Psychology Chapter 12

Front 1

Description of personality that has generally positive characteristics that can apply to most individuals. Teaches us that we can’t trust personal evidence of experience.

Back 1

Barnum Effect

Front 2

Classified people’s somatotype. Split the body into three different body types and each had a distinct personality type.

Back 2

Personality Theory of Sheldon

Front 3

The distinguishing pattern of psychological characteristics – thinking, feeling and behaving – that differentiates us from others and leads us to act consistently across situations.

Back 3

Personality

Front 4

A stable predisposition to act in a certain way.

Back 4

Trait

Front 5

Formal systems for assessing how people differ, particularly in their predispositions to respond in certain ways across situations.

Back 5

Trait Theories

Front 6

Greek Physician who matched the four distinct humors (fluids) of the body to personality types.

Back 6

Hippocrites

Front 7

The dimensions of personality – extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness, that have been isolated through the application of factor analysis.

Back 7

The Big Five

Front 8

Allports term to describe personality traits that dominate an individual’s life, such as a passion to serve others (Mother Theresa). Not everyone has one of these.

Back 8

Cardinal Traits

Front 9

Allport’s term to describe the five to ten descriptive traits that you would use to describe someone you know. Ex: Dependability, most of the time they have this trait.

Back 9

Central Traits

Front 10

The less obvious characteristics of an individual’s personality that do not always appear in his or her behavior, such as testiness when on a diet.

Back 10

Secondary Traits

Front 11

Personality tests in which people answer groups of questions about how they typically think, act, and feel; their responses are then compared to average responses complied from large groups of prior test takers

Back 11

Self report inventories

Front 12

A type of personality test in which individuals are asked to interpret unstructured or ambiguous stimuli.

Back 12

Projective Personality Tests

Front 13

Theory that stresses 3 factors that supposedly capture all of the trait dimensions of people. These include: Introversion-Extroversion, Unstable-Stable, Sensitivity-Insensitivity.

Back 13

Eysenck's Trait Theory

Front 14

The most popular trait theory right now

Back 14

The Big Five Theory

Front 15

Consistency or lack thereof of consistency in behavior from day to day, is a trait in itself. A high one of these is a person who is always measuring their own behavior according to the expectations of others. A low one doesn’t pick up on what is expected of them.

Back 15

Self Monitor

Front 16

One’s behaviors, thoughts and feelings aren’t solely determined by internal or emotional factors – rather there’s a give-and-take situation whereby behavior, environmental and cognitive factors affect each other.

Back 16

Reciprocal Determinism

Front 17

Determines whether or not an individual feels responsible for the circumstances around them. A high internal one of these means they are responsible for circumstances, while a low one means that everything is outside of their power.

Back 17

Locus of Control

Front 18

The “filler” questions on tests that determine whether or not the subject is giving honest answers or ones based on presumed beliefs.

Back 18

Social Desirability

Front 19

Test questions put into the test to measure other traits that may interfere with the accurateness of the person’s answers.

Back 19

Validity Scale

Front 20

An approach to personality development, based largely on the ideas of Sigmund Freud, which holds that much of behavior is governed by unconscious forces.

Back 20

Psychodynamic Theory

Front 21

The contents of awareness – those things that occupy the focus of one’s current attention, according to Freud.

Back 21

Conscious Mind

Front 22

The part of the mind that contains all of the inactive but potential accessible thoughts and memories, according to Freud.

Back 22

Preconscious Mind

Front 23

The part of the mind that Freud believed housed all the memories, urges, and conflicts that are truly beyond awareness

Back 23

Unconscious Mind

Front 24

This section of the unconscious includes life motives, things that have to do with keeping the body alive. Also includes the Libido – according to Freud.

Back 24

Eros

Front 25

This section of the unconscious includes motives to exercise power over others, the motives of aggression – according to Freud.

Back 25

Thantos

Front 26

In Freud’s theory, the portion of personality that is governed by inborn instinctual drivers, particularly those related to sex and aggression.

Back 26

Id

Front 27

In Freud’s theory, the portion of personality that motivates people to act in an ideal fashion, in accordance with the moral customs defined by parents and culture.

Back 27

Superego

Front 28

In Freud’s theory, the portion of personality that induces people to act with reason and deliberation and helps them conform to the requirements of the external world.

Back 28

Ego

Front 29

According to Freud, unconscious processes used by the ego to ward off the anxiety that comes from confrontation, usually with the demands of the id.

Back 29

Defense Mechanisms

Front 30

Unconsciously pushing anxiety producing information out of awareness

Back 30

Repression

Front 31

A person refuses to accept the information as true.

Back 31

Denial

Front 32

Person reacts in the opposite way to which they think or feel. They hate their grandmother, so they shower them with love and praise.

Back 32

Reaction Formation

Front 33

The tendency to go back to an earlier stage of personality development.

Back 33

Regression

Front 34

Substitution of an acceptable reason for behavior when the real motive is unacceptable.

Back 34

Rationalization

Front 35

Getting angry or upset about one thing and then reacting on another. A guy who hates his boss goes home and beats his dog.

Back 35

Displacement

Front 36

Taking one’s faults and projecting them onto others.

Back 36

Projection

Front 37

The most adaptive defense mechanism. Taking an unacceptable conflict and turning it into something good. Ex: An artist who has experienced lots of pain in their life, and takes those experiences and turns them into beautiful artwork.

Back 37

Sublimination

Front 38

The notion proposed by Carl Jung that certain kinds of universal symbols and ideas are present in the unconscious of all people.

Back 38

Collective Unconscious

Front 39

An approach to personality that focuses primarily on people’s unique capacity for choice, responsibility, and growth

Back 39

Humanistic Approach

Front 40

An organized set of perceptions that we hold about our abilities and characteristics.

Back 40

Self Concept

Front 41

The idea that we value what others think of us and constantly seek others’ approval, love and companionship.

Back 41

Positive Regard

Front 42

The expectations or standards that we believe others place on us.

Back 42

Conditions of Worth

Front 43

A discrepancy between the image we hold of ourselves – our self concept – and the sum of all of our experiences

Back 43

Incongruence

Front 44

The ingrained desire to reach one’s true potential as a human being.

Back 44

Self actualization

Front 45

According to the Humanistic approach, the way we would like to be.

Back 45

Ideal Self

Front 46

According to the Humanistic approach, the way we view ourselves

Back 46

Real Self

Front 47

An approach to personality that suggests it is human experiences, and interpretations of those experiences, that determine personality growth and development.

Back 47

Social cognitive theories

Front 48

The beliefs that we hold about our own ability to perform a task or accomplish a goal.

Back 48

Self efficacy