Personality Psychology – Exam Review

Vocabulary flashcards covering major theories, key terms, and core concepts from the personality psychology lecture notes.

Trait Theory

A psychological approach that views personality as a set of stable, consistent patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion across time and situations.

Big Five Personality Traits

Widely validated model consisting of Extraversion, Neuroticism, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness (O.C.E.A.N).

Extraversion

Trait reflecting sociability, assertiveness, and positive emotionality; high scorers are outgoing and energetic.

Introversion

Low end of extraversion; characterized by reserve, reflection, and preference for solitude.

Neuroticism

Tendency toward negative emotions such as anxiety and mood swings; high levels link to lower well-being.

Openness to Experience

Trait marked by creativity, curiosity, and preference for novelty and variety.

Agreeableness

Dimension of compassion, trust, kindness, and cooperativeness.

Conscientiousness

Trait involving self-discipline, organization, and goal-directed behavior; predicts health and job success.

Likert Scale

Self-report format where participants rate agreement with statements on a numbered continuum (e.g., 1–5).

Psychodynamic Perspective

Theory (Freud) stating personality arises from unconscious conflicts among id, ego, and superego.

Sigmund Freud

Founder of psychoanalysis; proposed unconscious drives, defense mechanisms, and psychosexual stages.

Id

Primitive component of personality operating on the pleasure principle—seeks immediate gratification.

Ego

Rational component operating on the reality principle; mediates between id and superego.

Superego

Internalized moral standards; enforces rules and ideals—“conscience” of personality.

Defense Mechanisms

Unconscious strategies the ego uses to reduce anxiety by distorting reality (e.g., repression, projection).

Psychosexual Stages

Freud’s developmental phases (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) where conflicts may cause later fixations.

Oral Stage

Birth–18 months; focus on mouth; unresolved issues lead to dependency or oral habits like smoking.

Anal Stage

18 months–3 years; focus on bowel control; fixation yields obsessively tidy (retentive) or messy (expulsive) traits.

Phallic Stage

3–6 years; Oedipus/Electra complex; fixation affects gender identity and relationships.

Latency Stage

6 years–puberty; sexual impulses repressed; energy directed to peer relations and learning.

Genital Stage

Puberty onward; mature sexuality emerges, assuming earlier conflicts are resolved.

Alfred Adler

Neo-Freudian who emphasized conscious goals and social interest over sexual drives.

Striving for Superiority

Adler’s idea that humans are motivated by efforts to overcome inferiority and achieve mastery.

Inferiority Complex

Deep feelings of inadequacy leading to compensation or overcompensation behaviors.

Compensation

Healthy development of skills to overcome perceived weaknesses.

Overcompensation

Exaggerated behaviors (e.g., boastfulness) to mask underlying insecurity.

Behaviourist Perspective

View that personality is a collection of learned response tendencies shaped by environment.

Classical Conditioning

Learning via association between stimuli (e.g., fear responses).

Operant Conditioning

Learning through reinforcement and punishment that shape behavior frequency.

Observational Learning

Acquiring behaviors by watching and imitating others (modeling).

Skinner’s Radical Behaviourism

Theory that personality is the sum of behaviors shaped by reinforcement history, ignoring mental states.

Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory

Interactionist model emphasizing reciprocal determinism among person, behavior, and environment.

Reciprocal Determinism

Bandura’s concept that personal factors, behavior, and environment influence one another bidirectionally.

Self-Efficacy

Belief in one’s capability to succeed in specific situations; influences motivation and persistence.

Mischel’s Person-Situation Interaction

Argument that behavior results from interplay between traits and situational cues rather than fixed traits alone.

Situationism

Perspective that situational forces often override individual personality differences in determining behavior.

Interactionist Perspective

View that personality and situations dynamically interact, with individuals selecting environments compatible with their traits.

Humanist Perspective

Approach focusing on free will, personal growth, and the innate drive toward self-actualization.

Self-Concept

An individual’s perception of ‘who I am,’ central to Carl Rogers’ person-centered theory.

Congruence

Alignment between self-concept and actual experiences; fosters authenticity and mental health.

Incongruence

Mismatch between self-concept and experience, producing anxiety and defensive behaviors.

Unconditional Positive Regard

Rogers’ idea that acceptance without conditions nurtures healthy self-development.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Pyramid of human motives from physiological needs up to self-actualization.

Self-Actualization

Full realization of one’s potential and true self; pinnacle of Maslow’s hierarchy.

Peak Experiences

Intense moments of joy and transcendence characteristic of self-actualized individuals.

Biological Perspective

Approach examining genetic and neurobiological bases of personality traits.

Heritability

Statistical estimate of how much trait variability in a population is due to genetic differences (e.g., extraversion ~50%).

Amygdala

Brain structure linked to fear and emotional reactivity; often more active in shy individuals.

Prefrontal Cortex

Frontal lobe area involved in impulse control; reduced activity associated with antisocial traits.

Dopamine Pathways

Neurochemical systems tied to reward and sensation-seeking; related to extraversion.

Gene-Environment Interaction

Concept that genetic predispositions and environmental experiences jointly shape personality.

Evolutionary Psychology

Field proposing that certain personality traits are adaptive for survival or reproduction (e.g., conscientiousness aids planning).

Adaptive Traits

Characteristics that enhance an organism’s fitness in its environment, according to evolutionary theory.