Crash Course 22: Measuring Personality AP Psych

Vocabulary flashcards covering key personality theories, traits, assessments, and concepts from the notes.

Freudian theory

Personality develops through fundamental traits or characteristic behaviors and conscious motives.

Humanistic theory

Self-concept is measured through therapy, interviews, and questionnaires asking how you would ideally like to be and how you actually are; closer actual and ideal improves self-perceived self.

Self-actualizing tendency

Maslow's idea that individuals climb a hierarchy of needs to realize their full potential.

Trait

A stable, lasting pattern of behavior and conscious motivation used to define personality.

Personality inventories

Questionnaires that assess someone's behavior, personality, and related traits.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

A personality test consisting of 567 true/false questions, often used to assess emotional disorders.

Big Five / CANOE

Five major personality traits: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism.

Openness

Imaginative vs. practical; preference for variety vs. routine within the Big Five.

Conscientiousness

Organized, careful, disciplined vs. disorganized, careless, impulsive.

Extraversion

Sociable, fun-loving, affectionate vs. retiring, reserved.

Agreeableness

Tendency to be cooperative, compassionate, and trusting.

Neuroticism

Emotional stability vs. instability (high neuroticism indicates less stability).

Social-cognitive perspective

Emphasizes the interaction between personality traits and the social context.

Reciprocal determinism

We are both the creators and products of the situations we experience.

Internal locus of control

Belief that one controls their own fate or luck.

External locus of control

Belief that outcomes are guided by forces beyond one’s control.