PSY 205 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Reality Principle, Trait Theory, Preconscious

• School: Syracuse University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 205
• Professor: Shannon Houck

Document Summary

Defining personality: an individual"s unique set of consistent behavioral traits. Openness to experience curious, flexible, creative, unconventional. Id primitive, instinctive component of personality that operates according to the pleasure principle. Pleasure principle demands immediate gratification of its urges. Ego decision-making component of personality that operates according to the reality principle. Reality principle seeks to delay gratification of the id"s urges until appropriate outlets and situations can be found. Superego moral component of personality that incorporates social standards about what represents right and wrong: level of awareness. Conscious whatever one is aware of at a particular point in time. Preconscious material just beneath the surface of awareness that can easily be retrieved. Rationalization creating false, but plausible excuses in order to justify unacceptable behavior. Repression keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the unconscious. Projection attributing one"s own thoughts, feelings, or motives to another. Displacement diverting emotional feelings from their original source to a substitute target.