physch - test 4

chapters 13, 14, 15

personality

a person’s typical thoughts, emotional responses, and behaviors that are relatively stable over time and across circumstances

self concept

everything an individual thinks, believes and feels about him/her self

self schema

an integrated set of memories, beliefs, and generalizations about the self

working self concept

immediate experience of the self in the here and now

self esteem

how do you feel about your sense of self?; based on how others perceive you

self compassion

treating oneself with care, acceptance, and kindness during difficult times

downward comparison

comparing oneself with another person who is seen as less competent or in a worse situation, which tends to protect a person’s high self esteem; when you make a downward comparison, it typically increases your own self esteem

temporal comparison

in which people view their current selves as better than their former selves

upward comparisons

comparing oneself with another person who is seen as more competent or in a better situation, which tends to confirm a person’s low self esteem and thus feel bad about self

self serving bias

the tendency of people to take personal credit for success but blame failure on external factors

collectivist cultures

emphasize connections to family, social groups, and ethnic groups, and conformity to societal norms

individualist cultures

emphasize rights and freedoms, self expression and diversity; children are raised with an emphasis on self expression and diversity

conscious level

mental activity consists of the thoughts that we are aware of

pre conscious level

content that is not currently in our awareness but could be brought to awareness

unconscious level

material that the mind cannot easily retrieve

ID

the component of personality that is completely submerged in the unconscious and operates according to the pleasure principle; the desire for pleasure and avoidance of pain

superego

the component of personality that reflects the internalization of societal and parental standards of conduct; the conscience for what is socially acceptable and moral

ego

the component of personality that tries to satisfy the wishes of the ID while being responsive to the superego; resolves conflict between the ID and superego

trait approaches

ways of studying personality that are based on people’s characteristics - their tendencies to act in a certain way over time and across most situations

basic tendencies

personality traits that are largely determined by biology and are stable overtime

characteristic adaptations

changes in behavioral expression of basic tendencies based on the demands of specific situations

projective measures

personality tests that examine unconscious processes by having people interpret ambiguous stimuli

self report measures

personality tests that use questionnaires to let people respond to items that reveal traits and behaviors

situationism

the theory that behavior is determined by more situations than by personality traits