Chapter 13

Question 1

Personality, temperaments, and personality traits

Answer 1

1) Personality–an individuals unique and relatively consistent patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior
2) Personality Trait–a characteristic, a dispositional tendency to act in a certain way over time and across circumstances (nature and nurture, but strong genetic influence)
3) Temperaments–biologically based tendency to behave a certain way, measured in activity level, emotionality, and sociability (some consistency over ages)

Question 2

Psychodynamic Theories of Personality

Answer 2

1) Unconscious wishes and desires influence behavior (Freud)
2) Consciousness–information in immediate awareness(Ego: rational planning and regulation of id and super ego)
3) Pre-consciousness–information easily brought into consciousness (superego: moralistic, judgmental, perfectionist conflict with id)
4) Unconsciousness–thoughts, feelings, and whishes that are difficult to bring into consciousness (Id: irrational, illogical, impulsive, libido and pleasure principle, energy promoting pleasure seeking)

Question 3

Ego-Defense mechanisms

Answer 3

1) Denial–refusing to acknowledge source of anxiety
2) rationalization–using excuses/logic to explain embarrassment
3) repression–blocking source of anxiety from existence
4) projection–attributing one’s own faults onto another
5) displacement–shifting center of attention to another issue
6) reaction formation–blocking an unwanted thought by emphasizing the opposite thought

Question 4

Neo-Freudians

Answer 4

1) Jung
collective unconscious
2) Adler 
inferiority/superiority complexes
3) Horney
feminist psychology 
neurotic (anxiety, etc)  personality type
object relations theory

Question 5

Cognitive Social Theories of Personality

Answer 5

1) emphasize importance of conscious cognitive processes (cognition, behavior, environment)

Question 6

Cognitive-Affective Personality System (CAPS)

Answer 6

1) personality emerges from: interpretation of social worlds, beliefs about what will affect our situation, beliefs about how we will be affected
2) Perception of situation, emotional response, relevant skills, and anticipation of a situation determine our personality

Question 7

Humanistic theories on personality

Answer 7

1) emphasize personal experience, beliefs, uniqueness, and inherent goodness
2) Actualizing tendency–innate desire to maintain and improve human mechanism
3) Person-centered approach–emphasize people’s subjective understanding of their own lives.

Question 8

Trait Theories of Personality

Answer 8

1) personality types–categories of people base on their personality characterstics
2) trait approach–focus on differences in personality dispositions
3) Big 5, BAS, BIS

Question 9

The Big 5 (Trait theory)

Answer 9

1) Openness to experience
2) conscientiousness
3) extraversion
4) agreeableness
5) Neuroticism (lack of calmness
6) OCEAN

Question 10

BAS vs BIS

Answer 10

1) Behavioral Approach System–approach to pursue rewards

2) behavioral Inhibition system–action to avoid punishment

Question 11

Biological Trait Theory

Answer 11

1) Introversion
2) Extraversion
3) Emotional Stability
4) constraint

Question 12

Personality, the Situation, and Behavior

Answer 12

1) personality can predict behavior (less agreeableness=more violence)
2) the situation sometimes dictates people act contrary to their personality (if strong situation)
3) Interactionism–behavior influence by both personality and situations
4) Modest differences across cultures, but can influence through perceived personality relevant to personality traits level in culture

Question 13

Self-Schema

Answer 13

1) integrated set of memories, beliefs, generalizations about ones self
2) Working self-concept–current immediate experience of the self, highly variable, emphasizes uniqueness, often differs from self-schema

Question 14

Self-Esteem

Answer 14

1) evaluative aspect of the self
2) sociometer theory–avoid social exclusion, internal model of social acceptance and rejection
3) terror management theory–need meaning in life to overcome death anxiety, desire to achieve symbolic immortality
4) Narcissism–too high of self-esteem
5) reflected appraisal–thinking about ourselves in the way we perceive that others think about us

Question 15

Cultural Influences on the self

Answer 15

1) Independent Self-Construal–defining self in terms of individualistic perception, common in individualist cultures
2) Interdependent self-construal–defining self base on relationships with others, common in collectivist cultures