Personality Psychology

• Id


  pleasure principle that Contains basic drives.
• Superego


  Consists of moral ideals and conscience
• Ego


  Operates according to the reality principle; needs to find balance of urges and socially acceptable impulses
• Psychosexual Stages


  Freud's stages of personality development

  during which pleasure is derived from

  different parts of the body
• defense mechanisms


  Unconscious methods of minimizing anxiety by denying and distorting reality.
• repression


  ego pushes unacceptable impulses out of awareness, back into the unconscious mind. (ex. a girl was abused by her uncle, and she pushed the memory of it away, so she can't remember any of it as an adult.)
• Rationalization


  The ego replaces a less acceptable motive with a more acceptable one. (ex. College student doesn't get into the fraternity of choice, so he tells himself "it was a hard fraternity to get into and that most people don't get in.")
• Displacement


  Ego shifts feelings toward an unacceptable object to another, more acceptable object. (ex. A woman can't take her anger out on her boss, so when she goes home she takes it out on her husband.)
• Sublimation


  The ego replaces an unacceptable impulse with a socially acceptable one. (ex. A man with strong sexual urges becomes an artist who paints nudes.)
• Projection


  the ego attributes personal shortcomings, problems, and faults to others. (ex. A man who has a strong desire to have an extramarital affair accuses his wife of flirting with other men.)
• Reaction Formation


  The ego transforms an unacceptable motive into it's opposite. (ex. A woman who fears her sexual urges becomes a religious zealot.)
• Denial


  The ego refuses to acknowledge anxiety-producing realities. (ex. A man won't acknowledge that he has cancer even though a team of doctors has diagnosed his cancer.)
• Regression


  The Ego seeks security if an earlier developmental period In the face of stress. (ex. A woman returns home to mother every time she and her husband have a big argument.)
• Alfred Adler


  Proposed the idea of the inferiority complex, Young children feel weak, dependent, and small.

  Spend much of life compensating for those feelings by striving for superiority (success).

  Believed that siblings and other family members also affect the child.

  Came up with sibling rivalry.
• Rorschach


  A test in which people are asked to report what they see in a set of inkblots

  
• Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)


  A test in which people are asked to make up stories from a set of ambiguous pictures.

  
• Cognitive Social-Learning Theory


  An approach to personality that focuses on social learning (modeling), acquired cognitive factors (expectancies, values), and the person-situation interaction.
• Trait


  A relatively stable predisposition to behave in a certain way.
• Five-factor Model


  A model of personality that consists of five basic traits: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness.
• Jung


  Neo-Freudian focused on concept of collective unconscious (all of us have desire for finding a significant other and rooting for the good guy and denying the bad person)
• Karen Horney


  Neo-Freudian; said personality develops over time and women don't want to be men
• Maslow's Hierarchy


  goal is to become self-actualized to be fully happy with life
• Humanists say where personality conflicts lie

  difference between real and ideal self
• Raymond Cattell


  developed factor analysis for trait psychology study
• Reciprocal Determinism


  behavior is influenced by environment and traits; and vice and versa
• Internal Locus of Control


  believe we have control over our situations
• Self-Serving Bias


  every situation is positively explained in favor of ourselves; good or bad
• Maximizers


  individuals who attempt to evaluate every option for every choice until they find the perfect fit
• Rorschach


  A test in which people are asked to report what they see in a set of inkblots

  
• Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)


  A test in which people are asked to make up stories from a set of ambiguous pictures.

  
• Criticisms of Psychodynamic tests/theory


  Too much emphasis on early experiences, Too much faith in unconscious mind's control, Too much emphasis on sexual instincts.
• Behavioral Ideas of Personality


  Personality develops through conditioning processes over the course of a lifetime.
• Cognitive Social-Learning Theory


  An approach to personality that focuses on social learning (modeling), acquired cognitive factors (expectancies, values), and the person-situation interaction.
• Trait Theorists


  A relatively stable predisposition to behave in a certain way.
• Five-factor Model


  A model of personality that consists of five basic traits: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness.
• Openness


  High: Imaginative, liberal (not political), curious, interested in new experiences, nonconformist

  Low: Traditional, conservative (not political), conformist
• Conscientiousness


  High: Organized, careful, responsible, stoic

  Low: Unorganized, carefree, easily distracted, gullible
• Extraversion


  High (Extravert): Seeks stimulation and group activities, often impulsive, easily bored, assertive

  Low (Introvert): Avoids stimulation, seeks solitude and quiet, low-key, anxious in groups
• Agreeableness


  High: Easygoing, helpful and empathetic, trusting

  Low: Stubborn, argumentative, suspicious, strong willed
• Neuroticism (emotional stability)


  High: Mood swings, anxious, self-critical, easily upset, hostile

  Low: Calm and relaxed, in control of emotions