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

Question 1

The finding that sensation seeking tends to decrease with age is an example of

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

Answer 1

mean level change.

Question 2

When Maria was a child she always did her homework on time and was an excellent student. As an adult Maria is a highly organized business woman with a reputation for meeting deadlines. Maria's behaviour throughout her life demonstrates

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

Answer 2

personality coherence.

Question 3

Compared to Asian Canadian children, European Canadian children tend to be higher in which 2 traits?

A)Extraversion and Self-Esteem
B)Antagonism and Aggression
C)Extraversion and Antagonism
D)Extraversion and Hostility

Answer 3

Extraversion and Antagonism

Question 4

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

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

Question 5

When people maintain their position in a group over time, they display

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

Question 6

Which level of analysis would consider the question, "Can we predict healthy aging from personality traits?"

A)Individual differences
B)Population
C)Cultural differences
D)Group differences

Question 7

An example of would be that ambivalently attached babies cry when their mothers leave them, and that later in life as adults these individuals have many short-lived relationships.

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

Question 8

If we measure height from the age of 12 to 18, we would likely see high degrees of

A)mean level stability.
B)rank order instability.
C)rank order stability.
D)both "mean level stability" and "rank order stability."

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT an example of a topic at the group level of analysis?

A)Ethnic differences in body satisfaction.
B)Cultural differences in coming of age rituals.
C)Arousal differences that correlate with extraversion.
D)Male versus female differences in empathy toward others.

Question 10

If we studied political attitudes and found that everyone became more conservative with age, we would observe

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

Question 11

Personality differences usually can be first observed in

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

Question 12

Personality is least stable in

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

Question 13

Which of the following aspects of temperament is probably most stable?

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

Question 14

When the average level of a trait remains constant over time, we observe

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

Question 15

is defined as both the consistencies in people and the ways people change over time.

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

Question 16

If an individual maintains his or her rank order for a trait relative to a group, but changes the behaviours manifested by that trait over time, that individual is exhibiting

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

Question 17

Personality changes take place when those changes are ________ and _.

A)external; phenotypical
B)external; durable
C)internal; enduring
D)internal; progressive

Question 18

usually is/are defined as the individual differences that show up early in life and are likely to be heritable and involved in behaviours linked with emotionality.

A)Traits
B)Individual differences
C)Temperament
D)Dispositions

Question 19

Which of the following concepts does Gandhi's life best illustrate?

A)How a personality changes over time.
B)The concept of rank order stability.
C)How a personality can remain stable over time.
D)Traits that are correlated with leadership skills.

Question 20

Personality profiles characteristic of European Canadian children appear to predispose them to

A)internalizing disorders, such as depression.
B)relationship problems, such as marital dissatisfaction.
C)externalizing disorders, such as attention-defecit/hyperactivity disorder.
D)good adjustment and mental health.

Question 21

According to the researchers involved in the Victoria Longitudinal Study, what is a likely factor in personality change observed in old age?

A)The increased incidence of dementia, which predisposes people to personality change.
B)Unique life events, such as retirement or death of a loved one.
C)Reduced cognitive functioning.
D)Increasingly poor physical health.

Question 22

Trait levels of ________ and tend to increase with age.

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

Question 23

Women in the Victoria Longitudinal Study were more likely than men to show decreases in ________ and increases in _.

A)neuroticism; agreeableness
B)neuroticism; antagonism
C)agreeableness; neuroticism
D)antagonism; neuroticism

Question 24

Some have suggested that more research focuses on personality stability, rather than change, because

A)longitudinal studies are difficult to conduct.
B)assessing change is easier than assessing stability.
C)there might be a bias among researchers against even looking for personality change.
D)terms that refer to stability are generally more positive.

Question 25

Correlations between different measures of the same trait taken at the same time are called

A)stability coefficients.
B)rank order stability.
C)mean level stability.
D)validity coefficients.

Question 26

Researchers have found that personality stability

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

Question 27

Research suggests that traits from the five-factor model mean level changes with age.

A)show large
B)show small
C)show moderate
D)do not show

Question 28

In the Victoria Longitudinal Study, older adults showed increases in over time.

