Personality Psychology Overview

Flashcards focusing on key terms and definitions related to personality psychology as covered in the lecture notes.

What is personality?

Personality refers to the enduring and distinctive patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that characterize an individual. It encompasses a range of traits, including how individuals respond to their environment, interact with others, and approach life circumstances. Personality is shaped by various factors, including genetics, environment, and life experiences, contributing to the unique psychological makeup of each person.

Humors

Four separate fluids in the body as theorized by Hippocrates, associated with personality traits.

Choleric

A temperament characterized as passionate, ambitious, and bold.

Melancholic

A temperament characterized as reserved, anxious, and unhappy.

Sanguine

A temperament characterized as joyful, eager, and optimistic.

Phlegmatic

A temperament characterized as calm, reliable, and thoughtful.

Phrenology

A discredited theory that claimed personality traits could be determined by the bumps on a skull.

ID

The part of personality that contains primitive urges and operates on the pleasure principle, seeking immediate gratification.

Ego

The rational part of personality that attempts to balance the desires of the id and the constraints of the superego.

Superego

The moral compass of personality that develops through interactions with others, dictating right and wrong.

Defense mechanisms

Unconscious protective behaviors that reduce anxiety by helping the ego balance the id and superego.

Oedipus complex

A child's desire for the opposite-sex parent and jealousy toward the same-sex parent, as theorized in Freudian theory.

Collective unconscious

A concept by Carl Jung referring to the part of the unconscious mind shared among beings of the same species, containing universal memories and archetypes.

Five Factor Model

A model suggesting personality is composed of five traits: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism (OCEAN).

Locus of control

A cognitive concept that refers to how much control individuals believe they have over the outcomes of events in their lives.

Self-efficacy

The belief in one's capabilities to achieve a goal or an outcome, influencing how challenges are approached.

Reciprocal determinism

The theory that a person's behavior is influenced by personal factors, behavior, and the environment.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

A projective test where individuals interpret inkblot images to reveal their unconscious thoughts and feelings.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

A projective test where individuals tell stories about ambiguous images, providing insight into their social motives and concerns.

Personality assessment

Methods used to evaluate and measure individual personality characteristics, often through self-report inventories or projective tests.