psych ch 12

What are three ways in which Freud's theory has been criticized?

(1) not scientifically testable and offering after-the-fact explanations, (2) focusing too much on sexual conflicts in childhood, and (3) being based on the idea of repression, which has not been supported by modern research.

Does research support the consistency of personality traits over time and across situations?

A person's average traits persist over time and are predictable over many different situations. But traits cannot predict behavior in any one particular situation.

How do individualist and collectivist cultures differ in their values and goals?

Although individuals vary, different cultures tend to emphasize either individualism or collectivism. Cultures based on self-reliant individualism tend to value personal independence and achievement. Cultures based on socially connected collectivism tend to value group goals, social identity, and commitments.

ABRAHAM MASLOW

"Any theory of motivation that is worthy of attention must deal with the highest capacities of the healthy and strong person as well as with the defensive maneuvers of crippled spirits"

How do people in individualist and collectivist cultures differ?

Individualists give priority to personal goals over group goals and tend to define their identity in terms of their own personal attributes. Collectivists give priority to group goals over individual goals and tend to define their identity in terms of group identifications.

One famous personality inventory is the

MMPI.

factor

a cluster of behavior tendencies that occur together.

self-transcendence

according to Maslow, the striving for identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self.

_______ self-esteem is to fragility as _____ self-esteem is to sturdiness.

defensive, secure

Our scores on personality tests best predict

our average behavior across many situations.

The social-cognitive perspective proposes our personality is shaped by a process called reciprocal determinism, as personal factors, environmental factors, and behaviors interact. An example of an environmental factor is

the presence of books in a home.

social-cognitive perspective

views behavior as influenced by the interaction between persons (and their thinking) and their social context.

self

your image and understanding of who you are; in modern psychology, the idea that this is the center of personality, organizing your thoughts, feelings, and actions

collective unconscious

Carl Jung's concept of a shared, inherited group of memories from our species' history.

What criticisms have social-cognitive theorists faced?

Critics note that social-cognitive theorists focus so much on the situation that they fail to appreciate a person's inner traits, underemphasizing the importance of unconscious motives, emotions, and personality characteristics.

______ (Secure/Defensive) self-esteem is linked to more angry and aggressive behavior. _____ (Secure/Defensive) self-esteem is a healthier self-image that allows us to focus beyond ourselves and enjoy a higher quality of life.

Defensive; Secure

What is the best way to predict a person's future behavior?

Examine the person's past behavior patterns in similar situations.

What are three big ideas that have survived from Freud's psychoanalytic theory?

Freud is credited with first drawing attention to (1) the importance of childhood experiences, (2) the existence of the unconscious mind, and (3) our self-protective defense mechanisms.

How might Freud and Rogers differ in their explanations of how the environment influences the development of a criminal?

Freud might argue that the criminal may have lacked the proper guidance as a child for developing a strong superego, allowing the id free rein. Rogers might assert that the criminal was raised in an environment lacking genuineness, acceptance (unconditional positive regard), and empathy, which inhibited psychological growth and led to a negative self-concept.

How do today's psychologists view Freud's psychoanalysis?

Freud rightly drew our attention to the vast unconscious, to the struggle to cope with anxiety and sexuality, to the conflict between biological impulses and social restraints. But his concept of repression, and his view of the unconscious as a collection of repressed and unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories, cannot survive scientific scrutiny. Freud offered after-the-fact explanations, which are hard to test scientifically. Research does not support many of Freud's specific ideas, such as development being fixed in childhood. (We now know it is lifelong.)

Which of Freud's ideas did his followers accept or reject?

Freud's early followers, the neo-Freudians, accepted many of his ideas. They differed in placing more emphasis on the conscious mind and in stressing social motives more than sex or aggression. Neo-Freudian Carl Jung proposed the collective unconscious. Contemporary psychodynamic theorists and therapists reject Freud's emphasis on sexual motivation. They stress, with support from modern research findings, the view that much of our mental life is unconscious, and they believe that our childhood experiences influence our adult personality and attachment patterns.

psychoanalysis

Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions.

