PSYC 12,13

• define personality: characteristic matter of thinking, feeling and behaving that is unique to each individual, and remains relatively consistent over time + situations
• With psychodynamic theory, freud described the three regions of the MIND as:

  • Conscious mind
  • Unconscious mind
  • Psychodynamic theory
• the conscious mind from psychodynamic theory is: your current awareness, containing everything you are aware of right now
• the unconscious mind from psychodynamic theory is: a much more vast + powerful but inaccessible part of your consciousness, operating without your conscious endorsement / will to influence + guide your behaviours
• the psychodynamic theory proposed by signmund freud is: psychic / instinctive energy moves among the conscious + unconscious structures of the personality called Id, Ego, and Superego
• define ego: attempts to balance that pleasure needs of the Id + the rules/demands of society of the Superego
• define Id: represents a collection of basic biological drives, including those directed toward sex + aggression
• define superego: internalization of morality; conscience
• with the iceberg metaphor there are 3 levels:

  1. Conscious (ideas, thoughts, and feelings of which we are aware)
  2. Preconsciousness (material that can be easily recalled such as Ego + Superego)
  3. Unconscious (well below the surface of awareness such as Id)
• define defense mechanism: protective behaviours + strategies the ego uses to reduce / avoid anxiety (this is caused by the imbalance of superego and id)
• all the defense mechanism are the following:

  • denial
  • displacement
  • sublimation
  • identification
  • projection
  • rationalization
  • reaction formation
  • repression
• define the 'denial' defence mechanism: refusing to acknowledge unpleasant info
• define the 'displacement' defence mechanism: redirecting an impulse toward a more neutral substitute target
• define the 'sublimation' defence mechanism: transforming unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable / even pro-social alternatives
• define the 'identification' defence mechanism: unconsciously assuming the characteristics of a more powerful person in order to reduce feelings of anxiety / negative feelings about the self (also known as Introjection)
• define the 'projection' defence mechanism: perceiving in other people the qualities that you don't want to admit to possessing yourself
• define the 'rationalization' defence mechanism: justify difficult / unacceptable feelings with seemingly logical reasons + explanations
• define the 'reaction formation' defence mechanism: goes beyond denial of an impulse + consciously behaves in the opposite way to which they think / feel
• define the 'repression' defence mechanism: keeping distressing info out of the conscious awareness by burying it into the unconscious
• the 5 psychosexual stages that freud provided were the following:

  1. oral
  2. anal
  3. phallic
  4. latency
  5. genital
• the oral stage (psychosexual stage 1):

  • 0-18 months
  • innate pleasure-seeking focused on actions of the mouth (sucking, chewing, swallowing)
  • successful outcome -> infant develops a basic sense of security and empowerment
  • unsuccessful outcome -> develop on oral fixation, addictive personality (nail-biting, smoking, over-eating, etc.)
• the anal stage (psychosexual stage 2):

  • 18months - 3yrs
  • pleasure in controlling and releasing bowels (toilet training)
  • successful outcome: sense of competence and confidence
  • unsuccessful outcome: anal retentive personality OR anal expulsive personality (OCD OR HOARDER)
• the phallic stage (psychosexual stage 3):

  • 3-6 years
  • libido is focused on genitals (developing complex emotions with opposite parent; rivalry, jealousy against same sex parent)
  • successful outcome -> form a healthy relationship with parents
  • unsuccessful outcome -> plagued with jealousy, preoccupied with sex, competitive and power
• the latency stage (psychosexual stage 4):

  • libido is dominant
  • not much happens psychosexually here
  • focus on external activities (education, hobbies, hanging with friends)
  • fixation doesn't happen at this stage
• the genital stage (psychosexual stage 5):

  • marked by onset of puberty
  • should know how to handle libido / pleasures
  • if you fixated at any previous stages, you have underdeveloped personalities
• humanistic theory suggests that people are basically good. (we should focus on how people are trying to do good instead of the dark side)
• define self-actualization: maximizing their full potential
• there 2 types of basic needs:

  1. need for self-actualization
  2. need for positive regard

  then there are 2 others' responses:

  1. unconditional positive regard
  2. conditional positive regard

  based on that, there are 2 possible outcomes:

  • self actualization
  • self discrepancies
• there are two different types of trait theories:

  • the big 5 factor model
  • the dark triad / tetrad
• the big 5 traits are:

  • openness
  • conscientiousness
  • extraversion
  • agreeableness
  • neuroticism
• the dark triad is:

  • machiavellianism
  • narcisism
  • psychopathy
• the dark tetrad is:

  • machiavellianism
  • narcisism
  • psychopathy
  • dispositional sadism
• the term 'openness' in the big 5 is best known for: being open to new ideas OR being intelligent, creative
• the term 'conscientiousness' in the big 5 is best known for: being responsible, planning, organization
• the term 'extraversion' in the big 5 is best known for: being assertive as well as talkative, outgoing, active
• the term 'agreeableness' in the big 5 is best known for: avoiding conflict, having relatability, empathy, trusting, understanding, compliant
• the term 'neuroticism' in the big 5 is best known for: being volatile, anxious, self-conscious, insecure, and anxious
• the term 'machiavellianism' in the dark triad/tetrad is best known for: cunning, deceptive, exploitive and manipulative
• the term 'narcissism' in the dark triad/tetrad is best known for: overly positive view of self, extreme sense of superiority and entitlement, and having a big ego
• the term 'psychopathy' in the dark triad/tetrad is best known for: high impulse, thrill seeking, low empathy, self + anti-social behaviour