Deck 8: Trait and Skill Aspects of Personality

Question 1

People have been using traits to describe others for

A) approximately three decades.
B) thousands of years.
C) approximately a decade.
D) approximately a century.
E) only the past five years.

Answer 1

thousands of years.

Question 2

According to Hippocrates, those with choleric humors were

A) depressive and sad.
B) depressive and happy.
C) apathetic and dull.
D) hopeful and cheerful.
E) angry and irascible.

Answer 2

angry and irascible.

Question 3

While the sanguine humor was considered __________, the phlegmatic was considered __________.

A) cheerful; apathetic
B) slow; quick
C) apathetic; hopeful
D) depressed; apathetic
E) angry; depressed

Answer 3

cheerful; apathetic

Question 4

Carl Jung's definition of extroversion included

A) a focus on things outside the self.
B) deep thinking and introspection.
C) loud and boisterous expressions.
D) a tendency to be careless about money.

Question 5

The two traits that Jung discussed were

A) extroversion and neuroticism.
B) neuroticism and psychoticism.
C) neuroticism and stability.
D) conscientiousness and optimism.
E) extroversion and introversion.

Question 6

A personality measure based on Jung's introversion and extroversion is the

A) California Psychological Inventory.
B) Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.
C) NEO Personality Inventory.
D) California Critical Thinking Inventory.
E) Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Question 7

According to Cattell, L-data are

A) longevity findings.
B) limited in their use.
C) list data.
D) lacking in generalizability.
E) life data.

Question 8

The Big Five refers to

A) five broadly defined personality traits.
B) the most-used questionnaires in personality assessment.
C) the five indicators of Neuroticism.
D) the founders of modern personality theory.
E) the five fundamental human needs.

Question 9

Cattell used __________ to organize adjectives into trait-categories.

A) ANOVA
B) T-tests
C) factor analysis
D) regression
E) LISREL

Question 10

Q-data and L-data refer to

A) questionnaire data and likelihood data.
B) qualitative data and life data.
C) questionnaire data and life data.
D) quail data and lizard data.
E) quantitative data and likelihood data.

Question 11

Cattell named his 16 personality factors with letters of the alphabet because

A) he didn't want people to be biased by the names.
B) letters fit better into mathematical equations.
C) it was suggested by a colleague.
D) it was important for them to be alphabetical.
E) that was a way to represent their ordering.

Question 12

Who referred to personality as the "dynamic organization with in the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his characteristic behavior and thought"?

A) Costa
B) Cattell
C) Freud
D) Jung
E) Allport

Question 13

Allport was concerned with issues of

A) prejudice.
B) schizophrenia in a religious context.
C) biological influences on personality.
D) mental illness.

Question 14

The behaviorist work of Skinner particularly bothered

A) Jung.
B) Allport.
C) Spearman.
D) Cattell.
E) Brown.

Question 15

Allport's "common traits" are traits

A) uncovered by factor analytic techniques.
B) which are least theoretically interesting.
C) that many in a population share.
D) that are found in lower-class populations.
E) that are boring.

Question 16

__________ dispositions are traits unique to the individual, while __________ dispositions exert an overwhelming influence on behaviors.

A) Central; cardinal
B) Cardinal; proprium
C) Proprium; central
D) Personal; central
E) Personal; cardinal

Question 17

The term "proprium" refers to

A) a person's outward behavior.
B) counterintuitive behaviors.
C) the proper way to behave in any given situation.
D) the inner core of someone's personality.

Question 18

Personal dispositions that greatly influence behavior are termed __________ dispositions.

A) superordinate
B) incarnate
C) motivational
D) cardinal
E) transcendental

Question 19

Which of the following is NOT one of the Big Five?

A) Pessimism
B) Agreeableness
C) Neuroticism
D) Openness
E) Extroversion

Question 20

How might we determine whether or not the "Big Five" really exist?

A) By finding them in other cultures
B) By finding their biological counterparts
C) By showing they accurately predict behavior
D) By showing a pattern of genetic inheritance
E) All of these may help to demonstrate their reality.

Question 21

Of the following, which make up Eysenck's "big three"?

A) Neuroticism, extroversion, and psychoticism
B) Neuroticism, extroversion, and ego control
C) Neuroticism, psychoticism, and ego control
D) Neuroticism, extroversion, and openness
E) Extroversion, openness, and psychoticism

Question 22

Individuals who score high in the neuroticism trait of the Big Five tend to be

A) mentally ill.
B) impulsive and creative.
C) successful.
D) unemotional.
E) high strung and tense.