What developmental stages did Freud propose?

He believed children pass through five psychosexual stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital). Unresolved conflicts at any stage can leave a person's pleasure-seeking impulses fixated (stalled) at that stage.

How have humanistic theories influenced psychology? What criticisms have they faced?

Humanistic psychology helped renew interest in the concept of self, and also laid the groundwork for today's scientific subfield of positive psychology. Critics have said that humanistic psychology's concepts were vague and subjective, its values self-centered, and its assumptions naively optimistic.

How did humanistic psychologists view personality, and what was their goal in studying personality?

Humanistic theories sought to turn psychology's attention toward human growth potential. Abraham Maslow thought that human motivations form a hierarchy of needs. If basic needs are fulfilled, people will strive toward self-actualization and self-transcendence. Carl Rogers believed that people are basically good, and that showing unconditional positive regard and being genuine, accepting, and empathic can help others develop a more realistic and positive self-concept.

hierarchy of needs

Maslow's pyramid of human needs; at the base are physiological needs. These basic needs must be satisfied before higher-level safety needs, and then psychological needs, become active.

How well do personality test scores predict our behavior? Explain.

Our scores on personality tests predict our average behavior across many situations much better than they predict our specific behavior in any given situation.

What are the positive and negative effects of high self-esteem?

People who feel confident in their abilities are often happier, have greater motivation, and are less at risk for depression. Inflated self-esteem can lead to self-serving bias, greater aggression, and narcissism.

What are personality inventories?

Personality inventories (such as the MMPI) are questionnaires on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors. Unlike projective tests, these tests are objectively scored. But people can fake their answers to create a good impression; objectivity does not guarantee validity.

What theories inform our understanding of personality?

Psychoanalytic (and later psychodynamic) theory and humanistic theory have become part of our cultural legacy. They also laid the foundation for later theories, such as trait and social-cognitive theories of personality.

How did Sigmund Freud's treatment of psychological disorders lead to his view of the unconscious mind?

Psychodynamic theories view personality from the perspective that behavior is a lively (dynamic) interaction between the conscious and unconscious mind. The theories trace their origin to Sigmund Freud's theory of psychoanalysis. In treating patients whose disorders had no clear physical explanation, Freud concluded that these problems reflected unacceptable thoughts and feelings, hidden away in the unconscious mind. To explore this hidden part of a patient's mind, Freud used free association and dream analysis.

How do social-cognitive theorists view personality development, and how do they explore behavior?

Reciprocal determinism describes the interaction and mutual influence of behavior, internal personal factors, and environmental factors. Albert Bandura first proposed the social-cognitive perspective, which views personality as the product of the interaction between a person's traits (including thinking) and the situation—the social world around us. Social-cognitive researchers apply principles of learning, cognition, and social behavior to personality. A person's average traits are predictable over many different situations, but not in any one particular situation.

How has modern research developed our understanding of the unconscious?

Research confirms that we do not have full access to all that goes on in our mind, but the current view of the unconscious is that it is a separate and parallel track of information processing that occurs outside our awareness. Research also supports reaction formation and projection (the false consensus effect). This processing includes schemas that control our perceptions; implicit memories of learned skills; instantly activated emotions; and the self-concept and stereotypes that automatically influence how we process information about ourselves and others.

What evidence reveals self-serving bias, and how do defensive and secure self-esteem differ?

Self-serving bias is our tendency to perceive ourselves favorably, as when viewing ourselves as better than average or when accepting credit for our successes but not blame for our failures. Defensive self-esteem is fragile, focuses on sustaining itself, and views failure or criticism as a threat. Secure self-esteem is sturdy, enabling us to feel accepted for who we are.

Who created psychoanalytic theory?