A)agreeableness
B)neuroticism
C)openness
D)introversion

Question 29

People whose actual selves are close to their ideal selves score high on measures of

A)desired selves.
B)feared selves.
C)self-esteem.
D)possible selves.

Question 30

Research suggests that children classified as bullies in the 6th grade

A)are more likely to have felony convictions by the time they are 24.
B)will become "whipping boys" by the 7th grade.
C)will be more popular in the 10th grade.
D)are more likely to have been bullied by parents.

Question 31

Trait consistency tends to reach each peak after age

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

Question 32

Temperament has been found to be

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

Question 33

The Victoria Longitudinal Study has drawn into question what conclusion made by personality researchers?

A)Mean level change appears to occur at a significant level between the ages of 55 and 85.
B)Personality measures increase in reliability with age.
C)There is very little change in personality after the age of 50.
D)Personality becomes more difficult to measure as people age.

Question 34

During adolescence, the self-esteem of increases and the self-esteem of ________ decreases.

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

Question 35

The traits of extraversion, neuroticism, and openness tend to

A)fluctuate greatly in mean level stability during adolescence.
B)decline gradually with age until a person is about fifty years old.
C)decrease markedly after a person reaches his or her sixties.
D)increase substantially in a person's thirties.

Question 36

Victims of childhood bullying are more likely to experience in adulthood.

A)relationship problems
B)depression
C)anxiety
D)All of the choices are correct.

Question 37

Trait neuroticism and negative affect scores tend to _ senior years in college and university.
From the freshman to

A)remain stable
B)increase strongly
C)decrease strongly
D)fluctuate wildly

Question 38

Traits from the five-factor model have been found to

A)lack stability in early adulthood.
B)be moderately stable in adulthood.
C)be only slightly stable in adulthood.
D)have population stability in adulthood.

Question 39

Correlations between the same measure taken at different points in time are called

A)validity coefficients.
B)rank order stability.
C)mean level stability.
D)stability coefficients.

Question 40

Buss, Block, and Block's longitudinal study of activity level found

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

Question 41

When does the trait of sensation seeking tend to peak?

A)In late adolescence.
B)In midlife.
C)In early childhood.
D)In late life.

Question 42

Women who score high on the femininity scale of the California Psychological Inventory (compared to low scorers)are more likely to

A)demand equal social and political rights.
B)take the initiative in sexual encounters.
C)take charge of a committee meeting.
D)remember an acquaintance's birthday.

Question 43

Self-esteem variability appears to be strongly related to the extent to which one's self-view can be influenced by

A)the outcome of social events.
B)levels of monoanalyse oxide.
C)the self-esteem of others in the environment.
D)the mean level of self-esteem.

Question 44

A longitudinal study followed male management employees at AT&T over 20 years starting in the late 1950s while the men were in their twenties. The study found that the managers' levels of decreased over their careers.

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

Question 45

A person who feels very good after receiving a compliment, but very bad after being insulted, would sore high on measures of

A)activity level.
B)self-esteem variability.
C)self-esteem.
D)both "self-esteem" and "self-esteem variability."

Question 46

A longitudinal study of architects that spanned 25 years found that

A)successful architects scored high on conventionality and conservatism scales.
B)impulsivity and flexibility scale scores increased with age for successful architects.
C)successful architects had fewer health problems than less creative architects.
D)successful architects scored high on independence and spontaneity scales.

Question 47

are defined as the social times in which people live.

A)"Generational effects"
B)"Cohort effects"
C)"Historical byproducts"
D)"Longitudinal effects"

Question 48

The Mills College longitudinal study of women found that homemakers' level of independence at age 21 versus that at age 43 suggests that

A)homemakers' independence scores are likely to change little with age.
B)the role a university-educated woman has in life is irrelevant to changes in personality.
C)the roles women adopt are irrelevant to changes in independence.
D)being a homemaker requires much more independence than originally believed.

Question 49

Kara is extremely sensitive to the feedback of other people. She most likely has a(n)

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

Question 50

A longitudinal study conducted of women who attended Mills College suggests that femininity (defined as being dependent, emotional, gentle, high-strung, etc.)decreases to become more masculine (defined as being assertive, confident, determined, independent, etc.)from ages

A)20 to 30.
B)30 to 40.
C)40 to 50.
D)13 to 20.

