Deck 3: Personality, Perception, and Attribution

Question 1

Which of the following is not considered one of the Big Five personality traits?

A) Heredity
B) Extraversion
C) Emotional stability
D) Conscientiousness

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The traits associated with high-performing employees are:

A) extraversion and agreeableness.
B) low agreeableness and conscientiousness.
C) conscientiousness and emotional stability.
D) emotional stability and low agreeableness.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Denise and Teresa are two students in a course on organizational behavior. Denise outperforms Teresa on the first exam in OB, and Teresa convinces herself that Denise is not really a good person to compare herself to because Denise is a psychology major and Teresa is majoring in accounting. Which of the following is the best explanation for Teresa's reaction?

A) Teresa's high self-esteem is protecting her from this unfavorable comparison.
B) Teresa is a low self-monitor.
C) Teresa has an external locus of control.
D) Teresa probably has an inflated generalized belief of her capabilities.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which traits are associated with less absenteeism at work?

A) Extraversion and emotional stability
B) Introversion and high agreeableness
C) Extraversion and conscientiousness
D) Introversion and conscientiousness

Question 5

Which of the following, according to Charles Spearman, is considered the single best predictor of work performance across many occupations and across different cultures?

A) General mental ability
B) Extraversion
C) Conscientiousness
D) Emotional Stability

Question 6

The approach to the study of personality that focuses on both person (dispositions) and situational variables as combined predictors of behavior is known as .

A) trait theory
B) the integrative approach
C) psychodynamic theory
D) wholistic humanism

Question 7

Personality is primarily shaped by:

A) the consequences of behavior and the environment.
B) a person's emotions and the situation.
C) a person's intelligence and feelings.
D) a person's heredity and the environment.

Question 8

As a manager who understands the implications of self-esteem on work behavior, you should:

A) clearly measure the results of employee tasks.
B) provide continual positive feedback.
C) clearly tie rewards to performance.
D) give them appropriate challenges and opportunities for success.

Question 9

Individuals possessing an internal locus of control:

A) display high anxiety.
B) tend to be dissatisfied on the job.
C) prefer participative management styles.
D) avoid greater responsibility.

Question 10

Which of the following is one of the most important determinants of high self-efficacy?

A) An internal locus of control
B) High self-esteem
C) Previous success
D) The tendency to be a low self-monitor

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT a component of CSE?

A) General mental ability
B) Locus of control
C) Generalized self-efficacy
D) Self-esteem

Question 12

Which of the following statements regarding internals and externals is FALSE?

A) Internals and externals have similar positive reactions to being promoted.
B) Internals appreciate more structured work settings and externals don't react well to close supervision.
C) Internals remain happy long after the promotion, whereas externals' joy over promotion is short-lived.
D) Externals may be more reluctant than internals to participate in decision making.

Question 13

is the relatively stable set of characteristics that influences an individual's behavior and lends it consistency.

A) Behavioral predisposition
B) Personality
C) Emotion
D) Disposition

Question 14

Generalized self-efficacy is the general:

A) feeling of one's self-worth.
B) extent to which people base their behavior on cues from other people and situations.
C) belief about one's own abilities to perform effectively in a wide variety of situations.
D) belief about situational control over what happens to them.

Question 15

Positive affectivity is likely to be displayed by:

A) persons with low self-efficacy.
B) low self-monitors.
C) persons with high anxiety.
D) internals, or those with an internal locus of control.

Question 16

Managers who want to promote positive affectivity should:

A) allow participative decision making.
B) hire those with an external orientation.
C) reduce the anxiety in jobs.
D) prohibit employees from taking leaves.

Question 17

As a supervisor of a group of employees, all of whom have an internal locus of control, you should:

A) closely supervise them.
B) provide explicit and frequent job instructions.
C) expect to frequently discipline group members for slowness and lack of initiative.
D) allow them considerable leeway in determining how to perform their work.

