Psychology Final Exam Study Guide A Personality is patterns of behavior like actions feelings thoughts and interactions that are consistent over time and across circumstances They are unique characteristics that account for our enduring patterns of inner experience and outward behavior Personality theories are attempts at describing and explaining why how when someone acts They are not facts and are bound to change over time a Freud s psychodynamic theory has three mental processes conscious preconscious and unconscious a structural model id ego superego reality principle and defense mechanisms i Unconsciousness is out of awareness The motivated unconscious is a purposeful exclusion of information or material from the conscious awareness because it threatens the stability and integrity of one s self Freud believed this was a defense mechanism ii The structural model is three systems that make up personality 1 Id pleasure principle original system instinctive libidinal energy focused on maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain and the primary thinking process is unconscious irrational and primitive 2 Ego reality principle develops from the id and restrains the id s impulses because of the external world It operates according to the reality principle which is need fulfillment and secondary process thinking It is rational and reasonable and a strong ego leads to good psychological health 3 Superego our conscience internalized standards and cultural ideals The two aspects are the ego ideal and conscience It is non rational harsh demanding and unrealistic This restrains the id as well 4 Defense mechanisms are unconscious processes that the ego produces to protect from anxiety and distress These often involve denial and distortion of reality to make it less threatening Examples a Repression keeping thoughts or memories that would be too threatening to acknowledge from awareness b Denial refusing to acknowledge external realities or emotions c Projection attributing one s own unacknowledged feelings or d Reaction formation turning unacceptable feelings or impulses into e Sublimation converting sexual or aggressive impulses into socially impulses onto others their opposites acceptable activities f Rationalization explaining away actions in a seemingly logical way to avoid uncomfortable feelings like guilt or shame iii Freud s theory was shaped by observations of patients with hysterical physical symptoms His theory was designed to explain or interpret behaviors based on natural and innate processes iv Criticisms of Freud s theory there is insufficient attention to conscious experience an exclusive focus on childhood little emphasis on social context excessive focus on sex pathology oriented and little scientific support v Psychodynamic theory today involves more ego and less id has less focus on childhood less unconscious conflict less sex and aggression and more emphasis on culture and social influences b Humanistic theory was a reaction to Freud s theory and was focused on basic good positive nature of humanity and self determinism instead of the dark forces that Freud focused on Maslow observed healthy individuals rather than people in distress like Freud did Maslow did not like that psychology was focused on psychopathology and weakness This theory highlights each person s consciousness free will and other special human qualities i Self actualization is the highest level on Maslow s hierarchy of needs It involves morality creativity spontaneity problem solving lack of prejudice and acceptance of facts Characteristics of self actualizers include realist accepting problem centered spontaneous flexible need for solitude freshness of appreciation and they have peak experience and flow ii Carl Rodgers believed that humans are basically good Unconditional positive regard client centered therapy is when the therapist accepts the patient for who they are and does not impose conditions of worth This method promotes self awareness and creative choice Unconditional positive regard encourages people to be their best self Self concept is a pattern of perception that can be used to characterize an individual iii Criticisms of humanistic theories it is simplistic and na ve it has abstract concepts that are difficult to investigate it is focused more on positive aspects and it emphasizes universality which is not good because everyone is different c Trait theory is an approach to personality that is more about what rather than how or why The theory comes from statistical attempts at finding core dimensions or traits ex personality test It is focused on description of personality common elements in personality and individual variation in common elements i Traits are inborn stable characteristics that vary between individuals or emotional cognitive and behavioral tendencies that are consistent through situations and constitute underlying personality dimensions Allport says the two aspects of traits are observed patterns of behavior that occur frequently and inferred underlying dimensions or disposition from which the behavior emanates ii Eysenck s 3 factors or superfactors are extroversion introversion neuroticism emotional stability and psychoticism impulse control iii Five factor model Costa and McCrae are five subordinate factors that are empirically derived rather than theoretically They are not always found but mostly they are 1 Openness to experience creative and open minded vs simple and narrow minded More flexible people are generally happier 2 Conscientiousness organized and responsible vs carless and frivolous 3 Extroversion talkative and energetic vs quiet and reserved 4 Agreeable kind and affectionate vs cold cruel and quarrelsome 5 Neuroticism stable and calm vs anxious and irritable iv Traits determine behavior Trait theory is more consistent across similar situations and less consistent over long periods of time Specific behaviors can be enacted with effort v Situationism means that behavior is controlled by situational factors rather than internal traits BF Skinner showed that situational reinforcers shape response tendencies Interactionism is the relationship between someone s traits and the situations they choose to be in Traits are activated by situations but situations are influenced by tendencies or behaviors vi vii Heritability is the portion of population variance in a particular trait that is due to inherited genetic influence The heritability rate is between 20 55 depending