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17 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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PERSONALITY
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DEF: A distinctive and relatively stable pattern of behavior, thoughts, motives, and emotions that characterizes an individual.
SIG: The habitual behaviors are composed of a variety of TRAITS which define the way a person thinks and feels. Some of these may include: shy, outgoing, hostile, etc. EX: n/a |
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TRAITS
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DEF: A characteristic of an individual, describing a habitual way of behaving, thinking, or feeling.
SIG: Traits make up the various unique personalities inherent in every person’s psyche, there are many traits that exist and their specific combinations make each person’s personality different. EX: Some examples of personality traits include: shy, outgoing, hostile, etc. |
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PSYCHOANALYSIS
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DEF: A theory of personality and a method of psychotherapy developed by Sigmund Freud; it emphasizes unconscious motives and conflicts.
SIG: This is the first PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY of personality and laid the groundwork for many subsequent theories regarding personality development. EX: Any time you hear about someone “displacing” their anger onto someone else, or “repressing” a trauma, these are examples of Freud’s psychoanalytic theories. |
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PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES
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DEF: Theories that explain behavior and personality in terms of unconscious energy dynamics within the individual.
SIG: There are many psychodynamic theories today and they all differ from each other but they all place a common emphasis on unconscious processes going on in the mind as well as the assumption that adult personalities and problems are formed primarily during childhood. EX: Freud’s PSYCHOANALYSIS is an example of a psychodynamic theory. |
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ID
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DEF: In PSYCHOANALYSIS, the part of a personality containing inherited psychic energy, particularly sexual and aggressive instincts. A person is born with the id, and it develops first in a person’s psyche.
SIG: Specifically, Freud suggested that the id consists of two competing instincts: that of life (reproductive instinct), and that of self preservation (aggressive instinct). As energy builds up in the id, tension results and may eventually be discharged in the form of reflex actions, physical symptoms, or uncensored mental images. EX: n/a |
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EGO
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DEF: In PSYCHOANALYSIS, the part of the personality that represents reason, good sense, and rational self-control. Ego develops after the ID in someone’s personality.
SIG: The ego acts as the intermediary referee between societal norms and the desires of the ID; it reins in the ID’s desires until they can be released through a suitable, socially appropriate outlet. EX: Freud said the ego represents both the unconscious and the conscious and acts as a person’s “reason and good sense.” |
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SUPEREGO
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DEF: In PSYCHOANALYSIS, the part of the personality that represents conscience, morality, and social standards. The superego is the final system of personality to develop.
SIG: The superego is responsible for handing out feelings of satisfaction and happiness for accomplishment and good deeds, and for handing out feelings of shame and guilt for breaking the rules. The superego is largely subconscious although it is also partially a conscious system of personality. EX: The superego is at work when you can’t sleep after committing a crime because it is filling your mind with feelings of guilt. |
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DEFENSE MECHANISMS
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DEF: Methods used by the EGO to prevent unconscious anxiety or threatening thoughts from entering consciousness.
SIG: Defense mechanisms are used by the EGO when anxiety is caused by a strong conflict between the ID and social norms. EX: Repression, projection, denial, sublimation, regression, and displacement are all examples of defense mechanisms. |
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PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES
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DEF: In Freud’s theory, the idea that sexual energy takes different forms as the child matures; the stages are oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. Specifically, that as each form develops, it produces a certain amount of frustration, conflict, and anxiety in the child.
SIG: Freud claims that if each of these stages does not progress and resolve itself properly, normal psychological development may be interrupted, and the child may remain stuck at the current stage. EX: According to this theory, a child first experiences the oral stage, in which they experience things by putting them in their mouth. If this stage is not resolved, the adult version of this person may fixate orally, by smoking cigarettes, biting their nails, overeating, etc. |
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OEPIDUS COMPLEX
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DEF: In PSYCHOANALYSIS, a conflict occurring in the phallic stage, in which the child desires the parent of the same sex and views the same-sex parent as a rival.
SIG: This stage is experienced by boys and girls differently, it results in young boys wondering why girls do not have penises, arriving at the conclusion that their father must have removed it. The boys then grow to both respect and fear the authority and morality of their father while also desiring the affection of their mother. EX: (see SIG) |
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COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUSNESS
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DEF: In Jungian Theory, the universal memories and experiences of humankind, represented in the symbols, stories, and images (ARCHETYPES) that occur across all cultures.
SIG: Carl Jung’s PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY was similar to Freud’s, but it differed in that it suggested that in addition to personal (un)consciousness, people were influenced by the ARCHETYPES of a collective unconsciousness EX: n/a |
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ARCHETYPES
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DEF: Universal, symbolic images that appear in myths, art, stories, and dreams; to the Jungians, they reflect the COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUSNESS.
SIG: The suggestion by the Jungians is that the COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUSNESS influences all of our personalities and that it manifests (among other ways) in similar depictions of the same idea across all cultures. EX: The archetype of the “shadow” reflects the prehistoric fear of wild animals and the bestial side of humans. It reflects in our instinctive fear of darkly lit places and things because we cannot sense danger if it is near. For this reason, the archetypal villain may be animalistic and shrouded in darkness. |
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OBJECT-RELATIONS SCHOOL
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DEF: A PSYCHODYNAMIC approach that emphasizes the importance of the infant’s first two years of life and the baby’s formative relationships, especially with the mother.
SIG: The baby will find parts of itself that the mother appreciates and values, to get her recognition. If the baby’s desire for attention is regularly ignored, the child’s personality will be warped. Through the unique process by which the baby comes to understand itself as it relates to its mother, children create mental representations of her and this will influence the way in which the person relates to other adults (trust, skepticism, acceptance) EX: Children of both genders identify first with their mothers, however boys are encouraged to separate and be independent from her so that he may develop a more masculine identity. As a result, men develop more rigid boundaries between themselves and others than women do. |
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OBJECTIVE TESTS
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DEF: Standardized questionnaires requiring written responses; they typically include scales on which the people are asked to rate themselves.
SIG: These tests differ from popular personality tests and are used to identify many personality TRAITS in a person’s psyche. EX: Objective tests have been used to identify hundreds of TRAITS, including “erotophobia” (the fear of sex) and sensation seeking (the enjoyment of risk) |
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FACTOR ANALYSIS
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DEF: A statistical method for analyzing the intercorrelations among various measures or test scores; clusters of measures or scores that are highly correlated are assumed to measure the same underlying TRAIT or ability (factor).
SIG: This is an effective method for studying trends in human personality and supports the notion of the existence of five core personality factors (“robust factors“). EX: The five core personality TRAITS (the “Big Five”) supported by factor analysis are: extroversion vs. introversion, neuroticism (negative emotionality) vs. emotional stability, agreeableness vs. antagonism, conscientiousness vs. impulsiveness, and openness vs. resistance to new experiences. |
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TEMPERAMENTS
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DEF: Physiological disposition to respond to the environment in certain ways; they are present in infancy and in many nonhuman species and are assumed to be innate.
SIG: Temperaments are part of the reason why even incredibly young babies appear to have developed personalities, almost from the moment of birth. EX: Examples of temperaments include: reactivity (how excitable/reactive a baby is), soothability (how easily the baby is calmed), and positive and negative emotionality. |
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HERITABILITY
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DEF: A statistical estimate of the proportion of the total variance in some TRAIT that is attributable to genetic differences among individuals within a group.
SIG: Heritability is a means for measuring and helping us to determine the effect of genetics on personality. Studies conducted with identical twins have yielded compelling results that there are some traits that are genetically inherited. EX: For the Big Five, about 50% of the variance in these traits between subjects is attributable to genetic differences between the subjects. |