Question 18

All of the following are examples of individual differences except:

A) personality.
B) general mental ability.
C) emotional intelligence.
D) norming.

Question 19

The extent to which people base their behavior on cues from other people and situations refers to:

A) locus of control.
B) self-esteem.
C) self-efficacy.
D) self-monitoring.

Question 20

Which of the following statements is NOT correct according to the proponents of interactional psychology?

A) Behavior is a function of heredity and physical stature.
B) People vary in terms of cognitive, affective, motivational, and ability factors.
C) A situation can be viewed objectively.
D) One's subjective view of the situation can also be important.

Question 21

All of the following are characteristics of the target that influence social perception except:

A) inferred intentions.
B) nonverbal communication.
C) verbal communication.
D) cognitive complexity.

Question 22

The ability of an individual to perceive multiple characteristics of another person rather than attend to just a few traits is a function of their:

A) attention span.
B) ability to focus.
C) cognitive weighting.
D) cognitive complexity.

Question 23

Which of the following personality types would most likely display the most consistent behavior "across situations"?

A) Low self-efficacy
B) High self-efficacy
C) High self-monitor
D) Low self-monitor

Question 24

A person who is unconstrained by his or her situation and shows initiative, takes action, and perseveres until he or she effects change has:

A) an ISTJ type personality.
B) high level of self monitoring.
C) a proactive personality.
D) a negative affect.

Question 25

A problem with the behavioral measure for personality would be:

A) low reliability.
B) the fact self-report measures suffer from potential bias.
C) their tendency to be too long.
D) the observer's ability to stay focused.

Question 26

A problem frequently associated with self report methods for assessing one's personality includes:

A) the biases of the assessor in interpreting the information.
B) the observer's ability to stay focused.
C) the respondents' ability to view themselves objectively.
D) the effect of observation on those being observed.

Question 27

According to the Jungian approach to personality, the basic preference that reflects what we pay attention to or how we prefer to gather information is:

A) extraversion/introversion.
B) sensing/intuiting.
C) thinking/feeling.
D) judging/perceiving.

Question 28

is the process of interpreting information about another person.

A) Self-monitoring
B) Social perception
C) Encoding
D) Evaluation

Question 29

The three major categories of factors that influence our perception of another person include:

A) characteristics of ourselves, the target person, and the situation.
B) availability of information, the target person, and the situation.
C) recency of information, availability of information, and consistency of information.
D) characteristics of ourselves, the target person, and consistency of information.

Question 30

An employee who does not get along well with other employees but generates the most sales is evaluated only on sales performance. This is an example of:

A) stereotyping.
B) impression management.
C) the self-fulfilling prophecy.
D) selective perception.

Question 31

The discounting principle is a characteristic of the:

A) situation.
B) perceiver.
C) target.
D) introvert.

Question 32

Which of the following is NOT an important characteristic of the perceiver that can affect social perception?

A) Familiarity with target
B) Cognitive structure
C) Self-concept
D) The strength of social cues

Question 33

Jung contended that the most important distinction between individuals was the:

A) extravert/introvert preference.
B) sensing/intuiting preference.
C) thinking/feeling preference.
D) judging/perceiving preference.

Question 34

The basic preference in type theory that represents where you find energy is the:

A) extraversion/introversion preference.
B) sensing/intuiting preference.
C) thinking/feeling preference.
D) judging/perceiving preference.

Question 35

According to the MBTI a successful top executive is likely to have preferences for .

A) introversion, intuition, feeling, and perceiving
B) introversion, sensing, thinking, and perceiving
C) extraversion, intuition, feeling, and judging
D) extraversion, sensing, thinking, and judging

Question 36

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory:

A) is a projective test.
B) provides direct indices of personality.
C) is administered as an inkblot test.
D) is used to diagnose neurotic disorders.

Question 37

All of the following are characteristics of the target of one's perceptions, except:

A) physical appearance of the target.
B) oral communication.
C) nonverbal cues.
D) the purpose of interaction.

