Chapter 13

the characteristic thoughts, emotional responses, and behaviors that are relatively stable in an individual over time and across circumstances

a characteristic; a dispositional tendency to act in a certain way over time and across circumstances

Freudian theory that unconscious forces, such as wishes and motives, influence behavior

according to Freud, the developmental stages that correspond to the pursuit of satisfaction of libidinal urges

psychodynamic theory; the component of personality that is completely submerged in the unconscious and operates according ot the pleasure principle

in psychodynamic theory; the internalization of societal and parental standards of conduct

psychodynamic theory; the component of personality that tries to satisfy the wishes of the id while being responsive to the dictates of the superego

unconscious mental strategies the mind uses to protect itself from conflict and distress

approaches to studying personality that emphasize personal experience and belief systems; they propose that people seek perosnal growth to fulfill their human potential

discrete categories based on global personality characteristics

an approach to studying personality that focuses on the extent to which individuals differ in personality dispositions

Mischel and Shoda believed personality traits alone could not predict behavior

person-centered approaches to studying personality that focus on individual lives and how various characteristics are integrated into unique persons

approaches to studying personality that focus on how people vary across common traits

personality tests that examine unconscious processes by having people interpret ambiguous stimuli

relatively direct assessments of personality, usually based on information gathered through self-report questionaires or observer ratings

the theory that behavior is determined more by situations than by personality traits

theorists who believe that behavior is determined jointly by underlying dispositions and situations

biologically based tendencies to feel or act in certain ways

the brain system involved in the pursuit of incentives or rewards

the brain system that is sensitive to punishment and therefore inhibits behavior that might lead to danger or pain

an internal monitor of social acceptance or rejection

the tendency for people to take personal credit for success but BLAME failure on external factors