chapter 13

Question 1

what is personality?

Answer 1

characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting
(a set of characteristics that is consistent across time, consistent across situations, and distinguishes individuals from each other)

Question 1

freud: consciousness

Answer 1

• conscious mind: normal awareness
• preconscious mind: easily brought to consciousness
• unconscious mind: hidden thoughts and desires

Question 2

freud: structural model

Answer 2

• id: present at birth, home to sexual and aggressive drive
• superego: develops in childhood, home to morality and conscience, governed by the ego ideal
• ego: develops in childhood (before superego), acts as a referee between id and superego, governed by the reality principle

Question 3

oral stage

Answer 3

• 0-18 months
• pleasure centers on the mouth- sucking, biting, chewing

Question 4

anal stage

Answer 4

• 18-36 months
• pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination
• coping with demands for control

Question 5

phallic stage

Answer 5

• 3-6 years
• pleasure zone is the genitals
• coping with incestuous sexual feelings

Question 6

latency stage

Answer 6

• 6-puberty
• dormant sexual feelings

Question 7

genital stage

Answer 7

• puberty on
• maturation of sexual interests

Question 8

freud: defense mechanisms

Answer 8

• unconscious attempts to silence the id
• when the inner war gets out of hand, the result is anxiety
• ego protects itself via defense mechanisms
• defense mechanisms reduce/redirect anxiety by distorting reality
• put out by ego

Question 9

what are the defense mechanisms?

Answer 9

repression
denial
rationalization
displacement
projection
reaction formation
sublimation
regression

Question 10

what is repression

Answer 10

pushing threatening or conflicting events or situations out of conscious memory

Question 11

what is denial

Answer 11

refusing to believe something unpleasant has occurred

Question 12

what is rationalization

Answer 12

creating false but plausible excuses to justify unacceptable behavior

Question 13

what is displacement

Answer 13

you take out your anger and frustration on a person or object not the actual target of your anger

Question 14

what is projection

Answer 14

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

Question 15

what is reaction formation

Answer 15

acting opposite of what one thinks or feels, assuming attitudes and behaviors that one consciously rejects (woman who never wanted kids becomes a super mom)

Question 16

what is regression

Answer 16

slipping to an earlier stage of development when faced with stress

Question 17

what is sublimation

Answer 17

a person channels unacceptable urges or impulses, often of a sexual or aggressive nature, into socially acceptable actions or behaviors

Question 18

measurement of personality: projective tests

Answer 18

• rorschach
• thematic apperception test (TAT)
• high level of subjectivity in scoring and interpretation

Question 19

freud problems: alfred adler & karen horney

Answer 19

childhood’s important ( not sexual but social )
adler: inferiority complex, much of behavior driven by desire to overcome inferiority experienced in childhood
horney: childhood anxiety triggers desire for love & security

Question 20

freud problems: modern research

Answer 20

lifelong, not fixed in childhood; infants’ neural network not mature enough; overestimates parental influence, underestimates peer influence; gender identity forms earlier than 5 or 6; childhood sexuality theories not accurate; dreams are not a form of wish fulfillment; and more

Question 21

what is the basis of humanistic theory?

Answer 21

humanists believe people try to improve
we are motivated by a hierarchy of needs

Question 22

maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Answer 22

physiological -> safety -> love -> esteem -> self-actualization

Question 23

self-actualization

Answer 23

self-fulfillment, namely the tendency for him [the individual] to become actualized in what he is potentially. This tendency might be phrased as the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming

Question 24

self-concept (carl rogers)

Answer 24

self-image, ideal-self, self-esteem if self image is different from ideal image self actualization is difficult if self image is similar to ideal image, self actualization will be able to happen

Question 25

roger's person-centered perspective

Answer 25

people have natural tendencies to grow, become healthy, and move toward self-actualization; 3 conditions that facilitate growth 1. genuineness: being honest, direct, not using a facade 2. acceptance aka unconditional positive regard: acknowledging feelings without passing judgement 3. empathy: tuning into the feelings of others, showing your efforts to understand, listening well

Question 26

positives and criticisms of humanistic theories

Answer 26

positives: influenced many areas (counseling, child raising, education), laid groundwork for today's field of positive psychology criticisms: concept vague and subjective, too much emphasis on individualism (can lead to self-indulgence, selfishness, and erosion of moral restraint), humanistic psychology is naive (fails to appreciate human capacity for evil)

Question 27

what is a trait?

