?”
what is unconciousness?
well below awareness, difficult to know but very influential
according to freud, personality is the result of the battle for control between what? (3)
id, ego, and superego
what is repression?
ego keeps threatening impulses out of awareness
what is denial?
ego refuses to acknowledge anxiety-producing realities
what is projection?
ego attributes personal shortcomings, problems, and faults to others
what is reaction formation?
ego transforms an unacceptable motive into its opposite
(we form a reaction that’s more socially acceptable)
what is regression?
ego seeks the security of an earlier developmental period in the face of stress
what is displacement?
ego shifts feelings toward an unnacceptable object to another more acceptable object
(taking out anger on someone/something else)
what is sublimation?
ego replaces an unacceptable impulse with a socially acceptable one
(ex. wanting to punch someone but instead you lift weights)
what is rationalization?
ego replaces a less acceptable unconcious thought or impulse with a more acceptable concious one
(ex. making excuses for failure, “i did bad on that test because the test was unfair”)
what is the oedipus complex?
desire to replace the same-sex parent and enjoy the affections of the opposite parent
what is the electra complex?
the oedipus complex but for girls idk why its different lmaoo
what are the main criticisms of psychoanalytical theory? (4)
sexist against women
unverifiable concepts
inadequate empirical base (description rather than prediction)
too many hypotheses for reactions to anxiety
what is the collective unconscious?
deepest layer of the unconcious mind, shared by all human beings because of their common ancestral past
what did carl jung propose?
that the unconscious consists of two layers: the personal unconscious and collective unconscious
what is the personal unconscious?
it houses material that is not within one’s concious awareness because it has been repressed or forgotten
what are archetypes?
ancestral memories, emotionally charged images and thoughts that have universal meaning
what did adler argue that the foremost source of human motivation was?
striving for superiority
what is adler’s idea of compensation?
efforts to overcome imagined or real inferiorities by developing one’s abilities
what is an inferiority complex?
excessive feelings of inferiority, exaggerated feelings of weakness and inadequacy
what is adler’s idea of overcompensation?
working to aquire status and power, especially from material things like fancy cars and expensive clothesl to conceal feelings of inferiority
who first gave attention to the possible importance of birth order as a factor governing personality?
adler
what did karen horney contribute to psychoanalysis?
she broadened the perspective of psychoanalysis to consider childhood, environment, and interpersonal relationships
what was karen horney’s most important criticism of freud’s idea?
she criticized his emphasis on the central role played by infantile sexuality on personality development.
she believed that an infants need for a sense of security was more important
what did b.f. skinner contribute to personality psychology?
behavioural perspective
focused on how the external environment could change behaviour, thought that people have consistant behaviour because they aquired them through situations (skinner viewed an individual’s personality as a collection of response tendencies tied to various situations)
theorized that environmental consequences (reinforcement, punishment) determine people’s patterns of responding
what did b.f skinner use in his research?
rats and pigeons
what is a reinforcer?
anything that makes a behaviour more likely to occur again in the future
what is positive reinforcement?
something has been added to make the behaviour more likely
what is negative reinforcement?
something has been taken away to make the behaviour more likely
ex. taking advil REMOVES the headache, making you more likely to take advil in the future
what did albert bandura contribute to personality psychology?
social-cognitive perspective
theorized that our environment determines behaviour, but we can learn through observational learning
what is reciprocal determinism?
the back and forth relationship between our behaviour and our environment, and our internal cognitive factors (beliefs, expectations, etc.)
what is self-efficacy?
our belief of whether or not we can do something right now
our belief makes it more likely we will do that thing
what did water mischel contribute to personality psychology?
social-cognitive perspective
he theorized that behaviour depends on the situation (interactionist - to understand someone’s behaviour you must understand the situation they were in)
(ex. quiet in class, loud at hockey game)
person x situation interaction
what are the pros of behavioural and social cognitive perspectives of personality? (2)
based on rigorous research
insights into effects of learning and environmental factors
what are the cons of behavioural and social cognitive perspectives of personality? (3)
over-dependence on animal research
fragmented view of personality
dehumanizing views
what is the humanistic perspective of personality?
stress the person’s capacity for personal growth, freedom to choose destiny, and positive qualities
contrasts behavioural perspective
what did carl rogers contribute to personality psychology?
humanistic perspective
believed that people are free to choose their own actions, and are not governed by their environments
what is incongruence?
the degree of disparity between one’s self-concept and actual experience
what is self-concept?
a collection of beliefs about our own nature, unique qualities, and typical behaviour
what did abraham maslow contribute to personality psychology?
humanistic perspective
created the hierarchy of needs, with self-actualization being the highest need
what are pros of the humanistic perspective to personality psychology? (2)
importance of a person’s subjective view of reality
attention to the issue of what constitiutes a healthy personality
what are cons of the humanistic perspective to personality psychology? (4)
too optimistic
lacking a strong research base
may encourage excessive self-love
hard to test empirically
what did eysenck contribute to personality psychology?
biological perspective
theorized that behaviour is determined by evolutionary adaptations, the wiring of the brain, and heredity
(nature is more influencial than nurture)
what 3 “higher-order” traits did eysenck believe all aspects of personality emerge from?
extraversion
neuroticism
psychoticism
what is the terror management theory?
we have a biological drive to stay alive but we have a psychological awareness of our vunerability and mortality
our self-esteem and cultural belief systems reduce existential anxiety
what are immortality projects?
project to continue on after our life ends (big families, writing books, fame, etc.)
what is mortality salience?
the awareness by individuals that their death is inevitable, which leads to defending our own cultural world views and self-esteem (ex. increased nationalism after 9/11)
what demographic is most research based on? (WEIRD)
-Westernized
-Educated
-Industrialized
-Rich
-Democratic
what are individualistic cultures?
industrialized western cultures
individualism
tendency to view self in terms of personality traits, ability, and values
what are collectivistic cultures?
cultures native to asia, africa, and central + south america
collectivism
tendency to define self in terms of group identity and relation to others
what are projective personality tests?
what are their assumptions?
what is the problem with this test?
tests that provide ambiguous stimulus (ex. ink blot tests, showing images)
assumption: the abiguity of the stimulus allows projection of personality
problem: lacks reliability and validity
what are self-report tests?
what are their assumptions?
what are the problems with this test? (2)
directly ask people whether items describe them
assumption: individuals are able to report how they feel, think, and have insight into their own inner state
problem: social desirability, response set (tendency to answer questions in ways that are the most complimentary or flattering)
what are behavioural assessments?
what is the problem with this test?
directly observe a person’s behaviour
problem: hard to develop objectivity
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Flashcard (53)