| A | B |
|---|
| archetype | A universal idea, image, or pattern, found in the collective unconscious |
| Behavioral genetics | The study of inherited behavioral traits and tendencies. |
| Behavioral personality theory | Any model of personality that emphasizes observable behavior, stimuli and responses, and the impact of learning. |
| Central traits | The core traits that characterize an individual personality |
| Character | Personal characteristics that have been judged or evaluated; a person's desirable or undesirable qualities. |
| Collective unconscious | A mental storehouse for unconscious ideas and images shared by all humans. |
| Common traits | Personality traits that are shared by most members of a particular culture. |
| Compensation | Counteracting a real or imagined weakness by emphasizing desirable traits or by seeking to excel in other areas. |
| Conditions of worth | Internal standards used to judge the value of one's thoughts, actions, feelings, or experiences. |
| Critical situations | Situations during childhood that are capable of leaving a lasting imprint on personality. |
| Cue | External stimuli or signs that guide responses, especially those that signal the likely presence or absence of reinforcement. |
| Direct observation (personality) | Any observation of a person's behavior in a natural or prearranged situation undertaken to form an impression of his or her personality. |
| Drive | The psychological expression of a motive; for example, hunger, thirst, or a drive for success. |
| Expectancy | An anticipation concerning future events or relationships |
| Extrovert | A person whose attention is directed outward; a bold, sociable, outgoing person. |
| Factor Analysis | A statistical technique used to correlate multiple measurements. Measurements that form "clusters" of correlations are assumed to reflect some general underlying factor. |
| Five-factor model | A model proposing that the five most universal dimensions of personality are extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. |
| Habit | A deeply ingrained, learned pattern of behavior. |
| Halo effect | The tendency of an interviewer to extend a favorable or unfavorable impression to unrelated aspects of an individual's personality. |
| Mandala | A circular design representing balance, unity, and completion. |
| Peak experiences | Temporary moments of self-actualization, marked by feelings of ecstasy, harmony, and deep meaning. |
| Reliability | The ability of a test to yield the same score, or nearly the same score, each time it is given to the same person. |
| Validity | The ability of a test to measure what it purports to measure. |
| Trait theorist | A psychologist who is interested in classifying, analyzing, and interrelating traits, and in discovering their origins, to understand and explain personality. |
| Social learning theory | An approach that combines learning principles with cognitive processes (perception, thinking, anticipation), plus the effects of observational learning, to explain behavior. |
