Unit 8: Heath & Personality

  • Eustress: A positive form of stress that can motivate and enhance performance and well-being.

  • Distress: A negative form of stress that can cause anxiety, decrease performance, and lead to health problems.

  • Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Traumatic events occurring before the age of 18, including abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction, which can lead to long-term health consequences.

  • General Adaptation Syndrome: A three-stage response to stress (alarm, resistance, exhaustion) that describes how the body reacts to stressors.

  • Fight-flight-or-freeze response: An automatic physiological reaction to perceived threats, preparing individuals to either confront or escape the danger, or to freeze in place.

  • Tend and befriend theory: A behavioral response to stress characterized by seeking social support and nurturing others, often seen in females.

  • Problem-focused coping: Strategies aimed at tackling the stressor directly, such as problem-solving or time management.

  • Emotion-focused coping: Strategies that involve regulating emotional responses to stress, such as deep breathing, meditation, or using medication.

  • Internal locus of control: The belief that one has control over their life and outcomes, attributing successes and failures to their own actions.

  • External locus of control: The belief that external factors, such as fate or other people, influence life events, with little personal influence.

  • Positive Psychology: A branch of psychology focusing on strengths, well-being, and the factors that contribute to a fulfilling life.

  • Wisdom: Cognitive strengths that involve acquiring and using knowledge to navigate life.

  • Courage: Emotional strengths involving the will to accomplish goals despite opposition or fear.

  • Humanity: Interpersonal strengths related to kindness and empathy towards others.

  • Justice: Civic strengths that promote fair treatment, inclusivity, and healthy community connections.

  • Temperance: Strengths that encompass self-restraint and moderation in behaviors and desires.

  • Transcendence: Strengths that connect individuals to the larger universe and provide meaning to life.

  • Psychodynamic view of personality: A perspective that emphasizes the role of unconscious processes and childhood experiences in shaping personality.

  • Role of the unconscious: The part of the mind that contains thoughts, memories, and desires not directly accessible to awareness.

  • Id: The primitive and instinctive component of personality that operates according to the pleasure principle.

  • Ego: The rational part of the personality that mediates between the desires of the id and the realities of the external world.

  • Superego: The ethical component of personality that represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment.

  • Ego defense mechanisms: Psychological strategies used by the ego to protect against anxiety and maintain self-image, including denial, displacement, and repression.

  • Denial: Refusal to accept reality or facts to avoid painful emotions.

  • Displacement: Redirecting emotions from the original source to a substitute target.

  • Projection: Attributing one’s own unacceptable thoughts or feelings to others.

  • Rationalization: Justifying actions or feelings with logical reasons, avoiding the true explanation.

  • Reaction formation: Converting unwanted thoughts or feelings into their opposite.

  • Regression: Reverting to previous behaviors that were effective in dealing with stress during earlier stages of development.

  • Repression: Unconsciously blocking unpleasant thoughts or memories from awareness.

  • Sublimation: Channeling unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable activities.

  • Projective tests: Psychological assessments that use ambiguous stimuli to elicit responses that reveal aspects of personality.

  • Humanistic psychology: A psychological perspective that emphasizes personal growth and the concept of self-actualization.

  • Unconditional (positive) regard (UPR): Acceptance and support of a person regardless of what they say or do, essential for healthy self-esteem and personal growth.

  • Self-actualizing tendency: The innate drive to realize and fulfill one's own potential and abilities.

  • Social-Cognitive view of personality: A theory emphasizing the role of social interactions and cognitive processes in shaping personality.

  • Reciprocal determinism: The concept that personal, behavioral, and environmental factors interact to shape behavior and personality.

  • Self-efficacy: Belief in one’s ability to succeed or achieve goals in specific situations.

  • Self-concept: The perception and understanding of oneself, including beliefs about one's abilities and personality.

  • Self-esteem: The overall value one places on oneself, affecting confidence and emotional well-being.

  • Self-serving bias: The tendency to attribute positive events to one's own character, but attribute negative events to external factors.

  • Trait view on personality: A perspective that focuses on identifying and measuring individual personality characteristics that remain stable over time.

  • Big Five Theory: A personality model identifying five major dimensions: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Emotional stability (neuroticism).

  • Personality inventories: Standardized questionnaires used to assess and measure various aspects of personality traits.

  • Factor analysis: A statistical method used to identify clusters of related variables, helping to reduce data complexity in personality assessment.

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