Personality Psychology: Psychoanalysis, Humanistic, Attachment, and Culture

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering psychoanalysis, defense mechanisms, neo-Freudians, psychosocial stages, humanistic and positive psychology, attachment theory, cultural psychology, and research methodology.

Psychic determinism

The idea that all thoughts, feelings, and behaviors have unconscious causes rooted in past experience, meaning nothing is random or accidental.

Id

The primitive, unconscious part of personality present from birth that operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification of instincts and desires.

Ego

The rational, mostly conscious part of personality that operates on the reality principle, mediating between the demands of the id, the rules of the superego, and the external world.

Superego

The moral part of personality formed by internalizing parental and societal rules; consists of the conscience (which punishes with guilt) and the ego ideal (which rewards with pride).

Compromise formation

A behavior, thought, or symptom resulting from conflict between the id and superego that partially satisfies an unconscious wish while also satisfying the demands of the ego and superego.

Libido

The psychic or sexual life-instinct energy that drives behavior, focused on different body areas at different developmental stages.

Identification

Adopting the characteristics, values, or behaviors of another person (often a powerful figure) to reduce anxiety or resolve conflict.

Regression

Returning to an earlier, less mature stage of development in response to stress or anxiety.

Fixation

Becoming "stuck" at an earlier psychosexual stage because of unresolved conflict, overindulgence, or deprivation during that stage.

Transference

Unconsciously redirecting feelings and expectations from an important figure in the past (usually a parent) onto someone in the present, especially a therapist.

Projection

Attributing one's own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or traits to someone else.

Displacement

Redirecting an emotion (usually anger) from its true source to a safer, less threatening target.

Reaction formation

Defending against an unacceptable impulse by acting in the exact opposite way, often in an exaggerated fashion.

Sublimation

Channeling unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable, often productive activities; considered one of the most mature defense mechanisms.

Repression

Pushing threatening or painful thoughts, memories, or desires out of conscious awareness; regarded as the foundational defense mechanism.

Intellectualization

A defense mechanism that shifts the focus away from uncomfortable emotions through the use of jargon or clinical/scientific language.

Oral stage

Freud's psychosexual stage from $0\text{--}1\text{ year}$ where libido is centered on the mouth (sucking, feeding, biting), with weaning serving as the key developmental conflict.

Anal stage

Freud's psychosexual stage from $1\text{--}3\text{ years}$ where libido is centered on the anus, with pleasure and conflict revolving around bowel control during toilet training.

Phallic stage

Freud's psychosexual stage from $3\text{--}6\text{ years}$ where libido is centered on the genitals, involving the Oedipus/Electra complex and the formation of the superego through identification.

Latent stage

Freud's psychosexual stage from $6\text{ years to puberty}$ where sexual impulses are repressed and dormant, directing energy toward school, friendships, hobbies, and skills.

Genital stage

Freud's psychosexual stage from $\text{puberty onward}$ where mature sexual interests re-emerge directed toward others, allowing balanced adult love and work.

Alfred Adler

Neo-Freudian who proposed that humans are goal-oriented, motivated by striving for superiority, overcoming an inferiority complex, developing social interest, and mastering tasks of community, work, and love.

Carl Jung

Theorist who proposed the personal and collective unconscious populated by primordial archetypes, emphasizing wholeness through self-realization, anima, animus, persona, shadow, and self.

Karen Horney

Feminist psychoanalyst who challenged Freud's concept of penis envy by proposing womb envy, and conceptualized coping strategies as moving toward, moving against, or moving away from people.

Anna Freud

Sigmund Freud's daughter and pioneer of child psychoanalysis and ego psychology who wrote The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense, cataloguing defenses like denial, intellectualization, and identification with the aggressor.

Erik Erikson

Ego psychologist and neo-Freudian who formulated eight psychosocial stages spanning the entire lifespan, each characterized by a distinct social conflict.

Melanie Klein

Pioneer of object relations theory and child psychoanalysis who highlighted the infant's earliest relationship with the mother and unconscious fantasy, including splitting the mother into a "good breast" and "bad breast."

Otto Kernberg

Object relations theorist who developed models of borderline and narcissistic personality disorders, studied the defense of splitting ("all good" vs. "all bad"), and created transference-focused psychotherapy.

Heinz Kohut

Founder of self-psychology who emphasized empathy and the development of a cohesive self through caregivers mirroring accomplishments and providing figures to idealize.

Margaret Mahler

Object relations theorist who formulated the stages of separation-individuation, explaining how infants develop an individual identity and return for "emotional refueling" during the rapprochement phase.

Donald Winnicott

Pediatrician and object relations theorist who introduced concepts of the "good-enough mother" and the "transitional object" (such as a blanket or teddy bear) in child development.

Ego psychology

A psychoanalytic branch shifting emphasis from the id to the ego, focusing on adaptation, problem-solving, planning, and healthy cognitive functioning.

Archetypes

Carl Jung's term for universal, inherited symbols and patterns in the collective unconscious (such as the Hero, Mother, Shadow, and Wise Old Man) that shape human experience.

