Psychology Vocabulary - Personality

Vocabulary Personality A unique and relatively stablility of thoughts, feelings, and actions. Conscious In Freudian terms, thoughts or motives that a person is currently aware of or is remembering consciousness when necessary. (Huffman 303) Preconscious Freud’s term for thoughts, "motives, or memories that exist just beneath "the surface of awareness and can be called to (Huffman 303) Unconscious Freud’s term for a part of the psyche that stores repressed urges and primitive impulses (Huffman 303) Id According to Freud, the primitive, unconscious component of personality that operates irrationally and acts on the pleasure principle. Pleasure principle In Freud’s theory, the principle on which the id operates— seeking immediate gratification. Ego In Freud’s theory, the rational, decision-making component of personality that operates according to the reality principle; from the Latin term ego, meaning “I.” Reality principle According to Freud, the principle on which the conscious ego operates as it seeks to delay gratification of the id’s impulses until appropriate outlets and situations can be found. Superego In Freud’s theory, the aspect of personality that operates on the morality principle; the “conscience” that internalizes society’s values, standards, and morals. Morality principle In Freudian terms, the principle on which the superego operates; feelings of guilt result if its rules are violated. Defense mechanisms In Freudian theory, the ego’s protective method of reducing anxi- ety by self-deception and distorting reality." (Huffman 304) Psychosexual stages In Freudian theory, five developmental periods (oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital) during which particular kinds of pleasures must be gratified if personality development is to proceed normally." (Huffman 305) Inferiority complex Adler’s idea that feelings of inferiority develop from early childhood experiences of helplessness and incompetence." (Huffman 306) Collective unconscious Jung’s concept of the part of an individual’s unconscious that is inherited, evolutionarily developed, and common to all members of the species. Archetypes According to Jung, the universal, inherited, primitive, and symbolic representations of a particular experience or object, which reside in the collective unconscious. Basic anxiety According to Horney, feelings of helplessness and insecurity that adults experience because as children they felt alone and isolated in a hostile environment. (Huffman 307) Trait A relatively stable personality characteristic that can be used to describe someone. (Huffman 309) Five-factor model (FFM) A comprehensive descriptive personality system that includes openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism; informally called the Big Five. (Huffman 310) Self-actualization The humanistic term for the inborn drive to realize one’s full potential and to develop all one’s inherent talents and capabilities. Self-concept A person’s relatively stable self-perception, or mental model, based on life experiences, particularly the feedback and perception of others. (Huffman 314) Unconditional positive regard Rogers ’s term for love and acceptance with no contingencies attached. (Huffman 315) Self-efficacy Bandura’s term for a person’s learned expectation of success in a given situation; also, another term for self-confidence. (Huffman 317) Reciprocal determinism Bandura’s belief that a complex reciprocal interaction exists among the individual, his or her behavior, and environmental stimuli. (Huffman 318) Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) The most widely researched and clinically used self-report personality test. (MMPI-2 is the revised version.) (Huffman 324) Projective test A method of personality assessment in which an individual is presented with a standardized set of ambiguous stimuli, such as inkblots or abstract drawings, which allow the test taker to project his or her unconscious onto the test material; the individual’s responses are assumed to reveal inner feelings, motives, and conflicts. Rorschach Inkblot Test A projective test based on 10 cards with symmetrical abstract patterns, known as inkblots, which asks respondents to describe what they “see” in the image; the participant’s response is thought to be a projection of unconscious processes. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) A projective test in which pictures of ambiguous scenes are presented to an individual, who is encouraged to generate stories about them; the responses supposedly reflect a projection of the respondent’s unconscious processes. (Huffman 325)