Chapter 8 - Personality Flashcards
(76 cards)
Personality
Enduring ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that characterize a person’s response to situations
- how we react and interact with our environments
What three aspects are attributed to personality?
- Components of IDENTITY
- that distinguish one person from another person
- Perceived INTERNAL CAUSE
- something inside of you, not the environment
- Perceived ORGANIZATION and Structure
- inner personality is what guides your behaviour, there is meaning to your behaviour
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
Unconscious part of mind = Powerful influence on behavior
Psychic Energy
Personality is an energy system, we run on this energy.
Powers the mind, direct or indirect release of energy
- Freud
According to Freud, mental events can be either..
- Conscious
- Preconscious
- Unconscious
The Structure of Personality
Contains the conscious, preconscious, unconscious, superego, ego, and the id
Unconscious
Unavailable to awareness
- Contains the id
- Bulk, most important part of the mind according to Freud
- E.g. infantile memories, repressed wishes and conflicts
The id
Unconscious, is the largest structure at our core, only structure present at birth
PLEASURE PRINCIPLE - immediate gratification, regardless of ethical, rational situations and reality
- pleasure however it can
Preconscious
Available to awareness, but currently unaware of
- e.g. names of friends, home address
Ego
Delaying gratification until it is safe to act on impulses of the id, decides when the id can release psychic energy
- REALITY PRINCIPLE - ability of the mind to assess the reality of the external world, and to act upon it accordingly, as opposed to acting on the pleasure principle
Conscious
Immediate awareness of current environment
Superego
Contains a higher moral ground, way we should be leading our lives
- Morals take higher power over gratification
- Develops at age 4 or 5 - values, norms, ideals of society. Self control
Defense Mechanisms
Unconscious, undesirable, maladaptive behaviours resulting from the ego working with the id
- Protect us from internal conflict, anxiety, impulses
Repression
A defense mechanism that uses the ego to prevent anxiety inducing thoughts from being channeled or remembered
Denial
A defense mechanism that involves a person denying events, refuse to believe what is true
Displacement
A defense mechanism in which acceptable or dangerous impulse is repressed and held back, but is directed at another, more safer target
Sublimation
A defense mechanism in which behaviours and drives
are expressed in more acceptable behaviours, like exercising
Regression
A defense mechanism in which a person retreats into an child like state in order to not deal with their anxiety
Projection
A defense mechanism in which people attribute to others what is in their own minds
- unconsciously taking unwanted emotions or traits you don’t like about yourself and attributing them to someone else
- A common example is a cheating spouse who suspects their partner is being unfaithful
Rationalization
A defense mechanism that involves rationalizing your own behaviours to reduce feelings of anxiety or guilt
Psychosexual Development
Freud - our personalities are molded by early experiences, we pass through these stages
id, pleasure seeking tendencies are focused on different areas
Oral Stage in Psychosexual Development
Approximate Age: 0–2
Erogenous Zone: Mouth
Key Task: Weaning
Fixation if not resolved: Oral fixation
Anal Stage in Psychosexual Development
Approximate Age: 2-3
Erogenous Zone: Anus
Key Task: Toilet training
Fixation if not resolved: anal fixation - people who are going to be very obsessive, extreme orderliness
Phallic Stage in Psychosexual Development
Approximate Age: 4-6
Erogenous Zone: Genitals
Key Task: resolving Oedipus Complex - sexual desire for the other gender of parent, competing with the other parent
Fixation if not resolved: very vain and prideful
