Unit 10

collective unconscious

But to Jung, the unconscious events contains more than our repressed thoughts and feelings- he believed we also have a collective unconscious: Carl Jung's concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species' history A common reservoir of images or archetypes, derived from our species' universal experiences Jung said that the collective unconscious explains why for many people, spiritual concerns are deeply rooted and why people in different cultures share certain myths and mages, such as mother as a symbol of nurturance Most of today's psychodynamic psychologists discount the idea of inherited experiences but many psychodynamic and other psychological theories do believe that our shared evolutionary history shaped some universal dispositions

trait

Allport, Eysenck, McCrae, Costa, we have certain stable and enduring characteristics influenced by genetic predispositions View of personality: scientific study of traits has isolated important dimensions of personality, such as the Big Five traits

optimism vs pessimism

a person who is optimistic and looks at the good in a situation enjoys better health than a pessimist, but too much optimism can breed laziness- it takes the right balance of optimism and realism -too much optimism leads to the "it'll never be me syndrome"

projective tests

a personality test, such as the Rorschach, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics Aim to provide this "psychological X-ray" by asking test takers to describe an ambiguous stimulus or tell a story about it in a TAT

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scene Henry Murray introduced a test that asked test takes to tell a story about an ambiguous scene/picture The clinician may presume that any hopes, desires, and fears that people see in the ambiguous image are projections of their own inner feelings or conflicts

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 Large questionnaires covering a wide range of feelings and behaviors- assess several traits at once

id

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drive. The id operates on the pleasure principal, demanding immediate gratification Constantly strives to satisfy basic drives to survive, reproduce, and aggress Think of a newborn infant crying out for satisfaction, crying nothing for the outside world's conditions and demands- this is an id dominated person Or thinking of ppl with a present rather than future time perspective- those who abuse tobacco, alcohol, and other druges, would sooner party now that sacrifice today's pleasure for future sucess and happiness

factor analysis

a statistical procedure used to identify clusters of test items that tap basic components of intelligence such as spatial ability or verbal skill Imagine that people who describe themselves as outgoing also tend to say that they like excitement and practical jokes and dislike quiet reading Such a statistically correlated cluster of behaviors reflects a basic factor, or trait in this case called extraversion

empirically derived

a test (such as the MMPI) developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between two groups From a large pool of items, Hathaway and his colleagues selected those on which particular diagnostic groups differed they then grouped the questions into 10 clinical scales, including scales that assess depressive tendencies, masculinity-femininity and extroversion introversion Hathaway and others initially gave hundreds of true false statements "no one seems to understand me" "i get all the sympathy i should" "i like poetry" to groups of psychologically disordered patients and to normal people They retained any statement, no matter how silly it sounded, on which the patient group's answer differed from that of the normal group "Nothing in the newspaper interests me except comics" may seem senseless, but it just so happened that depressed people were more likely to answer true

Oedipus complex

according to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father Names after the Greek legend of Oedipus, who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother Some psychoanalysts in Freud's era believed that girls experienced a parallel electra complex

fixate

according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure seeking energies at an early psychosexual stage in which conflicts were unresolved- the person's pleasure seeking energies in that stage A person who had been either orally overindulged or deprived (perhaps by abrupt early weaning) might fixate at the oral stage This orally fixated adult could exhibit either passive dependence (ike that of a nursing infant) or an exaggerated denial of this dependence (by acting tough or uttering bitter sarcasm Or the person might consider to seej irak gratification by smoking or excessive eating In such ways, Freud suggested, the twig of personality is bent at an early age

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 Some of these thoughts we store temporarily in a preconscious area from which we can retrieve them into conscious awareness Of greater interest to freud was the mass of unaccaptebale passions and thoughts that he beleived we repress or forcibly block from our consciousness because they would be too unsettling to acknowledge

self actualization

according to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one's potential, the process of fulfilling our potential we also seem self transcendence; meaning, purpose, and communion beyond the self

unconditional positive regard

according to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person an attitude of grace that values us even knowing out failing

self concept

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "Who am I?" for Maslow and Rogers, a central feature of personality is one's self concept: if our self concept is positive, we tend to act and perceive tje world positively if it is negative( if in our eyes we fall far short of our ideal self said rogers( we feel dissatisfied and unhappy a worthwhile goal for therapists, parents, and teachers; and friends, is therefore he said, to help others know, accept and be true to themselves

