Unit 10 Vocab

Self esteem

Confidence in one's own ability or worth

External control

Conversely, people with an external locus of control generally believe that luck and other forces outside of their own control determine their destinies.

Projective test

Projective tests are often used by psychoanalysts. They involve asking people to interpret ambiguous stimuli. For instance, the Rorschach inkblot test.

SElf report inventories

A far simpler and more widespread method of personality assessment is to use self-report inventories. They are essentially questionnaires that ask people to provide information about themselves. Many different kinds of psychologists, such as humanistic psychologists, trait theorists, and cognitive-behavioral psychologists, might use self-report inventories as one means by which to gather data about someone. These kinds of tests are often referred to as objective personality tests since people's scores are determined simply by their answers and are thus unlikely to be affected by evaluator bias. An interview, on the other hand, is a subjective assessment. Although such subjectivity decreases reliability and opens the door to bias, some believe that subjective measure yield richer and more valid data.

Carl Jung

A number of Freud's early followers developed offshoots of pscyhoanalytic theory. These approaches are now usually referred to as psychodynamic or neo-Freudian approaches. Two of the best - known creators of psychodynamic theories are Carl Jung and Alfred Adler. Jung proposed that the mind consists of two parts: The personal unconscious and the collective unconscious

Personal unconscious

A number of Freud's early followers developed offshoots of pscyhoanalytic theory. These approaches are now usually referred to as psychodynamic or neo-Freudian approaches. Two of the best - known creators of psychodynamic theories are Carl Jung and Alfred Adler. Jung proposed that the mind consists of two parts: The personal unconscious and the collective unconscious Personal Unconscious is more similar to Freud's view of the unconscious. Jung believed that an individual's personal unconscious contains the painful or threatening memories and thoughts the person does not wish to confront; he termed these complexes.

Alfred Adler

Adler is called an ego psychologist because he downplayed the importance of the unconscious and focused on the conscious role of the ego. Adler believed that people are motivated by the fear of failure, which he termed inferiority, and the desire to achieve, which he called superiority. Adler is also known for his work about the importance of birth order in shaping personality.

Albert Bandura

Alfred Bandura suggested that personality is created by an interaction between the person (traits), the environment, and the person's behavior. His model is based on the idea of triadic reciprocality, also known as reciprocal determinism. These terms essentially mean that each of these three factors influence both of the other two in a constant loop like fashion. Ex: Brad is a friendly person. This personality trait influences Brad's behavior in that he talks to a lot of people. It influences the environment into which he puts himself in that he goes to a lot of parties. Brad's loquacious behavior affects his environment in that it makes the parties even more party like. In addition, Brad's talkativeness reinforces his friendliness; the more he talks, the more friendly he thinks he is. FInally, the environment of the part reinforces Brad's outgoing nature and encourages him to strike up conversations with many people.

Somatotype theory

Another relatively early biological theory of personality was William Sheldon's somatotype theory. Sheldon identified three body types: Endomorphs (fat), mesomorphs (muscular), and ectomorphs (thin). Sheldon argued that certain personality traits were associated with each of the body types. For ex: Ectomorphs were shy and secretive, mesomorphs were confident and assertive, and endomorphs were friendly and outgoing. Sheldon's findings have not been replicated, and his methodology has been questioned. In addition, his research shows only a correlation and therefore, even if it were found to be reliable and valid, it does not show that biology shapes personality

Self efficacy

Bandura also posited that personality is affected by people's sense of self-efficacy. People with high self-efficacy are optimistic about their own ability to get things done whereas people with low self-efficacy feel a sense of powerlessness. Bandura theorized that people's sense of self-efficacy has a powerful effect on their actions. Ex: Two students have equal abilities and knowledge and are taking a test. The one with higher self-efficacy would expect to do better and therefore might act in ways to make that true (for ex: spend more time on the test questions).

