Chapter 12: Theory, Research, and Assessment

Question 1

What is personality?

Answer 1

An individuals unique constellation of consistent behavioural traits

Question 2

What is a personality trait?

Answer 2

A durable disposition to behave in a particular way in a variety of situations

Question 3

Define factor analysis

Answer 3

correlations among many variables are analyzed to identify closely related clusters of variables

Question 4

What are the “big five”?

Answer 4

1. Extraversion
2. Neuroticism
3. Openness to experience
4. Agreeableness
5. Conscientiousness

Question 5

Define extraversion

Answer 5

Characterized as outgoing, sociable, upbeat, friendly, assertive, and gregarious

They have a more positive outlook on life

Question 6

Define neuroticism

Answer 6

Characterized as anxious, hostile, self-conscious, insecure, and vulnerable

Tend to be more impulsive and emotionally instable

Question 7

Define openness to experience

Answer 7

Characterized with curiosity, flexibility, imaginativeness, intellectual pursuits, interest in new ideas, and unconventional attitudes

Tend to be tolerant of ambiguity

Question 8

Define agreeableness

Answer 8

Characterized as sympathetic, trusting, cooperative, modest, and straightforward

Correlated with empathy and helping behaviour

Question 9

Define conscientiousness

Answer 9

Characterized as diligent, well-organized, punctual, and dependable

Tend to have strong self-discipline and the ability to regulate oneself effectively

Question 10

What are psychodynamic theories?

Answer 10

All diverse theories descended from the work of Sigmund Freud, which focus on unconscious mental forces

Question 11

Define id

Answer 11

The primitive, instinctive component of personality that operates according the the pleasure principle

Question 12

What is the pleasure principle?

Answer 12

Demands immediate gratification of it’s urges

Question 13

Define ego

Answer 13

The decision-making component of personality that operates according to the reality principle

Question 14

What is the reality principle?

Answer 14

Seeks to delay gratification of the id’s urges until appropriate outlets and situations can be found

Question 15

Define superego

Answer 15

The moral component of personality that incorporates social standards about what is right and wrong

Question 16

Explain conscious

Answer 16

Consists of whatever one is aware of at a particular point in time

Question 17

Explain preconscious

Answer 17

Contains material just beneath the surface of awareness that can easily be retrieved

Question 18

Explain unconscious

Answer 18

Contains thought, memories, and desires that are well below the surface of conscious awareness but nonetheless exert great influence on behaviour

Question 19

What are defense mechanisms?

Answer 19

Largely unconscious reactions that protect a person from unpleasant emotions such as anxiety and guilt

Question 20

What is rationalization?

Answer 20

Creating false but plausible excuses to justify unacceptable behaviour

Question 21

List all different defense mechanisms

Answer 21

• Repression
• Projection
• Displacement
• Reaction formation
• Regression
• Identification
• Sublimation

Question 22

Define repression

Answer 22

Keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the unconscious

Question 23

Define projection

Answer 23

Attributing one’s own thoughts, feelings, or motives to another

Question 24

Define displacement

Answer 24

Diverting emotional feelings (usually anger) from their original source to a substitute target

Question 25

Define reaction formation

Answer 25

Behaving in a way that's exactly the opposite of one's true feelings

Question 26

Define regression

Answer 26

Reversion to immature patterns of behaviour

Question 27

Define identification

Answer 27

Bolstering self-esteem by forming an imaginary or real alliance with some person or group

Question 28

Define sublimation

Answer 28

Occurs when unconscious, unacceptable impulses are channeled into socially acceptable, perhaps even admirable, behaviours

Question 29

What are psychosexual stages?

Answer 29

Developmental periods with a characteristic sexual focus that leave their mark on adult personality

Question 30

What is fixation?

Answer 30

Failure to move forward from one stage to another as expected

Question 31

What are Freuds stages of psychosexual development?

Answer 31

1. Oral 2. Anal 3. Phallic 4. Latency 5. Genital

Question 32

Explain the oedipal complex (phallic stage)

Answer 32

Children manifest erotically tinged desires for their opposite-sex parent, accompanied by feelings of hostility towards their same-sex parent

Question 33

Who proposed analytical psychology? and define it

Answer 33

Carl Jung Consists of the personal unconscious, similar to Freud's theory and the collective conscious, latent memories inherited from ancestorial past

Question 34

Who propose individual psychology? and define it

Answer 34

Alfred Adler The foremost source of human motivation is the striving for superiority

Question 35

What is compensation?

Answer 35

Efforts to overcome imagined or real inferiorities by developing one's abilities

Question 36

What is behaviourism?

Answer 36

A theoretical orientation based on the premise that scientific psychology should study only observable behaviour

Question 37

What is reciprocal determinism?

Answer 37

The idea that internal mental events, external environmental events, and overt behaviour all influence one another

Question 38

What is observational learning?

Answer 38

When an organism's responding is influenced by the observation of other's who are called models

Question 39

What is self-efficacy?

Answer 39

One's belief about one's ability to perform behaviours that should lead to expected outcomes

Question 40

What is humanism?

Answer 40

A theoretical orientation that emphasizes the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom and their potential for personal growth

Question 41

What is the phenomenological approach?

Answer 41

One has to appreciate individuals personal, subjective experiences to truly understand their behaviour

Question 42

What is self-concept?

Answer 42

A collection of beliefs about one's own nature, unique qualities, and typical behaviour

Question 43

What is the dunning-kruger effect?

Answer 43

A cognitive bias in which individuals who possess low or no expertise or knowledge in a specific situation are unaware of those deficits

Question 44

What is incongruence?

Answer 44

The degree of disparity between one's self-concept and one's actual experience

Question 45

What is self-regulation?

Answer 45

The self's ability to alter it's actions and behaviours

Question 46

What is the hierarchy of needs?

Answer 46

A systematic arrangement of needs, according to priority, in which basic needs must be met before less basic needs are aroused

Question 47

What is self-actualization?

Answer 47

The need to fulfill one's potential; it is the highest need in maslow's hierarchy

Question 48

What are self-actualizing persons?

Answer 48

People with exceptionally healthy personalities, marked by continued personal growth

Question 49

What is narcissism?

Answer 49

A personality trait marked by an inflated sense of importance, a need for attention and admiration, a sense of entitlement, and a tendency to exploit other

Question 50

Define the dark triad

Answer 50

Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism