unit 7

Personality

An individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Psychodynamic theories

Theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences.

Psychoanalysis

Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; also a therapeutic technique used to treat psychological disorders.

Unconscious

A reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories, according to Freud.

Free association

A method of exploring the unconscious in psychoanalysis where the person says whatever comes to mind.

Id

A reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives.

Ego

The largely conscious part of personality that mediates between the id, superego, and reality.

Superego

The part of personality that represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment.

Psychosexual stages

Childhood stages of development during which the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones.

Oedipus Complex

A boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy for his rival father.

Identification

The process by which children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos.

Fixation

A lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage due to unresolved conflicts.

Defense Mechanisms

The ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by altering reality unconsciously.

Repression

The defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness.

Collective unconscious

Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history.

Projective test

A personality test that triggers projection of one’s inner dynamics through ambiguous images.

Thematic Apperception Test

A projective test where people create stories about ambiguous scenes to express inner feelings.

Rorschach inkblot test

A widely used projective test that identifies inner feelings by analyzing interpretations of inkblots.

Terror management theory

A theory exploring emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of impending death.

Humanistic theories

Theories that focus on the potential for healthy personal growth and self-actualization.

Hierarchy of needs

Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, outlining the order in which needs must be met.

Self-actualization

The motivation to fulfill one’s potential after attaining basic physical and psychological needs.

Self-transcendence

The striving for identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self.

Unconditional positive regard

A caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude believed to aid in developing self-awareness and acceptance.

Self-concept

All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves in response to the question, 'Who am I?'

Trait

A characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to act in certain ways.

Personality inventory

A questionnaire used to assess selected personality traits through self-report and peer reports.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

The most widely researched personality test, primarily used to identify emotional disorders.

Empirically derived test

A test created by selecting items that differentiate between groups.

Social-cognitive perspective

Views behavior as influenced by the interaction between traits and social context.

Behavioral approach

Focuses on the effects of learning on personality development.

Reciprocal determinism

The interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment.

Self

Assumed center of personality, organizing our thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Spotlight effect

Overestimating others’ attention to our appearance and actions, as if under a spotlight.

Self-esteem

One’s feelings of high or low self-worth.

Self-efficacy

One’s sense of competence and effectiveness.

Self-serving bias

A readiness to perceive oneself favorably.

Narcissism

Excessive self-love and self-absorption.

Individualism

Prioritizing personal goals over group goals and defining identity in personal terms.

Collectivism

Prioritizing group goals and defining identity according to group affiliation.