Deck 5: Personality Dispositions Over Time: Stability, Coherence, and Change

Question 1

When people maintain their relative positions in a group over time,the group displays high:

A)mean level stability.
B)rank order stability.
C)personality coherence.
D)situational specificity.

Answer 1

rank order stability.

Question 2

According to Mary Rothbart and Hwang (2005),which of the following factors of temperament is probably the most stable?

A)Activity level
B)Fear
C)Duration of orienting
D)Soothability

Answer 2

Activity level

Question 3

As a child,Maria was an excellent student and completed her homework on time.As an adult,she is a highly organized businesswoman and is able to meet project deadlines.This scenario most likely exemplifies:

A)personality coherence.
B)mean level reliability.
C)rank order stability.
D)mean level stability.

Answer 3

personality coherence.

Question 4

If the average degree of political orientation changes in a population-for example,if people tend to get increasingly conservative as they get older-then that population is displaying:

A)mean level change.
B)mean level stability.
C)rank order stability.
D)rank order change.

Question 5

When measuring heights of individuals between ages 14 and 20,one is most likely to observe high:

A)mean level stability.
B)rank order stability.
C)rank order instability.
D)mean level change.

Question 6

Mary Rothbart and Hwang (2005),studied infants at different ages and found that:

A)stability of temperament tends to increase as infants mature.
B)stability of temperament tends to be higher over long intervals of time.
C)stable individual differences appear to emerge in mid-life.
D)most temperament variables are highly unstable over time during the first year of life.

Question 7

The _____ of personality analysis helps predict who will be at risk for a psychological disturbance later in life based on earlier measures of personality.

A)population level
B)group differences level
C)individual differences level
D)cultural differences level

Question 8

When the average level of a trait in a group remains constant over time,the group displays high:

A)mean level change.
B)mean level stability.
C)rank order stability.
D)rank order instability.

Question 9

_____ can be defined as the continuities,consistencies,and stabilities in people over time and the ways in which people change over time.

A)Personality development
B)Rank order stability
C)Mean level stability
D)Personality coherence

Question 10

Children who cry when their mothers leave them are highly likely to have many short-lived relationships as adults.This illustrates _____.

A)mean level stability
B)mean level change
C)rank order stability
D)personality coherence

Question 11

A case study of Mahatma Gandhi best illustrates:

A)how personality changes over time.
B)how personality can remain stable over time.
C)the concept of rank order stability.
D)the traits that are correlated with leadership skills.

Question 12

A form of personality development that is characterized by an individual maintaining rank order in relation to other individuals but changing the manifestations of the trait is called:

A)mean level stability.
B)rank order stability.
C)personality coherence.
D)mean level change.

Question 13

The correlations between different measures of a single trait obtained at the same time are called:

A)validity coefficients.
B)stability coefficients.
C)zero-order correlation coefficients.
D)rank-order correlation coefficients.

Question 14

Mary Rothbart and Hwang (2005)studied infants at different ages and found that temperament is:

A)unstable.
B)more stable in early infancy.
C)more stable over short intervals of time.
D)more stable over long intervals of time.

Question 15

Freud's theory of psychosexual development is an example of personality change at the _____ level of analysis.

A)population
B)group differences
C)individual differences
D)individual uniqueness

Question 16

The correlations between same measures obtained at two different points in time are called:

A)validity coefficients.
B)stability coefficients.
C)zero-order correlation coefficients.
D)rank-order correlation coefficients.

Question 17

_____ is usually defined as the individual differences that emerge very early in life,are likely to have a heritable basis,and are often involved with emotionality or arousability.

A)Trait
B)Temperament
C)Personality development
D)Disposition

Question 18

Which of the following forms of personality development is NOT located at the group differences level of personality analysis?

A)Gender differences in the degree of empathy toward others
B)Cultural differences in coming-of-age rituals
C)Arousal differences that correlate with extraversion
D)Ethnic differences in body image satisfaction

Question 19

Personality differences usually can be first observed in:

A)early infancy.
B)late infancy.
C)adolescence.
D)adulthooD.

Question 20

Sensation seeking tends to decrease with age;this exemplifies:

A)mean level change.
B)mean level stability.
C)rank order stability.
D)rank order instability.

Question 21

According to Dan Olweus (1979),children classified as bullies in Grade 6 were more likely to _____.

A)become popular in Grade 10
B)become "whipping boys" by Grade 7
C)become criminals in adulthood
D)have been bullied by parents

Question 22

In the context of mean level stability and change in adulthood,studies confirm that mean level personality traits _____ during adulthood.

A)do not change
B)change in slight,but nonetheless important,ways
C)change in moderate ways
D)change significantly

Question 23

Michael Kernis et al.(1991,1992)have suggested that self-esteem variability is related to the extent to which one's self-view can be influenced by:

A)one's ambition.
B)social events in particular.
C)the mean level of self-esteem.
D)the self-esteem of others in the environment.