Triadic reciprocality or reciprocal determinis

Determinism: The belief that what happens is dictated by what has happened in the past. Alfred Bandura suggested that personality is created by an interaction between the person (traits), the environment, and the person's behavior. His model is based on the idea of triadic reciprocality, also known as reciprocal determinism. These terms essentially mean that each of these three factors influence both of the other two in a constant loop like fashion. Ex: Brad is a friendly person. This personality trait influences Brad's behavior in that he talks to a lot of people. It influences the environment into which he puts himself in that he goes to a lot of parties. Brad's loquacious behavior affects his environment in that it makes the parties even more party like. In addition, Brad's talkativeness reinforces his friendliness; the more he talks, the more friendly he thinks he is. FInally, the environment of the part reinforces Brad's outgoing nature and encourages him to strike up conversations with many people

Defense mechanisms

Ex: Assume that Muffy, captain of the high school cheerleading squad, decides to leaver her boyfriend of two years, Biff, the star wide receiver of the football team, for Alvin, the star of the school's chess team. Needless to say, Biff is devastated, but his ego can choose from a great variety of defense mechanisms with which to protect him. Part of the ego's job is to protect the conscious mind from the threatening thoughts buried in the unconscious. The ego uses defense mechanisms to help protect the conscious mind. Some defense mechanisms are: Repression: Blocking thoughts out from conscious awareness When asked how he feels about the breakup with Muffy, Biff replies, "who? Oh, yea, I haven't thought about her in a while" Denial: Not accepting the ego-threatening truth Biff continues to act as if he and Muffy are still together. He waits by her locker, caller her every night, and plans their future dates. Displacement: Redirecting one's feelings toward another person or object. When people displace negative emotions like anger, they often displace them onto people who are less threatening than the source of the emotion. For instance, a child who is angry at his or her teacher would be more likely to displace the anger onto a classmate than onto the teacher Biff could displace his feelings of anger and resentment onto his little brother, pet hamster, or football. Projection Believing that the feelings one has toward someone else are actually held by the other person and directed at oneself Biff insists that Muffy still cares for him Reaction Formation: Expressing the opposite of how one truly feels Biff Claims he loathes Muffy Regression: Returning to an earlier, comforting form of behavior Biff begins to sleep with his favorite childhood stuffed animal, Fuzzy Kitten Rationalization Coming up with a beneficial result of an undesirable occurrence Biff embarks on an in-depth research project about failed teen romances Intellectualization: Undertaking an academic, unemotional study of the topic Bill embarks on an in-depth research project about failed teen romances Sublimation Channeling one's frustration toward a different goal. Sublimation is viewed as a particularly healthy defense mechanism Biff devotes himself to writing poetry and publishes a small volume before he graduates high school

Factor analysis

Factor analysis is a statistical technique used to accomplish this feat. Factor analysis allows researchers to use correlations between traits in order to see which traits cluster together as factors. If a strong correlation is found between punctuality, diligence, and neatness, for ex, one could argue that these traits represent a common factor that we could name conscientiousness.

Freud's psychosexual stage theory

Freud's theory has FOUR stages: Oral stage, the anal stage, the phallic stage, and the adult genital stage. Between the phallic stage and the adult genital stage is a latency period that some people refer to as a stage. Freud believed that sexual urges were an important determinant of people's development. Each of the stages is named for the part of the body from which people derive sexual pleasure during the stage. Stages: Oral Stage: (birth to one year), Children enjoy suching and biting because it gives them a form of sexual pleasure Anal Stage: (one to three years), children are sexually gratified by the act of elimination. Phallic Stage: (three to five years), sexual gratification moves to the genitalia. The oedipus crisis, in which boys sexually desire their mothers and view their fathers as rivals for their mother's' love, occurs in this stage. Electra Crisis: Girls desire their fathers and see their mothers as competition for his love. In the phallic stage, Freud suggests that boys and girls notice their physical difference. As a result, girls come to evidence penis envy, the desire for a penis, and boys suffer from castration anxiety, the fear that if they misbehave, they will be castrated (remove the testicles). Because of this, Freud believed that the boys used the defense mechanism of identification - to protect the conscious mind by attaching to an individual who they believe threatens them. Pushes boys to break attachment with mom and become more like men. Latency Stage: After the phallic stage, children enter latency (six years to puberty), during which they push all their sexual feelings out of conscious awareness (repression). They start school, where they learn both how to interact with others and a myriad of academic skills Adult Genital Stage: People remain in this stage for the rest of their lives and seek sexual pleasure through sexual relationships with others