Question 23

Individuals who are open to experience tend to be

A) sociable.
B) imaginative.
C) self-monitoring.
D) quiet.
E) talkative.

Question 24

The founder of a motive-based study of personality was

A) Cattell.
B) Allport.
C) Shipley.
D) Murray.
E) Eysenck.

Question 25

According to Murray, a person's "Basic Needs" include

A) Need for Exhibition.
B) Need for Affiliation.
C) Need for Achievement.
D) Need for Power.
E) all of these.

Question 26

Charismatic people often tend to be

A) hostile.
B) emotionally expressive.
C) reserved.
D) aloof.
E) emotionally unexpressive.

Question 27

Expressive people are often perceived as

A) attractive.
B) personable.
C) negligent.
D) reserved.
E) hostile.

Question 28

Dominant people tend to

A) speak more loudly.
B) control eye contact (stare or look away, as they like).
C) move more expansively.
D) sit or stand in a prominent position.
E) do all of these.

Question 29

In a situation where an expressive person is trying to hide his or her emotions and an unexpressive person is acting naturally,

A) generally, the expressive person still shows more emotion.
B) generally, they act about the same.
C) generally, the unexpressive person now shows more emotion.
D) neither one shows any emotion.

Question 30

Which of the following describes one possible strength of the trait and skills approach to personality?

A) It can be used to understand the contribution of genetic effects.
B) It simplifies personality to a small number of basic dimensions.
C) It underestimates variability across situations.
D) It is not biased toward multicultural studies.
E) It solves all problems related to the categorization of people's personalities.

Question 31

Eysenck would combine Cattell's factors of outgoingness and assertiveness and call this

A) extroversion.
B) agreeableness.
C) conscientiousness.
D) neuroticism.
E) openness.

Question 32

Peer-ratings of personality tend to be

A) more accurate than stranger-ratings.
B) identical to self-ratings.
C) very unreliable.
D) the same as stranger-ratings.
E) very different from self-ratings

Question 33

Who is the founder of the motive-based study of personality?

A) Raymond Cattell
B) Gordon Allport
C) W. H. Sheldon
D) Henry Murray
E) B. F. Skinner

Question 34

If you are interested in defining, as simply as possible, what makes a "good friend," you might list all of the things you value in a friend, and then use a statistical procedure based on correlations to narrow all of these down into just a few basic categories or dimensions. This type of analysis is called

A) item response analysis.
B) multiple regression analysis.
C) temporal analysis.
D) multidirectional analysis.
E) factor analysis.

Question 35

Which of the following traits is least well-defined?

A) Neuroticism
B) Extroversion
C) Agreeableness
D) Conscientiousness
E) Openness

Question 36

A need for power (n Power) is best described as what?

A) The need to dominate
B) The need to be in charge
C) The need to control the actions of others
D) The need for others to follow your lead

Question 37

Gordon Allport's definition of personality states that personality is "a dynamic organization." By this, he means that

A) there is a lot of energy associated with personality.
B) there is an organization of mental structures and processes that is constantly changing at random over time.
C) dynamic theories such as Freud's psychoanalytic theory are essentially correct but should include more emphasis on the true organization of personality.
D) each person has a collection of unique, key qualities.
E) behavior is a function of past reward and punishment.

Question 38

Which concept would Allport be most likely to address with his approach to the study of personality?

A) Unconscious forces guiding behavior
B) Cross-situational consistency of behavior
C) Chumship and mental health
D) Free will and self actualization
E) Social learning forces guiding behavior

Question 39

Which of the following criticisms of the trait approach to personality are addressed by Allport's work?

A) The genetic basis of specific traits is not known.
B) Only behavioral manifestations of personality are worthy of study.
C) People's behavior varies from situation to situation, so speaking of consistent traits that cause behavior is groundless.
D) Trait psychology ignores unconscious forces, which is where the action in personality really is.

Question 40

According to McCrae and Costa, the Big Five factors of personality are

A) extroversion, neuroticism, openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness.
B) extroversion, neuroticism, openness, self-actualization, and eclecticism.
C) self-actualization, valuing, congruence, ability to love, and assertiveness.
D) constructedness, cognition, situational variability, neuroticism, and extroversion.
E) extroversion, neuroticism, psychoticism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness.

