Rorschach Inkblot Test (best known projective test)

Individual interpretations of the
meaning of a set of unstructured inkblots are analyzed to identify a respondent’s inner feelings and interpret his/her personality structure.

Thematic Apperception Test

Respondents revealunderlying motives, concerns, and the way they see the social world through the stories they make up about ambiguous pictures of people.

Trait y

Relatively stable disposition to behave in a particular and consistent way

Psychodynamic Approach

Regards personality as formed by needs, strivings, and desires largely operating outside of awareness – motives that can also produce emotional disorders; discovered by Freud

Id (Pleasure Principle)

the part of the mind containing the drives present at birth; the source of our bodily needs, wants, desires, and impulses, particularly our sexual and aggressive drives

Ego (Reality Principle)

Component of personality, developed through contact with the external world, that enables us to deal with life’s practical demands (“Reality Principle”

Superego (Moral Principle)

Mental system that reflects the internalization of cultural rules, mainly learned from parents (“Morality Principle”

Personality formed before age of 6

the personality formed by the age of 6 or 7 isn't likely to deviate from its core trait

defense mechanisms

Unconscious coping mechanisms that reduce anxiety generated by threats from unacceptable impulses

Repression

Removing painful experiences and unacceptable impulses from the conscious mind: “motivated forgetting.

Rationalization

Supplying a false but reasonable-
sounding excuse for unacceptable feelings and behavior to conceal one’s underlying motives or feelings

Reaction Formation

Unconsciously replacing threatening inner wishes and fantasies with an exaggerated version of their opposite

Projection

Attributing one’s own threatening feelings, motives, or impulses to another person or group

Regression

reverting to immature behavior or early stage of development, a time when things felt more secure, to deal with internal conflict, and perceived threats

Displacement

shifting unacceptable wishes or drives to a neutral or less threatening alternative

Sublimation

Channeling unacceptable sexual or aggressive drives into socially acceptable and culturally enhancing activities

Identification

Helps deal with feelings of threat and anxiety by enabling us to unconsciously take on the characteristics of another person who seems more powerful or able to cope

Psychosexual Stages of Development (order)

1. Oral stage
2. Anal stage
3. Phallic stage
4. Latent stage
5. Genital stage Study

Oral Stage and fixation

the first psychosexual stage, in which experience centers on the pleasures and frustrations associated with the mouth, sucking, and being fed.

Anal Stage and fixation

the second psychosexual stage, in which experience is dominated by the pleasure and frustrations associated with the anus, retention, and expulsion of feces and urine, toilet training

Phallic Stage and fixation

the third psychosexual stage, in which experience is dominated by the pleasure, conflict, and frustrations associated with the phallic, genital region, as well as coping with powerful incestuous feeling of love, hate, jealously, and conflict

Oedipus complex (jealousy)

a developmental experience in which a child's conflicting feelings towards the opposite sex parent are resolved by identifying with the same sex parent

Genital Stage

the fifth and final psychosexual stage, the time for the coming together of the mature adult personality with a capacity to love, work, and relate to others in a mutually satisfying and reciprocal manner

Humanistic Approach

An approach to psychology emphasizing a person's positive qualities, the capacity for positive growth, and the freedom to choose any destiny.

Human Needs

those basic physical, social, and political needs, such as food and freedom, that are required for survival and security

Potential and Goals

goal setting is a plan of action that helps people choose the right moves at the right time

Self-Actualization

Human motive toward realizing our inner potential

Existential Approach

Regards personality as governed by
an individual’s ongoing choices and decisions in the context of the realities of life and death

Life and Death

all human behavior is driven by life and death instincts.

Angst and how we deal with angst

practicing mindfulness and meditatio

Flow

a state of mind in which a person becomes fully immersed in an activity.

Social-cognitive Approach

an approach that views personality in terms of how the person thinks about the situations encountered in daily life and behaves in response to them

Person and Situation

Question of whether behavior is caused more by personality or by situational factors

Personal Constructs

Dimensions people use in making sense of their experiences; originally proposed by George Kelly (1905–1967

Outcome Expectations

a person's assumptions about the likely consequences of a future behavior

Locus of Control

Person’s tendency to perceive the control of rewards as internal to the self or external in the environment

Self-concept

Person’s explicit knowledge of his or her own behaviors, traits, and other personal characteristics

Self-Narrative

is the story we tell about ourselves.

Self-verification

Tendency to seek evidence to confirm the self-concept

Self-esteem

Extent to which an individual likes, values, and accepts the self

Self-serving bias

People’s tendency to take credit for their
successes but downplay responsibility for their failures; to protect self-esteem

Implicit Egotism

argues that people are generally unaware of their preference for things similar to themselves (i.e., own name).