Question 51

If you measure self-esteem every day for two weeks, you are probably most interested in

A)self-esteem variability.
B)possible selves.
C)feared selves.
D)self-esteem level.

Question 52

North American women in the 1930s were more than women of the 1950s.

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

Question 53

Self-esteem variability is most correlated with

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

Question 54

People who have high levels of self-esteem variability

A)score low on measures of self-esteem level.
B)score high on measures of self-esteem level.
C)react positively to objectively defined negative events.
D)depend on others for their sense of self-worth.

Question 55

The architects classified as being "average" in a longitudinal, 25-year study, were found to

A)score very low on conformity scales at both times data was collected in the study.
B)have considerably fewer health problems then the successful architects over the years.
C)have become less impulse and flexible and to have become more rigid as they aged.
D)have become somewhat more creative over the years, but not as much as the successful architects.

Question 56

Over time, trait scores of independence tended to increase for all women EXCEPT

A)divorced mothers.
B)working mothers.
C)the nulliparous.
D)homemakers.

Question 57

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

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

Question 58

The trait of competence tends to women.

A)remain unchanged with age among
B)decrease with age among
C)increase with age among
D)increase among married, but decrease among unmarried

Question 59

The effects on individuals of living through the first gulf war is an example of

A)historical byproducts.
B)longitudinal effects.
C)cohort effects.
D)generational effects.

Question 60

North American women's scores for 1968 to 1993.
Rose from 1931 to 1945 and also from

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

Question 61

"Personality coherence" refers to the predictable changes in

A)how much "common sense" a personality score makes.
B)the effects of rank-order stability over time.
C)the mean level stability of personality traits.
D)the outcomes of personality factors over time.

Question 62

Individuals with a high level of tend to cope better with the loss of a spouse.

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

Question 63

Husbands who score low on have been found to be more likely to have extramarital affairs.

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

Question 64

Which of the following does NOT predict later levels of marital satisfaction?

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

Question 65

When people in marriages have similar personalities

A)their personalities change more over time.
B)they are more likely to divorce.
C)their personalities remain more stable over time.
D)their personalities are neither more nor less likely to change over time.

Question 66

Which of the following has NOT been associated with marital satisfaction?

A)The wife's impulsivity
B)The husband's impulsivity
C)The wife's neuroticism
D)The husband's neuroticism

Question 67

A study found that men who had many childhood temper tantrums later

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

Question 68

Research has indicated a negative correlation between postsecondary GPA and

A)parent ratings of impulsivity before entering university.
B)peer ratings of neuroticism before entering university.
C)peer ratings of impulsivity before entering university.
D)parent ratings of aggression before entering university.

Question 69

Twenge concluded from her studies of cohort effects from 1968 to 1993 that

A)females internalized the social change and cultural messages of the era, and their personalities were molded by these messages.
B)the culture in which an individual is immersed is the major determinant of personality.
C)cohort effects are interesting to study historically, but of little relevance to personality psychology.
D)social and cultural changes had only marginal effects on personality.

Question 70

Which of the following has been associated with the later development of emotional disturbances in men?

A)Low levels of impulse control
B)Low levels of neuroticism
C)High levels of neuroticism
D)High levels of impulse control

Question 71

been associated with greater stability of personality over time.

A)High levels of neuroticism have
B)Low levels of neuroticism have
C)Marrying someone with a similar personality has
D)Marrying someone with a very different personality has

Question 72

Impulsivity in men has been associated with

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

Question 73

Which of the following has been suggested as the key factor with the later development of alcoholism in men?

A)Low levels of impulse control
B)High levels of neuroticism
C)Low levels of neuroticism
D)High levels of impulse control

Question 74

Men classified as being "explosive" children in a 40-year longitudinal study presented by Caspi and his colleagues in 1987 differed from the "nonexplosive" group by

A)benefiting from military discipline.
B)earning more promotions for valor.
C)achieving lower military ranks.
D)earning more medals for bravery.

Question 75

Which of the following personality traits is one of the strongest predictors of divorce in the Kelly and Conley longitudinal study of married couples?

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