Unit 8: Personality

Rationalization

________- Offering self- justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening unconscious reasons for ones actions.

Carl Jungs

Collective unconscious- ________ concept of a shared inherited reservoir of memory traces from species history.

False consensus

________ effect- tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors.

Displacement

________- Shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person.

Reaction formation

________- Switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites.

Individualism

________- trusting and acting on ones feelings being true to oneself, fulfilling yourself.

Free association

________- method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial and embarrassing.

Narcissism

________- excessive self- love and self- absorption.

Id

________- reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives.

Psychoanalysis

________- personality attributes thoughts and actions and treatment techniques.

Ego

________-"executive "part of personality, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality.

Personality

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

Reciprocal determinism

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

Denial

________- Refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities.

Rorschach

________ inkblot test- set of 10 inkblots, designed by Herman ________; seeks to identify peoples inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.

Unconscious

________- a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories information processing of which we are unaware.

Traits

________- characteristic pattern of behavior or disposition to feel and act in certain ways, as assessed by self reporting inventories and peer reports.

Superego

________- represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgement and for future aspirations.

Unconditional positive regard

________- caring, accepting, non judgmental attitude, Rogers believed would help people develop self- awareness and self- acceptance.

Spotlight Effect

________- overestimating others noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us)

Psychosexual stages

________- childhood stages of development the ids pleasure seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones.

Factor analysis

________- statistics procedure that identifies factors of test items that tap basic components of a trait.

Psychoanalytic theory

________- freud, childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations influence personality.

Personality inventories

________- long questionnaire covering a wide range of feelings and behaviors- access several traits at once.

Psychodynamic theories

______ - theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences

Unconscious

a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories information processing of which we are unaware

Free association

method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial and embarrassing

Psychosexual stages

childhood stages of development the ids pleasure seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

Oedipus complex

boys sexual desires toward his mom and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival dad

Identification

kids incorporate values into develop superegos

Fixate

lingering focus of pleasure seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved

Repression

the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

Collective unconscious

Carl Jungs concept of a shared inherited reservoir of memory traces from species history

Reaction formation

Switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites

Projection

Disguising ones own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

Rationalization

Offering self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening unconscious reasons for ones actions

Displacement

Shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person

Denial

Refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities

Projective tests

personality test (like the Rorschach) that provides ambiguous images designed to trigger projection of ones inner dynamics

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

False consensus effect

tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

Terror-management theory

theory of death related anxiety; explores peoples emotional and behavioral responses to remainders of their impending death

Humanistic theories

theories that view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth

Self-actualization

process of fulfilling our potential

Self-transcendence

striving for identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self

Unconditional positive regard

caring, accepting, non judgmental attitude, Rogers believed would help people develop self-awareness and self-acceptance

Self concept

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, "Who am I?"

Individualism

trusting and acting on ones feelings being true to oneself, fulfilling yourself

Traits

characteristic pattern of behavior or disposition to feel and act in certain ways, as assessed by self reporting inventories and peer reports

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

widely researched and clinically used for all personality tests

Empirically derived

a test created by selecting from a pool of items those that discriminate between groups

Social cognitive perspective

views behaviors as influenced by the interactions between peoples traits (plus thinking) and their social context (Albert Bandura)

Reciprocal determinism

the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment

Self

in contemporary psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions

Self-Esteem 

ones feelings of high or low self-worth

Self-efficacy  

ones sense of competence and effectiveness

Narcissism

excessive self-love and self-absorption

Psychosexual stage Oral

(0-18 months) pleasure centers in mouth, suck, bite, chew

Psychosexual stage Anal

(18-36 months) pleasure on bowel and bladder elimination

Psychosexual stage Phallic

(3-6 years) pleasure one is genitals; cope with incestous sexual feelings

Psychosexual stage Latency

(6 years-puberty) dormant sexual feelings

Psychosexual stage Genital

(puberty on) maturation of sexual interests