General Psychology: Personality (Mods 44-45)

free association

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

psychoanalysis

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

unconscious

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

id

contains a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives; it operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification

ego

the largely conscious "executive" part of the personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality; it operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasu

superego

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

psychosexual stages

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

Oedipus complex

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

identification

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

fixation

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

defense mechanisms

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

repression

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

regression

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

reaction formulation

psychoanalytic 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

projection

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

rationalism

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

displacement

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

collective unconscious

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

projective test

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

Thematic Apperception Test

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

Rorschach inkblot test

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

terror-management theory

proposes that faith in one's worldview and the pursuit of self-esteem provide protection against a deeply rooted fear of death

self-actualization

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

unconditional positive regard

according to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person

self-concept

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