Personality Terms Chapter 12

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neo-Freudian Psychology

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A general term for the psychoanalytically oriented work of many theorists and researchers who were influenced by Freud's theory, many of whom were trained by Freud himself.

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Organ Inferiority

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In Adler's theory, the idea that one is motivated to succeed in adulthood in order to compensate for whatever one felt, in childhood, was his or her weakest aspect.

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Masculine Protest

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In Adler's theory, the idea that one particular urge in adulthood is to compensate for the powerlessness felt in childhood.

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Collective Unconscious

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In Jung's theory, the proposition that all people share certain unconscious ideas because of the history of the human species.

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Archetypes

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In Jung's theory, the fundamental images of people that are contained in the collective unconscious, including the earth mother, the hero, the devil, and so forth.

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Persona

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In Jung's theory, the social mask one wears in public dealings.

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Anima

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In Jung's theory, the idea of the typical female as held in the mind of a male.

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Animus

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In Jung's theory, the idea of the typical male as held in the mind of a female.

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Object Relations Theory

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The psychoanalytic study of interpersonal relations, including the unconscious images and feelings associated with the important people (objects) in a person's life.

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Ego Psychology

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Instead of focusing on sexuality, psychic conflict, and the unconscious, this type of psychoanalyst focuses on perception, memory, learning, and (rational) thinking.

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Objects

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Partially accurate mental images of people.

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Social Interest

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The desire to relate positively and productively with other people.

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Inferiority Complex

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Needs for power, love, and achievement that have roots in early experiences of inferiority, which an individual strives to overcome in adulthood.

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Style of Life (lifestyle)

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An individual's compensations for perceived childhood inferiorities coalesce into a particular mode of behavior in adulthood.

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Introvert

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An individual who is turned inward, away from the world.

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Extravert

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An individual who is turned outward, toward the world.

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Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

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A personality test that is sometimes used in counseling and organizational contexts to measure personality types that are most predominant.

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Jung's Basic Ways of Thinking

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Rational thinking; feeling; sensing; intuiting.

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Neurotic Needs

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Needs that people feel but that are neither realistic nor truly desirable.

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Psychosocial Approach

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Erickson's social approach to human development.

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Psychosexual Approach

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Freud's sexual approach to human development.

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Basic Trust Versus Mistrust

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The first stage in Erickson's theory of development, when the utterly dependent child learns whether needs and wants will be met, ignored, or overindulged.

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Autonomy Versus Shame and Doubt

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The second stage in Erickson's theory of development, as the child begins to control bowels and other bodily functions, learns language, and begins to receive orders from adult authorities. An inevitable conflict arises: Who's in charge here?

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Initiative Versus Guilt

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The third stage in Erickson's theory of development, that leads to a principled adult morality in which moral rules are applied with flexibility and wisdom, rather than a merely conformist pseudomorality in which rigid rules are followed blindly and without exception.

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Industry Versus Inferiority

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The fourth stage in Erickson's theory of development, during which one should develop the skills and attitudes to succeed in the world of work or otherwise contribute to society.

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Identity versus Identity Confusion

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The fifth stage in Erickson's theory of development, when individuals choose values and goals that are consistent, personally meaningful, and useful.

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Intimacy versus Isolation

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The task here at this sixth stage during young adulthood is to find an intimate life partner to share important experiences and further development.

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Generativity versus Stagnation

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The challenge here, in Erickson's seventh stage, is to avoid the temptation to simply cash in one's savings and go fishing, and instead to raise and nurture children and generally to do what one can to ensure the progress of the next generation.

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Integrity versus Despair

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Erickson's final, eighth stage, where the person asks himself or herself: "After seventy, eighty, or ninety years of life, do I have anything of interest and value to say to the next generation? Or not?"

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Life-span Development

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A subfield of psychology that studies human development from birth to death; Erickson is credited as the father of this subfield.

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Split (in object relations theory)

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The tendency of children and sometimes adults to divide or split their important love objects into two parts, one good and one bad.

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Paranoid Position

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Children wish to destroy the bad part of their important love object because they fear being destroyed by it (a term coined by Klein).

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Depressive Position

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Children wish to worship and protect the good part of their important love object because they fear losing it (a term coined by Klein).

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Niffle

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A small piece of cloth to which Tom (Winnicott's patient) developed an emotional attachment.

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Transitional Object

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A term Winnicott used to refer to a special blanket, stuffed animal, or niffle, that the child uses to bridge the gap between private fantasy and reality.

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False Self

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Winnicott used this term to refer to the phenomenon when children, and later adults, learn to put this on to please other people.

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Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP)

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A modern theory of cognition that sounds very much like the cognitive processes described by Freud; posits that the mind simultaneously does many things outside of consciousness; only the compromises between these simultaneous mental processes enter conscious awareness.

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Catharsis

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Involves freely expressing one's psychological disturbances and has proven helpful for psychological and even physical health.

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Transference

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Freud's term for applying patterns of behavior and emotion to relations with somebody new.

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Attachment

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According to Bowlby, the infant's desire for protection leads to the development of his or her first __________ relationships.

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Primary Attachments

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A child's first attachment with the primary caregiver, usually the mother.

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Strange Situation

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An experimental paradigm, developed by Ainsworth, to measure attachment in infants.

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Anxious-ambivalent

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These children come from home situations where their caregivers' behaviors are "inconsistent, hit-or-miss, or chaotic"; in the strange situation, these children are vigilant about the mother's presence and grow very upset when she disappears for even a few minutes.

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Avoidant

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These children come from homes where they have been rebuffed repeatedly in their attempts to enjoy contact or reassurance; when the mother returns from the brief separation in the strange situation, they simply ignore her.

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Secure

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These children develop a confident faith in themselves and their caregivers; in the strange situation, when the mother returns after the separation, they greet her happily with open arms.

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Adult Attachment Style

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A grown-up version of what Ainsworth described (anxious-ambivalent, avoidant, secure) seen in adult relationships, mirroring the same kind of attachment they experienced in childhood.