What four areas can we categorize personality into?
Psychodynamic (psychoanalytic), behaviorist, phenomenological, and type & trait.
What do psychodynamic/psychoanalytic theories postulate?
The existence of unconscious internal states that motivate the overt actions of individuals and determine personality.
What three major systems did Freud's structural dynamic model include?
the id, the ego, and the superego
What is the id?
the reservoir of all psychic energy and consists of everything psychological that's present at birth. It's the unorganized and instinctual part of our minds. Driven to satisfy instincts.
What does the id function according to?
the PLEASURE PRINCIPLE, whose aim is to immediately discharge any energy built-up, ie- relieve tension.
What is the primary process?
The id's response to frustration operating under the dictum of "obtain satisfaction now, not later.
Through the primary process a memory image of food might come up and alleviate the frustration. What is this mental image known as?
Wish-fulfillment.
What is the ego?
the organization of the id, receiving its power from the id; it can never really be independent from the id. It's the middle ground- the rational decision making part of our brains that has do deal with the demands of the id and the prohibitions of the su
What does the ego operate according to?
the REALITY PRINCIPLE, taking into account objective reality as it guides or inhibits the activity of the id and the id's pleasure principle.
What is the aim of the reality principle?
the postpone the pleasure principle until the actual object that will satisfy the need has been discovered or produced.
What does the ego's mode of functioning?
the secondary process
What do the mutual give and take of the ego and secondary process with reality promote?
the growth and elaboration of the psychological processes of perception, memory, problem-solving, and reality testing.
What is the superego?
it represents the moral branch of personality- striving for perfection. It's similar to the id in that it's not directly in touch with reality, and strives for the ideal. Highly organized. Very social, allows us to fit in. Wants the approval of others rat
What are the two subsystems of the superego?
conscience & ego-ideal
What is the conscience?
whatever a child's caregivers say is improper and the child is punished for is incorporated into the conscience.
What is the ego-ideal?
Whatever the child's caregivers approve of and reward the child for becomes incorporated here. Ultimately, a system of right or wrong is substituted for the parental punishment-reward.
What is an instinct?
an innate psychological representation (wish) of a bodily (biological) excitation (need). The propelling aspects of Freud's dynamic theory of personality.
What are Freud's two general types of instincts?
Life (Eros) and Death (Thanatos).
What purposes do the life instincts serve?
the purpose of individual survival (hunger, thirst, & sex)
What is Freud's "libido"?
The form of energy by which the life instincts perform their work.
What do death instincts represent?
an unconscious wish for the ultimate absolute state of quiescence (being still, inactive, at rest).
What are defense mechanisms?
The ego's recourse to releasing excessive pressures due to anxiety.
What two common characteristics do defense mechanisms share, acc. to Freud?
1. They deny, falsify, or distort reality.
2. They operate unconsciously.
What are the 8 defense mechanisms?
Repression, Suppression, Projection, Reaction Formation, Rationalization, Regression, Sublimation, and Displacement.
Repression
the unconscious forgetting of anxiety-producing memories
Suppression
more deliberate, conscious form of forgetting
Projection
when a person attributes his forbidden urges to others. Ex: the thought "I hate my uncle" may cause too much anxiety, so it gets turned to "My uncle hates me.
Reaction Formation
a repressed wish is warded off by its diametrical opposite. Ex: a young boy who hates his brother and is punished for his hostile acts may do the opposite and shower him with affection.
Rationalization
process of developing a socially acceptable explanation for inappropriate behavior or thoughts
Regression
a person reverting back to an earlier stage of development in response to a traumatic event.
Sublimation
transforming unacceptable urges into socially acceptable behaviors
Displacement
pent-up feelings (often hostility) are discharged on objects and people less dangerous than those objects or people causing the feelings. Ex: someone who is harassed at work by his boss goes home and provokes with his wife.
How did Jung think of libido as opposed to Freud?
he thought of it as psychic energy in general, and not just psychic energy rooted in sexuality.
How did Jung identify the ego?
the conscious mind
How did Jung divide the unconscious?
1. The personal unconscious- similar to Freud's.
2. The collective unconscious
Jung's collective unconscious
a powerful system that is shared among all humans and considered to be a residue of the experiences of our early ancestors. Includes images of that are a record of common experiences, such as having a mother & father.
What are archetypes acc. to Jung?
a thought or image that has an emotional element. They are the building blocks for the collective unconscious.
Name 5 major Jungian archetypes?
Persona, anima, animus, the shadow, and the self
The Persona (Jung)
a mask that is adopted by a person in response to the demands of social convention. Originates from social interactions in which the assumption of a social role has served a useful purpose to humankind throughout history.