Question 38

A count of the times a student asks a question or makes a comment in an organizational behavior course is an example of .

A) self-report measure of personality
B) projective measure of personality
C) the MMPI test
D) behavioral measure of personality

Question 39

When predicting behavior, an important idea to remember concerns the extent to which a situation overwhelms the effects of individual personalities by providing cues for appropriate behavior. This type of situation is called a(n) _____.

A) weak situation
B) integrative situation
C) rigid situation
D) strong situation

Question 40

The MBTI is a:

A) projective test that captures psychological disorders.
B) way to identify and understand individual differences.
C) self-report questionnaire designed to assess personality.
D) direct index of personality.

Question 41

Achievement-oriented individuals attribute their success to .

A) good luck
B) ability
C) task difficulty
D) simplicity of the task

Question 42

The tendency to make attributions to internal causes when focusing on someone else's behavior is:

A) remedied by the discounting principle.
B) known as the fundamental attribution error.
C) has been shown to not be related to cultural predispositions.
D) known as the self-serving bias.

Question 43

Attribution theory helps to behavior in organizations.

A) measure
B) explain causes of
C) specify correct or appropriate
D) observe

Question 44

When a student attributes a high test grade to his or her diligent study habits and a low grade to the instructor's poorly worded questions, the student is displaying:

A) the fundamental attribution error.
B) the consensus error.
C) the acceptance error.
D) self-serving bias.

Question 45

Personality is defined as a relatively stable set of characteristics that influence an individual's behavior.

Question 46

Increasing workforce diversity is likely to reduce as a barrier to social perception.

A) projection
B) first-impression error
C) selective perception
D) stereotyping

Question 47

Assume you are an employment interviewer. An applicant's physical appearance could cause you to commit an incorrect hiring decision because of all of the following except:

A) stereotype.
B) selective perception.
C) first impression error.
D) self-fulfilling prophecy.

Question 48

Individuals who make external attributions will be more likely to:

A) achieve higher levels of performance.
B) quit because they do not feel responsible.
C) develop feelings of incompetence that may lead to depression.
D) provide a supporting environment for followers.

Question 49

Heredity has been found to NOT be a determinant of personality.

Question 50

When a female softball player is given more applause for a home run hit than a male teammate, it would most likely be due to:

A) first impression error.
B) projection.
C) selective perception.
D) contrast against a stereotype.

Question 51

GMA is considered a personality characteristic.

Question 52

The primacy effect is also known as .

A) selective perception
B) self-fulfilling prophecy
C) first-impression error
D) a stereotype

Question 53

When a manager makes the attribution that an employee's lack of effort or ability is the basis for poor performance, they are probably making an error called .

A) fundamental attribution
B) self-serving bias
C) discounting attribution
D) consistency attribution

Question 54

Research shows that successful candidates make:

A) less attributions than unsuccessful candidates.
B) more external attributions than unsuccessful candidates.
C) more internal attributions for negative events.
D) less internal attributions for negative events.

Question 55

A supervisor's high expectations of a new employee and the subsequent high performance of that employee is an example of .

A) impression management
B) stereotyping
C) perceptual bias
D) self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 56

An achievement-oriented sales representative might attribute his failure to meet a monthly sales quota to:

A) changing economic conditions.
B) a short list of prospects provided by the company.
C) a lack of effort.
D) a cutback in product advertising.

Question 57

Achievement-oriented individuals attribute their failures to:

A) bad luck.
B) a combination of bad luck and a difficult task.
C) lack of effort.
D) lack of effort and a difficult task.

Question 58

Attributional biases imply that managers must:

A) always be correct in their perceptions.
B) be wary of the cognitive process in decision making.
C) know as much as possible about individual differences and determine the causes of behavior.
D) not try to predict and control future behavior by understanding the causes of current behavior.

