Chapter 14      Personality      (CR10, CR11, CR15, CR16)

Chapter 14 Objectives:

1. Describe what is meant by personality, and explain how Freud’s treatment of psychological disorders led to his study of the unconscious.

2. Describe personality structure in terms of the interactions of the id, ego, and superego.

3. Identify Freud’s psychosexual stages of development, and describe the effects of fixation on behavior.

4. Explain how defense mechanisms protect the individual from anxiety.

5. Explain how projective tests are used to assess personality.

6. Discuss the contributions of the neo-Freudians, and describe the strengths and weaknesses of Freud’s ideas.

7. Discuss psychologists’ descriptions of personality in terms of types and traits.

8. Explain how personality inventories are used to assess traits, and discuss research regarding the consistency of behavior over time and across situations.

9. Describe the humanistic perspective on personality in terms of Maslow’s focus on self-actualization and Rogers’ emphasis on people’s potential for growth.

10. Describe humanistic psychologists’ approach to personality assessment, and discuss the benefits and liabilities of self-esteem and self-serving bias.

11. Describe the impact of individualism and collectivism on self-identity and social relations.

12. Discuss the criticisms of the humanistic perspective.

13. Describe the social-cognitive perspective on personality, and explain reciprocal determinism.

14. Discuss the important consequences of personal control, learned helplessness, and optimism.

15. Describe how social-cognitive researchers assess behavior in realistic situations and evaluate the social-cognitive perspective on personality.