Chapter 13 Self and Personality

the levels of psycho dynamic theory

- conscious level: thoughts that we are aware of -precociousness- not in your awareness but could appear in your awareness - unconscious: contents that mind cannot easily retrieve

Hans eysench theory ( perosnality traits had three major dimensions

- how outgoing people were, whether their emotions tended to be stable or unstable, and their ability to control selfish impulses.

Four methods by which personality can be assessed

- protective measures, self-report measures, electronically activated records, and observational methods.

What three factors influence how we act according to albert Bandura?

-environment, multiple person factors( characteristics, self-confidence, an expectations, third factor is behavior

Joe blamed bad weather for his date being unsuccessful. Does this suggest that Joe most likely has an external or internal locus of control?

Joe's explanation for his date suggests that, according to rotter, Joe has an external locus of control, because he blames the weather, which is beyond his control.

Why might it be difficult to tell an introvert from an extrovert at a funeral?

a funeral is a strong situation, and the social norms for how one behaves at a funeral tend to mask individual differences in personality.

self-serving bias

a readiness to perceive oneself favorably. Tendency for people to take personal credit for success but blame failure on external factors.

unconditional positive regard

according to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person

Three aspects of temperament

activity level- overall amount of energy and behavior the child exhibits, emotionality- describes the intensity of the child's emotional reactions sociability- child's tendency to affiliate with others

What are the three aspects of temperament seen in children

activity, emotionality, sociability

characteristic adaptations

adjustment to situational demands

the stabillity of personality

after childhood, people's personality traits tend to be quite stable over time.

what part of the brain is associated with social anxiety?

amygdala

sociometer

an internal monitor of social acceptance or rejection ex: self esteem

What do the conflicts between id and superego lead to _______

anxiety, where ego copes with anxiety through defense mechanism

neuroticism (negative emotionality)

anxious, vulnerable, insecure, hostile, self-conscious

upward comparison

comparing yourself with a person who ranks higher than you on some dimension ( confirms one's low self esteem)

Personality

consists of a person's typical thoughts, emotional responses, and behaviors that are relatively stable over time and across circumstances. (Characteristic thoughts, emotional responses, and behaviors that are relatively stable over time)

Openness to experience

curiosity, flexibility, unconventional attitudes, vivid fantasy, artistic sensitivity, imitativeness.

Conscientiousness (constraint)

punctual, diligent, dependable, disciplines, well-organized

Given the biological underpinnings of introversion, explain whether an introvert would prefer to study in a noisy cafe or a quiet library

quiet library

observational methods

procedures for systematically watching behavior in order to summarize it for scientific analysis

In what three areas do people have positive illusions about themselves

1) most people continually experience the better than average effect 2) they have unrealistic beliefs about how much they can control what happens 3)Most people are unrealistically optimistic about their personal futures.

anal stage

2 to 3 years, tolet training

phallic stage

3 to 5 age, discover pleasure of rubbing their genitals

Would a person from a collectivist culture or form an individualist culture be more likely to have a sense of self that emphasizes strong relationships with family?

A person from a collectivist culture would be more likely to have a sense of self that emphasizes strong relationships with family.

What role oes environement have on personalities?

Adopted children do not typically have similar personalities as their adoptive families, however, the environment for adopted children may still be different, siblings become less similar as they establish friendships outside the home

If sheri is highly extroverted in her 20s, how extroverted is she likely to be in her 50s?

As sheri grows older, she is likely to still be extroverted, but she is likely to become somewhat less extroverted as she ages.

When personality is asses across the genders, what are the main personality differences that are found?

Assessments find that the personalities o females are more empathetic, agreeable, and neurotic, whereas the personality of males are more assertive.

self-compassion

Being kind to ourselves when we suffer, fail, or feel inadequate, recognizing that imperfection is part of the human condition, and accepting rather than denying negative feelings about ourselves.

defense mechanisms

Denial, repression(excluding source of anxiety from awareness), projections, reaction formation, rationalization, displacement, sublimation( channeling unacceptable behaviors into admirable behavior

psychodynamic theory

Freudian theory that personality is driven by unconscious needs and desires.

Collectivist/Individualist Cultures

In some cultures, the interests of the individual are minimized. In other cultures, the interests of individuals are emphasized.

Mr. England sees himself as the best biology teacher ever and feels that he is entitles to special privileges in how he teaches his classes and treats his students. Based on this description, what is the most accurate way to describe Mr. England's high sense of self-esteem?

Mr. England seems to be experiencing narcissism, an overly inflated sense of self-esteem.

According to Freud's psychodynamic approach to personality, which personality structure operates according to the reality principle?

The ego is the part of the personality that operates according to the reality principle, because it uses rationals thought and problem solving to meditate between the desired of the id and morals of the superego.

person-situation debate

The person-situation debate is a historical debate about the relative power of personality traits as compared to situational influences on behavior. The situationist critique, which started the person-situation debate, suggested that people overestimate the extent to which personality traits are consistent across situations.

A parent says to a child "I love you, but I am disappointed that you were careless and broke the vase" According to roger's person-centered approach to personality, what does this statement reveal?

The statement reveals unconditional positive regard, which should help the child develop a personality based on the child's true self, resulting in higher self-esteem

A teenager sees herself as carefree when she is with her friends but responsible when she is watching her little brother. What concept best explains this difference in her sense of self?

The teenager has a working self-concept that allows her to see certain traits as relevant in some situations but not in others.

On average, how similar are the personalities of adopted children to the personalities of the parents who adopt them and raise them?

There is little relation between the personalities of adopted children and the personalities of those who raise them.

What is the main way you may engage in social comparisons with other people to create a positive sense of self?

You can create a positive sense of self by making downward comparisons.

self-schema

beliefs about self that organize and guide the processing of self-relevant information. An integrated set of memories, beliefs and generalizations about self, working self concept varies from moment to moment.

temperament

biologically based tendency to feel or act in certain ways

oral stage

birth to 18 months. Seek pleasure through mouth

psychosexual development

early chindhood experiences influence development of personality

psychosexual stages

erogenous zomes( sexually arousing, these zomes are the mouth, anus and genitals

five-factor theory

extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness to experience. The majority view among psychologists today is that personality can be described adequately using ____ traits.

self-esteem

how we feel about ourselves based on how we believe other's perceive us

Three structures of personality

id, most basic level submerged in the unconscious (pleasure principle) ego, mediates between id and superego superego, brake on id, existing in unconscious structure of morality and conscience

How does biology affect personality?

identical twins are more similar than non-identical twins in personality describes by the five-factor theory.

working self-concept

immediate experience of the self

self-report measures

in which respondents are asked to report directly on their own behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, or intentions. ... Historically, surveys have almost exclusively made use of self-report measures

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

is a type of projective test that involves describing ambiguous scenes. a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

Situationism

is the theory that changes in human behavior are factors of the situation rather than the traits a person possesses.

Sheldon and Amy met on an online dating site. In his profile, Sheldon describes himself as stubborn, competitive, and argumentative. According to the Big Five trait theory, Sheldon is most likely

low in agreeableness

Phoebe is an inventor who is creative and good at using everyday items in unusual ways. According to the Big Five model of personality, Phoebe most likely would be high in

openness

Expectancy Theory

our behaviors are part of our personality, they result from how we think about our expectancy for reinforcement and the values that we place on particular reinforces.

self-concept

our mental representations of our personal experiences, as well as our perception of our consciousness. Who we believe we are

object relations theory

our mind and sense of self develop n relation to objects in our environment and how we relate to these others shapes our personality.

extraversion ( positive emotionality)

outgoing, upbeat, gregarious, sociable friendly, assertive

Psychotism (constraint)

people range from generally controlling their impulses to generally not controlling them

humanistic approach (carl rogers)

people seek to fulfill their potential through self-actualization. Personality develops through positive personal growth

temporal comparison

people view their current selves as better than their past selves

self esteem across lifespan

people's self-esteem varies over their lives. Low points in self-esteem are seen in the late teens and early twenties, especially for females. Low self-esteem is also experienced toward the end of life. Self-esteem typically peaks when people are in their sixties.

social cognitive approaches

personality based on how we think

Learning Approach

personality is molded by what we learn through experiences

projective measures

personality tests that examine unconscious processes by having people interpret ambiguous stimuli

According to sociometer theory self esteem is important because it indicates_________

social acceptance and rejection

better than average effect

the finding that most people think they are above average on various personality trait and ability dimensions (important to survival from an evolutionary standpoint)

Interactionism

the idea that situations and personality interact to determine behavior (strong situations- mask your personality, ex: funeral weak situations- tend to reveal differences in personality)

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

reticular activating system

the part of the brain that is involved in attention, sleep, and arousal extroverted people have lower levels of RAS, and introverted have higher levels

What brain activity is involved in the effect of when we process information about ourselves?

there is activity in the middle of the frontal lobes of the brain. When our frontal lobes are damaged our self-awareness can be reduced or eliminated

basic tendencies

traits determined largely by biological processes

agreeableness

trusting, sympathetic, modest, straight forward, cooperative

One personality theory proposes that the extraversion/introversion dimension of personality is related to activation in the brain. Relative to their optimal level of arousal, extraverts tend to be chronically ________.

underaroused

trait approach

ways of studying personality that is based on the way people's characteristics, their tendencies to act in a certain way over time and across circumstances ( patterns of behavior)

electronically activated records

wearing a device that unobtrusively tracks you real world moment to moment interactions picking up snippets of conversation and other auditory information.

locus of control

whether people control the rewards and punishments that they experience (internal- believing that we got something because we worked hard, external - outcomes result from forces beyond our control)