projective tests: TAT & Rorschach

ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of inner dynamics -psychodynamic -designed to get beneath the conscious surface of a person's self understanding; may be a good ice breaker -results have weak validity and reliability

personality

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

Neuroticism (emotional stability vs. instability)

anxious, insecure, self pitying or calm, secure, self satisfied

social cognitive

bandura, our traits and social context interact to produce our behaviors View of personality: conditioning and observational learning interact with cognition to create behavior patterns

individualism concepts

Self: independent (identity from individual traits) Life task: discover and express one's uniqueness What matters: Me- personal achievement and fulfillment; rights and liberties; self esteem Coping method: change reality Morality: defined by individuals (self based) Relationships: many, foten temporary or casual: confrontation acceptable Attributing behavior: behavior reflects one's personality and attitudes

collectivism concepts

Self: interdependent (identity from belonging) Life task: maintain connections, fit in, perform role What matters: us- group goals and solidarity, social responsibilities and relationships; family duty Coping method: accomodate to reality Morality: defined by social networks (duty-based) Relationships: few, close and enduring, harmony valued Attributing behavior: behavior reflects social norms and roles

extraversion brain

Such studies indicate that extraverts seek stimulation because their normal brain arousal is relatively low For example, pet scans show that a frontal lobe area involved in behavior inhibition is less active in extroverts than in introverts Dopamine and dopamine related neural activity tend to be higher in extraverts

trait

That experience ultimately led Allport to do what Freud did not do- to describe personality in terms of fundamental trait: a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self report inventories and peer reports People's characteristic behaviors and conscious motives (such as the curiosity that actually motivated Allport to see Freud) Allport came to define personality in terms of identifiable behavior patterns He was concerned less with explaining individual traits than describing them

projection

disguising one's own threatening impulses by attributing them to others The thief thinks everyone else is a thief"

narcissicm

excessive self-love and self-absorption -is rising

humanistic theories

focused on the ways people strive for self determination and self realization humanistic theories: view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth in contrast to behaviorisms scientific objectivity, they studied people through their own self reported experiences and feelings two pioneering theorist- Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers offered a "third force" perspective that emphasized human potential like psychoanalytic theory, the humanistic theories have been an important part of psychology's history

individualism

giving priority to one's own goals over group goals and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications If as a military travel you pride yourself in this, a great deal of your identity would remain intact- the very core of your being the sense of "me", the awareness of your personal convictions and values Individualists primarily from north america, western europe, australia, or new zealand give relatively greater priority to personal goals and define their identity mostly in terms of personal attributes They strive for personal control and individual achievement In American culture, with its relatively big I and small w, 85 percent of people have agreed that it is possible to pretty much be who you want to be Individualists share the human need to belong They join groups, but they are less focused on group harmony and doing their duty to the group And being more self contained, they more easily move in and out of social groups- they feel relatively free to switch places of worship, switch jobs, or even leave their extended families and migrate to a new place Marriage is often for as long as they both shall love Individualisms benefits can come at the cost of more loneliness, higher diveove, and homicide rates, and more stress related disease Demand for more romance and personal fulfillment in marriage can subject relationships to more pressure

Julian Rotter

identified two theories on the topic of personal control: external locus of control where they may develop learned helplessness and internal locus of control

openness

imaginative, prefers variety, independent, practical, prefers routine, conforming

case study

in depth study of one individual Perspectives incorporating this method: psychoanalytic, humanistic Benefits: less expensive than other methods Weaknesses: May not generalize to the larger population in depth study of one individual Perspectives incorporating this method: psychoanalytic, humanistic Benefits: less expensive than other methods Weaknesses: May not generalize to the larger population

behavioral approach

in personality theory, this perspective focuses on the effects of learning on our personality development Those who take this approach to personality development emphasize the effects of learning We are conditioned to repeat certain behaviors and we learn by observing and imitating others For example, a child with a very controlling parent may learn to follow orders rather than think independently and may exhibit a more timid personality Focus solely on how our environment controls us

free association

in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever come to mind, no matter how trivial and embarassing He assumed that a line of mental dominoes had fallen from his pateiets' distant past to their troubled past Free association, he believed would allow him to retrace that line, following a chain of though leading into the patient's unconcious where painful unconscious memories, often from childhood, could be retrieved and released

