Lecture 8 - Personality

Question 1

there are three approaches to personality

Answer 1

psychodynamic theories, humanistic approaches and trait theories

Question 2

personality

Answer 2

describes the unique patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviours that distinguish a person from others

Question 3

psychodynamic theories include

Answer 3

id, ego, superego - defence mechanisms - psychosexual stages of development - and contemporary assessment of freudian psychology (neo-freudians)

Question 4

Freud viewed personality as

Answer 4

a closed energy system, the psychic/instinctive energy moves among id, ego and superego

Question 5

id

Answer 5

aka instincts - present at birth and contains the primitive desires (hunger, thirst, sex) operating through the pleasure principle

Question 6

superego

Answer 6

morality - internalise society’s rules for right and wrong, forming what we normally refer to as a conscience

Question 7

ego

Answer 7

aka reality - acts according to the reality principle, ege is responsible for balancing the id and superego

Question 8

overly dominant id can lead to

Answer 8

antisocial behaviour

Question 9

overactive superego can lead to

Answer 9

too much guilt

Question 10

Freud split the psyche up into

Answer 10

conscious (ego and little superego ), preconscious (ego and most of the superego) and id (unconscious)

Question 11

defence mechanisms

Answer 11

psychological operation that functions to protect a person from anxiety-producing thoughts and feelings

Question 12

types of defence mechanisms

Answer 12

avoidance, displacement, projection, regression, suppression, repression, reaction formation and sublimation

Question 13

avoidance

Answer 13

dismissing thoughts or feelings that are uncomfortable or keeping away from people, places, or situations associated with uncomfortable thoughts or feelings

Question 14

displacement

Answer 14

transferring one’s emotional burden or emotional reaction from one entity to another

Question 15

projection

Answer 15

attributing one’s own negative traits or unwanted emotions to others

Question 16

regression

Answer 16

adapting one’s behaviour to earlier levels of psychosocial development when faced with a stressful situation

Question 17

repression

Answer 17

subconsciously blocking ideas or impulses that are undesirable

Question 18

reaction formation

Answer 18

replacing one’s initial impulse toward a situation or idea with the oppsoite impulse

Question 18

reaction formation

Answer 18

replacing one’s initial impulse toward a situation or idea with the opposite impulse

Question 19

sublimation

Answer 19

transforming one’s anxiety or emotions into pursuits considered by societal or cultural norms to be more useful

Question 20

psychosexual stages of development

Answer 20

5 stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital) and personality is the product of conflict between these stages

Question 21

contemporary assessment of Freud

Answer 21

defence mechanisms and the distinction between conscious and unconscious processes are still widely used but Freud’s ideas are subjective and lack scientific evidence, there is also an overemphasis on sexuality and basic instinct and is too pessimistic

Question 22

Neo-Freudians

Answer 22

dcreased emphasis on sex and focussed more on the social environment and effects of culture on personality -> Adler, Jung and Horney

Question 23

Alfred Adler

Answer 23

founder of individual psychology-focuses on our drive to compensate for feelings of inferiority (a persons feeling that they lack worth or don’t measure up to standards of society)

Question 24

Carl Jung

Answer 24

collective unconscious layer of our unconscious mind is common to mankind (like universal fear of dying) and he defined introversion and extroversion

Question 25

introversion

Answer 25

focused on the internal world of reflection, dreaming and vision - thoughtful and insightful, uninterested in joining activities of others

Question 26

extraversion

Answer 26

focused on the outisde world of objects, sensory perception and action, energetic, interested in joining the activities of the world

Question 27

Karen Horney

Answer 27

Freud thinks women have penis envy but Horney claimed men envy women's ability to bear children

Question 28

Humanistic theories of personality

Answer 28

assume that human nature is good, that they strive toward self-actualisation --> criticised pscychodynamic theories as they overemphasised abnormal behaviour

Question 29

trait theories of personality include

Answer 29

early trait theory, big five theory,

Question 30

trait

Answer 30

stable personality characteristic

Question 31

Big five theory

Answer 31

OCENA - Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism

Question 32

how do situations affect personality

Answer 32

some pychologists argue that personality does not originate from stable traits but due to situational experience - has lead to a number of social-cognitive learning theories

Question 33

external locus of control

Answer 33

expect that most of the outcomes occur because of chance, luck, opportunity, or other factors beyond one's control (feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness)

Question 34

internal locus of control

Answer 34

believe that most of the outcomes are due to one's own talent and effort (manage stress more effectively, more likely to take responsibility for their actions, less sympathetic with the plight of others)

Question 35

reciprocal determinism

Answer 35

personality features the mutual influence from the person and the situation -

Question 36

self-efficacy

Answer 36

confidence in your abilities to gain reinforcement

Question 37

temperament

Answer 37

child's pattern of mood, activity or emotional responsiveness linked to later personality

Question 38

the origin of temparement is

Answer 38

biological but quicklu begins to interact with the physical and social environment

Question 39

dimensions of temparement in adult personality

Answer 39

reactivity and self-regulation

Question 40

personality is assessed through

Answer 40

observation, interview, standardized tests and analysis of data from cell phjones and social media

Question 41

personality inventories

Answer 41

objective tests often using numbered scales or multiple choice

Question 42

personality inventories

Answer 42

objective tests often using numbered scales or multiple choice

Question 43

Projective tests

Answer 43

tests bsaed on Freudian theory providing an ambigous stimulus such as the Rorshcach Inkblot test

Question 44

the self-concept

Answer 44

includes age, sex, student status, personality features, relationships, physical attributes and various other roles

Question 45

the self-concept

Answer 45

includes age, sex, student status, personality features, relationships, physical attributes and various other roles

Question 46

self-schema

Answer 46

cognitive organization that helps us think about the self and process self-relevant information

Question 47

self-reference effect

Answer 47

we process self-relevant information differently than information about others