Object relations theory

The theoretical framework proposing that personality is formed through early relationships with primary caregivers ("objects"), which are internalized into mental representations that direct later relationships.

Neo-Freudian psychology

A collective framework developed by theorists (Jung, Adler, Horney, Erikson) who revised Freudian theory by decreasing emphasis on biological drives/sex and prioritizing social, cultural, and interpersonal dynamics.

Self-psychology

Heinz Kohut's approach holding that a healthy, cohesive self forms through empathic caregivers who mirror the child and offer someone to admire and idealize.

Trust vs Mistrust

Erikson's first psychosocial stage ($0\text{--}1\text{ year}$) in which consistent, reliable care builds trust and hope, whereas neglect fosters fear and suspicion.

Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt

Erikson's second psychosocial stage ($1\text{--}3\text{ years}$) in which toddlers assert independence over their actions; parental support builds will, whereas criticism or overcontrol produces shame and doubt.

Initiative vs Guilt

Erikson's third psychosocial stage ($3\text{--}6\text{ years}$) where children begin planning, initiating tasks, and leading play; encouragement builds purpose, while excessive punishment builds guilt.

Industry vs Inferiority

Erikson's fourth psychosocial stage ($6\text{--}12\text{ years}$) in which children master academic and social skills; success and praise develop competence, while repeated failure generates feelings of inadequacy.

Identity vs Role Confusion

Erikson's fifth psychosocial stage ($12\text{--}18\text{ years}$) where adolescents explore roles, values, and beliefs to establish a coherent sense of self; success fosters fidelity.

Intimacy vs Isolation

Erikson's sixth psychosocial stage ($18\text{--}40\text{ years}$) in which young adults seek deep, committed interpersonal relationships; success yields love, whereas failure leads to loneliness and isolation.

Generativity vs Stagnation

Erikson's seventh psychosocial stage ($40\text{--}65\text{ years}$) where middle-aged adults endeavor to guide and contribute to the next generation; success builds care, whereas failure leads to self-absorption.

Ego Integrity vs Despair

Erikson's eighth psychosocial stage ($65+\text{ years}$) where older adults reflect on their lives; acceptance and life meaning build wisdom, while regret over missed opportunities produces despair.

Humanistic psychology

A "third force" in psychology (after psychoanalysis and behaviorism) emphasizing free will, personal growth, conscious experience, and the innate goodness and potential of the whole person.

Phenomenology

The study of subjective, conscious experience, highlighting that a person's individual perception of reality matters more than objective reality.

Construal

An individual's particular interpretation or understanding of a situation, which shapes their emotional and behavioral reactions more than the objective situation itself.

Existentialism

A philosophy asserting that "existence precedes essence," meaning individuals are free and responsible for creating their own meaning and identity through their choices in a world lacking predetermined purpose.

Angst

The profound anxiety and dread arising from the conscious awareness of personal freedom, ultimate responsibility, mortality, and the absence of predetermined life meaning.

Authentic existence

Living with honest awareness of personal freedom and making choices that genuinely align with one's core values.

Bad faith

Jean-Paul Sartre's concept describing the denial of one's personal freedom and agency by attributing choices to circumstances, roles, or the expectations of others.

Self-actualization

The human motivation to realize one's full potential and become the best version of oneself; occupies the highest tier of Maslow's hierarchy.

Hierarchy of needs

Abraham Maslow's pyramidal model organizing needs into physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization, where lower-tier needs generally require satisfaction before higher needs can be pursued.

Fully functioning person

Carl Rogers' term for an individual who is non-defensive, open to experience, lives in the moment, trusts their feelings, and makes autonomous, creative choices reflecting their values.

Unconditional positive regard

Accepting, prizing, and valuing a person completely without conditions, judgment, or prerequisites.

Conditions of worth

Carl Rogers' concept that love, approval, and acceptance are contingent on satisfying specified behavioral standards, compelling individuals to distort their true selves.

Personal constructs

George Kelly's term for the bipolar cognitive dimensions or categories (such as "friendly vs. hostile") that people construct to interpret, explain, and anticipate events.

Chronically accessible constructs

Personal constructs that are constantly activated and readily accessible in memory, causing an individual to apply them automatically across interpersonal situations.

Principle of parsimony

The philosophical and scientific guideline stating that the simplest adequate explanation for a phenomenon should be chosen over unnecessarily complex alternatives.

Sociality corollary

George Kelly's proposition stating that constructive interpersonal relationships require an individual to understand how the other person construes the world.

Constructive alternativism

The philosophical assumption that any piece of reality can be interpreted in numerous ways, granting individuals the freedom to revise and replace their personal constructs.

Positive psychology

A field founded by Martin Seligman focusing on human character strengths, virtues, subjective well-being, and factors that make life meaningful, rather than solely on treating pathology.

Core virtues

Peterson and Seligman's classification of six universal human virtues: wisdom and knowledge, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence.

Mindfulness

The practice of deliberately paying nonjudgmental, focused attention to present-moment thoughts, physical sensations, and surroundings.

