Comprehensive Psychology Review: Motivation, Personality, Social Influence, Group Dynamics, and Culture

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcard set covering foundational theories, constructs, and empirical studies across motivation, psychodynamic perspectives, social cognition, group influence, cultural models, and personality assessment.

Motivation

The impetus that gives purpose or direction to behavior, operating at a conscious or unconscious level and determined by biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors.

Intrinsic Motivation

Motivation that is based on internal feelings rather than external incentives.

Extrinsic Motivation

Motivation that arises from external factors or rewards outside the individual.

Drive-Reduction Theory

The theory suggesting that physiological needs create an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need and restore balance.

Homeostasis

The tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal physiological state through the regulation of body chemistry.

Incentive

A positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior.

Arousal Theory

The theory stating that individuals are motivated to maintain an optimal level of arousal, engaging in behaviors to either increase or decrease stimulation.

Gender Identity

An individual's personal self-identification as male, female, or another classification, influenced by biological and environmental factors.

Sexual Orientation

An individual's enduring sexual attraction toward members of the other sex (heterosexual), the same sex (homosexual), or both sexes (bisexual).

Affiliation Motivation

The drive to join or seek out cooperative, friendly social relationships with other individuals based on liking or personal attachment.

Achievement Motivation

A desire for significant accomplishment, mastering skills or ideas, control, and attaining high standards of performance.

Personality

The enduring configuration of characteristics and behavior comprising an individual's unique adjustment to life, including traits, drives, values, and emotional patterns.

Psyche

The mind in its totality, distinguished from the physical organism; historically considered the soul or essence of life.

Psychoanalysis

A theoretical framework and clinical approach developed by Sigmund Freud emphasizing that mental activity is predominantly unconscious and drives overt behavior.

Id

The personality structure containing primitive biological drives for survival, reproduction, and aggression that operates entirely on the pleasure principle.

Pleasure Principle

The psychic operating mechanism of the id that seeks immediate gratification of impulses and tension reduction without regard for consequences.

Superego

The moral component of personality representing internalized parental and societal standards that acts as a conscience and strives for perfection.

Ego

The rational, reality-oriented component of personality operating on the reality principle to mediate conflicts between the id, superego, and the real world.

Reality Principle

The regulatory mechanism governing the ego that postpones or modifies instinctual gratification to accommodate external realities.

Fixation

The persistence of an early psychosexual developmental stage or inappropriate attachment to an early erogenous zone caused by overindulgence or frustration.

Oedipus Complex

Freud's concept describing a young boy's erotic desires toward his mother accompanied by rivalry and hostility toward his father during the phallic stage.

Electra Complex

Carl Jung's term for the female counterpart of the Oedipus complex, where a daughter loves her father, experiences hostility toward her mother, and blames the mother for castration.

Defense Mechanism

An unconscious tactic employed by the ego to protect itself from anxiety caused by psychic conflict by distorting reality.

Repression

A psychoanalytic defense mechanism that prevents anxiety-provoking thoughts, painful memories, and unacceptable impulses from entering conscious awareness.

Reaction Formation

A defense mechanism in which unacceptable impulses are transformed and expressed as their exaggerated opposite.

Sublimation

A defense mechanism where unacceptable sexual or aggressive drives are redirected into socially acceptable, productive, or creative activities.

Individual Psychology

Alfred Adler's theory proposing that human behavior is driven by a conscious desire to overcome feelings of inferiority and strive for superiority, mastery, and belonging.

Collective Unconscious

Carl Jung's concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of ancestral memory traces and experiences common to all human beings.

Archetype

An inherited, universal symbol or image stored within the collective unconscious that structures human perception and personality development.

Social Psychology

The branch of psychology that studies how individuals' thoughts, feelings, and actions are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others.

Attribution

An inference or judgment regarding the causal factors responsible for a person's behavior or an observed social event.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency for observers to underestimate situational influences and overestimate internal dispositional factors when analyzing another person's behavior.

Actor-Observer Bias

The tendency to attribute one's own behaviors to external situational circumstances while attributing others' identical actions to stable internal dispositions.

Self-Serving Bias

The inclination to attribute personal achievements and positive outcomes to internal traits while blaming personal failures on situational factors.

Central Persuasion

Attitude change resulting from an individual's careful, systematic evaluation and elaboration of the core arguments and merits of a message.

Peripheral Persuasion

Attitude change induced by superficial cues, emotional appeals, or speaker attractiveness rather than in-depth analytical evaluation.

Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon

A persuasion and compliance technique wherein securing agreement to an initial small request increases the likelihood of compliance with a subsequent larger request.

Social Norms

Socially shared and accepted rules that dictate which behaviors are typical (descriptive norms) and appropriate or required (injunctive norms) in a specific environment.

Social Scripts

A culturally shared mental blueprint containing knowledge of the expected sequence of events and behaviors appropriate to a particular context.

Conformity

Adjusting one's opinions, judgments, or behaviors to align with group consensus or prevailing social standards.

