Test Answers on Chapter 12 study guide – Flashcards
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personality
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an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting
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psychodynamic theories
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view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences
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unconscious
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according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware
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projective tests
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a personality test, such as the Rorschach, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics
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humanistic theory
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view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth
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self-actualization
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according to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one's potential
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trait
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a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports
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social-cognitive perspective
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views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people's traits (including their thinking) and their social context
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self
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in contemporary psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions
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self-efficacy
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one's sense of competence and effectiveness
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12-2: What was Freud's view of personality?
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Freud believed that personality results from conflict arising from the interaction among the mind's three systems: the id (pleasure-seeking impulse), ego(reality-oriented executive), and superego (internalized set of ideals, or conscience)
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12-6: What are projective tests, how are they used, and what are some criticisms of them?
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Projective tests attempt to assess personality by showing people ambiguous stimuli (open to many possible interpretations) and treating their answers as revelations of unconscious motives. One such test, the Rorschach inkblot test, has low reliability and validity, except in a few areas, such as hostility and anxiety
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12-9: How did humanistic psychologists view personality, and what was their goal in studying personality?
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The humanistic psychologists' view of personality focused on the potential for healthy personal growth and people's striving for self-determination and self-realization. Abraham Maslow proposed that human motivations form a hierarchy of needs; if basic needs are fulfilled, people will strive toward self-actualization and self-transcendence. Carl Rogers believed that the ingredients of a growth-promoting environment are genuineness, acceptance (including unconditional positive regard), and empathy. Self-concept was a central feature of personality for both Maslow and Rogers.
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12-13: What are personality inventories, and what are their strengths and weaknesses as trait-assessment tools?
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Personality inventories (such as the MMPI) are questionnaires on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors. Test items are empirically derived, and the tests are objectively scored. But people can fake their answers to create good impression, and the ease of computerized testing may lead to misuse of the tests.
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12-14: Which traits seem to provide the most useful information about personality variation?
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The Big Five personality factors-conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion (CANOE)- currently offer the clearest picture of personality. These factors are stable and appear to be found in all cultures.
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12-16: How do the social-cognitive theorists view personality development, and how do they explore behavior?
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Albert Bandura first proposed the social-cognitive perspective, which views personality as a the product of the interaction between a person's traits (including thinking) and the situation- the social context. Social- cognitive researchers apply principles of learning, cognition, and social behavior to personality. Reciprocal determinism is a term describing the interaction and mutual influence of behavior, internal personal factors, and environmental factors.
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12-18: why has psychology generated so much research on the self? How important is self-esteem to psychology and to our well-being?
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The self is the center of personality, organizing our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Considering possible selves helps motivate us toward positive development, but focusing too intensely on ourselves can lead to the spotlight effect. Self-esteem is our feeling of self-worth; self-efficacy is our sense of competence on a task. High self-esteem correlates with less pressure to conform, persistence at difficult tasks, and social skills. But the direction of the correlation is not clear. Psychologists are now more pessimistic about the value of unrealistically promoting children's feelings of self-worth, rather than rewarding their achievements, which lead to feelings of competence.
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Freud believed that we may block painful or unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, or memories from consciousness through an unconscious process called _____
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repression
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According to Freud's view of personality structure, the "executive" system, the _______, seeks to gratify the impulses of the ________ in more acceptable ways
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ego;id
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Freud proposed that the development of the "voice of conscience" is related to the ________, which internalizes ideals and provides standards for judgments.
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superego
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According to the psychoanalytic view of development, we all pass through a series of psychosexual stages, including the oral, anal, and phallic stages. Conflicts unresolved at any of these stages may lead to _______
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fixation at that stage
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Freud believed that defense mechanisms are unconscious attempts to distort or disguise reality, all in an effort to reduce our ________
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anxiety
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_______ tests ask test-takers to respond to an ambiguous stimulus, for example, by describing it or telling a story about it.
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projective
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In general, neo-Freudians such as Adler and Horney accepted many of Freud's views but placed more emphasis than he did on?
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social interactions
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Modern day psychodynamic theorists and therapists agree with Freud about?
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the existence of unconscious mental processes
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Which of the following is NOT part of the contemporary view of the unconscious?
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repressed memories of anxiety-provoking events
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Maslow's hierarchy of needs proposes that we much satisfy basic physiological and safety needs before we seek ultimate psychological needs, such as self-actualization. Maslow based his ideas on?
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his study of healthy, creative people
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How might Freud and Rogers differ in their explanations of how the environment influences the development of a criminal?
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Freud might argue that the criminal may have lacked the proper guidance as a child for developing a strong superego, allowing the id free rein. Rogers might assert that the criminal was raised in an environment lacking genuineness, acceptance (unconditional positive regard), and empathy, which inhibited psychological growth and led to a negative self-concept.
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How might Freud and Rogers advocated as part of a grown promoting environment is called?
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unconditional positive regard
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The _____ theory of personality focuses on describing characteristic behavior patterns, such as agreeableness or extroversion.
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trait
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One famous personality inventory is the?
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MMPI
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Which of the following is NOT one of the Big Five personality factors?
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Anxiety
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Our scores on personality tests best predict?
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our average behavior across many situations
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The social-cognitive perspective proposes our personality is shaped by a process called reciprocal determinism, as personal factors, environmental factors, and behaviors interact. An example of an environment factor is?
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the presence of books in a home
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Critics say that _____________ personality theory is very sensitive to an individual's interactions with particular situations, but that it gives too little attention to the person's enduring traits.
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social-cognitive
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Researchers have found that low self-esteem tends to be linked with life problems. How should this link be interpreted?
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The answer isn't clear because the link is correlational and does not indicate cause and effect
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A fortune cookie advises, "Love yourself and happiness will follow." Is this good advice?
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Yes, if that self-love is of the secure type. Secure self-esteem promotes a focus beyond the self and a higher quality of life. Excessive self-love may promote artificially high or defensive self-esteem, which may lead to unhappiness if negative external feedback triggers anger or aggression.
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Individualists cultures tend to value ______; collectivist cultures tend to value______ .
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independence: interdependence
