Chapter 11: Theories of Personality

Personality

unique and relatively stable ways in which people think, feels, and behave

Character

the value judgment of a person’s moral and ethical behavior

termperament

the biological innate, and enduring characteristics with each person is born

psychodynamic perspective

focuses on the role of the unconscious mind in the development of personality

behavorial perspective

focuses on the effect on the environment on behavior and includes aspects of social cognitive theory in that interaction with others and personal thought process

humanistic perspective

focuses on the role of each person’s conscious life experiences and choices in personality development

trait perspective

seeks to explain the process that causes personality to form into its unique characteristics

Unconscious mind

level of mind in which thoughts, feelings, memories, and other information are kept that are not easily or voluntarily brought into conscious mind

3 parts of personality

ego, superego, and id

id

part of the personality present at birth and completely unconscious

pleasurable principles

principle by which the id functions; the desires for the immediate satisfaction of needs without regard for consequences

ego

part of the personality that develops out of a need to deal with reality; most conscious, rational, and logical

reality principle

principle by which the ego functions; the satisfaction of the demands of the id only when negative consequences will not result

superego

part of the personality that acts as a moral center

conscience

part of the superego that produces guilt, depending on how acceptable the behavior is

psychological defense mechanisms

unconscious distortions of a persons perception of reality that reduce stress and anxiety

Denial

refusing to recognize or acknowledge a threatening situation

repression

“pushing” threatening or conflicting events or situations out of conscious mind

rationalization

making up acceptable excuses for unacceptable behavior

projection

placing one’s own unacceptable thought onto others as if the thoughts belong to them and not to oneself

reaction formation

forming an emotional reaction or attitude that is the opposite of one’s threatening or unacceptable actual thought

displacement

expressing feelings that would be threatening if directed at the real target onto a less threatening substitute

regression

falling back on childlike patterns as a way to coping with stressful situations

identifications

trying to become like someone else to deal with one’s anxiety

compensation

trying to make up for areas in which a deficit is perceiving by becoming superior in some other area

sublimination

turning socially unacceptable urges into socially acceptable behaviors

psychosexual stages

five stages of personality development proposed by Freud and tied to sexual behavior and the development of a child

Fixation

disorder in which the person does not fully resolve in a particular psychosexual stage, resulting in personality traits and behavior associated with that earlier stage

Oral Stage

first stage; occurring in the first 18 months of life, in which the mouth is the erogenous zone and weaning is primary function

Anal stage

second stage occurs from 18-36 months of age, in which the anus is the erogenous zone and toilet training is the source of conflict

anal explosive personality

someone who sees messiness as a statement of personal control and who is somewhat destructive and hostile

anal retentive personality

third stage occurs about 3-6 years of age, in which the children discover sexual feelings.

oedipus complex

the psychodynamic theory, a situation occurring in the phallic stage in which a boy develops a sexual attraction to his mother and jealousy of his father

electra complex

the psychodynamic theory, a situation occurring in the phallic stage in which a girl develops sexual attraction to her father and jealousy of her mother

Latency Stage

fourth stage occurs during the school year (6 to puberty), in which the sexual feelings of the child are repressed while the child develops in other ways

genital stage

final stage, from puberty on, sexual urges are allowed back into the consciousness, and the individual moves towards adult social and sexual behavior

psychoanalysis

term Freud applied to both his explanation of the working of the unconscious mind and the development of personality, and the therapy he based on that theory

Neo-Freudians

Followers of Freud who developed their own competing psychodynamic theories

Latent

Hiding sexual feelings

Personal unconscious

Jung’s name for the unconscious mind as described by Freud

collective unconscious

Jung’s name for the memories shared by all members of the human species

archetypes

Jung’s collective universal memories

anima/animus

The feminine side of a man and the masculine side of women

shadow

dark side of a personality

persona

the side of one’s personality shown to the world

Womb theory

men felt the need to compensate for their lack of child-bearing abilities by striving for success in other areas

feminine psycholgy

approaching psychology emphasizing the female perspective that accounts for both gender and social structure, attempts to affect traditional views in psychology stemmed from a male perspective and assumes male experience is harmful

basic anxiety

anxiety created when a child is born into the bigger and more powerful world of older children

neurotic personalities

personalities typified by maladaptive ways of dealing with relationships in Horney’s theory