Question 59

Suppose, for example, that a sales manager is evaluating the performance of his employees. One employee does not get along well with colleagues and rarely completes sales reports on time. This employee, however, generates the most new sales contracts in the office. The sales manager chooses to ignore the negative information and evaluates the salesperson only on contracts generated. The manager is exercising:

A) projection.
B) selective perception.
C) self-fulfilling prophecy.
D) impression management.

Question 60

A person from a fatalistic culture like India would be more likely than someone from China to:

A) make an internal attribution.
B) make a self-serving bias error.
C) make a fundamental attribution error.
D) make an external attribution.

Question 61

Identify the most common errors that affect the attribution process, and briefly discuss the implications for managers.

Question 62

Match the following:
a. The way in which factors such as skills, abilities, personalities, values, and ethics vary from one person to another
b. A relatively stable set of characteristics that influences one's behavior
c. This approach believes that behavior is a function of the person and his or her environment
d. Tendencies of persons to respond to situations in consistent ways
e. A person's general feeling of self-worth
Interactional psychology

Question 63

Using the five personality characteristics identified as important for understanding organizational behavior, describe an individual who would most likely be a strong performer.

Question 64

Mood is a state that has been found to be relatively stable and therefore contributes to the objective accuracy of perception.

Question 65

Persons with high self-esteem and internal locus of control tend to be higher performers and are more satisfied with their jobs.

Question 66

Match the following:
a. The way in which factors such as skills, abilities, personalities, values, and ethics vary from one person to another
b. A relatively stable set of characteristics that influences one's behavior
c. This approach believes that behavior is a function of the person and his or her environment
d. Tendencies of persons to respond to situations in consistent ways
e. A person's general feeling of self-worth
Personality

Question 67

An example of a first impression error would be where speakers with higher vocal pitch are believed to be more competent than those with lower voices.

Question 68

How would a manager use self-fulfilling prophecies to improve a work group?

Question 69

Match the following:
a. The way in which factors such as skills, abilities, personalities, values, and ethics vary from one person to another
b. A relatively stable set of characteristics that influences one's behavior
c. This approach believes that behavior is a function of the person and his or her environment
d. Tendencies of persons to respond to situations in consistent ways
e. A person's general feeling of self-worth
Dispositions

Question 70

Identify and explain barriers to social perception.

Question 71

High self-monitors can adjust their behavior to fit the situation.

Question 72

The integrative approach to personality emphasizes individual growth and improvement.

Question 73

The basis for understanding individual differences stems from Lewin's early contention that behavior is a function of the person and the environment. This idea has been developed by the interactional psychology approach to personality. Briefly explain the basic propositions of this approach.

Question 74

A problem with self-report measure for assessing personality is that people often answer the questionnaires in terms of how they want to be seen, rather than as they really are.

Question 75

Match the following:
a. A broad set of personality traits that refers to self-concept and is comprised of locus of control, self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, and emotional stability
b. One's generalized belief about situational and self-control
c. The broad theory that describes personality as a composite of an individual's psychological processes
d. The extent to which people base their behavior on cues from others and the situation
e. Positive and negative mood dispositions at work
Affectivity

Question 76

High achievers are more likely to attribute their success to others and good luck.

Question 77

Match the following:
a. The way in which factors such as skills, abilities, personalities, values, and ethics vary from one person to another
b. A relatively stable set of characteristics that influences one's behavior
c. This approach believes that behavior is a function of the person and his or her environment
d. Tendencies of persons to respond to situations in consistent ways
e. A person's general feeling of self-worth
Individual differences

Question 78

CEO's have been found to manage impressions by publicizing changes that seem to address financial analysts'
concerns without changing organizational policy.

Question 79

Match the following:
a. The way in which factors such as skills, abilities, personalities, values, and ethics vary from one person to another
b. A relatively stable set of characteristics that influences one's behavior
c. This approach believes that behavior is a function of the person and his or her environment
d. Tendencies of persons to respond to situations in consistent ways
e. A person's general feeling of self-worth
Self-esteem

Question 80

The Pygmalion effect usually is associated with reduced output.