MCAT Behaviorial Science - Identity and Personality

self-concept

our awareness of ourselves as distinct from others and our own internal list of answers to the question Who am I?

self-schema

a self-given label that carries with it a set of qualities

ex. athlete = youth, physical fitness, specific dress and behaviour

identity

the individual components of our self-concept related to the groups to which we belong

ex. Religious affiliation, sexual orientation, personal relationships, and membership

Gender identity

describes people’s appraisals of themselves on scales of masculinity and femininity as two separate axes; usually established by age three, though subject to change; not necessarily tied to biological sex or sexual orientation; third genders

Androgyny

the state of being simultaneously very masculine and very feminine

undifferentiated (gender)

low scores on both masculine and feminine scales

gender schema

key components of gender identity are transmitted through cultural and societal means

transgender

gender identity does not match sex assigned at birth; heavily stigmatized; gender identity disorder → gender dysphoria

Ethnic identity

associated with membership in a particular racial/ethnic group, often with a common ancestry, cultural heritage, and language

nationality

based on political borders; result of shared history, media, cuisine, and national symbols such as a country’s flag; need not be tied to one’s ethnicity or even to legal citizenship

hierarchy of salience

let the situation dictate which identity holds the most importance for us at any given moment

Self-discrepancy theory

each of us has three selves (actual, ideal, ought) and that perceived differences between these selves lead to negative feelings

actual self

self-concept; the way we see ourselves as we currently are

ideal self

the person we would like to be

ought self

our representation of the way others think we should be

self-esteem

self-worth; how one feels about themself

self-efficacy

our belief in our ability to succeed

Overconfidence

self-efficacy is far too high to be realistic; to take on tasks for which we are not ready, leading to frustration, humiliation, or sometimes even personal injury

learned helplessness

low self-efficacy; a developed perceived lack of control over the outcome of a situation; strongly related to clinical depression

Locus of control

to the way we characterize the influences in our lives

internal locus of control

view themselves as controlling their own fate

external locus of control

the events in their lives are caused by luck or outside influences

libido

sex drive

Psychosexual Development (Freud)

In each stage, children are faced with a conflict between societal demands and the desire to reduce the libidinal tension associated with different erogenous zones of the body

Fixation

occurs when a child is overindulged or overly frustrated during a stage of development; forms a personality pattern based on that particular stage

neurosis

functional mental disorder stemming from fixation

oral stage

0 → 1 y/o

gratification is obtained primarily through putting objects into the mouth, biting, and sucking

fixation: excessive dependency (smoking, drinking)

anal stage

1 → 3 y/o

gratification is gained through the elimination and retention of waste materials; toilet training

fixation: excessive orderliness (anal-retentiveness) or sloppiness

phallic stage

3 → 5 y/o

resolution of the Oedipal conflict for male children or the analogous Electra conflict for female children; child experiences guilt over desire for opposite sex parent and learns to identify with same sex parent

fixation: queerness, authority issues

Oedipal conflict

the male child envies his father’s intimate relationship with his mother and fears castration at his father’s hands; wishes to eliminate his father and possess his mother; deals with his guilty feelings by identifying with his father, establishing his sexual identity, and internalizing moral values

castrastion anxiety

fear in male children of losing penis or masculinity; anatagonism with father

penis envy

desire in female children to possess a penis or masculinity; affection to father

Electra conflict

a girl's initial sexual attachment to her mother ends upon discovering that she — the daughter — has no penis, she then transfers her libidinal desire (sexual attachment) to her father and increases sexual competition with her mother

sublimation

socially unacceptable impulses or idealizations are transformed into socially acceptable actions or behavior, possibly resulting in a long-term conversion of the initial impulse

latency stage

5 → puberty

sublimated libido

fixation: social issues

genital stage

puberty → adulthood

if prior development has proceeded correctly, the person should enter into healthy heterosexual relationships

fixation: fetishism/paraphilia from failures at previous stages

theory of psychosocial development (Erikson)

personality development is driven by the successful resolution of a series of social and emotional conflicts