Heterosexist

norm for all behavior, thoughts, and experience

habits

In behaviorism, a set of well learned responses that become automatic

social cognitive theories

theories that emphasize the importance of other people’s behavior and of a person’s beliefs, experiences, and cognitive processes in learning

reciprocal determinism

Bandura’s explanation of how the factors of environment, personal characteristics, and behavior can interact to determine future behavior

self-efficacy

individuals expectancy of how effective their efforts to accomplish a goal will be in any particular circumstances

locus of control

the tendency for people to assume that they either have control over events and consequences in their lives

Internal Locus of Control

people who assume their own actions and decisions directly affect the consequences they experience

External Locus of Control

people who assume their lives are controlled by a powerful other, such as luck or fate

expectancy

a person’s subjective feeling that a particular behavior will lead to reinforcing consequences

reinforcement value

an individual’s preference for a particular reinforcer over all possible reinforcing consequences

social cognitive view

learning theory that includes cognitive processes such as anticipating, judging, memory, and imitating of model

humanistic perspective

the third force in psychology that focuses on those parts of personality that make people unique human such as subjective feelings and freedom of choice

self-concept

the image of oneself that develops from interaction with important people in one’s life

self-actualizing tendency

the striving to fulfill one’s innate capacities and capabilities

self

an individual awareness of their own personal characteristics and level of functioning

real self

one’s actual perception of characteristics, traits, and abilities that form that basis for self actualization

ideal self

the perception of what one should be or would like to be

positive regard

warmth, affection, love, and respect that come from significant others in life

unconditional positive regard

positive regard that is given without conditions or string attachment; in person centered therapy atmosphere created by the therapist for the client

conditional positive regard

a positive regard that is given when the people is doing what the providers of positive regard

fully-functioning person

a person who is in touch with and trusting of the deepest, innermost urges and feelings

Trait theories

theories that endeavor to describe the characteristics that make up human personality in an effort to predict future behavior

trait

a consistent, enduring way of thinking, feeling, or behaving

Surface traits

aspects of personality that can be easily be seen by other people in the outward actions of a person

source traits

basic trait that underlies the surface traits, forming the core of personality

Introversion

dimension of personality in which people tend to withdraw from excessive stimulation

factor analysis

statistical techniques that look for grouping and commonalities in numerical data

Five Factor Model

model of personality traits that describes five basic trait dimensions

Opennes

willingness to try new things and new experiences

conscientiousness

core a person gives to an organization, thoughtfulness, of others

Extravision

dimension of personality referring to one’s need to be with others

Extraverts

people who are outgoing and sociable

Introverts

people who prefer to solitude and dislike being the center of attention

Agreeableness

the emotional style ranging from easing going, friendly, grumpy, crabby, and unpleasant

Neuoticism

degree of emotional instability or stability

geographical psychology

looking at how local environments and region might affect individual behavior

trait situation interaction

the assumption that the particular circumstance of any given situation will influve the way in which trait is expressed

behavior genetics

field of study devoted to discovering the genetic bases of personality characteristics

genetic nurture

genetics of a child’s parents, even those not inherited, can impact the family and the child’s environment

phrenology

personality traits based on the shape of a person’s skull

personality neruoscience

aspects of our personality must be related to constant of pattern in the brain

Cybernetic Big Five Theory

looks at personality through traits that are related to variations in brain structure and through character adaptation

cognitive mediational theory

the way people think about and appraise a stressor is a major factor in now stressful that particular stressor becomes

primary appraisal

first step in assessing stress, in which involves estimating the severity of a stressor and classifying it as either a threat or a challenge

secondary appraisal

the second stage in assessing a stressor, which involves estimating the resources available to the person coping threat

Yerkes Dodson Law

law stating that when the task are simple a higher level of arousal leads better performance; when tasks are difficult, lower levels of arousal lead to better preformance

Type A personality

person who is ambitious, time-conscious, extremely hard-working, and tends to have high levels of hostility and anger and being easily now.

Type B personality

person who is relaxed and laid back, less driven and competitive than Type A, and is slower to anger

Type C personality

pleasant but repressed person who tends to internalize their anger and anxiety and who finds expressing emotion difficult

Type D personality

distress personality type; person who experiences negative emotion such as anger, sadness, and fear and tends not to share these emotions in social situations out of feal of rejection or disapproval

hardy personality

a person who seems to thrive on stress but lacks the anger and hostility of Type A personality