repression

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories Banishes anxiety arousing wishes and feelings from consciousness According to Freud, repression underlies all the other defence mechanisms However, because repression is often incomplete, repressed urges may appear as symbols in dreams or as slips of the tongue in casual conversation

defense mechanisms

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality Tactics that reduce or redirect anxiety by distorting reality They protect our self understanding For Freud, all defense mechanisms function indirectly and unconsciously Just as the boyd unconsciously defends itself against disease, so also does the ego unconsciously defending itself against anxiety For example, repression:

defensive self esteem

is fragile It focuses on sustaining itself, which makes failures and criticism feel threatening Such egotism exposes one to perceived threates, which feed anger and disorder, note Jennifer Crocker and Lora Park

secure self esteem

is less fragile, because it is less contingent on external evaluations To feel accepted for who we are, and not for our looks, wealth, or acclia, relieves pressures to success and enables us to focus beyond yourself By losing ourselves in relationships and purposes larger than self, Crocker and Park add, we may achieve a more secure self esteem and greater quality of life

experimentation

manipulate variables, with random assignment to conditions -social cognitive -discerns cause and effect -some variables cannot feasibility or ethically be manipulated

psychodynamic theories

modern day approaches that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences Theories of our personality that view our behavior as emerging from the interaction between the conscious and unconscious mind, including associated motives and conflicts These theories are descended from Freud's psychoanalytic theory, but the modern day approaches differ in important ways

personality inventories (MMPI) to determine scores on Big Five personality factors

objectively scored groups of questions designed to identify personality dispositions -trait -generally reliable and empirically validated -explore limited number of traits

rationalization

offering self justifying explanations in place of the real more threatening unconscious reasons for one's actions A habitual drinkers says she drinks with her friends "just to be sociable"

self esteem

one's feelings of high or low self-worth

self-efficacy

one's sense of competence and effectiveness

Big Five Personality Traits

openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism

conscientiousness

organized careful disciplined or disorganized careless impulsive High conscientiousness people learn better high school and college grades They are also more likely to be morning types (larks) Evening types are marginally more extroverted

self control

our ability to suppress desires and delay pleasures -ppl with high self control do better in many categories and are less susceptible to depression -physical excercise and time management are both good excercises for improving self confrol -improving self control in one area tends to spill over into other areas bottom line: enabling a person to alter his or her environment boosts health and morale, people like control and choices and they thrive when given them but too many choices can be a negative and lead to being paralyzed in decision making -personal control can be improved

anal

(18-36 months) pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; coping with demands for control

phallic

(3-6 years) pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with incestuous sexual feelings -Boys seek gential stimulation and they develiop both unconscious desires for their mother and jealous and hatred for their father, whom they consider the rival Given these feelings, he thought boys also expreince guilt and a lurking fear of punishment, perhaps by castration, from their father- oedipus complex:

latency

(6 to puberty): a phase of dormant sexual feelings

psychodynamic

Adler, Horney, Jung, the unconscious and conscious minds interact. Childhood experiences and defense mechanisms are important View of personality: the dynamic interplay of conscious and unconscious motives and conflicts shape our personality

inferiority complex

Adler, who has proposed the still popular idea of the inferiority complex himself struggled to overcome childhood illnesses and accidents, and he believed that much of our behavior is driven by efforts to conquer childhood inferiority feelings that trigger our striving for superiority and power

oral

0-18 months, pleasure centers on the mouth- sucking, biting, chewing

psychoanalysis

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

Neo-Freudians

Freud's writings were controversial, but they soon attracted followers, mostly young, ambitious physicians who formed an inner circle around their strong minded leader These pioneering psychoanalysts whom we often call neo-Freudians accepted Freud's basic ideas: the personality structures of id, ego, and superego, the importance of the unconscious, the shaping of personality in childhood, and they dynamics of anxiety and the defense mechanisms But they broke off from Freud in two important ways First, they placed more emphasis on the conscious mind's role in interpreting experience and in coping with the environment Second, they doubted that sex and aggression were all consuming motivations- instead, they tended to emphasize lofiter motives and social interactions

psychoanalytic

Freud, emotional disorders spring from unsocnsious dynams such as unresolved sexula an dother childhood conflicts and fixation at various developmental stages. Defense mechanisms fend off anxiety -View of personality: personality consists of pleasure seeking impulses (the id), a reality oriented executive (the ego) and an internalized set of ideals (the superego)

