Unit 4B: Personality, Motivation, and Emotion

Psychodynamic theory

Argues that unconscious processes drive personality.

Unconscious processes

Mental processes occurring outside of and not available to conscious awareness.

Ego defense mechanisms

Largely unconscious distortions of thoughts or perceptions that act to reduce anxiety.

Denial

Refusing to admit that something unpleasant is happening.

Displacement

Shifting sexual or aggressive impulses towards a more acceptable object or person.

Projection

Disguising one's own threatening impulses by attributing them to others.

Rationalization

Justifying behavior with socially acceptable reasons rather than real reasons.

Reaction formation

Transforming anxiety-producing thoughts into their opposites.

Regression

Returning to more primitive levels of behavior.

Repression

Blocking a threatening memory from consciousness.

Sublimation

Channeling unwanted feelings into more acceptable forms.

Projective tests

Personality assessments that present ambiguous stimuli to uncover unconscious motives.

Preconscious mind

Level of the mind in which information is available but not currently conscious.

Humanistic psychology

Argues that humans are motivated by a self-actualizing tendency.

Unconditional (positive) regard

Basic acceptance and support of a person regardless of actions.

Self-actualizing tendency

Striving to fulfill one's innate capacities and capabilities.

Social-cognitive theory

Emphasizes learning that occurs within a social context.

Reciprocal determinism

The environment influences behavior, and behavior influences the environment.

Self concept

One's description and evaluation of oneself.

Self-efficacy

An individual's perception of their capability to perform in a setting.

Self-esteem

The degree to which one's self-concept is perceived positively.

Trait theories

Theories that identify and measure consistent and stable personality traits.

Big Five Theory of Personality

Theory describing personality through five dimensions: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism.

Openness

A personality dimension describing one's willingness to try new things.

Conscientousness

A personality dimension describing someone who is organized and disciplined.

Extraversion

A personality dimension describing someone who is sociable and assertive.

Emotional stability

Describes the degree to which someone is free from emotional distress.

Personality inventories

Self-report questionnaires designed to gauge a range of feelings and behaviors.

Factor analysis

Statistical procedure identifying clusters of related items on a test.

Drive-reduction theory

Theory that proposes all motivated behavior arises from drives stemming from homeostasis.

Homeostasis

A balanced internal state.

Arousal theory

Theory stating people seek an optimal level of arousal.

Optimal level of arousal

The level of arousal at which performance peaks.

Yerkes-Dodson law

Performance increases with arousal only up to a point; beyond that, it decreases.

Self-determination theory

People are motivated by intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, seeking competence, autonomy, and relatedness.

Intrinsic motivation

Desire to perform a behavior for its own sake.

Extrinsic motivation

Desire to perform a behavior to receive rewards or avoid punishment.

Instincts

Innate patterns of behavior in response to stimuli.

Approach-approach conflict

Conflict from choosing between two attractive alternatives.

Avoidance-avoidance conflict

Conflict from choosing between two distasteful alternatives.