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
