Personality Psychology: Methods, Freud, and Adler

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering research methods, Freudian psychoanalytic theory, psychosexual stages, defense mechanisms, and Alfred Adler's individual psychology, lifestyle typologies, and family dynamics.

Operational definition

An observable and measurable statement of a variable used in data collection.

Falsifiability

The ability of a theory or idea to be refuted by empirical test.

OPCCAM’S RAZOR

The principle of beginning an evaluation of alternative explanations with the simplest explanation.

Hippocrates

Ancient figure (400 BCE) who developed a personality typology theory based on four body humors, theorizing that physical differences were related to personality types.

Nomothetic approach

An approach to personality study that investigates personality in order to develop regular laws of behavior.

Idiographic approach

An approach to personality study that focuses on a rich and detailed study of individuals.

Reductionism

Reducing one level of activity to a simpler or more basic level.

Psychoanalysis

A theoretical framework founded by Sigmund Freud proposing that human behavior is influenced by unconscious thoughts.

Conscious

The level of awareness comprising what an individual is aware of right now, such as current thoughts and feelings.

Preconscious

Information that an individual is not currently thinking about but can easily bring to mind, such as memories.

Unconscious

Thoughts, wishes, memories, and conflicts outside of awareness that Freud believed contain material too threatening or upsetting to acknowledge consciously.

Psyche

The mind or mental life, conceptualized by Freud as consisting of three interacting components: id, ego, and superego.

Id

The pleasure-seeking component of personality governed by self-gratifying impulses ("I want it now!").

Ego

The reality-oriented mediator of personality that manages conflict between desires, morality, and reality ("What can I realistically do?").

Superego

The moral component of personality concerned with what an individual should do.

Libido

The sexual energy of the id, later conceptualized as the universal life instinct (eros).

Ego strength

The degree to which the ego can control impulsive id urges; more ego results in less impulsivity.

Defense mechanisms

Protective strategies adopted by the ego to defend the psyche against anxiety.

Denial

A defense mechanism involving the refusal to accept or recognize an uncomfortable external reality to gain protection from an upsetting situation.

Projection

A defense mechanism involving the disguising of disturbing personal impulses by attributing them to another person.

Repression

A defense mechanism that pushes painful thoughts, distressing memories, or internal realities into the unconscious.

Regression

A defense mechanism involving a return to an earlier, less mature pattern of behavior when experiencing stress in order to obtain comfort and security.

Reaction formation

A defense mechanism where an individual protects against unacceptable feelings by expressing their exact opposite.

Rationalization

A defense mechanism that protects self-esteem by creating excuses or explanations to justify behavior, failures, or uncomfortable feelings.

Displacement

A defense mechanism where feelings are redirected from a threatening or inappropriate target to a safer, more acceptable target.

Sublimation

A defense mechanism that channels dangerous, unacceptable urges into healthy, socially useful actions and emotions.

Oral Stage

The psychosexual stage from birth to age 2 centered on the mouth and feeding, in which the primary conflict involves weaning from breastfeeding.

Anal Stage

The psychosexual stage from age 2 to 4 centered on the anus and relieving tension, in which the primary conflict is parental toilet training.

Anal retentive

A personality outcome resulting from strict toilet training and excessive control of urges, characterized by being orderly and rigid about organization.

Anal expulsive

A personality outcome resulting from lax or inconsistent toilet training and insufficient control of urges, characterized by being messy and lacking self-control.

Phallic Stage

The psychosexual stage from age 4 to 7 centered on the genitals and desire, involving sex difference awareness and superego development.

Oedipus Complex

A phallic stage conflict where a boy desires his mother, sees his father as a rival, represses desire due to fear of castration, and identifies with the father.

Electra Complex

A phallic stage conflict where a girl desires her father, blames her mother, experiences penis envy, and eventually identifies with her mother.

Free association

A psychoanalytic therapy technique where a relaxed patient verbalizes all uncensored thoughts to therapist prompts to bypass ego defenses and access hidden motives.

Manifest content

The surface elements and narrative parts of a dream that a person consciously recalls upon waking.

Latent content

The unremembered, hidden psychological meaning, anxieties, or unconscious wishes symbolized within a dream.

Dream work

The process by which unconscious thoughts and wishes are transformed and distorted into the dream story that is remembered.

Condensation

A dream work mechanism wherein multiple thoughts, people, or ideas are combined into a single dream image or event.

Secondary revision

A dream work mechanism by which the waking mind organizes fragmented or distorted dream material into a more coherent story.

Word association

A therapeutic technique where a therapist reads a list of words to identify potential instances of cathexis and explore emotional connections or conflicts.

Activation-Synthesis

An alternative neurological explanation of dreams proposing that spontaneous firing of neurons in the pons is synthesized and interpreted by the cerebral cortex.

Individual psychology

Alfred Adler's theory proposing that people are motivated by feelings of inferiority, goals, self-improvement, and social relationships rather than just past experiences.

Organ Inferiority

A congenital or physical weakness that provokes feelings of inadequacy, which an individual responds to through compensation or becomes overwhelmed by.

Striving for superiority

The fundamental desire to improve, overcome personal weaknesses, and become more capable.

Inferiority complex

A state that occurs when feelings of inadequacy become so overwhelming that they prevent personal progress, leading to avoidance of challenges and giving up.

Social interest

An individual's sense of belonging, connection, cooperation, and concern for the well-being of others and society.

Ruling-dominant type

An Adlerian lifestyle typology characterized by low social interest and high activity, striving to control and dominate others.

Getting-leaning type

An Adlerian lifestyle typology characterized by low social interest and low activity, heavily relying on others and expecting to receive.

Avoiding type

An Adlerian lifestyle typology characterized by very low social interest and low activity, avoiding life's problems due to fear of failure or inadequacy.

Socially useful type

The healthiest Adlerian lifestyle typology, characterized by high social interest and high activity, solving problems with community welfare in mind.

Scapegoat

A family role where an individual internally feels frustrated, rejected, and unlovable, and externally gets into arguments and acts out to gain parental attention.

Caretaker

A family role where an individual internally feels overwhelmed, on edge, and anxious, and externally absorbs and attempts to resolve the family's issues.

Hero

A family role where an individual internally feels overwhelmed, anxious, and pressured, and externally manifests as a perfectionist, over-achiever, and highly responsible person.

Mascot

A family role where an individual internally experiences pressure, anxiety, and overwhelm, and externally uses humor to distract from the family's core issues.

Addict/IP

A family role where an individual internally feels unlovable and rejected by family, and externally engages in substance use or behaviors to cope and distract from core family issues.

Lost Child

A family role where an individual internally feels rejected, neglected, and depressed, and externally seeks to blend in and not make a scene.

Pampering

An Adlerian obstacle to growth where excessive help, protection, or attention prevents a child from developing independence, solving problems, or handling failure.

Neglect

An Adlerian obstacle to growth where a lack of sufficient love, attention, and support impedes self-worth, trust, and relationship formation.