Psych of Personality Midterm

Definition of Personality

Someone’s usual pattern of beliefs, feelings, and thoughts

How do we measure personality?

self-report questionnaires, informant reports, clinical interviews, projective tests, observation analysis, archival analysis, and physiological measures

Self-report questionnaires

Ask people to report on their own personalities; can be agree/disagree, true/false, likert scale

Informant reports

When other people report on someone’s personality

Clinical interviews

A clinician asks questions and talks to someone

Projective tests

Measures designed to elicit personality characteristics without directly asking; *Rorschach Ink Blot Test* and TAT: *Thematic Apperception Test*.

Projective tests are

more subjective and have poor interceder reliability

Physiological measures

Assessing physical reactions such as heart rate or sweating. fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)

What is triangulation?

Using different research methods to answer the same question; self-report, lab assessment, other report and personality in the middle

What is the only research method that can claim a cause and effect relationship between variables?

Experiment

Experimental method

Assigning random participants to a control group and an experimental group which diminishes the power of extra variables to make claims about causation, because these studies control confounding variables

Control group

Not exposed to the variable manipulated by the researcher (IV)

Experimental group

Exposed to the variable manipulated by the research (IV)

Negative correlation

Variables move in opposite directions

Positive correlation

Variables move in same direction

r is the

strength of the relationships; between -1.00 and 1.00, the higher the correlation, the stronger the relationship

Reliability

Means a scale is consistent

Validity

A scale measures what it is supposed to measure (if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck).

How many fall in 1 standard deviation of the mean?

2/3

How many fall in 2 standard deviations of the mean?

95%

How many fall in 3 deviations of the mean?

99%

Lexical hypothesis

Traits important for survival and reproduction became part of language , the more words the more important the trait

Facets

traits that comprise each of the Big Five

Factors

correlations among items to cluster them into traits and then facets

Heritability

genetics account for 50% of personality

DNA shared in siblings

50%

DNA shared in dzygotic twins?

50%

DNA shared in monozygotic twins?

100%

Epigenetics

Environment can influence how much genetics matter

People high in *agreeableness* show

more activation in their frontal lobe

People high in *neuroticism* have

stronger responses in the amygdala

*Extraversion* is linked to

increased activation of the amygdala

Low *conscientious* (high impulsivity) have

more activity in the ventral striatum

Low *conscientiousness* may be linked to

higher levels of dopamine

Openness to experience may be linked to

dopamine

What lowers impulsivity?

serotonin

What is evolutionary psychology?

People act in ways that maximize survival and reproduction mk

Sociosexuality

People with different levels of wanting uncommitted sex pursue different mating strategies

Self-concept

image you have of yourself

What are the four main aspects of self-concept?

Material self, social self, spiritual self, and true self

High self monitors

Comfortable and adapt their behavior in a variety of social situations

Individualism

cultural system that values the needs of self more than those of the group

Collectivism

cultural system that values the group more than the self

Implicit self-esteem

Not aware of having it , can.be measured with the *Implicit Association Test*

Explicit self-esteem

Aware of having it

The “donut” personality

high explicit self-esteem with low implicit self-esteem

Narcissism

* extraverted, bold, self-centered, egotistical, vain, and cocky
* have shallow relationships
* think they are better than others and they think they are better than they actually are

Self compassion

Being kind to yourself and treating yourself with compassion

Self-efficacy

The belief that you will be effective and will successfully work toward goals

Self-regulation

* Process of guiding and directing yourself to a desired state
* Uses mental muscle to manage self in many contexts

* What are the common themes among Psychodynamic theories?

* Emphasize interaction and conflict between unconscious and conscious mind
* Believe that unconscious thoughts must be discovered in indirect ways - hard to research

Conscious

* What we are aware of
* Wants to know what is reality

Unconscious

* What we are unaware of
* Wants whatever brings pleasure

Preconscious

* What we are barely aware of
* Censorship separates the two

Structural Model

Id, ego, super-ego

Id

Unconscious mind, motivated by pleasure

What is responsible for Freudian slips?

The Id

Ego

Conscious, the mediator (reality)

Superego

Your conscience, strict and demanding, consists or rules you were raised

Psychosexual stages of development

Oral, anal, phallic, latent, genital

Libido

Cathects to erogenous zones during each stage, and can cause *fixation* if it gets stuck

Infancy (0-12 months)

Oral- everything goes in the mouth

Toddlers (1-3 years)

Anal - potty training

Preschool and kindergarten (4-6 years)

Phallic (oedipal and electra complexes)

School age (7-11)

Latent (libido dormant)

Adolescence (12 years)

Genital, Emerging adult sexuality

Oral fixation results in

mouth-focused activities into adulthood

Anal fixation results in

Anal retentive: neatness and order & Anal expulsive: messiness and disorganization

The Freuds believed that we use *_______* to protect ourselves from debilitating anxiety

defense mechanisms

Freuds believed the source of this _______ is *intrapsychic conflict*

anxiety

Denial

Not acknowledging unconscious content

Reaction formation

Disguising unconscious content by turning it into its opposite (ex. homophobia)

Projection

Seeing one’s own unconscious content in others rather than in oneself

Displacement

Moving a troubling impulse into a different, less threatening object (ex. anger)

Repression

Keeping the unconscious from consciousness by pushing it away

Sublimation

Channeling unconscious impulses into work, relatively healthy

Humor

Releases tension between the unconscious and conscious, 4 types of humor

Jung

Believed the ego could be divided into different attitudes and ego functions

What are the two primary ego attitudes?

Extraversion and Introversion

What are the four ego function?

Intuition and sensation, thinking and feeling

Jung believed in a larger human unconscious called the _____

collective unconscious

The archetypes are?

The shadow, anima/animus, the self, persona

The shadow

“Dark side” of the ego

Anima/Animus

The soul

The self

At the care, with ego orbiting around it

Jung believed the source of basic anxiety \n

is base evil, that which makes a child feel unworthy or unloved

Children then use *_________________* to protect themselves from the resulting and profound insecurity.

defensive strategies

Moving toward

Connecting with others to reduce anxiety

Moving against

Using exploitation and aggressiveness to gain control

Moving away

Finding peace by avoiding others and escaping conflict

Alfred Adler is known for his work on the *______* __and__ ____.

inferiority complex ; birth order

*________* stressed the impact of very early relationships on adult personality and relationships.

Object relations theory

Approach-oriented people

Tend to be high in extraversion

Avoidance-oriented people

Tend to be high in neuroticism

What is on top of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?

Self-Actualization (creativity, spontaneity, problem solving)

The bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

Basic physiological (breathing, food, water)

How about the middle?

Self-esteem, love and belonging, safety and security

Carl Rogers believed in

Unconditional Positive regard

Unconditional Positive Regard

Helps individuals reduce incongruence so they can self actualize

According to Rogers, the source of anxiety is

a crisis of acceptance brought on by conditions of worth