Chapter 12

Personality

an individuals characteristics style of behaving, thinking, and feeling

self-report

A method in which people provide subjective information about there own thoughts, feelings, or behaviours, typically via questionnaire or interview

MMPI

A well-researched clinical questionnaire used to assess personality and psychological problems

projective tests

Tests designed to reveal inner aspects of individuals personalities by analysis of their repossess to a standard series of ambiguous stimuli

rorschach inkblot test

A projective technique in which respondents inner thoughts and feelings are believed to be revealed by analysis of their responses to a set of unstructured inkblots

Thematic apperception test (TAT)

A projective technique in which respondents underlings motives, concerns, and the they way they see social world are believed to be revealed through analysis of the stories they make up about ambiguous pictures of people

trait

a relatively stable disposition to behave in a particular and consistent way

big five

the traits of the five-factor model: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism

psychodynamic approach

an approach that regards personality as formed by needs, strivings, and desires largely operating outside of awareness- motives that also can produce emotional disorders

id

the part of the mind contains the drives present at birth; it is the source of our bodily needs, wants, desires, and impulses, particularly our sexual and aggressive drives

superego

the mental system that reflects the internalization of cultural rules, mainly learned as parents exercise their authority

ego

the component of personality, developed through contact with the external world, that enables us to deal with lifestyle practical demands

defence mechanisms

unconscious coping mechanisms that reduce the anxiety generated by threats from unacceptable impulses

self-actualizing tendency

the human motive towards realizing our inner potential

existential approach

a school of thought that regards personality as being governed by an indviduals’s ongoing choices and decisions in the context of the realities of life and death

social-cognitive approach

an approach that vies personality in terms of how the person thinks about the situations encountered in daily life and behaves in response to them

person-situation controversy

the question of wether behaviour is caused more by personality or by situational factors

personal constructs

dimensions people use in making sense of their experiences

outcome expectancies

a persons assumptions about the likely consequences of a future behaviour

locus of control

a persons tendency to perceive the control of rewards as internal to the self or external In the environment

self-concept

a persons explicit knowledge of their own behaviours, traits, and other personal characteristics

self-verification

the tendeney to seek evidence to confirm the self-concept

self-esteem

the extent to which an individuals likes, values, and accepts the self

self-serving bias

peoples tendency to take credit for their successes but downplay responsibility for their failures

narcissism

a trait that reflects a grandiose view of the self, combined with the tendency to seek admiration from others