George Kelly

George Kelly proposed the personal-construct theory of personality. Kelly argued that people, in their attempts to understand their world, develop their own, individual systems of personal constructs. such constructs consist of pairs of opposites such as fair-unfair, smart-dumb, and exciting - dull. People then use these constructs to evaluate their worlds. Kelly believed that people's behavior is determined by how they interpret the world. His theory is cased on a fundamental postulate that essentially states that people's behavior is influenced by their cognitions and that by knowing how people have behaved in the past, we can predict how they will act in the future.

Gordon Allport

Gordon Allport believed that although there were common traits useful in describing all people, a full understanding of someone's personality was impossible without looking at their personal traits. Allport differentiated between three different types of personal traits. Gordon Allport suggested that a small number of people are so profoundly influenced by one trait that it plays a pivotal role in virtually everything they do.He referred to such traits as cardinal disposition. Allport posted that there are two other types of dispositions, central and secondary, that can be used to describe personality. CD have a larger influence on personality than secondary dispositions. Central dispositions are more often apparent and describe more significant aspects of personality.

Hans Eyesenck

Hans Eyesenck believed that by classifying all people along an introversion-extraversion scale and a stable-unstable scale, we could describe their personalities.

Heritability

Heritability is a measure of the amount of variation in a trait in a given population that is due to genetics. For ex: Some traits, like height, are highly heritable; over 90% of the variation in Americans' height is thought to be due to genetic factors. Other traits, like intelligence, seem less strongly linked to genetic factors; estimates are that the heritability of intelligence is in the 50% - 70% range.

Hippocrates

Hippocrates believed that personality was determined by the relative levels of four humors (fluids) in the body: Blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. While Hippocrates' theory has obviously turned out to be untrue, he is thought to be one of the first people to recognize that biological factors impact personality.

Karen Horney and Nancy Chodorow

In opposition to Freud's Psychoanalytic theory, These two girls believe that this idea of penis envy grew out of Freud's assumption that men were superior to women rather than from any empirical observations. They suggested that if women were envious of men, it was probably due to all the advantages men enjoyed in society. Horney posited that men may suffer from womb envy.

Womb envy

In opposition to Freud's Psychoanalytic theory, These two girls believe that this idea of penis envy grew out of Freud's assumption that men were superior to women rather than from any empirical observations. They suggested that if women were envious of men, it was probably due to all the advantages men enjoyed in society. Horney posited that men may suffer from womb envy. Karen Horney posited that men may suffer from womb envy, jealousy of women's reproductive capabilities. Feminists also make issue with Freud's assertion that men have stronger superegos than women.

Locus of control

Julian Rotter's concept of locus control. A person can be described as having either an internal or an external locus of control. People with an internal locus of control feel as if they are responsible for what happens to them. For instance, they tend to believe that hard work will lead to success. Conversely, people with an external locus of control generally believe that luck and other forces outside of their own control determine their destinies. A person's locus of control can have a large effect on how a person thinks and acts, thus impacting their personality. A number of positive outcomes has been found to be associated with having an internal locus of control. As compared with externals, internals tend to be healthier, to be more politically active, and to do better in school. But these findings are based on correlational research.

Collective unconscious

Jung contrasted the personal unconscious with the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious is passed down though the species and, according to Jung, explains certain similarities we see between cultures. The collective unconscious contains contains archetypes that Jung define as universal concepts we all share as part of the human species.

Julian Rotter

Locus Control

Validity

Means accuracy; a valid test measures what it purports to measure.

Temperament

Much evidence suggests that genes play a role in people's temperaments, typically define as their emotional style and characteristic way of dealing with the world Psychologists believe that babies are born with different temperaments. A child's temperament, then, is thought to influence the development of his or her personality.

