Personality Development Flashcards
(110 cards)
Psychosexual
Freud. Personality develops through the interaction of personal needs and environment. Past is essential in present behaviors. Personality involves transforming three basic instincts into socially acceptable, rational behavior.
Libido
Freud. Basic, instinctual life force.
Id
Present at birth. Basic instincts (libido, sex. aggression, survival, pleasure). Pleasure principle. Strives to reduce tension by seeking immediate gratification of needs.
Ego
Emerges during first year of life. Reality principle. Make socially acceptable, reality-based resolution to the urges of the id and demands of super-ego.
Superego
Morality principle. Emerges at 5 years old. Morals and standards are internalized through social interactions and societal rules and mores. Counterbalances id.
Anxiety according to Freud
Ego is unable to reconcile id’s urges with superego’s moralized response. You create defense mechanisms to control anxiety.
Repression
Pushing undesirable thoughts and feelings from consciousness
Regression
Return to an earlier, more comfortable (childlike) period in life
Displacement
Redirecting feelings onto a less threatening person or object.
Projection
Placing personal feelings, thoughts, or motives on someone else.
Rationalization
Justifying one’s behavior with logical-sounding reasons, thus concealing the real reason for a behavior.
Compensation
Substituting a successful experience for one that produced failure.
Reaction formation
Expressing opposite motives than was originally intended to help prevent unwanted attitudes or feelings from becoming expressed.
Psychosexual theory
People must resolve various conflicts resulting from the psychic or libidinal energy.
Fixation
Inability to resolve important conflict due to either over gratification or under gratification of a need in any stage.
Oral stage
Birth to one year. Source of pleasure is through mouth. Fixation results in oral needs continuing to influence personality (dependence, passivity, gullibility, sarcasm, smoking, gum chewing, thumb sucking, overeating)
Anal stage
1-3 years. Primary source of gratification is the anus. Pleasure is attained through retention and expulsion of feces and urine. Fixation results in retentiveness (stingy, obsessive thinking, compulsive behavior, cleanliness, orderliness) or explosiveness (messiness, destructiveness, cruelty)
Phallic stage
3-5 years. Primary source of gratification is genitals. Pleasure from manipulating genitals. Oedipus complex (male child desires to eliminate father and be with mother), Electra complex (female child desires to eliminate mother). Fixation involves sexual exploitation of others.
Latency stage
6-11 years. Secual desires become dormant. Focus turns to mastery of social skills, personal awareness, and ego refinement. Learn how to relieve anxiety through use of defense mechanisms.
Genital stage
Puberty causes reemergence of sexual impulses. Show interest in sex and capable of real love. Potential remergence of Oedipus/Electra complexes. Success leads to sexual maturation, marriage, and child rearing.
Psychosocial theory
Proposed by Erik Erikson. Focuses on individual’s learned social interactions within the environment as a key influence on ego development. Personality continues to develop throughout one’s life and developmental problems are reversible. Successfully resolving these crises at each stage holds potential for positive growth.
Basic trust vs. mistrust
Birth to 1 or 2. Caretaker’s responsibility is to create a trusting environment for, and positive relationship with, the infant. Mistrust occurs when infants are not comforted, encounter unpredictability, or handled in an uncaring manner.
Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
1 or 2 - 3 years. Toddlers use their developing motor and cognitive skills to decide for themselves. Positive interactions with caretakers leads to autonomy (reasonable balance of freedom and control rather than forcing the child to comply, resulting in feelings of shame or doubt over one’s ability to operate on the social environment)
Initiative vs. Guilt
3 - 5 years. Display sense of ambition and responsibility. Parents can help further these characteristics by helping children set goals and carry out their plans without being too controlling, which leads to guilt and inhibition. Family relationships are key social interactions and children must recognize and respect rights of others.