Pillar V: Recognizing Theories of Personality and Social Psychology

Vocabulary flashcards detailing motivation, emotion, personality theories and assessments, and social psychology concepts from Modules 11, 12, and 13.

Motivation

The wants or needs that direct behavior toward a goal.

Intrinsic Motivation

Motivation arising from internal factors, performed for personal satisfaction.

Extrinsic Motivation

Motivation arising from external factors, performed in order to receive something.

Overjustification Effect

The phenomenon where intrinsic motivation diminishes when extrinsic motivation is given.

Habit

A pattern of behavior in which an individual regularly engages.

Instinct (William James)

A species-specific pattern of behavior that is not learned, such as a mother's protection of her baby or the urge to lick sugar.

Drive Theory of Motivation

The theory stating that deviations from homeostasis create physiological needs to return to homeostasis.

Drive Reduction Theory

The theory that behavior is motivated by reducing internal tension and restoring the body's balance.

Arousal Theory

The theory asserting that people seek to maintain an optimal level of excitement or stimulation.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

The principle that a simple task is performed best when arousal levels are relatively high, whereas complex tasks are best performed when arousal levels are lower.

Incentive Theory

The theory asserting that behavior is motivated by external rewards or expectations.

Self-Efficacy

An individual's belief in their own capability to complete a task, proposed by Albert Bandura.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

A framework spanning the spectrum of motives ranging from biological to personal to social needs.

Humanistic Theory of Motivation

The perspective asserting that motivation includes the desire for growth, fulfillment, and achieving personal potential.

Emotion

A subjective state of being, often described as feelings, resulting from the combination of subjective experience, expression, cognitive appraisal, and physiological responses.

Mood

A prolonged, less intense affective state that does not occur in response to something experienced and may lack intentionality.

Amygdala

Brain structure acting as the rapid threat detector that triggers fast emotional reactions, especially fear and stress, before conscious awareness.

Basolateral Complex

A part of the amygdala critical for classical conditioning and for attaching emotional value to learning processes and memory.

Central Nucleus

A part of the amygdala that plays a role in attention and connects with the hypothalamus and brainstem to regulate autonomic and endocrine activity.

Cultural Display Rule

A culturally specific standard governing the acceptable types and frequencies of emotional displays.

James-Lange Theory

Theory of emotion asserting that emotional experiences arise directly from physiological arousal.

Cannon-Bard Theory

Theory of emotion asserting that physiological arousal and emotional experience occur simultaneously but separately.

Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory

Theory of emotion stating that emotion results from both physiological arousal and cognitive interpretation.

Cognitive-Mediational Theory

Theory of emotion asserting that emotions are determined by the cognitive appraisal of a stimulus.

Ability Model of Emotional Intelligence

Model emphasizing emotional skills that can be strengthened through learning and practice, such as perceiving, using, understanding, and managing emotions.

Mixed Model of Emotional Intelligence

Model emphasizing a combination of emotional abilities and personality-based traits, including self-awareness, motivation, empathy, social skills, and regulation.

Personality

The long-standing traits and patterns that propel individuals to consistently think, feel, and behave in specific ways, making them unique.

Id

The unconscious structure of personality present from birth that contains primitive drives and urges such as hunger, thirst, and sex.

Ego

The rational part of personality that balances the demands of the id and superego.

Superego

The personality structure developing through social interaction that acts as a moral compass or conscience telling a person how to behave.

Neurosis

The tendency to experience negative emotions, anxiety disorders, or unhealthy behaviors resulting from imbalances between the id, ego, and superego.

Defense Mechanisms

Unconscious protective behaviors that aim to reduce anxiety, such as denial, displacement, and repression.

Neo-Freudians

Theorists who expanded on psychodynamic theory by highlighting social relationships, cultural influences, and life-long personality development.

Rogers' Humanistic Approach

Personality perspective focusing on personal growth, self-actualization, self-concept, and unconditional positive regard.

Big Five Model

Personality framework proposed by McCrae and Costa that organizes personality into Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

Locus of Control

The concept that individuals both influence and are influenced by their surroundings within social-cognitive theory.

Individualistic Cultures

Cultures that emphasize independence, personal achievement, and autonomy, such as the United States and Western Europe.

Collectivist Cultures

Cultures that emphasize harmony, group goals, and interpersonal sensitivity, such as Japan and Latin America.

Social Psychology

The field that explains how people think about, affect, and relate to one another.

Social Cognition

The process of how we process, organize, and store information about people and social situations.

Situationism

The view that behavior is determined by the immediate environment and external surroundings.

Dispositionism

The view that behavior is dependent upon internal factors, such as traits and personality.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to assume that a behavior is a trait of a person while underestimating the power of the situation.

Cognitive Dissonance

Psychological discomfort arising from holding two or more inconsistent attitudes, behaviors, or cognitions.

Justification of Effort

The tendency to value goals and achievements more when a significant amount of effort has been put into them.

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to attribute successes to internal factors and failures to external factors.

Just-World Hypothesis

The belief that people get the outcomes they deserve in life.

Confederate

A person who works for a researcher and is aware of an experiment they are part of.

Conformity

The change in thoughts and behaviors to go along with a group, even if the individual does not actually agree.

Asch Effect

The influence of the group majority on an individual's judgment.

Normative Social Influence

Conformity motivated by a desire to fit in and seek social approval, particularly when tasks are ambiguous or difficult.

Informational Social Influence

Conformity occurring when an individual doubts their own judgment and assumes the group must know better.

Obedience

The change of behavior of an individual to follow demands from an authority figure.

Groupthink

The modification of opinions by group members to align with what they perceive as the group consensus to maintain harmony.

Group Polarization

The strengthening of an original group attitude following discussion within a group.

Social Loafing

A reduction in individual output on tasks where contributions are pooled.

Deindividuation

A state of reduced accountability in groups that explains shifts in behavior under conditions of anonymity.

Stanford Prison Experiment

A simulated prison study conducted by Philip Zimbardo demonstrating how situational power and assigned roles strongly shape behavior.