Ch. 13 Personality

Front 1

personality

Back 1

an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

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free association

Back 2

in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

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psychoanalysis

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Frued's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious

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unconscious

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according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware.

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id

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contains a reservoir unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratifications.

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ego

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the largely conscious, "executive" part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

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superego

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the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations.

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psychosexual stages

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the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phalic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

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Oedipus complex

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According to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father.

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identification

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the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents' values into their developing superegos

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fixation

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(Freud) a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved

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defense mechanisms

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the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

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repression

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(Freud) the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness

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regression

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defense mechanism in which a n individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psycho-sexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated

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reaction formation

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defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites. Thus, people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings.

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projection

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Defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others.

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rationalization

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defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one's actions

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displacement

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defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses towards a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet

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denial

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defense mechanism by which people refuse to believe or perceive painful realities

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collective unconscious

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Jung's concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species' history

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projective test

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a personality test that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics

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Thematic Apperception Test

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a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes.

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Rorschach inkblot test

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the most widely used projective test, a set of 10 inkblots, to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.

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terror-management theory

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a theory of death-related anxiety; explores people's emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death

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self-actualization

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(Maslow) one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one's potential

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unconditional positive regard

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(Rogers) an attitude of total personal acceptance toward another person

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self- concept

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all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "who am i?"

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trait

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a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports.

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personality inventory

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a questionnaire on which people respond to items designed respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feeling and behaviors;used to assess selected personality traits

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Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

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the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests, Originally developed to identify emotional disorders

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empirically derived test

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a test developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups

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social-cognitive perspective

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views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people's traits and their social context

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reciprocal determinism

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the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment

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personal control

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

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external locus of control

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the perception that you control your own fate

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learned helplessness

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the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

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positive psychology

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the scientific study of optimal human functioning;aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive

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self

Back 38

the center of personality and the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions

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spotlight effect

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overestimating others' noticing and evaluating our appearances, performance, and blunders

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self-esteem

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one's feelings of high or low self worth

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self-serving bias

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a readiness to perceive oneself favorably