Question 41

A significant criticism of the Five Factor Model is that

A) the Big 5 are not real personality traits, but merely reflect people's social reputations.
B) the Big 5 are simply a function of observer's cognitive biases.
C) five is more factors than is needed to describe personality.
D) five is too few factors to describe personality.

Question 42

One characteristic that differentiates Eysenck's conceptualization of the major traits from the Big Five approach is that Eysenck attempts to take into account

A) Jungian archetypes.
B) underlying biological influences.
C) Freudian theory.
D) Causal Modeling statistical techniques.

Question 43

Recent research suggests that American college students are becoming more

A) conscientious.
B) impulsive.
C) neurotic.
D) unconscientious.
E) extroverted.

Question 44

A zero acquaintance is someone who

A) we do not like very much.
B) has "0" personality.
C) we have met, but do not consider an acquaintance.
D) we have met, but have not befriended.
E) with whom we have never interacted.

Question 45

Jung helped launch trait approaches beginning with the study of what?

A) Introspection and empirical observation
B) Introversion and extroversion
C) Shadow and persona
D) Optimism and pessimism
E) Freud and Pavlov

Question 46

Which of the following best describes how Cattell contributed to the trait approach?

A) Cattell took previously collected adjectives that describe personality and had participants rated on each trait. Factor analysis was used to cluster and make connections between the traits.
B) Cattell created a list of all adjectives in English that can be used to describe personality, and created an alphabetical listing of them.
C) Cattell launched the trait approach by putting all people into opposite categories of the same trait. That is a person is either extroverted or introverted and also either optimistic or pessimistic.
D) Cattell created a set of personality types based on prior research done by others, creating the types by clustering sets of trait adjectives that had similar underlying ideas.
E) Cattell analyzed the motivations that were important to each individual, and characterized each person in terms of the motivation that was most important for him or her.

Question 47

What is Q-data?

A) Data gathered from factor analysis
B) Archival data
C) Data gathered from self-reports and questionnaires
D) Data gathered from observation
E) Data gathered during an experiment that manipulates the independent variable

Question 48

According to Allport, traits

A) never change over time; people are consistent in their behavior across all situations.
B) are consistent and stable properties; behavior varies and changes over time and across situations.
C) may change over time if the person is subjected to extreme situations; behavior changes only if the core trait changes.
D) change with the person's situation.
E) change radically over time; behavior also changes radically as a person's traits change.

Question 49

Functional equivalence is best described as what?

A) All behaviors a person exhibits are linked with a corresponding trait of the person.
B) Traits are best described in terms of their behavior; therefore behavior must be the focus of the study of traits.
C) People consist of a small number of traits that can be used to describe all behavior.
D) Many situations are viewed by people as similar in meaning, so they respond similarly; the trait is the internal structure that causes this regularity.
E) Traits are underlying structures that people are born with and are in no way related to the different behaviors that people exhibit.

Question 50

The essence of Allport's trait approach is best described as what?

A) A trait is an internal structure that causes different stimuli to appear to be equivalent in their meaning thus leading people to react to situations that appear to be similar in similar ways.
B) Traits can be categorized using mathematical processes; if applied to people, these traits will correlate with certain repetitive behaviors.
C) Traits are not inherent (born with) to the person, repetitive situations over time lead people to adapt rarely changing behavior patterns that are labeled traits.
D) A trait is the definition of a recurring behavior, without taking into account any internal processes that may have contributed to the occurrence of the behavior.
E) Allport did not agree nor believe in the study of traits and their possible relation to behavior.

Question 51

Which of the following is NOT one of the big five traits?

A) Extroversion
B) Openness
C) Neuroticism
D) Agreeableness
E) Curiosity

Question 52

What is NOT one of the ways the Big Five traits can be used to categorize people?

A) Helps with choosing career paths
B) Helps with understanding cross-cultural differences
C) Helps with understanding consistent differences in people's personalities
D) Help with categorizing all people into 5 predetermined "personality profiles"
E) Helps by creating a relatively small number of traits that all people can be scored on

Question 53

The Big Five was created using what method?

A) Observational research
B) Archival research
C) Self-report
D) Psychoanalysis
E) Factor analysis

Question 54

Eysenck's "Big Three" categories are a combination of factors previously identified by what other psychologist?

A) Cattell
B) Allport
C) Jung
D) Sheldon
E) Murray

Question 55

"Zero acquaintance" is best described as what?

