Personality Psychology Flashcards

Flashcards for personality psychology review.

Affect

Emotional experiences

Behavior

Actions and what people do

Cognition

Thoughts, beliefs, and interpretations

Behavioral (B) Data

Natural or lab behavior (objective, but hard to interpret)

Life outcomes (L) Data

Verifiable life facts (e.g., income, arrests).

Informant (I) Data

Judgments by knowledgeable others (real-world perspective, but biased)

Self-report (S) Data

Own description (easy, direct, but biased or inaccurate).

Case Study

Detailed analysis of a subject (person, event, or phenomenon)

Correlational Research

Measures relationship between two variables

Experimental Research

Test differences between groups

p-value

Probability of obtaining a result if there is no difference between groups or no relationship between variables

Independent variable (IV)

Testing or grouping variable

Dependent variable (DV)

Outcome variable

Neuroticism

Ineffective problem-solving: strong negative reactions to stress

Conscientiousness

Dutiful, careful, rule-abiding, ambitious

Agreeableness

Conformity, friendly compliance, likeability, warmth, and love

Openness to Experience

Approach to intellectual matters or basic intelligence

The Typological Approach to Personality

Seeks to capture personality types and infer aspects of one's personality based on how they are classified (qualitative)

Fixation

Leaving lots of energy behind if a stage is not completely resolved; person continues to struggle with issues from that stage

Regression

Retreat to an earlier stage

Cross-cultural Psychology

Research that compares cultures with one another

Cultural Psychology

Tries to understand individual cultures in their own terms

Enculturation

Adopting the culture into which one was born

Acculturation

Picking up on aspects of new culture

Etics

Universal components of an idea

Emics

Culture-specific components of an idea

Tight cultures

Tolerate very little deviation from proper behavior

Loose cultures

Allow fairly large deviations from cultural norms

Individualistic

Focuses on the relationship between the individual and society

Collectivistic

Importance of needs and rights of group vs. individual (definition contrasts with 'individualistic')

Proximal goals

Immediate goals (e.g., finish a paper)

Ultimate goals

Long-term meaning (e.g., help people)

Idiographic goals

Unique to individual goals

Nomothetic goals

Shared goals (e.g., achievement).

Declarative Self-Knowledge

Facts and impressions that we consciously know and can describe

Procedural Self-Knowledge

Knowledge expressed through actions rather than words

Narrative Self-Knowledge

The story you tell yourself about yourself

Schizotypal personality disorder

Extreme pattern of odd beliefs and behaviors and difficulties relating to others

Narcissistic personality disorder

Extreme pattern of arrogant, exploitative, entitled, and damaging behavior combined with notable lack of empathy

Antisocial personality disorder

Extreme pattern of deceitful, manipulative, and sometimes dangerous behavior

Borderline personality disorder

Extreme and sometimes dangerous pattern of emotional and behavioral instability

Avoidant personality disorder

Fear of failure, criticism, or rejection leads to avoidance of normal activities

Obsessive compulsive personality disorder (OCPD)

Extreme pattern of rigidly conscientiousness behavior

Personality

An individual’s characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior, together with the psychological mechanisms behind those patterns.

Construct

Abstract concept measured in psychology

Generalizability

Findings apply across contexts

Reliability

Consistent results

Validity

Measures what it claims

Independent Variable

Manipulated variable

Dependent Variable

Measured variable

Replication

Repeating a study

Self-Monitoring

Adjusting behavior to fit situation

Narcissism

Excessive self-focus

Temperament

Biologically based behavior tendencies in infants

Epigenetics

Environment altering gene expression

Unconscious

Hidden part of mind (Freud)

Defense mechanisms

Psychological strategies that protect a person from unwanted/ painful feelings

Habituation

Decreasing responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated exposure

Classical Conditioning

Learning through association

Operant Conditioning

Learning through consequences

Self-efficacy

Belief in own competence.

Self-concept

Ideas about self

Growth-mindset

Belief traits can improve