Unconscious

Much of people's behaviors is controlled by a region of the mind called the unconscious. We do not have access to the thoughts in the unconscious. Freud asserted that we spend tremendous amount of psychic energy to keep threatening thoughts in our unconscious

Reliability

Often linked to consistency; reliable measures yield consistent, similar results even if the results are not accurate

Paul Costa and Robert McCrae

Paul Coast and Robert McCrae have proposed that personality can be described using the big five personality traits: Extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and emotional stability (or neuroticism)

Big five traits

Paul Coast and Robert McCrae have proposed that personality can be described using the big five personality traits: Extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and emotional stability (or neuroticism). Extraversion refers to how outgoing or shy someone is. Agreeableness has to do with how easy to get along with someone is. People high on the conscientiousness dimension tend to be hardworking, responsible and organized. Openness to new experiences is related to one's creativity, curiosity, and willingness to try new things. Finally, emotional stability has to do with how consistent one's mood is.

Internal control

People with an internal locus of control feel as if they are responsible for what happens to them. For instance, they tend to believe that hard work will lead to success. A number of positive outcomes has been found to be associated with having an internal locus of control. As compared with externals, internals tend to be healthier, to be more politically active, and to do better in school. But these findings are based on correlational research

Id

Personality consists of three parts: id, ego, and the superego. Id: The id is the unconscious and contains instincts and psychic energy. Freud believed two types of instincts exist: Eros (the life instincts) and Thanatos (the death instincts). Libido is the energy that directs the life instincts. Eros is most often evidence as a desire for sex, while Thanatos is seen in aggression. The id is propelled by the pleasure principle; it wants immediate gratification. The id exists entirely in the unconscious mind. Babies are propelled solely by their ids. They cry whenever they desire something without regard to the external world around them.

B.F. Skinner

Radical Behaviorists like B.F. Skinner take a very different approach to personality. In fact, these theorists aruge that behavior is personality and that the way most people think of the term personality is meaningless. According to this view, personality is determined by the environment. The reinforcement contingencies to which one is exposed creates one's personality. Therefore, by changing people's environments, behaviorists believe we can alter their personalities. Radical behaviorists are criticized for failing to recognize the importance of cognition. Today, many psychologists call themselves cognitive-behavioral or social-cognitive theorists.

Raymond Cattell

Raymond Cattell developed the 19PF (personal factor) test to measure what he believed were the 16 basic traits present in all people, albeit to different degrees

Barnum effect

Research has demonstrated that people have the tendency to see themselves in vague, stock descriptions of personality. This phenomenon, the Barnum effect, is named after the famous circus owner P.T. Barnum, who once said "There's a sucker born every minute." Astrologers, psychics, and fortune-tellers take advantage of the Barnum effect in their work.

Stage theory

Sigmund Freud believed that one's personality was essentially set in early childhood. He proposed a psychosexual stage theory of personality; State Theory. Stage theories are ones in which development is thought to be discontinuous. In other words, the stages are qualitatively different from one another and recognizable, and people more between them in a stepwise fashion. These theories also posit that all people go through all the stages in the same order.

Self actualization

Self-actualization sits atop this hierarchy. Rogers created self theory. He believed that although people are innately good, they require certain things from their interactions with others, most importantly, unconditional positive regard, in order to self-actualize

Carl Rogers

Self-actualization sits atop this hierarchy. Rogers created self theory. He believed that although people are innately good, they require certain things from their interactions with others, most importantly, unconditional positive regard, in order to self-actualize. Unconditional positive regard is a kind of blanket acceptance. Parents that make their children feel as if they are loved no matter what provide unconditional positive regard. However, parents who make their children feel as if they will be loved only if they earn high grades or have the right kind of friends, send their children the message that their love is conditional. Roger believes that people must feel accepted in order to make strides toward self-actualization.