Anima (Jung)
the feminine- helps us understand gender, feminine behaviors in males
Animus (Jung)
the masculine- helps us understand gender, masculine behaviors in females
The Shadow (Jung)
consists of the animal instincts that humans inherited in their evolution from lower forms to life. It's responsible for the appearance in consciousness and behavior of unpleasant and socially reprehensible thoughts, feelings and actions.
The Self (Jung) and how did he symbolize it?
the person's striving for unity, and is the point of intersection between the collective unconscious and the conscious. Jung symbolized the self as a mandala: a Sanskrit word meaning magic circle; he saw it as a mythic expression of the self, as the recon
What are Jung's two major orientations of personality?
Extroversion & Introversion
Extroversion (Jung)
an orientation toward the external, objective world.
Introversion (Jung)
orientation toward the inner, subjective world.
How do introversion & extroversion work in personality? (Jung)
They are both present, but one is usually dominant.
What are Jung's four psychological functions? How do they work?
Thinking, feeling, sensing, intuiting. Typically one of the four is more differentiated.
How did Jung believe personality worked?
Overall, all these systems, attitudes, and functions interact in dynamic ways to form personality.
What's Alfred Adler's theory focused on?
Social imperatives of family and society (social variables) and their effects on unconscious factors.
Inferiority complex (Adler)
Individual's sense of incompleteness, sense of imperfection, physical inferiorities, as well as social disabilities.
What drives personality according to Adler?
Striving toward superiority.
Acc. to Adler, when personality is socially oriented (to benefit all people), what happens?
The striving enhances personality.
When striving is selfish and not socially oriented, how does it manifest itself in personality, acc. to Adler?
It becomes the root of all personality disturbances.
Adler's notion of creative self?
that force by which each individual shapes his or her uniqueness, and makes his or her own personality.
Adler's notion of style of life?
the manifestation of the creative self and describes a person's unique way of achieving superiority (as opposed to inferiority).
According to Adler, what is crucial in molding a person's style of life?
The family environment. ("Lifestyle")
Adler's concept of Fictional Finalism
the notion that the individual is motivated by his or her expectations of the future than by past experiences.
According to Adler, what are human goals based on?
A subjective or fictional estimate of life's values rather than objective data from the past.
Difference between psychoanalysts Freud, Jung, and Adler?
Freud's major assumption: Behavior is motivated by inborn instincts. Jung: a persons's conduct is governed by inborn archetypes. Adler: people are primarily motivated by striving for superiority.
What did Karen Horney postulate?
Neurotic personality is governed by one of 10 needs.
Psychoanalysis
Developed by Freud ; is an intensive, long-term treatment for uncovering repressed memories, motives, and conflicts stemming from problems in psychosexual development.
How did Freud propose people could develop further?
By gaining insight into the repressed material, the energy being utilized to deal with the repressed conflict would be freed up and made available for further development.
What method did Freud use early in the development of psychoanalysis? What did he use later on instead?
Hypnosis to free repressed thoughts from patient's unconscious, but later used alternative methods; free association, dream interpretation, and transference
What is Freud's free association?
a technique whereby the client says whatever comes into her conscious mind regardless of how personal, painful, or seemingly irrelevant is might appear to be. Analyst and patient can together reconstruct the nature of the client's original conflict.
Freud's dream interpretation?
Defenses are relaxed and mind is freer to express forbidden wishes and desires during dream states- understanding patients' dreams leads of an understanding of unconscious conflicts.
Freud's resistance?
an unwillingness or inability to relay certain thoughts, motives, or experiences, is a major part of analysis. Such things as forgetting dream material, missing a therapy session and switching topics rapidly are indications of resistance.
Freud's transference?
Involves attributing to the therapist attitudes and feelings that developed in the patient's relations with significant others in the past. Through transference, the analyst can help recreate the patient's experiences so that the patient has an opportunit
What is countertransference?
When the therapist, too, experiences emotions toward the patient at various points of the treatment. It must be understood by the therapist so that it does not impinge on the treatment in a counterproductive way-- they too get psychoanalysis, themselves.
What are neo-Freudian approaches?
Place more emphasis on interpersonal relationships and life situations than on childhood experience and psychosexual developement.
What is the basic theory of behaviorism?
Behavior is learned as people interact with their environment. These theories look first and foremost at behavior- NOT unconscious stuff or anything.
What are John Dollard and Neal Miller known for in behaviorism?
Blending some psychoanalytic concepts in a behavioral stimulus-response reinforcement learning theory approach. They focused on conflicting motives or tendencies in the development of personality.
What did BF Skinner think of personality?
Thought it was a collection of behavior that happens to have been sufficiently reinforced to persist. It's the RESULT of behavioral development of an organism.