Answer 27

pattern of behavior/ disposition to feel and act in certain ways traits describe but dont really explain personality

Question 28

eyesenck's trait theory

Answer 28

unstable vs stable extraversion vs introversion biological temperament: indicating an individual's inherent tendency to seek novel, intense, and varied experiences, often linked to variations in neurotransmitter levels and brain activity

Question 29

the big 5 trait theory

Answer 29

openness conscientiousness extraversion agreeableness neuroticism (OCEAN)

Question 30

openness

Answer 30

imagination, feelings, actions, ideas high: curious, wide range of interests, independent low: practical, conventional, prefers routine

Question 31

conscientiousness

Answer 31

competence, self discipline, thoughtfulness, goal-driven high: hardworking, dependable, organized low: impulsive, careless, disorganized

Question 32

extroversion

Answer 32

sociability, assertiveness, emotional expression high: outgoing, warm, seeks adventure low: quiet, reserved, withdrawn

Question 33

agreeableness

Answer 33

cooperative, trustworthy, good-natured high: helpful, trusting, empathetic low: critical, uncooperative, suspicious

Question 34

neuroticism

Answer 34

tendency towards unstable emotions high: anxious, unhappy, prone to negative emotions low: calm, even-tempered, secure

Question 35

how stable are these traits?

Answer 35

up to 40 years, become more conscientious and agreeable and less neurotic

Question 36

do these traits reflect differing brain structure?

Answer 36

yes high conscientiousness = larger frontal lobe nigh neuroticism = stress sensitivity

Question 37

do these traits reflect birth order?

Answer 37

no

Question 38

do these traits cross to various cultures?

Answer 38

to some extent

Question 39

do the big 5 predict our actual behavior?

Answer 39

yes conscientiousness and agreeableness predict workplace success, etc.

Question 40

how heritable are these traits?

Answer 40

roughly 40% (average) for each factor

Question 41

evaluating trait theories

Answer 41

person-situation controversy: extrovert in every situation?, conscientious in every situation?, low correlation, weak predictor of behavior

Question 42

social-cognitive theory

Answer 42

- emphasizes traits with our situations - social: learn behavior by conditioning and observation/ imitation - cognitive: behavior influenced by thoughts about a situation - reciprocal influences (us & environment) determine behavior - reciprocal determinism

Question 43

reciprocal determinism

Answer 43

internal cognitive factor (thoughts and feelings about risky activities) environmental factors (bungee-jumping friends) behavior (learning to bungee jump) a) we choose environments which then shape us b) our personality affects how we interpret/ react to things c) our attitudes can affect how others treat us

Question 44

focus on self

Answer 44

self = assumed to be the center of personality self-esteem = feelings of self worth self- efficacy = feelings of self competency high self esteen and high self efficacy have many benefits (greater accomplishments and greater health) benefits of life lead to high self esteem and efficacy when people recieved good things that weren't earned, it did not increase well-being low self esteem leads to high behavior of criticism of others

Question 45

the age of self focus

Answer 45

self concepts can lead to the spotlight effect: overestimation of how much others notice and critique our appearance and actions self-serving bias: a readiness to percieve ourselves favorably more likely to accept praise then criticism more likely to take responsibility for good behavior most people think they are better than average

Question 46

can we compare personality across cultures ?

Answer 46

difficult because of collectivism vs individualism collectivism: focus on the group ( chinese, african, latin american, arab) individualism: focus on needs of the individual (us, canda, great britain, australia)

Question 46

the age of self focus pt. 2

Answer 46

narcissism: excessive self-love and self-absorption the age of the selfie secure self-esteem is characterized by a realistic, positive attitude toward the self, while defensive self-esteem is more likely to be characterized by blaming others, making excuses, and verbal defensiveness

Question 47

mmpi-2

Answer 47

used to measure personality produce personality profile easy to score and statistically analyze