Personality Psychology - Theresa Herman

Personality

A dynamic and organized set of characteristics possessed by a person that uniquely influences their cognitions, motivations, and behaviors in various situations

Personality Psychology

studies how personality originates, develops and functions

The Study of Personality

a scientific analysis of individual differences that help account for why and how people react uniquely to various situations

Freud's View of People

Freud removed us from our pedestals and forced us to examine the dark side of our natures

Freud's Unconscious

the depository of hidden wishes, needs, and conflicts of which the person is unaware and filled with sexual and aggressive impulses, and unresolved issues.

Freud believed that a large majority of behavior is ____

unconsciously driven

Free Association (Freud)

therapeutic technique central to psychoanalysis in which the therapist encourages patients to report, without restriction, any thoughts that occur to them no matter how irrelevant, unimportant, or unpleasant

Free association is considered ____________ (Freud)

the fundamental role in psychoanalysis

Freud believed nothing we do is _______________

Accidental - "Freudian Slip"

Resistance (Freud)

in psychoanalysis, when unwilling to disclose painful memories

Dreams (Freud)

the royal road to the unconscious

Dream analysis (Freud)

psychoanalytic technique used to probe the unconscious through interpretation of the patient's dreams

Manifest Content (Freud)

The symbols that appear in dreams

Latent Content (Freud)

The hidden meaning behind the symbols

Believed Symbols have ___________ (Freud)

universal meanings

Conscious (Freud)

the ideas and sensations of which we are aware

Preconscious (Freud)

contains the experiences that are unconscious but that could be conscious easily

Unconscious (Freud)

contains the experiences and memories of which we are not aware

Instincts (Freud)

the driving forces in personality, govern behavior, and motivate to seek gratification and homeostasis

Life instincts (Freud)

instinctive urges to preserve life, includes basic needs

Libido (Freud)

originally sexual instincts, later revised to psychic and pleasurable gratification of life instincts

Death Instincts: (Freud)

instincts to return to a state of balance, free of painful struggles before death. As a result, comes aggression

Id (Freud)

pleasure principle - original aspect of personality, rooted biologically, consisting of unconscious sexual and aggressive instincts. Wants immediate gratification

Ego (Freud)

the executive functioning of personality. Aims to balance the needs of the id and the extremes of the superego in appropriate and realistic ways.

Superego (Freud)

strives for perfectionism. Internalization of societal values instilled primarily by parents to teach right and wrong responses in given situations. Results in satisfaction or guilt and shame. Where our conscience comes from

Defense Mechanisms: (Freud)

protect people against pain and are universal reactions, all meant to keep anxiety at bay (Maladaptive)

Repression (Freud)

unconsciously banish painful memories from consciousness

Suppression (Freud)

active and conscious attempt to stop anxiety-provoking thoughts by simply not thinking about them (stored in the preconscious)

Denial (Freud)

refusal to perceive an unpleasant event in reality

Displacement (Freud)

unconsciously redirect anger on substitute objects or people

Sublimation (Freud)

a form of displacement, though done by displacing anger on ones socially acceptable

Regression (Freud)

movement from mature behavior to immature behavior

Projection (Freud)

attributing our own undesirable characteristics on to others

Reaction formation (Freud)

convert undesirable characteristics to their opposites

Rationalization (Freud)

justification of behavior through the use of plausible, but inaccurate, excuses

Intellectualization (Freud)

Dissociation between thoughts and feelings with elaborate rationale to explain unbearable pain

Undoing (Freud)

a performing an act to nullify or make amends for an undesirable one

Psychosexual Development (Freud)

Freud believes personality develops biologically through a series of stages in which particular behaviors occur in each

Personality develops in terms of _______________ (Freud)

an individual's attempts to come to grips with key biological impulses

Stages of development (Freud)

oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital

Fixation (Freud)

Defensive attachment to an earlier as a result of a traumatic experience in a particular stage

Oedipal Complex (Freud)

In the phallic stage, boys develop a sexual longing for their mother and sees their father as his rival

Electra complex: (Freud)

in the phallic stage, penis envy causes love for their father because he has the desired object

Transference (Freud)

characterized by ambivalence, attitudes of both affection and hostility, toward the "parents" and are displaced onto the therapist

Positive transference (Freud)

special affection toward the therapist, usually develops first (praise, trust, falling in love)

Counter transference (Freud)

therapist's reaction with personal feelings towards the patient

Negative transference (Freud)

showing anger and hostility toward the therapist

Archetypes (Jung)

universal themes or symbols that can be activated by forces operating in the psyche, thereby generating visions that are projected onto current experiences.

