Study Guide: Personality, Psychological Disorders, and Stress & Health

Chapter 13: Personality

Introduction to Personality

Personality refers to the unique and relatively stable ways in which people think, feel, and behave. It is distinct from character (moral/ethical judgments) and temperament (biologically based tendencies).

• Personality: Enduring patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that distinguish individuals.

• Character: Value judgments about a person's morals or ethics.

• Temperament: Innate aspects of personality, such as emotional reactivity.

Psychoanalytic Perspective

Sigmund Freud developed the psychoanalytic theory, emphasizing unconscious motives and conflicts as drivers of personality.

• Freud's Primary Assumptions:

  • Behavior is motivated by unconscious drives (e.g., sex and aggression).

  • Early childhood experiences shape personality.

• Structure of Personality:

  • Id: Primitive, instinctual part; operates on the pleasure principle.

  • Ego: Rational, mediating part; operates on the reality principle.

  • Superego: Moral conscience; internalizes societal rules.

• Defense Mechanisms: Unconscious strategies to reduce anxiety (e.g., repression, denial, projection).

• Psychosexual Stages: Developmental stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) where the id's energies focus on different erogenous zones.

• Criticisms: Freud's theories are criticized for lack of scientific evidence and overemphasis on sexuality.

• Neo-Freudians: Modified Freud's ideas (e.g., Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson).

Example: A person who is overly neat may be described as "anal retentive," reflecting fixation at the anal stage.

Humanistic Perspective

The humanistic approach emphasizes free will, self-actualization, and the inherent goodness of people.

• Self-Actualization: The drive to realize one's fullest potential (Abraham Maslow).

• Unconditional Positive Regard: Acceptance and support of a person regardless of what they say or do (Carl Rogers).

• Self-Concept: The image of oneself that develops from interactions with significant people.

• Criticisms: Concepts are difficult to test scientifically.

Example: A therapist practicing client-centered therapy provides unconditional positive regard to help clients grow.

Trait Perspective

Trait theories focus on identifying, describing, and measuring individual differences in behavioral predispositions.

• Trait: A consistent, enduring way of thinking, feeling, or behaving.

• Big Five Model: Five broad dimensions of personality:

  • Openness

  • Conscientiousness

  • Extraversion

  • Agreeableness

  • Neuroticism

• Allport and Cattell: Early trait theorists; Cattell developed the 16PF (Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire).

Example: Someone high in conscientiousness is organized and reliable.

Chapter 14: Psychological Disorders

Defining Psychological Disorders

Psychological disorders are patterns of thoughts, feelings, or behaviors that are deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional.

• Psychopathology: The scientific study of mental disorders.

• Major Criteria: Statistical rarity, deviance from social norms, personal distress, and impairment in functioning.

• Models of Abnormality: Biological, psychological, sociocultural, biopsychosocial.

Classification and Diagnosis

• DSM-5: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, is the standard classification system in the U.S.

• Common Disorders:

  • Anxiety Disorders: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), phobias, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

  • Mood Disorders: Major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder.

  • Schizophrenia: Characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech.

  • Personality Disorders: Enduring maladaptive patterns (e.g., borderline, antisocial).

Major Depression vs. Bipolar Disorder

• Major Depression: Persistent sadness, loss of interest, and other symptoms for at least two weeks.

• Bipolar Disorder: Alternating periods of depression and mania (elevated mood, energy, activity).

Example: A person with bipolar disorder may experience weeks of depression followed by a period of excessive energy and risky behavior.

Schizophrenia

• Symptoms: Delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, negative symptoms (e.g., flat affect).

• Positive Symptoms: Excesses or distortions (e.g., hallucinations).

• Negative Symptoms: Deficits (e.g., lack of emotion).

Other Disorders

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Repetitive, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and ritualistic behaviors (compulsions).

• Phobias: Irrational fears of specific objects or situations.

• Somatic Symptom Disorders: Physical symptoms without a medical cause.

• Psychosomatic Illnesses: Physical illnesses influenced by psychological factors.

Chapter 11: Stress & Health

Understanding Stress

Stress is the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging.

• Stressor: Any event or situation that causes stress.

• Types of Stress: Acute, chronic, eustress (positive), distress (negative).

• Biopsychosocial Model: Considers biological, psychological, and social factors in health and illness.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Hans Selye's model describes the body's response to stress in three stages:

• Alarm: Immediate reaction to stressor; fight-or-flight response.

• Resistance: Body adapts to stressor; coping mechanisms activated.

• Exhaustion: Resources depleted; increased vulnerability to illness.

Diagram: Students should be able to recreate the three-stage GAS diagram.

Stress and the Brain

• Brain Structures: The hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal glands (HPA axis) are involved in the stress response.

• Psychophysiological Illnesses: Illnesses caused or worsened by stress (e.g., hypertension, ulcers).

Coping with Stress

• Primary Appraisal: Evaluating whether an event is a threat.

• Secondary Appraisal: Assessing resources to cope with the threat.

• Problem-Focused Coping: Addressing the problem causing stress.

• Emotion-Focused Coping: Managing emotional response to stress.

• Learned Helplessness: Passive resignation when unable to avoid repeated stressors.

• Social Support: Relationships that provide emotional, informational, or practical help, reducing stress effects.

Personality and Stress

• Type A Personality: Competitive, impatient, prone to anger; higher risk of heart disease.

• Type B Personality: Relaxed, easygoing.

• Optimism vs. Pessimism: Optimists cope better with stress and have better health outcomes.

Table: Comparison of Major Psychological Disorders

Disorder	Main Symptoms	Example
Major Depression	Persistent sadness, loss of interest, fatigue	Unable to get out of bed for weeks
Bipolar Disorder	Mood swings between depression and mania	Periods of high energy followed by deep depression
Schizophrenia	Delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech	Hearing voices, believing in conspiracies
OCD	Obsessions and compulsions	Repeated hand washing
Phobias	Irrational fear of specific object/situation	Fear of spiders (arachnophobia)

Additional info:

• Students should be able to recognize symptoms and distinguish between disorders.

• Understanding the role of biological, psychological, and social factors is crucial for modern psychology.