Understanding Id, Ego, and Superego

The key characteristics when forming first impressions include trustworthiness/warmth and competence/dominance (where they are on social hierarchy).

The primacy effect is the tendency to remember information encountered first, at the beginning of a list, influencing overall perception.

Factors that limit the accuracy of first impressions include impression management strategies (self promotion, ingratiation, exemplification, intimidation, supplication), heuristics such as false consensus effect and transference, and confirmation bias.

First impressions are not accurate because they may pick up on facial expressions influenced by fleeting emotions, which are not representative of personality.

Moving toward people- A compliant, submissive person, Moving against people- An aggressive, domineering person, Moving away from people- A detached, aloof person

Accepting of themselves, others, and the nature of world for what they are, Being independent, democratic, and very creative, Having peak experiences (deep insight, wonder, awe, or ecstasy)

Acceptance and approval without conditions, Empathy from others, and having others be genuine with respect to their own feelings

Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism

9-15%

Higher in Men: Antisocial PD, Narcissistic PD; Higher in Women: Dependent, Histrionic, Borderline

A pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from expectations of the individual’s culture in at least 2 of the following areas, pattern is inflexible and pervasive across different situations, It causes clinically significant distress or impairment, The pattern is stable and it has early onset (traced back to at least adolescence or early adulthood)

Ego-syntonic

Comorbidity among PDs very high --> People with a PD have an average of 6 comorbid PDs

Need for security, rather than a sense of inferiority

Emphasizes conscious free will and uniqueness of the individual person, and personal growth

Factor analysis and other statistical techniques

Cluster A - Odd/Eccentric (Paranoid, Schizoid, Schizotypal), Cluster B – Dramatic/Erratic (Antisocial, Borderline, Histrionic, Narcissistic), Cluster C – Anxious/Fearful (Avoidant, Dependent, Obsessive-compulsive)

• Pervasive suspiciousness and distrust of others - Tendency to see self as blameless - On guard for perceived attacks/betrayal by others

• Pervasive detachment from social relationships - Low pleasure - Flat emotional expressions

• Instability of emotions, relationships, identity - Impulsive behavior - Feelings of emptiness

• Grandiosity - Preoccupied with unlimited success - Requires excessive admiration

Extreme social avoidance, introversion, loneliness

• Perfectionism - Excessive concern for order and control - Preoccupied with rules

Deviance, Distress, Dysfunction, Dangerous

Psychological disorders result from an interaction between biological factors, psychological experiences and one's social environment

Age of onset, risk factors, course of disorder/evolution over time, prevalence rates, gender differences, cultural context

Occurs when we develop an attitude of giving up because we have had past experience of being unable to control things

Self–centered personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, often at the expense of others

Attribution theory explains how people perceive and attribute the cause of experiences and behaviors to internal or external factors. For example, if someone performs well in a test, they may attribute it to their intelligence (internal factor) or the ease of the test (external factor).

Self-serving bias is the tendency for individuals to maintain their self-esteem by attributing positive outcomes to their own actions and negative outcomes to external factors. An example could be a student attributing a good grade to their hard work (internal factor) but attributing a poor grade to a difficult exam (external factor).

The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to overemphasize internal dispositions and underestimate situational factors when explaining others' behavior. This can lead to judgments about others that may not accurately reflect the influence of their environment.

Individualistic societies prioritize individual agency over situational factors, such as the USA. Collectivistic societies prioritize harmony and are more sensitive to situational factors, such as many East Asian cultures.

Stereotypes are automatic associations of specific groups with certain characteristics. They are often perpetuated by media and culture through repeated portrayals and representations.

Prejudice is a negative bias against a person based on their perceived group. It can manifest in interactions through unfair treatment or negative attitudes towards individuals based on their group membership.

Discrimination refers to negative behaviors directed against people due to their group membership. An example could be a company refusing to hire individuals based on their race or gender.

Social categorization is the natural tendency of humans to categorize the world into different social groups based on shared characteristics. An example could be people categorizing individuals based on their clothing style or accent.

In-group favoritism refers to giving preferential treatment to members of one's own group. It can influence social dynamics by creating biases in favor of one's own group over others.

Out-group derogation involves treating the outgroup with hostility and making negative evaluations about the outgroup. This might occur in intergroup competitions or conflicts.

Social influence occurs when people are influenced by the idea that others are watching them, leading to conformity and obedience in order to fit in or comply with perceived expectations.

Media and culture can perpetuate stereotypes and prejudice through repeated portrayals of certain groups and reinforcement of biased beliefs through societal norms and values.

Burger's 2009 study replicated Milgram's study with a maximum voltage of 150V, showing a decrease in obedience from 90% to 70%.

Instrumental aggression aims to achieve something, while hostile aggression is reactive. An example of instrumental aggression is planning a physical attack to steal money, while an example of hostile aggression is road rage.

Theories of aggression include gender differences, neural influences, environmental influences, and social learning.

Prosocial behavior includes actions intended to benefit others, altruism, reciprocal altruism, and the norm of reciprocity.

The bystander effect occurs when people are less likely to help a victim in the presence of others due to diffusion of responsibility and pluralistic ignorance.

Mere exposure effect states that the more one is exposed to a stimulus, the more they like it, while the halo effect attributes positive qualities to attractive people.

Attachment theory emphasizes strong emotional bonds with caretakers as a survival strategy, leading to various attachment styles.

Personality is defined as stable patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting. Historical approaches include phrenology, projective tests, and body somatotypes.

Contributions and critiques of psychoanalytic theory highlight its impact on understanding human personality and the importance of early development.

Freud's theory includes three levels of awareness: conscious mind, preconscious mind, and unconscious mind.

The Id represents our biological instinctual drives, the Ego mediates between the Id's desires and reality, and the Superego represents our conscience and idealized standards of behavior.

The Id operates on the pleasure principle, seeking immediate gratification without concern for consequences. It is entirely unconscious and includes biological instinctual drives.

The Ego mediates between the Id's needs and the constraints of reality, finding realistic and socially acceptable outlets for the Id's desires. It starts developing in the first year of life.

The Superego represents one's conscience and idealized standards of behavior, often conflicting with the demands of the Id. This conflict requires the Ego to resolve turmoil within the constraints of reality.

Defense mechanisms are processes that distort reality and protect us from anxiety by resolving conflicts between the Id and Superego demands. They are used by the Ego to prevent being overcome with anxiety.

Fixation occurs when a portion of the Id's pleasure-seeking energy remains in a psychosexual stage due to excessive gratification or frustration, affecting future personality development.

An unhealthy personality develops when there is excessive dependence on defense mechanisms, an overly strong Id or Superego, or a weak Ego as a mediator.

The Oedipus conflict involves a boy's sexual attraction to his mother and fear of his father's retaliation. The Electra conflict involves a girl's attraction to her father and feelings of inferiority without a penis (penis envy).

The collective unconscious refers to universal human experiences that are shared by all individuals. These experiences are manifested in archetypes, which are images and symbols representing important themes in the history of humankind.

Carl Jung's neo-Freudian theories emphasize the collective unconscious, archetypes, and universal human experiences shared by all individuals.

An anal-retentive personality develops when a child reacts to harsh toilet training by withholding bowel movements, leading to traits of orderliness, neatness, stinginess, and stubbornness. An anal-expulsive personality develops when a child rebels against harsh training and has bowel movements whenever and wherever desired.

Erogenous zones are areas of the body where the Id's pleasure-seeking is focused during stages of psychosexual development. Fixation occurs when energy remains in a stage due to excessive gratification or frustration, impacting future personality development.