Chapter 14 Psychology Vocab

Personality

57 cards   |   Total Attempts: 182
  

Cards In This Set

Front Back
Traits
Relatively enduring predispositions that influence our behavior across many situations
Nomothetic approach
Approach to personality that focuses on identifying general laws that govern the behavior of all individuals
Idiographic approach
Approach to personality that focuses on identifying the unique configuration of characteristics and life history experiences within a person
Molecular genetic studies
Investigations that allow researchers to pinpoint genes associated with specific personality traits
Somatogenic
Physiologically caused
Catharsis
Feeling of relief following a dramatic outpouring of emotion
Psychogenic
Psychologically caused
Psychic determinism
The assumption that all psychological events have a cause
Id
Reservoir of our most primitive impulses, including sex and aggression
Pleasure principle
Tendency of the id to strive for immediate gratification
Ego
Psyche's executive and principal decision maker
Reality principle
Tendency of the ego to postpone gratification until it can find an appropriate outlet
Superego
Our sense of morality
Defense mechanisms
Unconscious maneuvers intended to minimize anxiety
Reaction-formation
Transformation of an anxiety-provoking emotion into its opposite