AP Psychology: Unit 9 (Personality)

ch. 10 of Myers' Psychology for AP, pp. 479-518 + in-class notes

personality

characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, & acting

free association

psychoanalytic method developed by Freud; method of exploring the unconscious by saying whatever comes to mind, no matter how embarrassing

psychoanalysis

attributes thoughts & actions to the unconscious; used to treat psychological disorders

unconscious

a reservoir of unacceptable thoughts, wishes, & feelings; processing of unaware information; Freud believed it was partly composed of the id, ego, and superego

id

unconscious psychic energy to fulfill basic needs; operates on the pleasure principle (based on immediate gratification)

ego

conscious part of the personality; mediates the relationship between the id, ego, and superego and reality; operates on the reality principle (emphasise actions that bring pleasure over pain)

superego

internalised ideals; provides standards for judgement

psychosexual stages

stages theorised by Freud; childhood stages of development based around erogenous zones that are focused on by the id

Oedipus complex

a boy’s sexual attraction towards his mother and hatred towards his rival father

identification

the process by which children incorporate their parent’s values into their superego

fixation

lingering sense of a previous psychosexual stage

defense mechanism

protective methods of the ego to reduce anxiety by distorting reality

repression

banishment of anxiety-inducing thoughts from consciousness

regression

retreating to an earlier, more infantile psychosexual stage

reaction-formation

ego switches unacceptable impulses to their opposites

projection

developing self-justifying explanations in place of the real reasons for actions

displacement

shifting of impulses toward a less threatening object to redirect it

sublimation

re-channelling impulses into more socially acceptable activities

denial

flat-out refusal of events or the perception of painful realities

collective unconscious

Carl Jung’s theory of a shared, inherited reservoir built on our species’ history

projective test

personality test, such as the Rorschach or the Thematic Apperception Test, that provides ambiguous stimuli to trigger one’s inner dynamics

thematic apperception test

projective test in which people express inner feelings via stories about ambiguous scenes

Rorschach test

the inkblot test; seeks to identify inner feelings via interpretations of ambiguous blots

terror-management theory

theory of death-related anxiety; exploration of one’s views on impending death

self-actualisation

the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; need that arises after biological needs are met & self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill potential

unconditional positive regard

attitude of total acceptance toward another person at all times

self-concept

thoughts & feelings about ourselves

trait

characteristic pattern, behaviour, or disposition to feel and act

personality inventory

a questionnaire on which people respond to questions, typically true/false or agree/disagree questions, designed to gauge a wide variety of feelings & behaviours; used to assess selected personality traits

minnesota multiphasic personality inventory (MMPI)

most used personality test; typically used for mental screenings

empirically derived test

a test, such as the MMPI, developed via testing a large pool of items and selecting the questions that tend to differentiate groups of people

big five traits

OCEAN — openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism

social-cognitive perspective

views behaviour as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits and social context; people make decisions that reveal personality as a way of satisfying psychological needs

reciprocal determinism

interacting influences behaviour, internal cognition, and environment

personal control

extent to which people perceive control over their environment rather than feeling helpless

external locus of control

perception that outside forces like luck determine fate

internal locus of control

perception that one controls their own fate

positive psychology

scientific study of optimal human functioning

self

the center of personality & organiser of thoughts and actions

spotlight effect

overestimating others noticing and evaluating our appearance and actions

self-esteem

feelings about oneself

self-serving bias

readiness to perceive oneself favourably

individualism

giving priority to the self over the group & defining self in terms of personal attributes

collectivism

giving priority to the goals of one’s group & defining identity in terms of it

personality psychology

scientific study of the whole person

sigmund freud

the father of psychoanalysis; one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century

manifest content

remembered and censored version of a dream

latent content

unconscious and underlying content of a dream

archetypes

structural components of the collective unconscious; universal patterns that define conscious & unconscious interpretations of the world

persona

“acceptable” mask or a facade a person presents to the world; a conscious creation

anima

feminine part of a man

animus

masculine part of a woman

shadow

animalistic side of personality; instincts and repressed ideas

self theory

a theory proposed by carl rogers; believes that the self (organised set of beliefs about ourselves) developes in response to life experiences

ideal v. real self

ideal: person you’d like to be; real: person you actually are; the difference between the two is called incongruence

operant conditioning theory

personality is the sum of behaviours learned as responses to reinforcement

environmental determinism

proposes that behaviour is caused by outside environmental forces (no free will)

observational learning

the observation of other people’s actions and the consequences of those actions, then the incorporation of those behaviours into their own

self-efficacy

believing in success increases the chances of succeeding

cardinal traits

traits that dominate an individual’s whole life

central traits

general, basic characteristics that form the foundation of a personality

secondary traits

traits that appear only as a result of being under certain circumstances

source traits

basic traits that underlie source traits; the core of a personality

surface traits

aspects of personality that can be easily seen through outward actions

eysenck’s personality dimension

model of personality based on three universal traits; extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism

self-report method

most common personality assessment technique; involves a person answering a series of questions or supplying information about oneself

MMPI-2

most widely used and researched clinical assessment used by mental health professionals to diagnose disorders; composed of 567 true/false questions

myers-briggs type indicator

self-report inventory designed to identify a person’s personality type, strengths, and preferences; accuracy, validity, and reliability is disputed