Personality (Trait Theory & Biological Bases) – Flashcards
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Trait Theories
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theories that endeavor to describe the characteristics that make up human personality in an effort to predict future behavior
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Trait
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a consistent, enduring way of thinking, feeling, or behaving
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Gordon Allport (1936)
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first developed a list of about 200 traits; he believed that these traits were part of the nervous system
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Surface traits
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aspects of personality that can easily be seen by other people in the outward actions of a person
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Source traits
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the more basic traits that underlie the surface traits, forming the core of personality Example: Introversion
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Dimension of personality
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in which people tend to withdraw from excessive stimulation
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Raymond Cattell (1973)
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reduced the number of traits to between sixteen and twenty-three using factor analysis Developed the 16PF test
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The Big 5: Five-factor Model
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Describes five basic traits dimensions(Botwin & Buss, 1989)
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Openness (Five-factor Model)
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willingness to try new things and be open to new experiences
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Conscientiousness (Five-factor Model)
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The care a person gives to organization and thoughtfulness of others; dependability
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Extraversion (Five-factor Model)
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one's need to be with other people
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Agreeableness (Five-factor Model)
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the emotional style of person that may range from easy going, friendly, and likable to grumpy, crabby, and unpleasant
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Neuroticism
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degree of emotional instability or stability
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Personality
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the unique and relatively stable ways in which people think, feel, and behave
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Character
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value judgement made about a person's moral and ethical behavior
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Temperament
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the enduring characteristics with which each person is born
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Sigmund Freud
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founder of psychoanalytic movement, lived Europe during the Victoria Age
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Preconscious mind
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level of the mind in which information is available but not currently conscious
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Conscious mind
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level of the mind that is aware of immediate surroundings and perceptions
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Unconscious mind
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level of the mind in which thoughts, feelings, memories, and other information that are not easily or voluntarily brought into consciousness are kept
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The ID
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part of the personality present at birth; completely unconscious
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Pleasure principle
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principle by which the id functions; the immediate satisfaction of need without regard for the consequences
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The Ego
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part of the personality that develops out of a need to deal with reality; mostly conscious, rational, and logical
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Reality principle
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principle by which the ego functions; the satisfaction of the demands of the id only in ways that will not result in negative consequences
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The Superego
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part of the personality that acts as a moral center
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Conscience
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part of superego that produces pride or guilt, depending on how well behavior matches or does not match the ego ideal
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Anna Freud's defense mechanisms
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Denial Repression Rationalization Projection Regression Identification Compensation Sublimation
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Denial (Anna Freud's defense mechanisms)
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the person refuses to acknowledge or recognize a threatening situation
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Repression (Anna Freud's defense mechanisms)
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the person refuses to consciously remember a threatening or unacceptable event, instead pushing those events into the unconscious mind
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Rationalization (Anna Freud's defense mechanisms)
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the person invents acceptable excuses for unacceptable behavior
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Projection (Anna Freud's defense mechanisms)
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unacceptable or threatening impulses or feelings are seen as originating with someone else, usually the target of the impulses or feelings
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Reaction formation (Anna Freud's defense mechanisms)
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the person forms an emotional or behavioral reaction opposite to the way he or she really feels in order to keep those true feelings hidden from self and others
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Displacement (Anna Freud's defense mechanisms)
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redirecting feelings from a threatening target to a less threatening one
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Regression (Anna Freud's defense mechanisms)
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the person falls back on childlike patterns of responding in reaction to stressful situations
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Identification (Anna Freud's defense mechanisms)
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the person tried to become like someone else to deal with anxiety`
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Compensation (Anna Freud's defense mechanisms)
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the person makes up for deficiencies in one area by becoming superior in another area
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Sublimation (Anna Freud's defense mechanisms)
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channeling socially unaccpetable impulses and urges into socially acceptable behavior
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Unstructured
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therapist asks open-ended questions allowing subject to respond in any way
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Structured
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asking questions with fixed responses
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Halo Effect
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Tendency of interviewer to all positive characteristics of a client to affect his or her assessment of the client's behhavior and statements
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Free Association: Sigmund Freud
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Method to replace the use of hypnosis in the exploration of neurotic episodes. Relied on his belief in psychic determinism. According to that perspective, psychic activity is not subject to free choice.
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Projective tests
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showing clients ambiguous visual stimuli and asking what is seen
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Fixation
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if person does not fully resolve the conflict in a particular psychosexual stage, it will result in personality traits and behaviors associated with that earlier stage
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Oral Stage (birth - 18 months)
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First stage, in which the mouth is the erogenous zone and weaning is the primary conflict; id dominated
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Anal Stage (18 - 36 months)
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anus is the erogenous zone; toilet training is the source of conflict; ego develops
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Anal expulsive personality
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a person fixated in the anal stage who is messy, destructive, and hostile
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Anal retentive personality
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a person fixated in the anal stage who is neat & tidy, fussy, rigid, and stubborn
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Phallic stage (3 - 6 years)
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stage 3, child discovers sexual feelings through self-stimulation; superego devlops
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Castration anxiety
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occurs when boys discover that girls don't have penises
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Penis envy
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occurs when girls discover they have no penis
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Oedipus complex
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situation occurring in the phallic stage in which boy develops a sexual attraction to the mother and jealousy of the father
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Electra complex
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a similar process for girls
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Latency Stage (6 years to puberty)
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fourth stage, in which the sexual feelings of the child are repressed (hidden) while the child develops in other ways
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Genital stage (puberty on)
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during and after puberty, sexual feelings reawaken with appropriate targets
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Neo - Freudians
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followers of Freud who devloped their own competing theories of psychoanalysis
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4 important Neo - Freudians
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Carl Jung Alfred Adler Karen Horney Erik Erikson
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Carl Jung (Neo - Freudians)
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developed a theory including both a personal and a collective unconsious
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Personal Unconscious
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Jung's name for the unconsious mind as described by Freud
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Collective Unconscious
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the memories shared by all members of the human species
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Archetypes
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collective, universal human memories
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Alfred Adler (Neo - Freudians)
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proposed that feelings of inferiority are the driving force behind personality
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1st children
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feel inferior to younger children who receive attention; become overachievers
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Middle Children
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feel superior to dethroned older children, as well as younger children; tend to be very competitive
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younger children
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fell inferior because they don't have the freedom or responsibility of older chldren
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Karen Horney (Neo - Freudians)
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Developed a theory based on basic anxiety; rejected the concept of penis envy
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Basic anxiety
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anxiety created when a child is born into the bigger and more powerful would of older children and adults
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Neurotic personalities
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the result of less-secure
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Erik Erikson
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Devoloped a theory based on social rather than sexual relationships, covering the entire lifespan
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Behaviorism
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behaviorists define personality as a set of learned responses or habits
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Habit
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well - learned response that has become automatic
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Social cognitive
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learning theorists emphasize the importance of: the influences of other people's behavior the influence of a person's own expectancies on learning
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Social cognitive view
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learning theory that includes cognitive processes such as anticipating, judging, memory, and imitation of models
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Reciprocal Determinism
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Bandura's explanation of how the factors of environment, personal characteristics, and behavior can interact to determine future behavior.
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Self-efficacy
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an individual's perception of how effective a behavior will be in any particular circumstance
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Julian Rotter's Social Learning theory
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Locus of control
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Locus of control
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people are motivated to avoid punishment and seek reinforcement Personality is a relatively stable set of responses to various situations
