Chapter 12: Personality (3A)

Question 1

Psychodynamic Perspective

Answer 1

Personality and behaviour is shaped by interacting, or dynamic, underlying forces

Question 2

What is the Conscious?

Answer 2

The thoughts and feelings that we are aware of at any given moment

Question 3

What is the preconscious?

Answer 3

Holds thoughts, memories, and ideas that we aren’t consciously thinking about, but cause be brought to consciousness if attended to.

Question 4

What is the unconscious?

Answer 4

We are unaware of this content and cannot become aware of it except in special circumstances

Question 5

What is the ID?

Answer 5

It is the basic instinctual drive:
- eating,sleeping,sex, and comfort
- it is present at brith and largely unconscious

Question 6

What is the pleasure principle?

Answer 6

It is the strive to gratification present in the Id.

Question 7

What is the ego?

Answer 7

It strives to satisfy the id while complying with constraints on behaviour.
- Develops due to behaviour
- Rational, problem-solving force
- Works consciously and unconsciously
- Mediator between the id and the superego

Question 8

What is the reality principle?

Answer 8

Te awareness that os to not always possible or acceptable to have all wants met - connected to the ego.

Question 9

What is the superego?

Answer 9

The personality element in charge of determine which imputes are acceptable to express openly and which are unacceptable.
- Develops as we observe and internalize the behaviours of others in our culture
- Forms during childhood
- We internalize, or unconsciously adopt, the values and norms of others. Our conscience leads us to feel guilds and anxious.

Question 10

What are the psychosexual stages?

Answer 10

During each stage the id’s pleasure-seeking tendencies focus on one area of the body.
- primarily influenced by sexuality and aggression that cause internal conflict.
- Named after specific ergo us zones, or pleasure-producing areas of the body.

Question 11

What are defence mechanism?

Answer 11

Unconscious tactics employed by the ego to protect the individual from anxiety

Question 12

What is repression?

Answer 12

Basic defence mechanism that keeps unpleasant thoughts buried deeply in unconscious mind.

Question 13

What is denial?

Answer 13

Refusal to recognize and existing situation

Question 14

What is rationalization?

Answer 14

Creating a socially acceptable excuse to justify unacceptable behaviour

Question 15

What is reaction formation?

Answer 15

Not acknowledging unacceptable impulses and overemphasizing their opposite
EX: praising a sibling when resenting their success in reality

Question 16

What is projection?

Answer 16

Transferring one’s unacceptable quialities or impulses onto others.
EX: not trusting someone but accusing them of not trusting you

Question 17

What is dsplacement?

Answer 17

Diverting one’s impulses to a more acceptable target
EX: Being mad at friend from school, yelling at the cat

Question 18

what is sublimation?

Answer 18

Channeling socially unacceptable impulses into acceptable activities
EX: redirecting aggressive behaviour into becoming a boxer

Question 19

What is regression?

Answer 19

reverting to immature ways of responding
EX: throwing a tantrum when frustrated

Question 20

What is identification?

Answer 20

Enhancing self-esteem by imaging or forming alliances with others
EX: joining groups for their prestige value

Question 21

What intellectualization?

Answer 21

Ignoring troubling emotional aspects by focusing on abstract ideas or thoughts
EX: discussing the economy by ignoring the pain of a lost job

Question 22

What are some ‘evaluations’ of freuds theories?

Answer 22

• inadequate evidence
• cannot be directly tested by scientific methods
• lack of predictive power

Question 23

What are some relevant aspects of Freud’s theory?

Answer 23

• Parental influence on relationships in adulthood
• defence mechanisms serve a function in development and psycologcial disorders
• continued study of unconscious mind

Question 24

What did new-freudians belive?

Answer 24

that human functioning is shaped by interacting, or dynamic, psychological forces

Question 25

What did Alfred Adler believe?

Answer 25

Social, not sexual, needs and conscious thoughts are critical in the development of behaviour - Feelings of inferiority motivate a quest for superiority

Question 26

What did Carl Jung believe?

Answer 26

Unconscious also drives toward joy, creativity, and internal harmony. - everyone seeks to integrate the minds various conscious and unconscious elements o into coherent whole, which he termed as the self

Question 27

According to Carl Jung, what were the two parts of the unconscious?

Answer 27

Personal unconscious - formed through individual experiences Collective unconscious - inherited memories shared by all humankind,which he called archetypes

Question 28

What did Karen Hornet belive?

Answer 28

- Basic anxiety develops in children who experience extreme feelings of isolations and helplessness; sets the stage for later neurosis - culture has a role in development

Question 29

What did Abraham Maslow believe?

Answer 29

- Humans are basically good and have an urge to grow and fulfil their potential - personality arises from striving to meet needs - Hierarchy of needs including self-actualization

Question 30

What is positive psychology?

Answer 30

an area of psychology focusing on positive experiences and healthy mental functioning

Question 31

What did carl rogers belive?

Answer 31

Humans are fundamentally positive and strive for self-actual inaction

Question 32

What is self-concept?

Answer 32

A pattern of self-perception that remains consistent over time and can be used to characterize and individual

Question 33

What is unconditional positive regard?

Answer 33

acceptance without terms or conditions - Carl Rogers

Question 34

What are personality traits?

Answer 34

Tendencies to behave in certain ways that remain relatively consistent across situations

Question 35

What is the personality trait model?

Answer 35

A mini-theory about the structure of personality traits

Question 36

What is lexical hypotheses

Answer 36

Gordon all port - the idea that our language contains the important was in which people Can differ

Question 37

What did Hans Eysenck belive

Answer 37

Used factor analysis to create super factors

Question 38

What is a super factor?

Answer 38

a fundamental dimension of personality made up of a related cluster of personality traits - developed three independent super-factors called primary dimensions of personality - Extroversion (sociable) - Neuroticism (worries) - Psychoticism (nasty)

Question 39

What are some strengths of the Trait theories

Answer 39

- Traits become increasingly stable across the adult years - Relatively stable across many situations and cultures - Traits predict other personal attributes and often other behaviour - there are appears to be strong genetic contribution to personality traits

Question 40

What are some criticisms of the trait theory?

Answer 40

- Oversimplifies the complexity of personality - Traits can become labels that people then adhere too (shy) - Portrays personality as fixed ranger than changing