Chapter 16 - Personality

Question 1

style in which a person iynteracts with the world, particularly with other people

Answer 1

personality

Question 2

method of interpreting personality data that is person-centered and focuses on how the unique parts of a person’s personality form a consistent whole

Answer 2

idiographic approach

Question 3

method of interpreting personality data that is variable-centered and focuses on finding consistent patterns of relationships among individuals’ traits

Answer 3

nomothetic approach

Question 4

a person’s relatively stable disposition to behave in a certain way

Answer 4

trait

Question 5

a person’s transient disposition to behave in a certain way

Answer 5

state

Question 6

states that a set of meaningful and distinct personality dimensions can be used to describe how people differ from one another

Answer 6

trait theory

Question 7

statistical technique that is used to identity patterns of correlations in responses to questionairres

Answer 7

factor analysis

Question 8

part of the brain that activates/inhibits approach behavior in response to the anticipation of a reward/punishment

Answer 8

behavioral activation system (BAS) /

behavioral inhibition system (BIS)

Question 9

model that is used to describe personality by assessing a person’s score on each of five dimensions

Answer 9

five-factor model (“big five” theory)

Question 10

five facts of big five theory

Answer 10

extraversion/introversion, agreeableness/antagonism, conscientiousness/unidirectedness, emotional stability/instability, openness/non-openness to experiences

Question 11

long, scientifically rigorous questionnaire that asks questions about many different behaviors and assesses several traits at once

Answer 11

personality inventory

Question 12

most widely used personality inventory, initially developed to identify emotional disorders but now used for a variety of other purposes

Answer 12

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

Question 13

observation that personality ratings are consistent across time and among different observers, but that behavior ratings are not

Answer 13

consistency paradox

Question 14

describes the degree to which a trait is able to be passed on genetically

Answer 14

heritability

Question 15

focuses on the question of whether people’s behaviors are more influenced by situation factors that by personality traits

Answer 15

person-situation controversy

Question 16

concept that unconscious processes underlie all conscious thoughts and actions

Answer 16

psychic determination

Question 17

type of psychotherapy that relates closely to Freudian concepts like the influence of the unconscious.

Answer 17

psychoanalysis

Question 18

requires patients to talk to a psychiatrist about their lives while the psychiatrist listens, analyzes, and interprets each word

Answer 18

psychoanalysis

Question 19

personality theory that focuses on the interaction of mental forces

Answer 19

psychodynamic theory

Question 20

part of the psyche that tries to satisfy a person’s basic drives and survival instincts

Answer 20

Id

Question 21

states that a person should seek immediate gratification and pay no attention to societal expectations or constraints

Answer 21

pleasure principle

Question 22

part of the psyche that tries to identify the basic drive that the id wants to fulfill and to come up with a realistic plan for satisfying that drive

Answer 22

ego

Question 23

states that basic drives and survival instincts should be achieved through actions that will be pleasurable rather than painful

Answer 23

reality principle

Question 24

part of the psyche that forces the ego to consider societal constraints and acceptable forms of behavior

Answer 24

superego

Question 25

developmental stages during which the id's desire for pleasure focuses on many of the body's erogenous zones in turn

Answer 25

psychosexual stages

Question 26

focus on one particular erogenous zone of the body

Answer 26

fixation

Question 27

mental process of self-deception that helps a person alleviate his or her worry or anxiety

Answer 27

defense mechanism

Question 28

process that blocks anxiety-provoking thoughts from the conscious mind

Answer 28

repression

Question 29

error in speech that represents the surfacing of repressed memories and thoughts

Answer 29

Freudian slip

Question 30

retreat to an earlier stage of development

Answer 30

regression

Question 31

process of redirecting an unconscious and unacceptable wish or drive toward a more acceptable alternative

Answer 31

displacement

Question 32

process that occurs when displacement causes a person to direct his or her energy into more important or valuable characteristics

Answer 32

sublimation

Question 33

process of changing a wish into its more acceptable opposite

Answer 33

reaction formation

Question 34

process by which a person who unconsciously experiences an impulse attributes that impulse to someone else

Answer 34

projection

Question 35

act of unconsciously taking on the characteristics of another person who seems better able to cope with feelings of threat and anxiety

Answer 35

identification

Question 36

use of conscious reasoning to explain away anxiety-inducing thoughts and feelings

Answer 36

rationalization

Question 37

shared pool of memories and images common to all humans

Answer 37

collective unconscious

Question 38

particular image, such as mother as caretaker and nurturer, persistent across time and cultures

Answer 38

archetype

Question 39

drive for perfection and superiority throughout adulthood in an effort to compensate for feelings of both physical and mental inferiority rooted in childhood

Answer 39

inferiority complex

Question 40

presents a participant with a series of random, unfamiliar images and asks him to tell stories about them, which supposedly reflects the person's inner hopes, fears, and desires

Answer 40

thematic apperception test (TAT)

Question 41

presents a participant with a series of nebulous inkblots and asks him to say whatever comes to mind; interpretations related to unconscious thoughts

Answer 41

Rorschach inkblod test

Question 42

type of personality theory that emphasizes people's conscious understanding of themselves and their abilities to attain self-fulfillment

Answer 42

humanistic theory

Question 43

person's understanding of who he is

Answer 43

self-concept

Question 44

involves valuing a person despite his or her problems and weaknesses

Answer 44

unconditional positive regard

Question 45

complete feeling of self-acceptance and awareness of fulfilling one's unique potential

Answer 45

self-actualization

Question 46

pyramidal structure that shows the five needs that must be satisfied for a person to achieve self-actualization

Answer 46

hierarchy of needs

Question 47

life-story conception of personality

Answer 47

psychobiography

Question 48

type of personality theory that places emphasis on the beliefs and habits of though, both conscious and automatics, that a person forms through interactions with society

Answer 48

social cognitive theory

Question 49

person's sense of controlling his environment rather than feeling helpless

Answer 49

personal control

Question 50

refers to a person's perception of whether he has control over a given situation

Answer 50

locus of control

Question 51

a person's tendency to believe that he or she controls his own rewards and fate

Answer 51

internal locus of control

Question 52

person's tendency to believe that his rewards and fate are controlled by outside forces

Answer 52

external locus of control

Question 53

person's assumption about the consequences of his or her own behavior

Answer 53

outcome expectancy

Question 54

describes a feeling of hopelessness and passivity caused by being unable to avoid or control traumatic events

Answer 54

learned helplessness

Question 55

theory that a person's behavior is both influenced by and influences a person's personal factors

Answer 55

reciprocal determinism

Question 56

describes a person's expectations about his or her own ability to perform a certain task

Answer 56

self-efficiency

Question 57

a culture that emphasizes people's interdependence

Answer 57

collectivist culture

Question 58

refers to a person's view of himself as part of a larger network of family and community members

Answer 58

interdependent construal of self

Question 59

culture that emphasizes each person's individual rights and freedoms and deemphasizes the social roles that people play in relation to others

Answer 59

individualist culture

Question 60

refers to a person's view of himself or herself as a self-directed, self-contained entity

Answer 60

independent construal of self

Question 61

personality trait exhibiting the tendency to think and act in a collectivist manner

Answer 61

allocentrism

Question 62

personality trait exhibiting the tendency to think and act in an individualistic manner

Answer 62

ideocentrism