Personality

personality

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

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.

psychoanalysis

Sigmund 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.

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 largely conscious, "executive" part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, 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 part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations.

identification

the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their same sex parents' values into their developing superegos - resolution of the phallic stage

Oedipus complex

according to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father.

psychosexual stages

the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure -seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones. Fixation occurs when needs are not met at each stage.

fixation

according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved.

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.

projective test

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

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.

Rorschach inkblot test

a set of 10 inkblots seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.

humanistic theories

view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth, free will, self actualization.

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, talents, capabilities.

unconditional positive regard

a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help clients to 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, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

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

social-cognitive perspective

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

behavioral approach

in personality theory, this perspective focuses on the effects of learning on our personality development.

reciprocal determinism

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

self-efficacy

one's sense of competence and effectiveness.

Repression

blocking of unpleasant feelings and experiences from ones awareness.

EX: An accident victim can remember nothing about the accident

Regression

an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated

Ex. Boss has a temper tantrum when an employee makes a mistake

Displacement

shift in aggressive impulses toward a less threatening or powerful object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet

Ex. Boy shouts at his younger sister after earning a bad grade.

Rationalization

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

Ex. A person who is passed over for an award says he didn't want it anyway

Denial

people refuse to believe or even to perceive painful realities.

Ex. A student refuses to believe that he has failed a course.

Projection

people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

Ex. A man who is angry at his wife accuses her of being angry with him.

sublimation

Rechanneling of drives or impulses that are personally or socially unacceptable into activities that are constructive.

EX: A person with strong feelings of aggression joins the military.

reaction formation

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

Karen Horney

developed a theory based on basic anxiety; Unconscious anxiety - early childhood experiences and unmet needs (loneliness, isolation), cause of psychological problems - feminist psychoanalysis

Alfred Adler

Neo-Freudian; introduced concept of "inferiority complex" and Importance of social connections - development through social stages

Carl Jung

neo-Freudian who created concept of "collective unconscious" and persona: compromise between who we really are (one true self) and what society expects us to be (we hide the parts not aligned with society's expectations behind the mask)

Conscientiousness

how dependable, responsible, achievement-oriented, and persistent one is

inferiority complex

Adler's conception of a basic feeling of inadequacy stemming from childhood experiences

pleasure principle

tendency of the id to strive for immediate gratification

learned helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

Barnum effect

People have the tendency to see themselves in vague, stock descriptions of personality

Validity

the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

Reliability

the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternate forms of the test, or on retesting