Unit 10 Vocabulary

Id

contains 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

Displacement

a defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet

Projective test

a personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics

Unconditional positive regard

an attitude of total acceptance toward another person

Personality

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

Humanistic psychology

historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people; used personalized methods to study personality in hopes of fostering personal growth

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 actualization

the ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one's potential

Collective unconscious

Carl Jung's concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species' history

Projection

a defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

Reaction formation

a defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites. Thus, people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings

Regression

a defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated

Sublimation

a defense mechanism that allows us to act out unacceptable impulses by converting these behaviors into a more acceptable form

Rationalization

a defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one's actions

Repression

the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness

Defense mechanisms

the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

Learned helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

Reciprocal determination

the interacting influences between personality and environmental factors

Ego

the largely conscious, "executive" part of 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

MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory)

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

Superego

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

Transference

the patient's transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships (such as love or hatred for a parent)

External locus of control

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond one's personal control determine one's fate