The personna (Jung)

archetype consisting of the role humans play in order to meet the demands of others

The shadow (Jung)

archetype consisting of the inferior, evil, and repulsive side of human nature

Anima and Animus (Jung)

the feminine archetype in a man (anima) and masculine archetype in a woman (animus). Elements of the opposite sex within us

The self (Jung)

an archetype that leads people to search for ways of maximizing the development of their potential

Individuation (Jung)

a process by which a person becomes the definite, unique being that he in fact is, fulfilling his nature

Psychological types (Jung)

basic attitudes and function towards life

Extraversion (Jung)

outgoing and relatively confident approach to life

Introversion (Jung)

retiring and reflective approach to life

Sensing (Jung)

initial, concrete experiencing without reason(thinking) or evaluation (feeling)

Thinking (Jung)

understanding events through the use of reason and logic

Feeling (Jung)

gives us an evaluation of events by judging whether they are good or bad

Intuiting (Jung)

rely on hunches whenever we have to deal with strange situations with no established facts

Dreams (Jung)

involuntary and spontaneous eruptions of repressed materials rooted in the personal and collective unconscious

Method of amplification (Jung)

method used to interpret dreams and reveal their meanings

Word association test (Jung)

patients are presented with stimulus words and asked to respond. Records time it took between word and response

Painting therapy (Jung)

believed paintings must be expressions of their innermost selves

Adler was taught to _________ (Adler)

treat the whole patient, not just the ailment, and in order to be a good doctor you must be a kind doctor
This mentality later became the foundation of his theory of personality

Individual psychology (Adler)

theory which seeks to understand the behavior of each person as an organized entity, focuses on the whole personality

The ultimate goal is ______ (Adler)

superiority: the striving to attain perfection. (done so to make up for feelings of inferiority)

Ultimately, the path is determined __________ (Adler)

in the first five years of life

It is not the defect itself that produces the striving _____________ (Adler)

but the person's attitude toward it

Masculine protest (Adler)

attempt to compensate for feelings of inferiority by acting as though superior to others

Overcompensation (Adler)

exaggerated attempts by individuals to overcome their feelings of inferiority by acting as though they are personally superior to others

A normal perception to Adler is that _________ (Adler)

all should acknowledge some feelings of inferiority and use these feelings as motivators

Birth order effects (Adler)

how each child is treated by parents depends on the birth order and correlates to personality development

Destructive Lifestyle (Adler)

3 main factors
Organ inferiority
Neglect or rejection
Pampering

Destructive lifestyles include (Adler)

the ruling type, the getting type, and the avoiding type

Constructive lifestyle (Adler)

little fighting, blaming and mutual respect and admiration.
includes the socially useful type

The ruling type (Adler)

an unhealthy person who strives for personal superiority by trying to exploit and control others

The getting type: (Adler)

an unhealthy person who attains personal goals by relying indiscriminately on others for help

The avoiding type: (Adler)

an unhealthy person who lacks the confidence to confront problems and avoids or ignores them

Socially Useful Type: (Adler)

a healthy person who actively and courageously confronts and solves his or her problems in accordance with social interest

Focused on early childhood and used three major assessment techniques
(Adler)

Early recollection
Dream analysis (reflects the individual's unconscious attempts to achieve personal goals in accordance with his or her unique style of life)
Birth-order analysis

Hypercompetitiveness (Horney)

an attitude in which a person is driven to attain personal success at any cost, ultimately to enhance one's feelings of self-worth. Indiscriminate in their pursuit of success

Horney believed such an exaggerated competitive attitude was _______ (Horney)

a central feature of American culture

Competition avoidance (Horney)

need by individuals to check their ruthless competition ambition because of excessive fear of losing the affection and approval of others

Personal Development Competitiveness (Horney)

an attitude in which the primary focus is not on the outcome but on the enjoyment and mastery of the task

Horney believes with negative parenting comes basic anxiety in children (Horney)

the feeling of being isolated and helpless in a potentially hostile world

neurotic needs: unconscious and maladaptive defensive attitudes. (Horney)

defensive attitudes to alleviate pain and feel safe in their environments

The neurotic need for affection and approval (Horney)

indiscriminate hunger for affection, regardless for their care of the person

The neurotic need for a partner who will take over one's life (Horney)

excessively dependant on others, lonely, and inadequate with out love and friendship of a partner

The neurotic need to restrict one's life within narrow borders (Horney)

afraid of risks and expressing their wishes for fear of disapproval and ridicule

The neurotic need for power: (Horney)

serves as a protection against helplessness and basic anxiety

The neurotic need to exploit others: (Horney)

hostile, distrustful individual who needs to exploit others to feel safe

The neurotic need for social recognition and prestige (Horney)

driven by the need to be admired and respected by others

The neurotic need for personal admiration (Horney)

-self-contempt and loathing
-drive to create an idealized image of themselves
-want people to see them as saints/geniuses

The neurotic ambition for personal achievement: (Horney)

want to be the best in too many areas

The neurotic need for self-sufficiency and independence (Horney)

permanently estranged from others, afraid to be vulnerable or learn negative things about themselves

The neurotic need for perfection and unassailability (Horney)

perfectionists (to avoid criticism)

Compliant type: (Horney)

individuals who cope with feelings of basic anxiety by indiscriminately seeking the approval and affection of others through excessive conformity; such individuals move toward people, a trend that protects them against basic anxiety by self-effacement and obliteration

Aggressive type (Horney)

individuals who protect themselves against feelings of insecurity by exploiting others in order to feel superior; such individuals adjust by moving against people, a trend that seeks to control basic anxiety through domination and exploitation of others

Detached type (Horney)

individuals who protect themselves by continual avoidance of others; such individuals move away from people, a trend that protects the person against basic anxiety by utter detachment and extreme self-sufficiency