PSYC 1010 EXAM 3 - Chapter 13: Personality

Personality

the unique and relatively stable ways in which people think, feel, and behave

character

value judgments of a person's moral and ethical behavior

temperament

the biologically innate and enduring characteristics with which each person is born, such as irritability or adaptability.

psychodynamic perspective

the approach based on the view that behavior is motivated by unconscious inner forces over which the individual has little control

Behavioral Perspective

An approach to the study of psychology that focuses on the role of learning in explaining observable behavior.

Humanistic Perspective

the psychological view that assumes the existence of the self and emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and the freedom to make choices

trait perspective

emphasizes the description and measurement of specific personality differences among individuals

preconscious, conscious, and unconscious

What are the three parts that Freud believed the brain was divided into?

(iceberg model)

unconscious mind

level of the mind in which thoughts, feelings, memories, and other information are kept that are not easily or voluntarily brought into consciousness

Id: "if it feels good, do it"

part of the personality present at birth and completely unconscious. contains all of the basic biological drives: hunger, thirst, self-preservation, and sex.

Pleasure Principle (Id)

principle by which the id functions; the immediate satisfaction of needs without regard for the consequences.

ego: the executive director

part of the personality that develops out of a need to deal with reality, mostly conscious, rational, and logical

reality principle (ego)

principle by which the ego functions; the satisfaction of the demands of the id only when negative consequences will not result. when the ego decides to deny the id its desires because the consequences would be painful or too unpleasant.

superego: the moral watchdog

part of the personality that acts as a moral center

conscience

An inner feeling of the rightness or wrongness of an action. the part of the personality that makes people feel guilt, or moral anxiety when they do the wrong thing.

psychological defense mechanisms

unconscious distortions of a person's perception of reality that reduce stress and anxiety

denial

refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities. ex: a mother refuses to acknowledge her son was killed during his recent military deployment

repression

"pushing" threatening or conflicting events or situations out of conscious memory. ex: eli, who was sexually abused as a child, cannot remember the abuse at all

rationalization

making up acceptable excuses for unacceptable behavior. ex: if I don't have breakfast I can have that piece of cake later without hurting my diet."

projection

placing one's own unacceptable thoughts onto others, as if the thoughts belonged to them and not to oneself. ex: ella is attracted to her sister's husband but denies this and believes the husband is attracted to her.

reaction formation

forming an emotional reaction or attitude that is the opposite of one's threatening or unacceptable actual thoughts. ex: jaden has negative prejudices toward other religions but goes out of his way to appear open-minded and accepting

displacement

expressing feelings that would be threatening if directed at the real target onto a less threatening substitute target. ex: sandra gets reprimanded by her boss and goes home and angrily picks a fight with her husband.

regression

falling back on childlike patterns as a way of coping with stressful situations. ex: 4- year old zachary starts wetting his bed after his parents bring home a new baby

identification

trying to become like someone else to deal with one's anxiety. ex: amber really admires kaylee, the most popular girl in school, and tries to copy her behavior and dress.

compensation (substitution)

trying to make up for areas in which a deficit is perceived by becoming superior in some other area. ex: jose is not good at athletics, so he puts all his energies into becoming an academic scholar

sublimation

turning socially unacceptable urges into socially acceptable behavior. ex: angel, who is very aggressive, becomes a mixed martial arts fighter.

psychosexual stages

five stages of personality development proposed by Freud and tied to the sexual development of the child

erogenous zones

area of the body that produces pleasurable feelings, becoming important and can become the source of conflicts

fixation

disorder in which the person does not fully resolve the conflict in a particular psychosexual stage, resulting in personality traits and behavior associated with that earlier stage

oral stage (first 18 months)

the first stage in Freud's psychosexual stages, occurring in the first 18 months of life in which the mouth is the erogenous zone and weaning is the primary conflict

anal stage (18 to 36 months)

the second stage in Freud's psychosexual stages, occurring from about 18 to 36 months of age, in which the anus is the erogenous zone and toilet training is the source of conflict

anal expulsive personality

during the anal stage, a person fixated in the anal stage who is messy, destructive, and hostile

anal retentive personality

during the anal stage, a person fixated in the anal stage who is neat, fussy, stingy, and stubborn

phallic stage (3 to 6 years)

the third stage in Freud's psychosexual stages, occurring from about 3 to 6 years of age, in which the child discovers sexual feelings

castration anxiety

during the phallic stage, the fear in young boys that they will be mutilated genitally because of their lust for their mothers

penis envy

occurs during phallic stage (the third of Freud's 5 psychosexual stages) when a female realizes she does not have a penis

Oedipus complex

according to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

Electra complex

Conflict during phallic stage in which girls supposedly love their fathers romantically and want to eliminate their mothers as rivals

latency stage (6 years to puberty)

the fourth stage in Freud's psychosexual stages, occurring during the school years, in which the sexual feelings of the child are repressed while the child develops in different ways.

genital stage (puberty on)

the final stage in Freud's psychosexual stages; from puberty on, sexual urges are allowed back into consciousness and the individual moves toward adult social and sexual behavior

Neo-Freudians

followers of Freud who developed their own competing psychodynamic theories

personal unconscious

Jung's name for the unconscious mind as described by Freud

collective unconscious

Jung's name for the memories shared by all members of the human species

Archetypes (Jung)