Question 24

According to Michael Kernis et al.(1991),self-esteem level is related to:

A)self-evaluation.
B)childhood temper tantrums.
C)depression.
D)activity level.

Question 25

Psychologists Ryan and Deci (2000)suggest that variable persons:

A)are dependent for their self-worth on the approval of others.
B)are most likely to have high self-esteem.
C)are most likely to have low self-esteem.
D)react positively to objectively defined negative events.

Question 26

In a longitudinal study conducted by Howard Gardner and Bray (1988),in which 266 male managerial candidates at the business AT&T were first tested when they were in their twenties and then followed them up periodically over a 20-year time span when they were in their forties,it was observed that the most startling change was a steep drop in the _____ score for the sample as a whole.

A)autonomy
B)ambition
C)motivation
D)dominance

Question 27

Sensation seeking increases with age from childhood to adolescence and peaks in:

A)early childhood.
B)late adolescence.
C)mid-life.
D)late life.

Question 28

In the context of mean level stability and change in adulthood,there is a tendency for openness,extraversion,and neuroticism to:

A)increase substantially in a person's thirties.
B)gradually decline with increasing age until around age 50.
C)fluctuate greatly during adolescence.
D)decrease markedly after a person reaches his or her sixties.

Question 29

Kara is extremely sensitive to social feedback.She most likely has a(n):

A)high level of self-esteem variability.
B)overall low level of self-esteem.
C)low mean level of self-esteem.
D)extremely rigid sense of self-esteem.

Question 30

Across self-report measures of personality,conducted by different investigators and over differing time intervals of adulthood,the traits of neuroticism,extraversion,openness,agreeableness,and conscientiousness all show:

A)only slight stability in adulthood.
B)moderate to high levels of stability.
C)a lack of stability in early adulthood.
D)population stability in adulthooD.

Question 31

In the context of mean level stability and change in adulthood,according to Robins et al.(2001),students show _____ in neuroticism from freshman to senior years in college.

A)an increase
B)a decrease
C)significant stability
D)significant fluctuation

Question 32

In the context of rank order stability in adulthood,Roberts and DelVecchio (2000)found that personality consistency:

A)does not change reliably over time.
B)tends to decrease with increasing age.
C)tends to increase with increasing age.
D)is best estimated by validity coefficients.

Question 33

The Block and Block Longitudinal Study,which initiated the testing of a sample of more than 100 children from the Berkeley-Oakland area of California when the children were 3 years old,found:

A)stability in activity level over time.
B)less stability over short intervals of time.
C)more stability over long intervals of time.
D)a lack of personality coherence.

Question 34

In the context of rank order stability in adulthood,trait consistency reaches its peak after age:

A)20.
B)30.
C)40.
D)50.

Question 35

Which of the following is NOT a subscale of sensation seeking?

A)Thrill and adventure seeking
B)Disinhibition
C)Sociability
D)Boredom susceptibility

Question 36

According to Block and Robbins (1993),_____ is best defined as the extent to which one perceives oneself as relatively close to being the person one wants to be and/or as relatively distant from being the kind of person one does not want to be,with respect to person-qualities one positively and negatively values.

A)self-efficacy
B)self-centeredness
C)self-compassion
D)self-esteem

Question 37

In the context of changes in self-esteem from adolescence to adulthood,as a whole,_____ tend to show an increasing gap between their current self-conceptions and their ideal selves and _____ tend to show a smaller discrepancy between their real and ideal selves over the same time period.

A)males;females
B)females;males
C)irritable persons;calm persons
D)calm persons;irritable persons

Question 38

According to Jeronimus et al.(2014),people who experience very few stressful life events _____.

A)tend to suffer from marital dissatisfaction
B)show the largest decreases in neuroticism over time
C)are less likely to engage in health-promoting practices
D)show a significant decrease in the levels of conscientiousness

Question 39

In the context of mean level stability and change in adulthood,people score higher on _____ and _____ as they grow older.

A)agreeableness;openness to experience
B)extraversion;openness to experience
C)neuroticism;extraversion
D)conscientiousness;agreeableness

Question 40

In adulthood,a study of creative architects found that:

A)they had become more creative over the years but not as much as the successful architects.
B)they scored very low on conformity scales at both times when data was collected in the study.
C)flexibility and impulsivity declined with increasing age.
D)they had considerably fewer health problems than the successful architects over the years.

Question 41

According to Turiano et al.(2012),low levels of _____ are linked to substance abuse (prescription and illegal drugs)in mid-life.

A)agreeableness and conscientiousness
B)sensation seeking and impulsivity
C)extraversion and emotional stability
D)neuroticism and sensation seeking

Question 42

In a longitudinal study of women from Mills College in the San Francisco bay area conducted by Helson and Wink (1992),the sample of educated women showed a consistent drop in femininity as they moved from their:

A)early fifties to their early sixties.
B)early twenties to their early thirties.
C)early thirties to their early forties.
D)early forties to their early fifties.

