fei75766_glo_G1-G15.indd G-5  02/19/20 09:26 AM
GlossaryG-5
emotional stability (Buss)  Involves one’s ability to
handle stress ornotandthedisposition toexperience 
anxiety, depression, orguilt. 
empathic listening (Rogers)  Theaccurate sensing ofthe
feelings ofanother andthecommunication ofthese 
perceptions. Oneofthree “necessary andsufficient” 
therapeutic conditions.
empirical  Based onexperience, systematic observation, 
andexperiment rather thanonlogical reasoning or
philosophical speculation.
empirical law of effect (Rotter)  Theassumption that
behaviors thatmove people inthedirection oftheirgoals 
aremore likely tobereinforced.
encoding strategies (Mischel)  People’s ways of
transforming stimulus inputs intoinformation about 
themselves, other people, andtheworld.
enhancement needs (Rogers)  Theneed todevelop, to
grow, andtoachieve.
epigenetic principle  Erikson’s termmeaning thatone
component grows outofanother initsproper timeand
sequence.
epigenetics (Buss)  Change ingenefunction thatdoes
notinvolve changes inDNA.
epistemology  Thebranch ofphilosophy thatdeals with
thenature ofknowledge.
erogenous zones  Organs ofthebody thatareespecially 
sensitive tothereception ofpleasure. InFreudian theory, 
thethree principal erogenous zones arethemouth, anus, 
andgenitals.
eros  Thedesire foranenduring union withaloved one.
essential freedom (May)  Thefreedom ofbeing orthe
freedom oftheconscious mind. Essential freedom cannot 
belimited bychains orbars.
esteem needs  Thefourth levelonMaslow’s hierarchy of
needs; theyinclude self-respect, competence, andthe
perceived esteem ofothers.
ethology  Thescientific study ofthecharacteristic 
behavior patterns ofanimals.
evolutionary psychology (Buss)  Thescientific study of
human thought andbehavior thatexplains human 
thought, behavior, motivation, andpersonality through 
theconcepts ofadaptations andmechanisms. 
exclusivity (Erikson)  Thecorepathology ofyoung 
adulthood marked byaperson’s exclusion ofcertain 
people, activities, andideas.
excuses  Adlerian safeguarding tendencies whereby the
person, through theuseofreasonable sounding 
justifications, becomes convinced ofthereality ofself-
erected obstacles.
existential freedom (May)  Thefreedom ofdoing one’s 
will.Existential freedom canbelimited bychains orbars.existential living  Rogers’s termindicating atendency to
liveinthemoment.
existential needs (Fromm)  Peculiarly human needs 
aimed atmoving people toward areunification withthe
natural world. Fromm listed relatedness, transcendence, 
rootedness, asense ofidentity, andaframe oforientation 
asexistential, orhuman, needs.
expectancy  Thesubjective probability heldbyaperson 
thatanyspecific reinforcement orsetofreinforcements 
willoccur inagiven situation.
experience corollary  Kelly’s viewthatpeople continually 
revise theirpersonal constructs astheresult ofexperience.
exploitative characters (Fromm)  People whotakefrom 
others, byeither force orcunning.
external evaluations (Rogers)  People’s perception of
other people’s viewofthem.
external influences (McCrae and Costa)  Knowledge, 
views, andevaluations oftheself.
external reinforcement (Rotter)  Thepositive ornegative 
value ofanyreinforcing event asseenfrom theviewof
societal orcultural values.
extinction  Thetendency ofapreviously acquired 
response tobecome progressively weakened upon 
nonreinforcement.
extraversion (E) (Eysenck)  Oneofthree types of
superfactors identified byEysenck andconsisting oftwo
opposite poles—extraversion andintroversion. Extraverts 
arecharacterized behaviorally bysociability and
impulsiveness andphysiologically byalowlevelof
cortical arousal. Introverts, bycontrast, arecharacterized 
byunsociability andcaution andbyahighlevelof
cortical arousal.
extraversion (Jung)  Anattitude ortypemarked bythe
turning outward ofpsychic energy sothataperson is
oriented toward theobjective world.
F
factor  Aunitofpersonality derived through factor 
analysis. However, theterm issometimes usedmore 
generally toinclude anyunderlying aspect of
personality.
factor analysis  Amathematical procedure forreducing a
large number ofvariables toafew;usedbyEysenck and
others toidentify personality traits andfactors.
factor loadings  Theamount ofcorrelation thatascore 
contributes toagiven factor.
falsifiable  Anattribute ofatheory thatallows research 
toeither support orfailtosupport thattheory’s major 
tenets. Afalsifiable theory isaccountable to
experimental results.
fear (Kelly)  Aspecific threat toone’s personal constructs.Final PDF to printer