Emotional symbols that are common to all people and have been formed since the beginning of time

anima/animus archetype (Jung)

a man's inner woman and a woman's inner man

shadow archetype (jung)

the dark side of the personality; the archetype that contains primitive animal instincts

persona (jung)

archetype

aspect of personality we present to world

adaptive to social interaction

Adler's theory of personality

Psychoanalytic theory of personality:

Behavior is driven by an unconscious desire for superiority

Adler's birth order theory

believed that the order in which you were born (first born, middle child, youngest) impacted personality

womb envy (Horney)

men's envy of women's ability to bear and nurse children

basic anxiety (Horney)

anxiety created when a child is born into the bigger and more powerful world of older children and adults

neurotic personalities (Horney)

maladaptive ways of dealing with relationships in Horney's theory

habits

in behaviorism, sets of well-learned responses that have become automatic

social cognitive theorists

theorists who emphasize the importance of both the influences of other people's behavior and of a person's own expectancies of learning

social cognitive view (Bandura)

learning theory that includes cognitive processes such as anticipating, judging, memory, and imitation of models

Reciprocal Determinism (Bandura)

Bandura's explanation of how the factors of environment, personal characteristics, and behavior can interact to determine future behavior

Self-efficacy (Bandura)

individual's expectancy of how effective his or her efforts to accomplish a goal will be in any particular circumstance

Rotter's Social Learning Theory

people are motivated to seek reinforcement and avoid punishment

locus of control

the tendency for people to assume that they either have control or do not have control over events and consequences in their lives

internal locus of control

the perception that you control your own fate

external locus of control

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond your personal control determine your fate.

expectancy and reinforcement value

According to Rotter, what are two key factors influencing a person's decision to act in a certain way given a particular situation?

expectancy

a person's subjective feeling that a particular behavior will lead to a reinforcing consequence

reinforcement value

the preference for certain types of reinforcement over other types

humanistic perspective (rogers and maslow)

the psychological view that assumes the existence of the self and emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and the freedom to make choices

self-actualizing tendency (carl rogers)

the striving to fulfill one's innate capacities and capabilities

self-concept

based on what people are told by others and how the sense of self is reflected in the worlds and actions of important people in one's life such as parents, siblings, coworkers, friends, and teachers.

self

an individual's awareness of his or her own personal characteristics and level of functioning

Real Self (Carl Rodgers' Self Theory)

one's perception of actual characteristics, traits, and abilities

Ideal Self (Carl Rodgers' Self Theory)

one's perception of whom one should be or would like to be

positive regard

warmth, affection, love, and respect that come from significant others in one's life

Unconditional Positive Regard (Rogers)

positive regard that is given without conditions or strings attached; in person-centered therapy, referring to the warm, respectful, and accepting atmosphere created by the therapist for the client.

Conditional Positive Regard (Rogers)

positive regard that is given only when the person is doing what the providers of positive regard wish

fully functioning person

a person who is in touch with and trusting of the deepest, innermost urges and feelings

trait theories

theories that endeavor to describe the characteristics that make up human personality in an effort to predict future behavior

Trait

a consistent, enduring way of thinking, feeling, or behaving

Surface Traits (Cattell)

aspects of personality that can easily be seen by other people in the outward actions of a person

Source Traits (Cattell)

the more basic traits that underlie the surface traits, forming the core of personality

Introversion

dimension of personality in which people tend to withdraw from excessive stimulation

factor analysis

a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items (called factors) on a test; used to identify different dimensions of performance that underlie a person's total score.

Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire

objective personality test created by Cattell that provides scores on the 16 traits he identified

Five Factor Model

(Big Five) model of personality traits that describes five basic trait dimensions

openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

what are the five factors of personality traits? (OCEAN)

Openness (Big 5)

A person's willingness to try new things and be open to new experiences. People who try to maintain the status quo and who don't like to change things would score low on oppenness

Conscientiousness (Big 5)

the personality dimensions that includes dependability, cautiousness, organization, and responsibility ; people low in this dimension are impulsive, careless, disorderly and undependable

Extraversion (Big 5)

A term used by Carl Jung that believed people are divided into two personality types: extraverts and introverts.

Agreeableness (Big 5)

the personality dimension that includes friendliness, cooperation, and warmth ; people low in the dimension are cold, quarrelsome and unkind

Neuroticism (Big 5)

the personality dimensions that includes nervousness, tensions and anxiety ; people low on this dimension are emotionally stable, calm and contended

geographical psychology

looking at how local environments and regions might affect individual behavior

trait-situation interaction

the assumption that the particular circumstances of any given situation will influence the way in which a trait is expressed

behavioral genetics

field of study devoted to discovering the genetic bases for personality characteristics

genetic nurture

genetics of a child's parents (even those not inherited), can impact the family and child's environment

Phrenology

the detailed study of the shape and size of the cranium as a supposed indication of character and mental abilities.

personality neuroscience

based on the premise that persistent variations in dimensional aspects of personality must be based on consistent patterns of functioning in the brain

characteristic adaptations

how someone's life circumstances influence their individual goals, strategies, and personal interpretations

Heritability

how much some trait within a population can be attributed to genetic influences, and the extent individual genetic variation impacts differences in observed behavior

Eclectic view of personality

a way of choosing the parts of different theories that seem to best fit a particular situation, rather than using only one theory to explain a phenomenon

direct observation

assessment in which the professional observes the client engaged in ordinary, day-to-day behavior in either a clinical or natural setting

rating scale

assessment in which a numerical value is assigned to specific behavior that is listed in the scale

personality inventory

paper and pencil or computerized test that consists of statements that require a specific, standardized response from the person taking the test