P&I: Personality

What is the Barnum/Forer effect?

The tendency of people to rate statements as highly accurate for them personally even though the statements could apply to many people.

What are the two main approaches in personality research?

Clinical/Idiographic (qualitative) and Nomothetic/Experimental (quantitative)

What are the six themes to the study of personality?

Assessment, Theory, Development, Mental health/psychological wellbeing, Change, and Research

What are the basic principles of Rogers' theory?

• Individuals as their own experts

• Behaviour is a response to immediate conscious experience

• People have a tendency towards growth (self actualization)

• The 'self' vs. 'self concept'

• No specific developmental stages

What is Rogers’ view of the ‘self‘?

The 'self' is split into two: the 'real self' and the 'ideal self'

What is congruence?

In Rogers' view, when the real self and the ideal self are in tandem

What are the five characteristics of the 'fully functioning person' in Rogers' theory?

• Openness to experience

• Existential living

• Organismic trust

• Experiential freedom

• Creativity

What are the key points of Kelly's phenomenological theory?

• Phenomenology (individual conscious experience)

• How we interpret reality

• Constructs

• Present-focused

• People as scientists

Traits of constructs according to Kelly

• Bipolar/Dichotomous

• Hierarchical (eg chatty and loud are subordinate to extravert)

• Personal choice/vary from person to person

What are Kelly's 11 'corollary assumptions'?

Construction, Individuality, Organization, Dichotomy, Choice, Range, Experience, Modulation, Fragmentation, Communality, and Sociality

What causes mental health problems according to Kelly?

A malfunctioning construct system that is inconsistent with their experiences. Treat through reconstruction via role-playing/fized-roleplay therapy.

What are the two key assumptions of Freud's psychoanalytic theory?

• Psychic-determinism (everything we do, think, and feel has a meaning)

• Unconscious motivation (much of what we do, think, and feel is determined by instinctive unconscious motives)

What are the levels of consciousness according to Freud?

Unconscious (Ego), preconscious (Super-Ego), and conscious (ID)

What are the ID, EGO, and SUPEREGO?

The ID is the "I want", the EGO is the "I will", and the SUPEREGO is the "I should"

What are the defense mechanisms according to Freud?

• Repression

• Protection

• Projection

• Reaction formation

• Displacement

• Sublimination

What are Freud's five psychosexual stages of development?

• Oral stage

• An*l stage

• Phallic stage

• Latency stage

• G*nital stage

What are the core concepts of Cattell's theory of intelligence?

• Fluid and crystalized intelligence

• Personality relatively stable

• Dispositional (from within person)

• Personality as a predictor of behaviour (not explanation)

What is the Lexical Hypothesis?

“...the most important individual differences in human transactions will come to be encoded as single terms in some or all the world’s languages” (Goldberg, 1993)

Inspired Cattell

What are the two major trait categories according to Cattell?

• Source traits (underlying core traits that determine behaviour e.g. guilt)

• Surface traits (clusters of observable behaviour e.g. smiling, talkative)

What are Cattell's dynamic traits that motivate a person?

• Attitudes (overt expressions)

• Sentiments (experience)

• Ergs (innate drives e.g. anger, fear)

What are the 16 basic source traits according to Cattell?

Warmth, Reasoning, Emotional Stability, Dominance, Liveliness, Rule-conscious, Social boldness, Sensitivity, Vigilance, Abstractness, Privateness, Apprehension, Openness to Change, Self-reliance, Perfectionism, and Tension