AP Psychology - Chapter 12: Personality

individual’s characteristic style of behaving, thinking, and feeling

consistency and distinctiveness

the stability of a person’s behavior over time and across situations

the behavioral differences among people reacting to the same situation

posit that behavior is dynamic interaction between conscious and unconscious mind

focus on inner capacities for growth and self-fulfillment

examine characteristic patterns of behavior

explore interaction between traits and social context

series of answers to a questionnaire that asks people to indicate the extent to which sets of statements or adjectives accurately describe their own behavior or mental state

well-researched clinical questionnaire used to assess personality and psychological problems

first published in 1940  — most widely used self-report tool for assessing personality.  Broad applications across a range of mental health, medical, substance abuse, forensic, and personnel screening settings as a measure of psychological maladjustment

a cognitive bias that occurs when individuals believe that generic personality descriptions and statements apply to themselves

assessments made up of ambiguous stimuli that can be perceived and responded to in many different ways

Popular among psychodynamically oriented psychologists (i.e. Rorschach Inkblot Test and Thematic Apperception Test (TAT))

habitual ways of behaving, thinking, and feeling

one of the founders of Personality Psychology — 18,000 words to describe people

• Cardinal, Central, Secondary traits

  • Met Freud in 1922 “psychoanalysis tends to dig too deeply”

used factor analysis to identify clusters of behavior tendencies that occur together [16PF inventory]

Personality is largely governed by biology.

Focused on temperament

Personality is dependent on the balance between excitation and inhibition process of the autonomic nervous system (ANS)

the primary developers of the five-factor model of personality traits

most popular theory in personality psychology today and most accurate approximation of the basic trait dimensions, [OCEAN]

OCEAN

Openness

Conscientiousness

Extroversion

Agreeableness

Neuroticism

regards personality as formed by needs, strivings, and desires largely operating outside of awareness—motives that can also produce emotional disorders; developed by Freud

a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories that exist outside of conscious awareness

Id, ego, and superego

operates on pleasure principle

unconsciously strives to satisfy basic drives to survive, reproduce, and aggress

operates on reality principle

seeks to realistically gratify id’s impulses to bring long-term pleasure; contains perceptions, thoughts, judgments and memories [moderator/referee]

focuses on ideal behavior; strives for perfections; acts as moral conscience [last system of personality to develop]

unconscious coping mechanisms that reduce anxiety generated by threats from unacceptable impulses

regression, reaction formation, projection, rationalization, displacement, and denial

acts to keep information out of conscious awareness, memories don't disappear they continue to influence our behavior

which unacceptable urges are transformed/channeled into more productive and acceptable behaviors

idea that sexual energy takes different forms as the child matures

Oral (0–18 months): pleasure centers on the mouth—sucking, biting, chewing

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            [ Oedipus / Electra Complex]

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

Genital (puberty on): maturation of sexual interests

a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved

Freud's emphasis on sexual urges as a primary motivator.

Freud's lack of emphasis on social and cultural influences on behavior and personality.

Freud's negative view of human nature.

A person’s interior life merited not just attention, but dedicated exploration.

Psyche is a spiritual and fluid space. An ocean to be fished for enlightenment and healing.

believed that birth order had a significant and predictable impact on a child's personality, and their feeling of inferiority. All human behavior is goal oriented and motivated by striving for superiority [Individual Psychology]

believed that neurosis resulted from basic anxiety caused by interpersonal relationships.Ideal self & despised self —’tyranny of the shoulds’[Neurotic Needs]

believed that unconscious has two levels — personal and collective unconscious

• collective unconscious reservoir of psychological predispositions, structures and memories

in Jung’s theory, shared motifs, symbols and themes were expressions of the various psychic structures consistent across humanity

psychological approach that emphasizes personal growth, resilience, and the achievement of human potential, launched in 1960s

believed that personality development could be viewed as gradual progression toward self-actualization

defined by Maslow as person’s “full use and exploitation of talents, capacities, and potentialities” – he later added “self-transcendence” as top level

genuineness, empathy, and acceptance

open with feelings, transparent and self-disclosing

sharing and mirroring others’ feelings, relaxing and fully expressing one’s true self

offering unconditional positive regard  — an attitude of total acceptance toward another person

American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach in psychology

a collection of beliefs about one’s own nature, unique qualities, and typical behavior

two-way interaction between aspects of the environment and aspects of the individual in the shaping of personality traits

refers to one’s belief about one’s ability to perform behaviors that should lead to expected outcomes

temperament, learned habits, perceptions, and beliefs

opportunities, rewards, punishments, and chance events

Views personality in terms of how the person thinks about the situations encountered in daily life and behaves in response to them

Emphasizes a person’s perception of the environment

Brings together insights from

• Social psychology

• Cognitive psychology

• Learning theory

Question of whether behavior is caused more by personality or by situational factors

• The situation and learning history are key determinants of behavior but are open to interpretation; how people perceive their environments

psychologist who argued that personality traits do little to predict behavior