Self concept

Self-concept is a person's global feeling about himself or herself. Self-concept develops through a person's involvement with others, especially parents. Someone with a positive self-concept is likely to have high self-esteem

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud believed that one's personality was essentially set in early childhood. He proposed a psychosexual stage theory of personality; State Theory

William Sheldon

Somatotype Theory

Trait theorist

Some trait theorists believe that the same basic set of trains can be used to describe all people's personalities. Such a belief characterizes a nomothetic approach. For ex, Hans Eyesenck believed that by classifying all people along an introversion-extraversion scale and a stable-unstable scale, we could describe their personalities. Raymond Cattell developed the 19PF (personal factor) test to measure what he believed were the 16 basic traits present in all people, albeit to different degrees. Most recently, Paul Coast and Robert McCrae have proposed that personality can be described using the big five personality traits: Extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and emotional stability (or neuroticism). Other trait theorists, called idiographic theorists, assert that using the same set of terms to classify all people is impossible. Rather, they argue, each person needs to be seen in terms of what few traits best characterize his or her unique self. The main criticism of trait theories is that they underestimate the importance of the situation. Nobody is always conscientious or unfailingly friendly. Therefore, critics assert, to describe someone's personality, we need to take the context into consideration.

Archetypes

The collective unconscious contains contains archetypes that Jung define as universal concepts we all share as part of the human species. For ex: the shadow represents the evil side of personality and the persona is people's creation of a public image.Jung suggested that the widespread existence of certain fears, such as fear of the dark, and the importance of the circle in many cultures, provides evidence for archetypes

Type B

Tend to be relaxed and easygoing

Type A

Tend to feel a sense of time pressure and are easily angered. They are competitive and ambitious; they work hard and play hard. Research has shown that type A people are at a higher risk for heart disease than the general population

MMPI

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality inventory (MMPI-2) is one of the most widely used self-report instruments. A potential problem with such inventories is that people may not be completely honest in answering the questions. Some tests have "lie scales" built in to try to detect when people are not being honest.

Thematic apperception test (TAT)

The TAT, consists of a number of cards, each of which contains a picture of a person or people in an ambiguous situation.People are asked to describe what is happening in the pictures. Since both TAT and inkblots are ambiguous, psychoanalysts reason that people's interpretations reflect their unconscious thoughts. People are thought to project their unconscious thoughts onto the ambiguous stimuli. For instance, someone who is struggling with his or her unconscious aggressive impulses may be more likely to describe violent themes. Scoring projective tests, however, is a complicated process. For instance, the Rorschach test looks not only at the content people describe but also the way they hold and turn the car and whether they focus on the whole inkblot or just a portion of it. Many people believe that projective tests are particularly unreliable given that they rely so extensively on the therapist's' interpretations.

Superego

The last part of the personality to develop is the superego. Like the ego, the superego operates on both the conscious and unconscious level. Around the age of 5, children begin to develop a conscience and to think about what is right and wrong. This sense of conscience, according to Freud, is their superego. Oftentimes, the ego acts as a mediator between the id and the superego. As you cram for that midterm, the id tells you to go to sleep because you are tired or to go to that part because it will be fun. The superego tells you to study because it is the right thing to do. The ego makes some kind of compromise. You will study for two hours, drop by the party, and then go to sleep.

Oedipus crisis

The oedipus crisis, in which boys sexually desire their mothers and view their fathers as rivals for their mother's' love, occurs in this stage

Complexes

The painful or threatening memories and thoughts the person does not wish to confront; Jung termed these complexes

Ego

The second part of personality is ego. The ego follows the reality principle, which means its job is to negotiate between the desires of the id and the limitations of the environment. The ego is partly in the conscious mind and partly in the unconscious mind and partly in the unconscious mind.

Personality

The unique attitudes, behaviors, and emotions that characterize a person

Rorschach inkblot test

This test involves showing people a series of inkblots and asking them to describe what they see.

Abraham Maslow

Two of the most influential humanistic psychologists were Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. Both of these men believed that people are motivated to reach their full potential or self - actualize. Maslow developed the hierarchy of needs that you read about in the motivation chapter.

unconditional positive regard

Unconditional positive regard is a kind of blanket acceptance. Parents that make their children feel as if they are loved no matter what provide unconditional positive regard. However, parents who make their children feel as if they will be loved only if they earn high grades or have the right kind of friends, send their children the message that their love is conditional. Roger believes that people must feel accepted in order to make strides toward self-actualization.