A) Observing someone who is not related to the observer
B) Observing someone while they socialize with people he/she has never met before
C) Observing someone who has had little interaction with the observer
D) Observing someone who has never interacted with the observer
E) Observing someone who has no friends or acquaintances

Question 56

In what way(s) are motives different from traits?

A) Motives involve a goal.
B) Motives are psychobiological forces that help induce a particular behavior.
C) Motives are more basic than traits.
D) Motives underlie observable traits.
E) Motives are all of these.

Question 57

The __________ is a widely used instrument that attempts to measure introversion and extroversion as Jung defined them.

Question 58

__________ is a statistical technique used to help summarize correlation coefficients by taking into account shared variance; Cattell used this technique to reduce the redundant information in a list of personality descriptors.

Question 59

Many behaviors of individuals are __________; that is, they are similar in meanings because the individual tends to view many situations and stimuli in the same way.

Question 60

According to Allport, the traits that people in a population share are known as __________.

Question 61

When motives and tendencies become independent of their origins, they are __________.

Question 62

Allport used the term __________ to refer to the core of personality that defines who we are.

Question 63

Personal dispositions that exert an overwhelming influence on behavior are called __________ by Allport.

Question 64

According to Allport, __________ are traits that are peculiar to the individual.

Question 65

__________ are several personal dispositions around which personality is organized.

Question 66

The most current major trait theory in personality is called the __________, which includes extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness.

Question 67

The biasing tendency for people to see certain traits as going together and to perceive consistencies when viewing the personalities of others is called __________ personality theory.

Question 68

Personality __________ are used to divide people into discrete categories and classes as opposed to being placed along a continuum.

Question 69

The term __________ refers to a readiness to respond in a certain way under given conditions.

Question 70

Information about a person's character can be communicated through __________, which includes vocal characteristics, facial expressions, and body gestures and movements.

Question 71

__________ traits are traits that people in a population share, and __________ dispositions are traits that are peculiar to the individual.

Question 72

Briefly describe what happened to Allport when he, at the age of 22, visited Freud for the first time. What did this incident teach him?

Question 73

Choose one of the Big Five dimensions of personality and write a short character sketch of someone high on this trait. Be specific, using a real person you know (you should not identify the person, and you can change basic demographic information so that the person cannot be accidentally identified).

Question 74

Why are some personality traits easier to recognize and rate than others?

Question 75

What are motives, and how are motives different from traits?

Question 76

Do you prefer Cattell's 16-factor approach to personality, or Eysenck's 3-factor approach? Why?

Question 77

Based on the description below, rate Trent as either high, average, or low on each of the Big Five dimensions of personality, and then justify your ratings.
Trent is a high school student who is often getting into trouble. His teachers say that he is constantly talking in class, has too much energy to stay in his seat, and passes notes to classmates. Although he often fails to turn in assignments and thus has poor grades, his instructors agree he is creative and bright, his jokes are witty, and on occasion, he asks surprisingly perceptive questions. Because of his classroom behavior, Trent is not a favorite with teachers, but his classmates all like him, saying that he is friendly, fun to be around, and kind. Trent, himself, says that he is content with the way his life is and that he wouldn't change a thing. He is not worried about the future, and believes that in the long run his winning personality will enable him to accomplish his goals.

Question 78

Based on the description below, rate June as either high, average, or low on each of the Big Five dimensions of personality, and then justify your ratings.
June is six years old, and her parents are worried about her. She spends a lot of time in her room and doesn't seem to enjoy being with other children. In addition, she seems to spend a lot of time worrying about things that most children don't think of, such as what might happen if there were a nuclear war, whether her house might burn down, or if someone might kidnap her. Her mother reports that she is a very "good" child who keeps her room clean and always remembers to feed her puppy. Both of her parents also agree that she is eager to please others, and her father notes that the tendency of the neighbor children to argue and fight might be contributing to her reluctance to play with them. June hates arguing. This little girl loves to paint and draw, and her parents believe her to be quite talented. She also has a vocabulary that is larger than that of most children her age, and a very active imagination. As long as she is not forced to interact with other children, she seems reasonably happy.

Question 79

List the five traits included in the Big Five dimensions of personality. Define each trait and then give an example of a well-known (e.g., celebrity) that characterizes each trait.

Question 80

How is social-emotional intelligence different from traditional conceptualizations of intelligence? How is it different from the trait of openness to experience? Are these different traits mutually exclusive, why or why not?