Introduction to Personality and Motivation Theories

Personality

an individual's unique and relatively consistent pattern of behaviors, feelings, thoughts and motives

Personality Psychology

the scientific study of personality and its development, structure, traits, processes, variations, and disordered forms (personality disorders).

Psychoanalysis

Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts

Ego Defense Mechanisms

the ego reduces or redirects such anxiety through defense mechanisms, which are tactics that unconsciously distort reality

Denial

refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities

Displacement

shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person

Projection

disguising one's own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

Rationalization

offering self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening unconscious reasons for one's actions

Reaction Formation

switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites

Regression

retreating to an earlier psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated

Repression

blocking impulses or memories from consciousness

Sublimation

transferring of unacceptable impulses into socially valued motives

The Preconscious Mind

can be retrieved into conscious awareness using psychoanalytic treatment techniques

The Unconscious Mind

According to Freud, the part of our mind that contains our unacceptable passions and thoughts that we repress (forcibly block) from our consciousness because they would be too unsettling to acknowledge

Psychodynamic Theory

Psychodynamic theories of personality view human behavior as a dynamic interaction between the conscious mind and the unconscious mind.

Projective Tests

a personality test that asks test-takers to describe an ambiguous image or tell a story about it.

Rorschach Test

The most widely used projective test, comprised of a standardized set of 10 inkblots. During the test, participants are shown the inkblots and asked describe what they see.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

Humanistic Psychology

View personality with a focus on our inherent potential for healthy personal growth, emphasizing our free will and our positive qualities

Unconditional Positive Regard

A caring attitude in which one conveys acceptance of a person in their current state (their "real self") without judgment

Self Actualizing Tendency

The ongoing process of realizing one's inherent potentials and capabilities

Trait

A characteristic pattern of behavior, thoughts and emotions

Factor Analysis

A statistical procedure used heavily by trait theorists that examines a correlated cluster of test items (each of which probes a specific behavior) in order to determine if the cluster reflects a more basic factor (a trait)

Big Five Theory

The most widely accepted trait theory, outlining 5 factors/traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism) that make up personality.

Personality Inventory

Typically, these are longer self-report questionnaires that consist of many close-ended statements that the test-taker responds to with yes/no, true/false, or agree/disagree (sometimes agree/disagree is on a Likert scale)

Neuroticism

Relates to a person's emotional stability. A person who is highly neurotic is anxious, depressed, and easily stressed.

Social Cognitive Theory

Social-cognitive theorists focus on how we interact with our environment. They propose that a combination of observational learning ("social") and mental processes ("cognitive") leads to the consistent patterns of behavior called personality.

Reciprocal Determinism

Three elements - a person's behavior (actions and decisions), environment (external stimuli and influences), and internal personal factors (cognitive and biological processes, emotions, and competencies) - interact with one another to determine behavior and personality.

Self-concept

the way one views oneself and in relation to others

Self-efficacy

the degree to which a person thinks (cognition) their efforts (behavior) will result in a desired outcome

Self-esteem

one's overall sense of self-worth or personal value

Motivation

the force directing a person to behave a certain way

Instincts

an innate (unlearned) and consistent pattern of complex behavior that is performed the same way by every member of the species

Homeostasis

the tendency to maintain a balanced internal state

Drive-Reduction theory of motivation

When a physiological need increases, so does our psychological drive to reduce it

Arousal theory of motivation

Theory that people and other animals are motivated to maintain optimal levels of arousal

Yerkes-Dodson Law

Principle stating that moderate levels of arousal lead to optimal performance

Sensation Seeking Theory

Motivational theory based on the trait of sensation seeking. Individuals high in the sensation-seeking trait are drawn to new, unusual, and thrilling experiences, often demonstrating a high tolerance for risk

Self-Determination Theory

Theory of motivation that proposes that people are motivated by intrinsic motivations and extrinsic motivations

Intrinsic Motivation

Refers to doing an activity for its inherent satisfaction rather than for some outside reward

Extrinsic Motivation

Involves performing an activity to achieve an external reward or avoid threatened punishments

Incentive Theory of motivation

Theory of motivation based on behaviorism that emphasizes how external stimuli motivate behavior, including extrinsic motivators

Motivational Conflicts Theory

Theory that describes the dynamics of human decision making in the face of conflicting motivations. Identifies Approach-Approach Conflict, Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict and Approach-Avoidance Conflict

Affiliation

the need to build relationships and to feel part of a group

Ostracism

deliberate social exclusion of individuals or groups

Emotion

a complex experience that begins with a stimulus (external factor) and includes physiological responses, subjective emotional feelings and emotional expressions

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

Theory of emotion stating that specific facial expressions affect our emotions. For example, some research shows that we may feel happier when smiling, angrier when scowling, and sadder when frowning

Broaden and Build Theory of Emotion

Theory of emotion that argues that everyday positive emotions broaden awareness and encourage novel, varied, and exploratory thoughts and actions. Over time, this broadened approach helps build skills and resilience that boost well-being

Universal Emotions

Theorized by Paul Ekman that facial expressions of anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, contempt, and surprise are present in every culture

Display Rules

Expected or 'appropriate' ways of expressing emotions that vary according to culture, group memberships, and personal social identity