identification

It's as though something inside the chil decides "if you can't beat em, join em" -identification: the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents' values into their developing superegos Children's superegos gain strength through this as they incorporate many of their parent's values Freud believed that identification with the same sex parent provides what psychologists now call our gender identity: our sense of being male or female

collectivist

If set a drift in a foreign lang as a collectivist: giving priority to the goals of one's group (often one's extended family or work group) and defining one's identity accordingly You might experience a greater loss of identity Cut off from family, groups, and loyal friends, you would lose the connections that have defined who you are In a collectivist culture, group identifications provide a sense of belonging, a set of values, a network of caring individuals, an assurance of security In return, collectivists have deeper, more stable attachments to their groups- their family clan or company In south korea for example, people place less value on expressing a consistent, unique self concept, and more on tradition and shared practices Valuing communal solidarity mean placing a premium on preserving group spiirt and ensuring that other never lose face What people say reflects not only what they feel but what they presume others feel Avoiding direct confrontation, blunt honesty, and uncomfortable topics, collectivists often defer to others wishes and display a polite self effacing humility Elders and superiors receive respect and duty to family may trump personal career and mate preferences In new groups, people may be shy and more easily embarrassed than their individualist counterparts Compared with westerners, people in japanese and chinese cultures exhibit greater shyness toward strangers and greater concern for social harmony and loyalty When the priority is we not me that individualized latte that feel so good to a north american society might sound more like a selfish demand in seoul To be sure there is diversity within cultures, even in the most individualistic countries, some people manifest collectivist values Within many countries there are also distinct cultures related to one's religion, economic status, and region In collectivist japan,a spirit of individualism marks the northern frontier island of Hokkaido But in general, people, especially mean, in competitive individualist cultures have more personal freedom, are less geographically bound to their families, enjoy more privacy, and take pride in personal achievements They even prefer unusual names Over time, the most common american names listed by year on the us social security baby names website were becoming less desirable

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory: the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests. Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered this its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes The classic personality inventory Although it assess "abnormal" personality tendencies rather than normal personality traits, the MMPI illustrates a good way of developing a personality inventory One of its creators Starke Hathaway compared his effort with that of Alfred Binet- developed the first intelligence test by selecting items that identified children would probably have trouble progressing normally in French schools, like Binet's items, the MMPI items were empirically derived: Nevertheless, people have had fun spoofing the MMPI with their own mock items "weeping brings tears to my eyes" "i stay in the bathtub until i look like a raison Today's MMPI-2 also has scales assessing for instance, work attitudes, family problems, and anger In contrast to the subjectivity of most projective tests, personality inventories are scored objectively- so objectively that a computer can administer and score them (the computer can also provide descriptions of people who previously responded similarly) Objectivity does not however guarantee validity For example, individuals taken the MMPI for employment purposes can give socially desirable answers to create a good impressions But in so doing, they may also score high on a lie scale that asses faking (as when people respond false to a universally true statement "i get angry sometimes" The objectivity of the MMPI has contributed to its popularity and to its translation into more than 100 languages

Eyesenck Personality Questionnaire

People in 35 countries around the world have taken the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire When their answers were analyzed, the extraversion and emotionality factors inevitable emerged as basic personality dimensions The Eysencks believed that these factors are genetically influenced and research supports the belief

humanistic

Rogers, Maslow, rather than examining the struggles of sick people, it's better to focus on the ways people strive for self realization View of personality: if your basic human needs are met, people will strive toward self actualization. In a climate of unconditional positive regard, we can develop self awareness and a more realistic and positive self concept

false consensus effect

Roy Baumeister and his colleagues found that people tend to see their foibles and attitudes in others, a phenomenon Freud called projection and today's researchers call the false consensus effect: the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors people who cheat on their taxes or break speed limits tend to think many others do likewise people who are happy kind and trustworthy tend to see others as the same

spotlight effect

Thomas Gilovich: demonstrated this spotlight effect: overestimating others noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders (as if we resume a spotlight shines on us) he demonstrated this by having individual cornell university students don Barry Manilow t shirts before entering a room with other students feeling self conscious because Barry Manilow was not cool the t shirt wearers guess that nearly half their peers would take note of the shirt as they walked in in reality only 23 percent did this absence of attention applies not only to our dorky clothes or bad hair but also to our nervousness irritation or attraction fewer people notice than we presume others are less aware than we suppose of the variability of out appearance- ups and downs- and performance even after a blunder (setting off a library alarm, showing up in the wrong clothes) we stick out like a sore thumb less than we imagine knowing about the spotlight effect can be empowering help public speakers to understand that their natural nervousness is not so apparent to their audience and their speaking performance improves

