Chapter 14: Theories of Personality

Intro to Psychology

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

Personality

Freudian theory that unconscious forces determine behavior and personality.

Psychodynamic Theory

A neurologist who came up with Psychodynamic Theory

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

The reservoir of our most primitive impulses, specifically sex and aggression.

The ID

The ID’s need for instant gratification.

The Pleasure Principle

The psyche’s executive and principal decision maker that works to resolve conflicts between the id and the superego.

The EGO

Rational thought and problem solving where gratification must be delayed until an appropriate outlet is found.

The Reality Principle

Our conception of morality, often called a conscience, which provides overarching judgments of behavior.

The SUPEREGO

The focus of the superego on how we ought to behave.

The Ideal Principle

The expression of the id’s desires occurring during sleep when the ego and superego allow the id full control.

Wish Fulfillment

Unconscious maneuvers intended to minimize distress.

Defense Mechanisms

A defense mechanism that involves excluding the source of anxiety from awareness.

Repression

A defense mechanism where the ego refuses to acknowledge the source of anxiety.

Denial

A psychological transformation to a younger and safer age as a defense against anxiety.

Regression

Attributing unacceptable qualities of the self to someone else.

Projection

Shifting the attention of emotion from one object to another easier target.

Displacement

A view stressing a person’s capacity for personal growth, positive human qualities, and the ability to control one’s life.

Humanistic Perspectives

Abraham Maslow’s approach starting with physiological needs that must be satisfied for psychological needs to become active.

Hierarchy of Needs

The motivation to develop one’s full potential as a human being.

Self-actualization

Carl Rogers’ concept of being accepted, valued, and treated positively regardless of one’s behavior.

Unconditional Positive Regard

Standards we must live up to in order to receive positive regard from others.

Conditions of Worth

The view that personality consists of broad, enduring dispositions (traits) that tend to lead to characteristic responses.

Trait Theories

Gordon Allport defined these as mental structures that make different situations the same for the person.

Traits

Name the Big 5 Factors of Personality

Openness

Conscientiousness

Extraversion

Agreeableness

Neuroticism

Traits for Openness include:

Imaginative or practical

Interested in variety or routine

Independent or conforming

Traits for Conscientiousness include:

Organized or disorganized

Careful or careless

Disciplined or impulsive

Traits for Extraversion include:

Sociable or retiring

Fun-loving or somber

Affectionate or reserved

Traits for Agreeableness include:

Softhearted or ruthless

Trusting or suspicious

Helpful or uncooperative

Traits for Neuroticism include:

Calm or anxious

Secure or insecure

Self-satisfied or self-pitying

A personality test that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics, such as the Rorschach or TAT.

Projective Tests

The most widely used projective test using a set of $10$ inkblots, designed to identify inner feelings by analyzing interpretations of the blots.

Rorschach Inkblot Test (Hermann Rorschach)

The consistency of results, such as achieving the same score when retaking the same test.

Reliability

Determining if a test is actually testing what it says it does.

Validity

The degree to which personality traits are genetic; twin and adoption studies suggest this is about $50\%$ for many adult traits.

Heritability

The theory that personality results from the interaction of the environment and aspects of the individual.

Social-Cognitive Learning Theory

The concept of giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

Individualism

Giving priority to the goals of one’s groups and defining one’s identity by the group.

Collectivism