Tomorrow test

Self-transcendence

The ability to go beyond one's own self-interests for the sake of others or for a greater cause.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

A standardized psychometric test of adult personality and psychopathology.

Self-esteem

An individual’s subjective evaluation of their own worth.

Psychosexual stages

Freudian theory of personality development through five stages centered around erogenous zones.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

A projective psychological test consisting of 10 inkblots interpreted by the test taker.

Superego

The part of the personality that acts as a moral center, representing internalized ideals.

Social-cognitive perspective

The view that behaviors are influenced by the interaction of people and their social context.

Self-efficacy

An individual's belief in their capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments.

Oedipus complex

A Freudian concept where a child feels desire for the opposite-sex parent and jealousy toward the same-sex parent.

Humanistic Theories

Psychological perspectives emphasizing the individual's inherent drive toward self-actualization.

Ego

The rational part of the personality that mediates between the desires of the id and the superego.

Reciprocal Determinism

The concept that a person's behavior is influenced by personal factors and social environment.

Narcissism

An excessive interest in or admiration of oneself and one's physical appearance.

Identification

A psychoanalytic defense mechanism wherein an individual adopts the characteristics of others.

Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s theory proposing that human beings are motivated by a series of needs ranging from basic physiological needs to self-actualization.

Id

The primal part of the personality that contains our basic instincts and drives.

Terror-management Theory

A psychological concept that explores how humans cope with the fear of death.

Personality

An individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

Fixation

A persistent focus of the id's pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier stage of psychosexual development.

Self-Concept

An individual's perception of themselves and their beliefs about their abilities.

Empirically Derived Test

A test developed by selecting items based on how well they correlate with a specific criterion.

Spotlight Effect

The tendency for individuals to overestimate how much others notice and evaluate their appearance and behavior.

Psychodynamic Theories

Theories that explain behavior and personality in terms of unconscious dynamics within the individual.

Defense mechanisms

Psychological strategies used to cope with reality and maintain self-image.

Behavioral Approach

A perspective that emphasizes observable behaviors over internal mental processes.

Self-serving Bias

The tendency to attribute positive events to one's own character but attribute negative events to external factors.

Individualism

A social theory favoring freedom of action for individuals over collective or state control.

Psychoanalysis

A therapeutic technique for the analysis of the psyche and unconscious motivations.

Repression

The psychological defense mechanism that prevents painful or traumatic memories from entering awareness.

Self

The individual as the object of introspection or reflective activity.

Projective Test

A personality test that provides ambiguous stimuli to elicit responses that reveal aspects of the subject's personality.

Trait

A distinguishing quality or characteristic of an individual.

Unconscious

Part of the mind that contains thoughts, memories, and desires that are not in conscious awareness.

Collective unconscious

Carl Jung's concept that posits a part of the unconscious mind shared among beings of the same species.

Personality Inventory

A self-report questionnaire that assesses an individual's personality traits.

Unconditional Positive Regard

An attitude of total acceptance toward another person, often associated with humanistic psychology.

Self-Actualization

The realization or fulfillment of one's talents and potential, considered as a drive or need present in everyone.

Free Association

A therapeutic technique in psychoanalysis where a person speaks freely about thoughts, feelings, and mental images.

Thematic Apperception Test

A projective psychological test consisting of a series of ambiguous images that elicit narrative responses.

Collectivism

A social framework that emphasizes the importance of groups over individual desires or interests.