What did Bandura think of personality?
Same is Skinner, basically. (Social learning theory). But, Bandura stressed that learning occurs not only by having one's own behavior reinforced, but ALSO by observing other people's behaviors being reinforced. Called- vicarious reinforcement/learning.
What was behaviorist Martin Seligman's experiment and what did he compare it to in his theory?
The Learned Helplessness Theory of Depression. Experiment was with dogs- gave them shocks and at first they tried to jump over this wall but then they realized they couldn't. When put in places to jump over low walls- they "learned" not to, and didn't eve
Behaviorists consider symptoms to...
BE the disorder.
What problems has behavior therapy proved to be successful with?
Phobias, impulse control problems, and personal care maintenance for people with mental retardation and hospitalized psychotic patients.
What is cognitive-behavioral therapy?
A combo of cognitive and behavioral approaches. It tries to change and restructure the patient's distorted and/or irrational thoughts.
What are two examples of CBT?
1. Beck's cognitive therapy for depression and 2. Albert Ellis' rational-emotive therapy (RET)
How might Beck's cognitive therapy for depression work?
Client might write down negative thoughts about herself, figure out why they are unjustified, and then come up with more realistic and less destructive cognitions.
What might Ellis' rational-emotive therapy be like? (RET)
Therapist might challenge an irrational belief that the client has and help her recognize these beliefs and change them to more rational ones.
Symptom substitution: what is it? what do behaviorists believe about this?
Psychoanalysts believe that symptom relief is not adequate therapy because the underlying cause is still there and will just be replaced by new symptoms. Behaviorists disagree with this- b/c they think the symptoms ARE the disorder anyway. (No underlying
Humanism / Phenomenological theorists emphasize what?
The internal processes rather than overt behavior. They are sometimes called "humanistic" b/c they focus on what distinguishes us from animals. Similar to existential theory.
What is the Gesalt theory of personality?
Closely linked to humanistic and existential theories- has a holistic view of the self.
Kurt Lewin's field theory: influenced by what? What did he think of personality?
Heavily influenced by Gesalt psychology. Saw personality as being dynamic and constantly changing. A personality can be divided up dynamically into ever-changing regions that he called systems.
What did Lewin believe about how personality functions when it doing well and not so much?
Optimal conditions: regions within the personality are well articulated and function in an integrated fashion. When person is under tension or anxiety- articulation between different regions are generally diffused.
Whose theories resemble Lewin's? Why?
Allport & Rogers b/c they stress more current behaviors and thought processes rather than focusing on early dev. factors.
What is Abraham Maslow know for? (& what kind of theorist?)
a humanistic theorist - known for his hierarchy of human motives and for his views on self-actualization. Proposed that needs were organized hierarchically ascending from basic needs to complex psychological needs.
What are Maslow's low to high needs that he theorized?
People strive only for high needs when low ones are met. Low ones are physiological and safety needs (food, shelter, etc.) Next, are belongingness and love needs, then esteem, cognitive, aesthetic, and FINALLY, self-actualization: need to realize one's fu
What does Maslow think about people and self-actualization?
Most people don't reach it!!
Who did Maslow study as "self-actualized" individuals?
Eleanor Roosevelt, Einstein, George Washington Carver, Beethoven.
What characteristics do self-actualized people have in common?
nonhostile sense of humor, originality, creativity, spontaneity, need for some privacy.
What are self-actualized people more likely to have?
Peak experiences: profound and deeply moving experiences in a person's life that have important and lasting effects on the individual.
Who did George Kelly use as a model to theorize about human nature?
HIMSELF!
What did George Kelly hypothesize about the individual?
The individual is a "scientist" - devising and testing predictions about the behavior of significant people in her life. Constructs a scheme of anticipation of what others will do based on this knowledge, perception, and relationships with others.
Acc. to George Kelly, what is the anxious person like?
One who is having difficulty constructing and understanding the variables in his or her environment.
What is the "anxious" person like in psychodynamic theory?
the victim of inner conflicts and dammed-up energy.
What is psychotherapy according to Kelly?
a process of insight whereby the individual acquires new constructs that will allow her to successfully predict troublesome events. Then, the individual can direct these new constructs to already existing constructs.
For Abraham Maslow... main mnemonic device is...
A for Abraham and A for self-Actualization.
Humanist-existential therapies emphasize what?
the process of finding meaning in one's life by making one's own choices.
Acc. to humanist-existentialism, how are mental disorders viewed?
As stemming from problems of alienation, depersonalization, loneliness, and a lack of a meaningful existence.
Humanistic therapy does what?
Facilitates exploration into a client's thoughts & feelings.
Existential approaches in therapy do what?
empathy toward the client, as well as understanding, affirmation and positive regard.