Sigmund Freud

How did humanistic psychologists assess a person's sense of self?

Some rejected any standardized assessments and relied on interviews and conversations. Rogers sometimes used questionnaires in which people described their ideal and actual selves, which he later used to judge progress during therapy.

What are the Big Five personality factors, and why are they scientifically useful?

The Big Five personality factors are conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism (emotional stability vs. instability), openness, and extraversion (CANOE). These factors may be objectively measured, they are relatively stable across the life span, and they apply to all cultures in which they have been studied.

Which traits seem to provide the most useful information about personality variation?

The Big Five personality factors—conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion (CANOE)—currently offer the clearest picture of personality. These factors are stable and appear to be found in all cultures.

Researchers have found that low self-esteem tends to be linked with life problems. How should this link be interpreted?

The answer isn't clear because the link is correlational and does not indicate cause and effect.

Why has psychology generated so much research on the self? How important is self-esteem to our well-being?

The self is the center of personality, organizing our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Considering possible selves helps motivate us toward positive development, but focusing too intensely on ourselves can lead to the spotlight effect. High self-esteem is beneficial, but unrealistically high self-esteem, which can be narcissistic, is dangerous (linked to aggressive behavior) and fragile. Rather than unrealistically promoting children's feelings of self-worth, it is better to reward their achievements, which leads to feelings of competence.

How did humanistic psychology provide a fresh perspective?

This movement sought to turn psychology's attention away from drives and conflicts and toward our growth potential. This focus on the way healthy people strive for self-determination and self-realization was in contrast to Freudian theory and strict behaviorism.

What does it mean to be empathic? How about self-actualized? Which humanistic psychologists used these terms?

To be empathic is to share and mirror another person's feelings. Carl Rogers believed that people nurture growth in others by being empathic. Abraham Maslow proposed that self-actualization is the motivation to fulfill one's potential, and one of the ultimate psychological needs (the other is self-transcendence).

Which elements of traditional psychoanalysis have modern-day psychodynamic theorists and therapists retained, and which elements have they mostly left behind?

Today's psychodynamic theories still tend to focus on childhood experiences and attachments, unresolved conflicts, and unconscious influences. However, they are not likely to focus on fixation at any psychosexual stage, or the idea that sexual issues are the basis of our personality.

How do psychologists use traits to describe personality?

Trait theorists see personality as a stable and enduring pattern of behavior. They have been more interested in describing our differences than in explaining them. They identify factors—clusters of behavior tendencies that occur together.

What are some common misunderstandings about introversion?

Western cultures prize extraversion, but introverts have different, equally important skills. Introversion does not equal shyness, and extraverts don't always outperform introverts as leaders or in sales success. Introverts often experience great achievement; many introverts prosper.

A fortune cookie advises, "Love yourself and happiness will follow." Is this good advice?

Yes, if that self-love is of the secure type. Secure self-esteem promotes a focus beyond the self and a higher quality of life. Excessive self-love may promote artificially high or defensive self-esteem, which may lead to unhappiness if negative external feedback triggers anger or aggression.

unconditional positive regard

a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Rogers believed would help people develop self-awareness and self-acceptance.

trait

a characteristic pattern of behavior or a tendency to feel and act in a certain way, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports.

projective test

a personality test, such as the Rorschach, that provides an ambiguous image designed to trigger projection of the test-taker's unconscious thoughts or feelings.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes.

personality inventory

a questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits.

id

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.

Oedipus complex

according to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father.

unconscious

according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware.

self-actualization

according to Maslow, the psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill our potential.

who created psychodynamic theory?

alder, horney, jung

self-concept

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "Who am I?"

who created the trait personality theory?

allport, eysenck, mccrae, costa

personality

an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

Freud's psychoanalytic theory focuses on:

an unconscious region of the mind, psychosexual stages, and defense mechanisms.

