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Psychology Ch. 12
Self and Personality
Question | Answer |
---|---|
Self Concept | Who you believe you are. |
Self Schema | An integrated set of memories, beliefs, and generalizations about the self. |
Working Self-concept | Reflects how a person thinks of herself at a certain moment. |
Self Esteem | The affective aspect of the self. How we feel about our personal characteristics. |
Self-serving Bias | The tendency for people to take personal credit for success but blame failure on external factors. |
Id | In psychodynamic theory, the component of personality that is completely submerged in the unconscious and operates according to the pleasure principle. |
Superego | In psychodynamic theory, the component of personality that reflects the internalization of societal and parental standards of conduct. |
Ego | In psychodynamic theory, the component of personality that tries to satisfy the wishes of the id while being responsive to the superego. |
Defense Mechanisms | Unconscious mental strategies that the mind uses to protect itself from distress. |
Locus of Control | The idea that personality is based on a person’s perception of whether she controls the rewards and punishments that she experiences (internal locus of control) or does not control them (external locus of control). |
Trait Approach | Ways of studying personality that are based on people’s characteristics, their tendencies to act in a certain way over time and across circumstances. |
Temperaments | Biologically based tendency to feel or act in certain ways. |
Basic Tendencies | Personality traits that are largely determined by biology and are stable over time. |
Characteristic Tendencies | Changes in behavioral expression of basic tendencies based on the demands of specific situations. |
Situationism | The theory that behavior is determined more by situations than by personality traits. |
Interactionists | Theorists who believe that behavior is determined jointly by situations and underlying traits. |
Working Self-concept Example | Chester’s working self-concept is variable when he finds himself around different people. When he is with his conservative family, he describes himself as liberal, but when he is with his friends from Connecticut, he describes himself as Southern. |
Distinguishing between the sociometer theory of self-esteem and the concept of reflected appraisal. | It is evolutionarily adaptive for us to be motivated to improve our public image. Self-esteem functions to provide us with cues that we are placing ourselves at risk for social rejection. |
Narcissists | Narcissists tend to be unfaithful in relationships. The following qualities apply: Manipulative Become angry when challenged View themselves in grandiose terms Feel entitled to special treatment |
The following are true statements about maintaining a positive sense of self: | People with high self-esteem tend to take credit for success and attribute failures to situations outside their control. The self-serving bias reflects healthy psychological functioning. |
Collectivist | connections to family and social groups conformity to social norms obedience to authority self-concepts determined by social roles |
Individualist | pursuit of success rights and freedoms self-expression diversity self-concepts determined by being distinct from others |
Collectivist cultures include: | Japan, Greece, Pakistan, China, and some regions of Africa. |
Individualist cultures include: | northern and western Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. |
Self-esteem in relation to life outcomes: | People who consider themselves to be smarter or more attractive do not necessarily exhibit these traits objectively. People with higher self-esteem report being much happier. Violent criminals and bullies often have very high self-esteem. |
Theoretical orientations: Humanistic | Personal growth |
Theoretical orientations: Trait | Characteristics |
Theoretical orientations: Cognitive | Thought processes |
Theoretical orientations: Psychodynamic | Unconscious forces |
Conscious | Thoughts people are aware of (EGO). |
Preconscious | Thoughts that are not currently in awareness but could be brought to awareness (SUPEREGO). |
Unconscious | Thoughts are not easy to revive (ID) |
How do psychologists today think of Freud’s theories? | They agree that people’s personalities develop based on social interactions. Freud’s defense mechanisms are now believed to protect self-esteem. They have largely abandoned psychodynamic theories. |
Albert Bandura | Reciprocal determinism |
Carl Rogers | Unconditional positive regard |
Julian Rotter | Locus of Control |
Sigmund Freud | Psychosexual development |
How does reciprocal determinism propose that a woman’s behavior, personality, and environment will interact to determine how she behaves at a party? | Her person factors will affect her behavior. The party’s atmosphere will affect her behavior. The party’s atmosphere will affect her person factors. Her behavior will affect the party’s atmosphere. |
According to Carl Rogers’s person-centered approach, which of the following would cause someone to have healthy self-esteem? | A supportive and accepting therapeutic environment Parents who offer unconditional positive regard No discrepancy between her sense of self and how she believes others perceive her |
Which of the following are results from twin and adoption personality studies? | Identical twins raised apart have similar personality traits. There appears to be little parental influence on adopted children’s personalities. |
Introverts | Distracted by noisy environments Typically above optimal level of arousal |
Extroverts | Seek out new emotional experiences Chronically underaroused Perform better in stimulating settings |
How do our genetics have an effect on our personalities? | Multiple genes interact with our environment to produce our personalities. One’s tendency to seek novelty can be linked to a single gene. |
Why are our friends’ assessments of our personalities sometimes more accurate than our own? | We have blind spots about some aspects of our personality because we want to feel good about ourselves. We may be preoccupied with evaluating other people and fail to notice how we are behaving. |