What is Carl Rogers known for (what type of personality psych) and what main technique?
Humanistic psychology, though his personality theory is basically phenomenological. Known for his psychotherapy technique known as: client-centered therapy, person-centered therapy, or nondirective therapy.
What is a good way to remember Carl Rogers and the type of stuff he did, dude?
C for Carl and C for Client-Centered therapy and person-Centered thearpy
What did Carl Rogers believe about people and their behavior?
People have freedom to control their own behavior and are neither slaves to the unconscious (as psychoanalysts would say) or subjects of faulty learning (as behaviorists think)- but the client is ABLE to reflect upon his or her problems, make choices, tak
What is one objective of Rogers' therapy?
Help the client become willing and able to be herself and increase the congruence between what the person think he or she would like to be (IDEAL SELF) and what she actually is.
Acc. to Rogers, what must be provided to the client to enhance the desired situation of reaching their IDEAL self?
A climate of unconditional positive regard and understanding.
What is nazi jew survivor Victor Frankl identified with?
The human search for meaning to existence.
What did victor Frankl think about mental illness and maladjustment?
they stem from a life of MEANINGLESSNESS.
What do type theorists do?
Attempt to characterize people according to specific types of personality.
What do trait theorists do?
Attempt to ascertain the fundamental dimensions of personality.
What is Type A personality?
Type A is characterized by behavior that tends to be competitive and compulsive. More prone to heart disease, and are most prevalent among middle and upper class men.
What is Type B personality?
Type B personality is more laid-back and relaxed.
What did Raymond Cattell do? What kind of personality psychologist is he?
He's a trait theorist, who used factor analysis to measure personality in a more comprehensive way,and identified 16 basic traits (or relatively permanent reaction tendencies) in individuals that constitute the building blocks of personality).
Hans Eysenck: what did he use to develop his theory of personality, what was it, and what type of theorist is he?
He used factor analysis to test Jung's division of introversion/extroversion and distinguished three dimensions: intro/extro, emotional stability/neuroticism, and psychoticism. He's a type psychologist.
What type of theorist is Gordon Allport? What were his three basic types of dispositions?
He was a trait theorist, primarily. Cardinal: traits around which a person organizes his or her life ; Central: represent major characteristics of the personality that are easy to infer (ex: honesty or fatalism) ; Secondary traits: more personal character
What did Allport think of cardinal traits?
Not everyone develops them. (Ex: Mother T maybe self-sacrifice) BUT everyone does have central and secondary ones.
What is Allport's theory of functional autonomy? What's an example?
It is a given activity or form of behavior that may become an end or goal in itself regardless of its original reason for existence. Ex: hunter hunting for food eventually just hunts for enjoyment.
What differentiates an idiographic approach to personality and nomothetic approach? (Acc. to Allport)
Idiographic: focuses on individual case studies ; nomothetic: focuses on groups of individuals and tries to find the commonalities between them.
Which approach did Allport insist that personality theorists should use?
The idiographic approach and avoid the nomothetic approach.
(he'd rather focus on individuals than find commonalities between them.)
What terms did Allport substitute fro the German Windelband's terms: idiographic and nomothetic?
Idiographic = morphogenic ; nomothetic = dimensional
What was David McClelland's trait that he identified?
The Need for Achievement (nAch) - concerned with high achievement , take pride in accomplishments ; avoid high risk taking (to avoid failure) and low risks (b/c they won't get a sense of achievement). They set realistic goals and do not continue striving
Herman Witkin was known for what?
Drawing a relationship between an individual's personality and his or her perception of the world. He classified people by their degree of field-dependence: their capacity to make specific responses to a perceived mass of somewhat undifferentiated stimuli
What is androgyny and who came up with it?
Sandra Bem's theory that gender identity is related to personality. Masculinity and femininity are two diff. dimensions- the state of being simultaneously high on both is androgyny.
People who are more influenced by the opinions of others are...
highly field-dependent b/c they respond in a diffuse manner, not distinguishing separate ideas or even their own ideas from others'.
What is Julian Rotter's big theory?
Internal and External Locus of Control
What is internal locus of control?
Believing you are in control of your own destiny. Higher self-esteem. Attribute failures to bad luck or task ability (external locus of control).
What is external locus of control?
Believing outside events and chance control their destiny. Lower self-esteem. Attribute failures to lack of ability (internal locus of control).
Machiavellianism
Personality trait that refers to someone who is manipulative and deceitful. Agree with statements like "anyone who completely trusts anyone else is asking for trouble) - they are much more successful manipulators than those low in Mach.
What's Walter Mischel's deal?
He's a situationist! Believes that behavior is largely determined by the characteristics of the situation rather than by those of the person.