Freud believed that defense mechanisms are unconscious attempts to distort or disguise reality, all in an effort to reduce our _________.

anxiety

How did Freud think people defended themselves against anxiety?

anxiety was the product of tensions between the demands of id and superego. The ego copes by using unconscious defense mechanisms, such as repression, which he viewed as the basic mechanism underlying and enabling all the others.

who created the social-cognitive personality theory?

bandura

ALFRED ADLER (1870-1937)

believed that childhood feelings of insecurity can drive behavior, triggering strivings for power and superiority. coined the term inferiority complex.

Gabriela has an extremely clean dorm room. She keeps no clutter on her desk, she awakens very early to keep up with her schoolwork, and her car is spotless. Based on this information, Geneva would MOST likely score high on a scale measuring the Big Five factor of _____.

conscientiousness

According to Freud's view of personality structure, the "executive" system, the ______, seeks to gratify the impulses of the ___________in more acceptable ways.

ego, id

According to Freud's ideas about the three-part personality structure, the _____ operates on the reality principle and tries to balance demands in a way that produces long-term pleasure rather than pain; the _____ operates on the pleasure principle and seeks immediate gratification; and the _____ represents the voice of our internalized ideals (our conscience).

ego, id, superego

narcissism

excessive self-love and self-absorption.

Sophia is sociable, fun-loving, and affectionate. She would likely score very high on a personality test that measures _____.

extraversion

In the psychoanalytic view, conflicts unresolved during one of the psychosexual stages may lead to _____ at that stage.

fixation

According to the psychoanalytic view of development, we all pass through a series of psychosexual stages, including the oral, anal, and phallic stages. Conflicts unresolved at any of these stages may lead to

fixation at that stage.

Tammy meets with a therapist because she wants to do something about the path her life is taking. The doctor tells her to lie down on the couch, relax, and say whatever comes to mind. This psychoanalytic method is known as _____.

free association

According to Rogers, three conditions are necessary to promote personality growth. These are:

genuineness, acceptance, and empathy.

individualism

giving priority to our own goals over group goals and defining our identity in terms of personal traits rather than group membership.

collectivism

giving priority to the goals of our group (often our extended family or work group) and defining our identity accordingly.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs proposes that we must satisfy basic physiological and safety needs before we seek ultimate psychological needs, such as self-actualization. Maslow based his ideas on

his study of healthy, creative people.

fixation

in personality theory, according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved.

free association

in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how unimportant or embarrassing.

repression

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness the thoughts, feelings, and memories that arouse anxiety.

defense mechanisms

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.

Individualist cultures tend to value ________; collectivist cultures tend to value_______

independence; interdependence

Jerry was frequently ill as a child which led him to miss out on many of the activities that his peers experienced. Adler would predict that Jerry would develop a(n):

inferiority complex.

Which two primary dimensions did Hans Eysenck and Sybil Eysenck propose for describing personality variation?

introversion-extraversion and emotional stability-instability

self-esteem

our feelings of high or low self-worth.

self-serving bias

our readiness to perceive ourselves favorably.

self-efficacy

our sense of competence and effectiveness.

spotlight effect

overestimating others' noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we presume a spotlight shines on us).

What was Freud's view of personality?

personality is a result of conflict among the mind's three systems: the id (pleasure-seeking impulses), ego (reality-oriented executive), and superego (internalized set of ideals, or conscience).

Alexis imagines that the self she wants to be is a great athlete, well loved, and well educated. She also imagines the self she fears becoming: homeless, lonely, and unemployed. These visions BEST reflect the concept of:

possible selves

__________ tests ask test-takers to respond to an ambiguous image, for example, by describing it or telling a story about it.

projective

KAREN HORNEY (1885-1952)

proposed that children's feelings of dependency give rise to feelings of helplessness and anxiety. These feelings trigger adult desires for love and security. believed Freud's views of personality showed a masculine bias.