terror management theory

a theory of death-related anxiety; explores people's emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon, and Tom Pyszczynski proposed that one source of anxiety is the terror resulting from our awareness of vulnerability and death nearly 300 experiments of testing this show that thinking about one's mortality for example, by writing a short essay on dying and its associated emotions, provokes carious terror management defenses- for example, death anxiety increases contempt for others and esteem for oneself faced with a threatening world, people act not only to enhance their self esteem but also to adhere more strongly to worldviews that answer questions about life's meaning the prospect of death promotes religious sentiments, and deep religious convictions enable people to be less defensive/ less likely to rise in defense of their worldview when reminded of death moreover, when contemplating death, people cleave to close relationships the events of 9:11 a striking experience of the terror of death, lef trapped world trade center occupants to spend their last moments calling loved ones and led them most Americans to reach out to family and friends

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

available in 21 languages has been taken by more than 2 million people a year, mostly for counseling, leadership training, and work team development It offers choices such as "do you usually value sentiment more than logic or value logic more than sentiment?" Then it counts the test taker's preferences and labels them as a "feeling type" or a thinking type" and feeds them back ot the person in complementary terms Feeling types for example are told they are sensitive to values and are sympathetic, appreciative, and tactful Thinking types are told they prefer an objective standard of truth and are good at analyzing Every type has it strengths so everyone is affirmed Most people agree with their announced type profile, which mirrors their declared preferences They may also accept their label as a basis for being matcher with work partners and tasks that supposedly suit their temperaments A National Research Council report noted however that despite the test's popularity in business and career counseling, its initial use outran research on its value as a predictor of job performance and the popularity of this instrument in the absence of proven scientific worth is troublesome Although research on the MBTI has been accumulating since those cautionary words were expressed, the test remains mostly a counseling and coaching tool, not a research instrument

person-centered perspective

people are basically good, and given the right environment their personality will develop fully and normally Rogers' person centered perspective (client centered perspective) held that a growth promoting climate required 3 conditions genuineness: when people are genuine, they are open with their own feelings, drop their facades, and are transparent and self disclosing acceptance: when people are acception, they off unconditional positive regard: it is a profound relief to drop our pretended, confess our worst feelings and discover that we are still accepted in a good marriage, a close family, or an intimate relationship we are free to be spontaneous without fearing the loss of others' esteem empathy: when people are empathetic, they share and mirror others feelings and reflect their meaning "rarely do we listen with real understanding, true empathy" said Rogers "yet listening of this very special kind, is one of the most potent force for change that i know" genuineness? acceptance and empathy rogers believed are the water sun and nutrients that enable people to grow like trees for as people are affected and prized, they tend to develop a more caring attitude towards themselves ad persons are empathetically heard it becomes possible for them to listen more accurately to the flow of inner experiences

genital

puberty on): maturation of sexual interests

denial

refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities A partner denies evidence of his loved one's affair

regression

retreating to a more infantil pyschoexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated A little boy reverts back to the oral comfort of thumb sucking in the car on the way to the first day of school

displacement

shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person A little girl kicks the family dog after her mother sends her to her room

extraversion

sociable, fun loving, affectionate or retiring, sober, reserved Shy introverts are more likely than extraverts to prefer communicating by email rather than face to face

agreeableness

soft heartened, trusting, helpful or ruthless, suspicious, uncooperative If one partner scores lower than the other on agreeableness, stability, and openness, marital and sexual satisfaction may suffer

observation

studying how individuals react in diff situations -social cognitive Allow researcher to study the effects of environmental factors on the way an individual's personality is expressed -results may not apply to the larger population

reaction formation

switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites Regressing angry feelings, a person displays exaggerate friendliness

survey

systematic questioning of a random sample of the population Perspective incorporating this method: trait, social cognitive, positive psychology Benefits: results tend to be reliable and can be generalized to a larger population Weaknesses: may be expensive; correlational findings

