05 | Personality, Motivation and Emotion

personality

an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

psychodynamic theories

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

psychoanalysis (theory)

Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions.

unconscious

according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware.

free association

in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing.

id

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.

ego

the partly conscious, 'executive' part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, the superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.

superego

the partly conscious part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations.

defense mechanisms

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.

repression

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.

collective unconscious

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

terror-management theory

a theory of death-related anxiety; explores people's emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes.

projective test

a personality test, such as the TAT or Rorschach, that provides ambiguous images designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics and explore the preconscious and unconscious mind.

Rorschach inkblot test

a projective test designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing how they interpret 10 inkblots.

humanistic theories

theories that view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth.

hierarchy of needs

Maslow's levels of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs. Often visualized as a pyramid, with needs nearer the base taking priority until they are satisfied.

self-actualization

according to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one's potential.

self-transcendence

according to Maslow, the striving for identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self.

unconditional positive regard

a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help people develop self-awareness and self-acceptance.

self-concept

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

trait

a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act in certain ways, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports.

personality inventory

a questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders, this test is now used for many other screening purposes.

empirically derived test

a test (such as the MMPI) created by selecting from a pool of items those that discriminate between groups.

Big Five factors

five traits — openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism — that describe personality.

social-cognitive perspective

a view of behavior as influenced by the interaction between people's traits (including their thinking) and their social context.

behavioral approach

focuses on the effects of learning on our personality development.

reciprocal determinism

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

self

in modern psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions.

spotlight effect

overestimating others' noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us).

self-esteem

our feelings of high or low self-worth.

self-efficacy

our sense of competence and effectiveness.

self-serving bias

a readiness to perceive ourselves favorably.

narcissism

excessive self-love and self-absorption.

individualism

a cultural pattern that emphasizes people's own goals over group goals and defines identity mainly in terms of unique personal attributes.

collectivism

a cultural pattern that prioritizes the goals of important groups (often one's extended family or work group).

motivation

a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior.

instinct

a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned.

physiological need

a basic bodily requirement.

drive-reduction theory

the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need.

homeostasis

a tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level.

incentive

a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior.

Yerkes-Dodson law

the principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases.

affiliation need

the need to build and maintain relationships and to feel part of a group.

self-determination theory

the theory that we feel motivated to satisfy our needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness.

intrinsic motivation

the desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake.

extrinsic motivation

the desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment.

ostracism

deliberate social exclusion of individuals or groups.

achievement motivation

a desire for significant accomplishment, for mastery of skills or ideas, for control, and for attaining a high standard.

glucose

the form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues. When its level is low, we feel hunger.

set point

the point at which the "weight thermostat" may be set. When the body falls below this weight, increased hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may combine to restore lost weight.

basal metabolic rate

the body's resting rate of energy output.

obesity

defined as a body mass index (BMI) measurement of 30 or higher, which is calculated from our weight-to-height ratio. (Individuals who are overweight have a BMI of 25 or higher.)

emotion

a response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and, most importantly, (3) conscious experience resulting from one's interpretations.

polygraph

a machine used in attempts to detect lies; measures emotion-linked changes in perspiration, heart rate, and breathing.

facial feedback effect

the tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness.

behavior feedback effect

the tendency of behavior to influence our own and others' thoughts, feelings, and actions.

spillover effect

arousal response to one event spills over into our response to the next event

PYY

digestive tract hormone; sends "I'm not hungry" signals to the brain

Leptin

A hormone produced by adipose (fat) cells that acts as a satiety factor in regulating appetite.

ghrelin

A hunger-arousing hormone secreted by an empty stomach

Orexin

hunger-triggering hormone secreted by hypothalamus

repression

Defense mechanism by which anxiety-provoking thoughts and feelings are forced to the unconscious.

regression

psychoanalytic defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated

reaction formation

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites. Thus, people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings.

projection

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

rationalization

defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one's actions

displacement

psychoanalytic defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet

sublimation

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people refuse to believe or even to perceive painful realities.

denial

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people refuse to believe or even to perceive painful realities.

Openness (Big Five)

The personality dimension that includes imagination, wit, originality, and creativity; people low on this dimension are shallow, plain, and simple

conscientiousness (Big Five)

The personality dimension that includes dependability, cautiousness, organization, and responsibility; people low in this dimension are impulsive, careless, disorderly, and undependable

Extraversion (Big Five)

A personality dimension describing someone who is sociable, gregarious, and assertive

Agreeableness (Big Five)

The personality dimension that includes friendliness, cooperation, and warmth; people low in this dimension are cold, quarrelsome, and unkind.

Neuroticism (Big Five)

The personality dimension that includes nervousness, tension, and anxiety; people low in this dimension are emotionally stable, calm, and contented