unit 7: motivation, emotion, and personality

A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

A complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned

A basic bodily requirement

The idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need

A tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level

A positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior

The principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases

Maslow's pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active

The form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues. When its level is low, we feel hunger

The point at which your "weight thermostat" may be set. When your body falls below this weight, increased hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may combine to restore lost weight

The body's resting rate of energy output

Defined as a body mass index (BMI) measurement of 30 or higher. (Overweight individuals have a BMI of 25 or higher)

Having no sexual attraction to others

The most important male sex hormone. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs during the fetal period and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty

Sex hormones, such as estradiol, that contribute to female sex characteristics and are secreted in greater amounts by females than by males. Estrogen levels peak during ovulation. In nonhuman mammals, this promotes sexual reproductivity

The four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson - excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution

In human sexuality, a resting period that occurs after orgasm, during which a person cannot achieve another orgasm

Deliberate social exclusion of individuals or groups

Excessive self-love and self-absorption

A desire for significant accomplishment, for mastery of skills or ideas, for control, and for attaining a high standard

In psychology, passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals

A response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal (2) expressive behaviors (3) conscious experience

The theory that our experience of emotions is our awareness of our psychological responses to an emotion-arousing stimulus

The theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) the subjective experience of emotion

The Schachter-Singer theory that to experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label the arousal

A machine used in attempts to detect lies that measures several of the physiological responses (such as perspiration, heart rate, and breathing changes) accompanying emotion

The tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness

The tendency of behavior to influence our own and others' thoughts, feelings, and actions

The process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging

Selye's concept of the body's adaptive response to stress in three phases - alarm, resistance, exhaustion

Under stress, people (especially women) often provide support to others (tend) and bond with and seek support from others (befriend)

A subfield of psychology that provides psychology's contribution to behavioral medicine

The study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect the immune system and resulting health

The clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; the leading cause of death in many developed countries

Friedman and Rosenman's term for competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people

Friedman and Rosenman's term for easygoing, relaxed people

In psychology, the idea that "releasing" aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges

People's tendency to be helpful when in a good mood

The scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and viruses that help individuals and communities to thrive

Self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with measures of objective well-being (for example, physical and economic indicators) to evaluate people's quality of life

Our tendency to form judgements (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience

The perception that one is worse off relative to those whom one compares oneself

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

Theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences

Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

According to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware

In psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

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

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

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

The childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

According to Freud, a boy's sexual desires towards his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

The process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents' values into their developing superegos

In psychoanalytic theory, according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved

In psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

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

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

A personality test, such as the Rorschach, that provides ambiguous images designed to trigger projection on one's inner dynamics

A projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

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

A theory of death-related anxiety; explores people's emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death

Theories that view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth

A caring, accepting, non judgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help people develop self-awareness and self-acceptance

All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question. "Who am I?"

A characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act in certain ways, as assembled by self-report inventories and peer reports

A questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits

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

A test (such as the MMPI) created by selecting from a pool of items those that discriminate between groups

Views behavior as influenced by the interactions between people's traits (including their thinking) and their social context

Focuses on the effects of learning on our personality development

The interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment

In contemporary psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions

Overestimating others' noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, or blunders (as if we presume the spotlight shines on us)

One's feelings of high or low self esteem

One's sense of competence and effectiveness

A readiness to perceive oneself favorably

Giving priority to one's own goals over group goals and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

Giving priority to the goals of one's group (often one's extended family or work group) and defining one's identity accordingly

Humanistic psychologist; Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Studied sexual habits of male and female Americans

Sexual response cycle

Cannon-Bard theory of emotion - physiological arousal & emotion happen simultaneously

Two-factor theory of emotion - physiological changes + thoughts = emotion

Some emotional responses are immediate, without any conscious thinking (likes & dislikes)

Cognitive appraisal with emotion, often without cognitive awareness

Emotional expression

General adaptation syndrome - reaction to stressful events

Positive psychology & subjective well-being; also studied learned helplessness

Father of modern psychology; psychoanalytic theory of personality

Neo-Freudian; studied birth order & inferiority complex

Neo-Freudian; opposed Freud's idea of "penis envy"

Neo-Freudian; collective unconscious

Humanistic psychologist; person-centered perspective & unconditional positive regard

Big-5 Personality Inventory

Big-5 Personality Inventory

Social-cognitive perspective; reciprocal determinism