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

reciprocal determinism

the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment Bandura views the person environment interaction as reciprocal determinism "Behavior, internal personal factors, and environmental influences all operate as interlocking determinants of each other" For example, children's TV habits (past behavior) influence their viewing preferences (internal factor) which influence how television (environ

ego

the largely conscious, "executive" part of the personality that, according to Freud, mediates among 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 As the ego develops, the young child responds to the real world It seeks to gratify the id's impulses in realistic ways that will bring long term pleasure (if lacking an ego, we expressed all our unrestrained sexual or aggressive impulses) The ego contains our partyl conscious perceptions, thoughts, judgements, and memories

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 The most widely used projective test left some blots on the name of Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach People describe what they see in a series of inkblots on a childhood game He and his friends would drip ink on a paper, fold it, and then say what they saw in the resulting blot- do you see predatory animals or weapons? Perhaps you have aggressive tendencies, but is this a reasonable assumption? Clinicians and critics answers differ Some clinicians cherish the Rorschach even offering Rorschach based assessments of criminals' violence potential to judges Others view it as a helpful diagnostic tool, a source of suggestive leads, or an icebreaker and a revealing interview technique The Society for Personality Assessment commends "its responsible use" (which would not include inferring past childhood sexual abuse) and, in response to past criticisms of test scoring and interpretation, a research based computer aided tool has been designed to improve agreement among raters and enhances the test's validity But the evidence is insufficient to its revilers who insist that the Rorschach is no emotional MRI They argue that only a few of the many Rorschach derived scores, such as ones for hostility and anxiety, have demonstrated validity: predicting what they are supposed to predict Moreover, they say these tests do not yield consistent results- they are not reliable Inkblot assesments diagnose many normal adults as pathological Alternative projective assessment techniquew fare little better "even seasoned professionals can be fooled by their intuitions and their faith in tools that lack strong evidence of effectiveness warned Scott Lilienfeld, James Wood, and Howard Garb When a usbtantial body of research demonstrates that old intuitions are wrong, it is time to adopt new ways of thinking

superego

the part of the personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgement (the conscience) and for future aspirations Around age 4 or 5, Freud theorized, a child's ego recognizes the demands of the newly emerging superego The voice of our moral compass/conscience that forces the ego to consider not only the real but the ideal The superego focuses on how we ought to behave It strives for perfection, judging actions and producing positive feelings of pride or negative feelings of guilt Someone with an exceptionally strong superego may be virtuous yet guilt ridden; another with a weak superego may be wantonly self indulgent and remorseless Because the superego demands often oppose the id's, the ego struggles the reconcile the two- it is the personality "executive" mediating among the impulsive demands of the id, the restraining demans of the superego, and the real life demands of the external world If Jane feels sexually attracted to John, she may satisfy both id and superego by joining a volunteer organization that John attends regularly

person situation controversy

the question of whether behavior is caused more by personality and is stable or by situational factors and is changing are we more as Tolkien or as Pirandello imagined us to be To sum up, we can say that at any moment the immediate situation powerfully influences a person's behavior Social psychologists have assumed, albeit without much evidence, that this s especially so when a strong situation makes clear demand We can better predict drivers behavior at traffic lights from knowing the color f the lights than from knowing the driver's personalities Thus professors may perceive students as subdued, based on their classroom behavior, but friends may perceive them as pretty wilde based on their party behavior Averaging our behavior across many occasions does however reveal distinct personality traits Traits exist- we differ- and our differences matter

positive psychology

the scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive

self serving bias

the tendency to perceive oneself favorably -we are prone to accept credit for doing good, not bad like on tests we blame the test itself for doing bad or the teacher -we are prone to see ourselves as above average: people usually rate their job performance as above average and people tend to come up with excuses as to why we have more positive qualities than others and fewer negative qualities

sublimation

transferring of unacceptable impulses into socially valued motives Example: a man with aggressive urges becomes a surgeon

social-cognitive perspective

views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people's traits (including their thinking) and their social context Proposed by Albert Bandura Emphasizes the interaction of our traits with our situations Much as nature and nurture always work together, so do individuals and their situations Social cognitive theorists do consider the behavioral perspective, including others' influence (that's the social part) However, they also emphasize the importance of mental processes- what we think about our situations affects our behavior (that's the cognitive part) Instead of focusing solely on how our environment control su, as behaviorists do, social cognitive theorists focus on how we and our environment interact how do we interpret and respond to external events, how do our schemas our memories and expectations influence our behavior patterns?