1. conflicts arise because an individual lacks some critical social or emotional skill → represents an opportunity to learn a new social or emotional skill

2. positive or negative resolution → development requires positive

3. an individual who fails to obtain a positive resolution at one stage can still advance to later stages → later in life, may even learn the skill that they failed to learn during the developmental conflict

trust vs. mistrust

first year of life

newborn depends on their caregivers for support

positive: caregivers succeed in providing → learns to trust caregivers and others

autonomy vs. shame and doubt

1 to 3 years

children begin to explore their surroundings and develop their interests

positive: feeling able to exert control over the world → exercise choice as well as self-restraint

negative: overly controlled and criticized → sense of doubt and a persistent external locus of control

initiative vs. guilt

3 to 6 years

basic cause and effect principles in physics, and starting and finishing out tasks for a purpose

positive: sense of purpose, the ability to initiate activities, and the ability to enjoy accomplishment

negative: overcome by the fear of punishment → unduly restrict themselves or may overcompensate by showing off

industry vs. inferiority

6 to 12 years

becoming aware of themselves as individuals

positive: feel competent, be able to exercise their abilities and intelligence in the world, and be able to affect the world in the way that they desire

negative: sense of inadequacy, a sense of inability to act in a competent manner, and low self-esteem

identity vs. role confusion

12 to 20 years

explore their independence to determine who they are and what their purpose is in society

positive: fidelity, the ability to see oneself as a unique and integrated person with sustained loyalties

negative: confusion about one’s identity and an amorphous personality that shifts from day to day

intimacy vs. isolation

20 to 40 years

creating long-lasting bonds with others

positive: ability to have intimate relationships with others, and the ability to commit oneself to another person and to one’s own goals

negative: avoidance of commitment, alienation, and distancing of oneself from others and one’s ideals

generativity vs. stagnation

40 to 65 years

advancing present and future society

positive: individual capable of being a productive, caring, and contributing member of society

negative: self-indulgent, bored, and self-centered with little care for others

integrity vs. despair

above 65 years

reflective and contemplative

positive: wisdom, detached concern with life itself, with assurance in the meaning of life, dignity, and an acceptance of the fact that one’s life has been worthwhile, along with a readiness to face death

negative: bitterness about one’s life, a feeling that life has been worthless, fear over one’s own impending death

theory of moral reasoning (Kohlberg)

as our cognitive abilities grow, we are able to think about the world in more complex and nuanced ways, and this directly affects the ways in which we resolve moral dilemmas and perceive the notion of right and wrong

Preconventional morality

Preadolescence

1. obedience - avoiding punishment

2. self-interest - gaining rewards

Conventional morality

Adolescence to adulthood

3. Conformity - “nice person” orientation; approval from others

4. Law and Order - maintains social order

Postconventional morality

Adulthood (if at all) - based on social mores, which may conflict with laws

5. Social Contract - moral rules as convention for greater good/rights

6. Universal Human Ethics - decisions should be made in consideration of abstract principles

instrumental relativist stage

self-interest moral stage; based on the concepts of reciprocity and sharing: I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine.

zone of proximal development

skills and abilities that have not yet fully developed but are in the process of development; requires the help of a “more knowledgeable other”

social learning theory (Bandura)

Young children observe and encode the behaviors they see in others, and may later imitate these behaviors, esp. from people like them

role-taking

experiment with other identities by taking on the roles of others, such as when children play house or school

theory of mind

ability to sense how another’s mind works

looking-glass self

Our understanding of how others see us, which relies on perceiving a reflection of ourselves based on the words and actions of others

reference group

the group that we use as a standard to evaluate ourselves

Personality

describes the set of thoughts, feelings, traits, and behaviors that are characteristic of an individual across time and location; describes how we act and react to the world around us

psychoanalytic/psychodynamic theories of personality

assumption of unconscious internal states that motivate the overt actions of individuals and determine personality

id

the basic, primal, inborn urges to survive and reproduce

pleasure principle

achieve immediate gratification to relieve any pent-up tension

primary process

id’s response to frustration based on the pleasure principle: obtain satisfaction now, not later