Question 43

According to a longitudinal study of Mills College women conducted by Helson and Picano (1990),which group among the following showed no increase in independence over time?

A)Divorced mothers
B)Non-mothers
C)Working mothers
D)Homemakers

Question 44

During the depression era of the 1930s,women were expected to be _____.

A)sexually active
B)self-sufficient
C)passive
D)resilient

Question 45

According to Wink et al.(2007),adolescents who scored high on conscientiousness and agreeableness were more likely to:

A)score high on religiousness later in life.
B)score low on emotional stability by mid-life.
C)get divorced.
D)cope well with the death of a spouse.

Question 46

According to a longitudinal study conducted by Conley & Angelides (1984),which of the following early personality characteristics was found to be useful in distinguishing between the men who had become alcoholic and those who had developed an emotional disturbance?

A)Emotional stability
B)Conscientiousness
C)Impulse control
D)Agreeableness

Question 47

According to a longitudinal study conducted by George Kelly and Conley (1987),which of the following aspects of personality is NOT a strong predictor of marital dissatisfaction and divorce?

A)The husband's neuroticism
B)The wife's neuroticism
C)The lack of impulse control of the husband
D)The lack of impulse control of the wife

Question 48

In the context of marital stability,Buss (2003)found that husbands with low _____ when first assessed tended later in life to have extramarital affairs.

A)neuroticism
B)impulse control
C)dominance
D)extraversion

Question 49

In a longitudinal study spanning 40 years,Avshalom Caspi and his colleagues (1987)found that the men who as children had been classified as having explosive temper tantrums:

A)earned more promotions for valor.
B)achieved lower military ranks.
C)earned more medals for bravery.
D)benefited from military discipline.

Question 50

In a longitudinal study conducted by George Kelly and Conley (1987),which of the following aspects of personality proved to be the strongest predictor of marital dissatisfaction and divorce?

A)High levels of extraversion
B)Low levels of agreeableness
C)High levels of neuroticism
D)Low levels of conscientiousness

Question 51

A study found that men who had severe childhood temper tantrums:

A)achieved higher levels of academic success.
B)were more likely to be divorced.
C)were more likely to have successful military careers.
D)achieved great financial success.

Question 52

In the context of changes in personality traits with age,empirical clues suggest that:

A)men tend to become more ambitious with increasing age.
B)men tend to become more independent with increasing age.
C)women tend to become less competent with age.
D)impulsivity and sensation seeking increase with age.

Question 53

Personality changes observed in individuals due to the social times in which they live are referred to as _____.

A)cohort effects
B)factor loadings
C)negative stability coefficients
D)longitudinal predictors

Question 54

In a longitudinal study of women from Mills College in the San Francisco bay area conducted by Helson and Wink (1992),it was found that high scorers on the femininity scale tend to:

A)choose not to have children.
B)take the initiative in sexual encounters.
C)forget an acquaintance's birthday.
D)send cards to friends on holidays.

Question 55

Several studies suggest that the personality characteristics of autonomy,independence,and competence tend to _____,especially among women.

A)decrease with age
B)increase as people get older
C)remain the same regardless of the age
D)depend on one's marital status

Question 56

Impulsivity in men has been associated with:

A)lower levels of marital satisfaction.
B)alcoholism.
C)lower levels of academic achievement.
D)All of the answers are correct.

Question 57

According to Jean Twenge (2001),women's _____ scores generally rose half a standard deviation from 1931 to 1945 and from 1968 to 1993.

A)domesticity
B)level of education
C)assertiveness
D)sensation seeking

Question 58

Personality coherence is defined as predictable changes in:

A)the manifestations of personality factors over time.
B)the mean level stability of personality traits.
C)the personality score of an individual.
D)the effects of rank order stability over time.

Question 59

Which of the following does NOT predict marital satisfaction?

A)Impulse control
B)Childhood temper tantrums
C)Neuroticism
D)Sensation seeking

Question 60

In a longitudinal study,Bonanno et al.(2002)showed that one of the best predictors of coping well with the death of a spouse was the personality disposition of _____.

A)conscientiousness
B)extraversion
C)emotional stability
D)openness to experience

Question 61

According to Crede et al.(2016),a massive meta-analysis of the grit literature shows that it is highly correlated with _____.

A)openness to experience
B)extraversion
C)emotional stability
D)conscientiousness

Question 62

According to Duckworth et al.(2007),which of the following statements is true about grit?

A)It is defined as both perseverance and passion toward long-term goals.
B)It is the only personality trait in adolescence that predicts spirituality seeking in late life.
C)It is characterized by substance abuse in mid-life.
D)It is a strong predictor of marital dissatisfaction and divorce.

Question 63

In a longitudinal study of middle-aged couples spanning over an 11-year period,Avshalom Caspi and Herbener (1990)found that the people married to spouses who were highly similar to themselves:

A)showed signs of spirituality seeking in late life.
B)showed the most personality stability.
C)tended to use and abuse alcohol more than their peers.
D)tended to develop serious emotional problems later in life.