Flow

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's concept of an optimal state of deep absorption in an activity where task challenge and personal skill are balanced, leading to focused enjoyment and distorted time perception.

Awe

An emotion of wonder experienced when encountering vast stimuli that challenge one's current mental schemas, fostering a feeling of humility and connection.

Working models of others

Cognitive schemas regarding whether other people are available, responsive, and trustworthy, constructed from early caregiver interactions.

Working model of the self

A cognitive schema reflecting an individual's perceived worthiness of love and care, based on early caregiver responses to their needs.

Secure base

An attachment figure who provides an anchor of safety and security from which an infant or individual can explore the surrounding environment.

Safe haven

An attachment figure to whom an individual can retreat for comfort, protection, and soothing when distressed or threatened.

The Strange Situation procedure

Mary Ainsworth's standardized laboratory observation protocol assessing infant attachment via brief separations and reunions with a caregiver and an unfamiliar adult.

Attachment anxiety

An attachment dimension reflecting fear of abandonment, rejection, and unworthiness of love, originating from a negative model of self.

Attachment avoidance

An attachment dimension reflecting discomfort with emotional closeness, vulnerability, and dependence, originating from a negative model of others.

Secure attachment style

An attachment style characterized by low anxiety and low avoidance, marked by trust, ease with closeness, comfort with autonomy, and positive views of self and others.

Anxious-ambivalent attachment style

An attachment style defined by high anxiety and low avoidance, marked by fear of rejection, clinginess, jealousy, and distress during separations.

Dismissive-avoidant attachment style

An attachment style characterized by low anxiety and high avoidance, marked by compulsive self-reliance, suppression of emotion, and avoidance of intimacy.

Fearful-avoidant attachment style

A disorganized attachment style characterized by high anxiety and high avoidance, in which an individual desires intimacy but avoids closeness due to fear of being hurt.

Culture

The system of shared beliefs, values, norms, practices, symbols, and customs transmitted across generations within a group.

Cultural psychology

A subfield studying how culture and psychology mutually shape each other, relying often on qualitative, in-depth analyses to understand psychological functioning within specific contexts.

Cross-cultural psychology

A subfield comparing psychological variables across different cultures to assess whether behavioral findings generalize or vary across populations.

Enculturation

The developmental process by which an individual acquires the norms, values, and practices of their native culture from family, school, and media.

Acculturation

The process of psychological and behavioral adaptation that occurs when an individual or group comes into continuous contact with a new or host culture.

Tight vs. loose cultures

A cultural dimension contrasting societies with rigid norms and strong punishment for deviance (tight) against societies with permissive norms and high tolerance for deviance (loose).

Head vs. heart cultures

A cultural distinction contrasting cultures emphasizing rational intellect, logic, and achievement (head) with those emphasizing emotional warmth, interpersonal relationships, and expressiveness (heart).

Individualism vs. collectivism

A cultural dimension contrasting societies valuing autonomy, personal rights, and individual achievement with societies valuing interdependence, group harmony, and collective duty.

Behavioral consistency

The tendency of an individual's behavior and personality to remain stable across differing social situations, which is typically higher in individualistic cultures than collectivist cultures.

Honor culture

A cultural framework where self-worth is contingent upon reputation and social standing, prompting individuals to aggressively defend against disrespect and insults.

Face culture

A cultural framework common in East Asia where self-worth is defined by social standing and public reputation, maintained by promoting social harmony and avoiding public embarrassment.

Dignity culture

A cultural framework where self-worth is considered intrinsic, universal, and inalienable, remaining uncompromised by the opinions or judgments of other people.

Dynamism

A cultural orientation perceiving reality, people, and society as malleable and subject to change through persistence, effort, and adaptability.

Imposed etic

A cross-cultural research methodology where psychological constructs or tests originating from one culture (often Western) are applied uncritically to other cultures assuming universality.

Endogenous (emic) approach

A research methodology that develops personality concepts, dimensions, and measures directly from within a culture's native language and everyday experiences.

Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI)

An indigenous personality measure developed from Chinese proverbs and literature, identifying a unique Interpersonal Relatedness factor not captured by the Western Big Five.

Holistic thinking

A cognitive style common in East Asian cultures focusing on contextual relationships, the broader environment, change, and dialectical balance.

Analytic thinking

A cognitive style typical in Western cultures focusing primarily on focal objects, discrete categories, linear causation, and formal rules.

Openness to change vs. conservatism

A global values dimension contrasting self-direction, stimulation, and hedonism with security, conformity, and adherence to tradition.

Self-enhancement vs. self-transcendence

A global values dimension contrasting the pursuit of personal success, ambition, and power with the promotion of community welfare and universalism.

Ecology

The physical and environmental conditions—such as climate, pathogen load, natural resources, and geography—that shape cultural practices, values, and personality traits.

Ethnocentrism

The practice of evaluating and judging other cultures based on the standards, values, and customs of one's own cultural group.

Outgroup homogeneity bias

The cognitive perceptual tendency to view members of an outgroup as uniform and identical while perceiving members of one's ingroup as diverse and unique.