Normative Social Influence

Conformity motivated by an individual's desire to gain approval, fit in, and avoid social rejection or ostracism.

Informational Social Influence

Conformity driven by accepting others' judgment as credible evidence about reality, especially in ambiguous or complex situations.

Door-in-the-Face Technique

A compliance strategy where an extreme initial demand is presented and refused, making the requester's secondary, moderate demand appear reasonable and acceptable.

Social Loafing

The tendency of individuals to expend less physical or mental effort when working collectively in a group compared to working individually.

Social Facilitation

An enhancement in individual performance on well-learned or simple tasks occurring in the presence of an observing audience or co-actors.

Groupthink

A mode of flawed group decision-making characterized by excessive concurrence-seeking, perceived unanimity, and suppression of dissenting viewpoints.

Group Polarization

The enhancement and exaggeration of a group's prevailing inclinations and attitudes following collective deliberation and discussion.

Deindividuation

A psychological state characterized by diminished self-awareness and reduced inner restraint resulting from immersion in an anonymous crowd.

Prejudice

An unjustifiable negative attitude held toward an individual or social group before acquiring personal experience, composed of affective, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions.

Stereotype

A generalized cognitive belief or oversimplified expectation regarding the traits, attributes, and behaviors of members of a designated social group.

Discrimination

Unfair or differential behavioral actions directed toward members of a particular social, ethnic, or demographic group.

Just-World Hypothesis

The cognitive bias leading individuals to believe that the world is inherently fair, orderly, and just, meaning people get what they deserve.

Ingroup Bias

The systematic tendency to evaluate and favor one's own group members, qualities, and achievements more favorably than outgroups.

Scapegoat Theory

The theoretical premise that prejudice and outgroup hostility provide an emotional outlet for anger by directing blame onto an innocent group.

Progressive Cultivation

A conceptualization of culture as a restricted set of intentional activities aimed at mental refinement and high art (such as ballet, theater, and higher education).

Way of Life

A definition of culture centered on enduring, generational patterns of shared beliefs, rituals, doctrines, and behaviors maintained within a population.

Enculturation

The developmental process through which individuals gradually internalize the values, norms, language, and cultural practices of their native society.

Acculturation

The psychological and behavioral process by which individuals or groups modify their original cultural patterns in response to contact with another distinct culture.

Four I's Cultural Cycle

A dynamic model demonstrating how culture operates through the mutual reinforcement of Ideas, Institutions, Interactions, and Individuals.

Berry's Ecocultural Model

A conceptual framework viewing human diversity and individual psychological outcomes as collective adaptations to ecological contexts and sociopolitical backgrounds.

Independent Self-Construal

A concept of the self emphasizing distinctness, individual uniqueness, personal goals, and autonomy over social interconnectedness.

Interdependent Self-Construal

A view of the self defining identity through relational ties, social networks, group harmony, and shared collective responsibilities.

Cultural Relativism

The premise that behaviors, values, and psychological practices must be evaluated and understood within the context of their specific culture rather than external standards.

WEIRD

An acronym characterizing psychological research samples derived overwhelmingly from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic societies.

Self-Concept

The overarching cognitive structure and evaluation an individual holds regarding their personal attributes, roles, and skills, consisting of the real self and ideal self.

Self-Esteem

The affective evaluation of one's worth, reflecting the extent to which qualities within the self-concept are perceived as positive.

Self-Efficacy

An individual's personal belief in their capability to execute behaviors necessary to attain specific performance outcomes, conceptualized by Albert Bandura.

Self-Actualization

The psychological motivation to realize one's highest potential and creative capabilities, positioned atop Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Person-Centered Perspective

Carl Rogers's humanistic theory positing that psychological growth requires an interpersonal climate featuring genuineness, acceptance (unconditional positive regard), and empathy.

Big Five Model of Personality

A trait paradigm measuring personality variation across five core dimensions: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

Dark Triad

A constellation of socially adverse personality characteristics encompassing Narcissism (grandiosity), Machiavellianism (manipulation), and Psychopathy (callousness).

Light Triad

A cluster of benevolent personality traits comprising Kantianism (treating individuals as ends), Humanism (valuing human dignity), and Faith in Humanity.

Reciprocal Determinism

Albert Bandura's model asserting that personal cognitive factors, environmental contexts, and overt behaviors continuously interact to shape personality.

Phrenology

A discredited nineteenth-century pseudoscience claiming that personality traits and mental faculties could be assessed by measuring cranial bumps and skull contours.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

A projective psychological test developed by Henry Alexander Murray requiring respondents to generate narratives describing ambiguous interpersonal pictures.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

A projective psychodiagnostic instrument consisting of 10 standardized unstructured inkblots designed to assess unconscious personality dynamics and emotional functioning.

Personality Inventory

A standardized questionnaire presenting self-report statements with fixed response formats (such as true/false) scored against normative comparative data, exemplified by the MMPI.