UNIT 4 PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCH

Adler

Neo-Freudian; emphasized inferiority complex and striving for superiority

Assessing/evaluating social-cognitive theories

Focuses on how behavior, environment, and cognition interact; often supported by experiments but criticized for being broad

Bandura (social-cognitive perspective)

Behavior shaped by interaction of cognition, behavior, and environment; includes observational learning and self-efficacy

Behaviorists

Explain personality through learning (conditioning, reinforcement, punishment)

Biology and personality

Traits influenced by genetics, brain structure, and temperament

Criticism of humanism

Hard to test scientifically; concepts can be vague

Criticism/support of Freud

Criticized for lack of scientific evidence but influential in psychology and therapy

Defense mechanisms

Unconscious strategies to reduce anxiety (repression, denial, projection, etc.)

Dreams

Freud saw them as 'wish fulfillment' and unconscious desires

Trait theories

Focus on stable personality traits across situations (Big Five)

False consensus effect

Overestimating how much others agree with us

Free association

Psychoanalytic technique where patients say whatever comes to mind

Freud's iceberg

Mind divided into conscious, preconscious, unconscious

Id, ego, superego

Id = pleasure; ego = reality; superego = morality

Freud's personality development

Psychosexual stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital)

Freudian slips

Unintentional speech revealing unconscious thoughts

Karen Horney

Neo-Freudian; emphasized social and cultural influences on personality

Individualism vs collectivism

Focus on personal goals vs group goals

Carl Jung

Collective unconscious and archetypes shared by all humans

Maslow

Hierarchy of needs (physiological → self-actualization)

MMPI

Psychological test used to assess personality disorders

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Personality test based on Jungian types (less scientifically supported)

Neo-Freudians

Expanded Freud's ideas to include social factors

Optimism vs pessimism

Explanatory style affecting mental health and behavior

Personality

Consistent patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving

Person-situation controversy

Debate over whether behavior is due to personality or environment

Psychoanalysis

Freud's therapy focusing on unconscious conflicts

Psychodynamic theory

Modern version of psychoanalysis focusing on unconscious processes

Reciprocal determinism

Bandura's idea that behavior, thoughts, and environment all influence each other

Carl Rogers

Humanistic psychologist; emphasized unconditional positive regard, genuineness, empathy

Rorschach inkblot test

Projective test using inkblots to reveal personality

Self concepts

Various aspects of self-perception and identity

Spotlight effect

Overestimating how much others notice us

Self-esteem

Overall self-worth

Self-serving bias

Taking credit for success, blaming failure on outside factors

Self-efficacy

Belief in ability to succeed

Narcissism

Excessive self-focus and self-importance

Terror management theory

Humans manage fear of death through culture and self-esteem

Big Five personality traits

Openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Projective test using stories about ambiguous images

Traits

Stable characteristics that influence behavior

Trait theorists

Psychologists who study personality using trait dimensions

Social psychology

Study of how people think about, influence, and relate to others

Actor-observer bias

Attributing our own actions to situation but others' actions to personality

Aggression

Behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally

Attitudes

Feelings and beliefs that influence behavior

Attribution theory

How we explain behavior (internal vs external causes)

Bystander effect

People are less likely to help when others are present

Cognitive dissonance theory

Discomfort from conflicting beliefs/behaviors; leads to attitude change

Conflict

Perceived incompatibility of goals between people or groups

Conformity

Changing behavior to match group norms

Culture

Shared beliefs, values, and behaviors of a group

Deindividuation

Loss of self-awareness in groups leading to impulsive behavior

Discrimination

Unjust behavior toward a group

Door-in-the-face phenomenon

Large request rejected first, then smaller request accepted

Foot-in-the-door phenomenon

Small request first increases likelihood of agreeing to larger request

Frustration-aggression principle

Frustration often leads to aggression

Fundamental attribution error

Overestimating personality and underestimating situation in others' behavior

GRIT

Graduated and reciprocal initiatives in tension reduction; strategy for reducing conflict

Group polarization

Group discussions strengthen initial opinions

Groupthink

Desire for harmony leads to poor decision-making

Ingroup bias

Favoring one's own group

Just-world phenomenon

Belief that people get what they deserve

Love

Emotional attachment influenced by biology, cognition, and social factors

Normative social influence

Conforming to be accepted or liked

Informational social influence

Conforming because we believe others are correct

Norms

Rules for accepted behavior in a group

Reciprocity norm

Expectation to return favors

Social-responsibility norm

Expectation to help those in need

Obedience

Following direct commands from authority figures

Other-race effect

Difficulty recognizing faces of other races

Outgroup

Group you do not belong to

Peripheral route persuasion

Persuasion through cues like attractiveness, not logic

Central route persuasion

Persuasion through logical arguments and evidence

Persuasion

Process of changing attitudes or behaviors

Philip Zimbardo

Psychologist known for Stanford Prison Experiment

Prejudice

Negative attitude toward a group

Role

Set of expected behaviors in a situation

Scapegoat theory

Blaming a group for problems to relieve frustration

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Expectations cause behaviors that make them come true

Social exchange theory

Relationships based on cost-benefit analysis

Social facilitation

Improved performance when others are watching

Social loafing

Reduced effort in group tasks

Social script

Expected behavior pattern in social situations

Social trap

Situation where individuals act for short-term gain but long-term harm results

Solomon Asch

Conformity experiments with line judgment tasks

Stanley Milgram

Obedience experiments involving authority and shocks

Stereotype

Generalized belief about a group

Superordinate goals

Shared goals that reduce conflict between groups