wish fulfillment

Mental imagery, such as daydreaming or fantasy, that fulfills need for immediate satisfaction

ego

the organizer of the mind; receives its power from—and can never be fully independent of—the id

reality principle

taking into account objective reality as it guides or inhibits the activity of the id and the id’s pleasure principle

secondary process

postpone the pleasure principle until satisfaction can actually be obtained; promotes the growth of perception, memory, problem solving, thinking, and reality testing

superego

perfectionist, judging our actions and responding with pride at our accomplishments and guilt at our failures;reflection of the morals taught to children by their caregivers; conscience and ego-ideal

conscience

collection of the improper actions for which a child is punished

ego-ideal

proper actions for which a child is rewarded

preconscious

thoughts that we aren’t currently aware of

unconscious

thoughts that have been repressed; not subconscious allegedly

instinct (Freud)

innate psychological representation of a biological need

Life instincts (Eros)

promote an individual’s quest for survival through thirst, hunger, and sexual needs

Death instincts (Thanatos)

represent an unconscious wish for death and destruction

defense mechanisms

ego’s recourse for relieving anxiety caused by the clash of the id and superego

deny, falsify, or distort reality and operate unconsciously

Repression

ego’s way of forcing undesired thoughts and urges to the unconscious and underlies many of the other defense mechanisms

suppression

more deliberate, conscious form of forgetting than repression

Regression

reversion to an earlier developmental state

Reaction formation

when an individual suppresses urges by unconsciously converting these urges into their exact opposites

Projection

individuals attribute their undesired feelings to others

Rorschach inkblot test

relies on the assumption that clients project their unconscious feelings onto the shape

thematic apperception test

a series of pictures that are presented to the client, who is asked to make up a story about each one; attempts to elucidate the client’s own unconscious thoughts and feelings

Rationalization

justification of behaviors in a manner that is acceptable to the self and society

Displacement

transference of an undesired urge from one person or object to another

sublimation

transformation of unacceptable urges into socially acceptable behaviors

personal unconscious

Freud’s notion of the unconscious

collective unconscious

powerful system that is shared among all humans and considered to be a residue of the experiences of our early ancestors; building blocks are images of common experiences

archetypes

common images with an emotional element in the collective unconscious

persona

a mask that we wear in public, and is the part of our personality that we present to the world; adaptive to our social interactions, emphasizing those qualities that improve our social standing and suppressing our other, less desirable qualities

anima (feminine) & animus (masculine)

gender- inappropriate qualities; feminine behaviors in males and masculine behaviors in females

shadow

responsible for the appearance of unpleasant and socially reprehensible thoughts, feelings, and actions experienced in the unconscious mind

self (Jung)

point of intersection between the collective unconscious, the personal unconscious, and the conscious mind; strives for unity

word association testing

assess how unconscious elements may be influencing the conscious mind and thus the self; patients respond to a single word with the first word that comes to mind

Myers–Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI)

personality test

• Extraversion (E, orientation toward the external world) vs. introversion (I, orientation toward the inner, personal world)

• Sensing (S, obtaining objective information about the world) vs. intuiting (N, working with information abstractly)

• Thinking (T, using logic and reason) vs. feeling (F, using a value system or personal beliefs)

• Judging (J, preferring orderliness) vs. perceiving (P, preferring spontaneity)

inferiority complex (Adler)

an individual’s sense of incompleteness, imperfection, and inferiority both physically and socially

creative self

the force by which individuals shape their uniqueness and establish their personality

Style of life

represents the manifestation of the creative self and describes a person’s unique way of achieving superiority

fictional finalism

individuals are motivated more by their expectations of the future than by past experiences

neurotic needs (Horney)

directed toward making life and interactions bearable; become problematic if they fit at least one of four criteria:

• disproportionate in intensity

• indiscriminate in application

• partially disregard reality

• tendency to provoke intense anxiety

ex. affection and approval, exploit others, self-sufficiency and independence

basic anxiety

Inadequate caregiving can cause vulnerability and helplessness

basic hostility

neglect and rejection cause anger