Using such techniques as dream analysis and free association, Dr. Brown tries to reveal and understand a client's unconscious conflicts. Dr. Brown is best described as a(n) __________.

psychoanalytic therapist

The benefit of student teaching and mental health practicum experiences is that it allows professors and supervisors to assess students' behaviors in _____ situations.

realistic

Freud believed that we may block painful or unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, or memories from consciousness through an unconscious process called __________.

repression

Who created the humanistic personality theory?

rogers, maslow

All of Ernest's basic physiological and safety needs have been met, and he feels a solid sense of belonging and of being loved. According to Maslow, this suggests that Ernest will next seek to satisfy his need for:

self esteem

Abraham Maslow suggested that individuals who are open, spontaneous, and not paralyzed by the opinions of others display:

self-actualization.

Elena has been in therapy for two months. When she began therapy, her therapist asked her to describe herself as she would ideally like to be and as she actually is. He explained that when these two descriptions are nearly alike, the person is thought to have a positive:

self-concept.

Tamara has always approached her job with a can-do attitude, assuming that, even if she had never done something before, she would be able to figure it out. This attitude suggests that she has a high degree of:

self-efficacy

The tendency to accept responsibility for success and blame circumstances or bad luck for failure is called _____- _____ _____

self-serving bias

Humanistic theories have been criticized for encouraging attitudes of self-indulgence, _____, and lack of moral restraint.

selfishness

CARL JUNG (1875-1961)

shared Freud's view of the power of the unconscious. He also proposed a human collective unconscious, derived from our species' experiences in the distant past. Today's psychology rejects the idea that experiences can be inherited.

In general, neo-Freudians such as Adler and Horney accepted many of Freud's views but placed more emphasis than he did on

social interactions.

Critics say that ______-______ personality theory is very sensitive to an individual's interactions with particular situations, but that it gives too little attention to the person's enduring traits.

social-cognitive

Albert Bandura proposed the _____-_____ perspective on personality, which emphasizes the interaction of people with their environment. To describe the interacting influences of behavior, thoughts, and environment, he used the term _____ _____.

social-cognitive; reciprocal determinism

The tendency to overestimate others' attention to and evaluation of our appearance, performance, and mistakes is called the_________ ______.

spotlight effect

Freud proposed that the development of the "voice of our moral compass" is related to the _________, which internalizes ideals and provides standards for judgments.

superego

psychosexual stages

the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones.

Modern-day psychodynamic theorists and therapists agree with Freud about

the existence of unconscious mental processes.

reciprocal determinism

the interacting influences of behavior, internal personal factors, and environment.

ego

the largely conscious, "executive" part of personality that, according to Freud, balances the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes.

Rorschach inkblot test

the most widely used projective test; a set of 10 inkblots, designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.

superego

the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future goals.

identification

the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents' values into their developing superegos.

What are projective tests, how are they used, and how are they criticized?

these tests attempt to assess personality by showing people an ambiguous image designed to trigger projection of the test-taker's unconscious thoughts and feelings. The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and the Rorschach inkblot test are two such tests. The Rorschach has low reliability and validity, but some clinicians value it as a source of suggestive leads, an icebreaker, or a revealing interview technique.

Dr. Wayne states that the task of the personality psychologist is to describe the "consistent and persistent" patterns of behavior that distinguish one person from another. Dr. Wayne is MOST likely a _____ theorist of personality.

trait

_________theories of personality focus on describing characteristic behavior patterns, such as agreeableness or extraversion.

trait

Hiro's friends know him as someone who values people, regardless of their failings. When people spend time with Hiro, they know he will have an attitude of total acceptance toward them. Carl Rogers refers to this attitude as _____ positive regard.

unconditional

The total acceptance Rogers advocated as part of a growth-promoting environment is called_________ ____________.________

unconditional positive regard

Freud believed that our defense mechanisms operate _____ (consciously/unconsciously) and defend us against _____.

unconsciously; anxiety

psychodynamic theories

view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences.