Question 1

Ellen has been described as creative, imaginative, curious, artistic, and nonconforming. She is likely to obtain an elevated score on a questionnaire designed to measure

Accepted Answer

The traits described in the question (creative, imaginative, curious, artistic, nonconforming) are all related to the personality dimension of openness. Therefore, Ellen is likely to score high on a questionnaire measuring openness.

Question 2

Monica is described by her friends as very organized, careful, and responsible. Monica is likely to obtain an elevated score on which of the following Big Five traits?

Accepted Answer

Conscientiousness includes characteristics like being organized, careful, and responsible, which are traits that Monica's friends identify her as having.

Question 3

If you surveyed 100 trait theorists, you would expect many of them to agree that personality is structured on ________ different dimensions.

Accepted Answer

Most trait theorists agree that personality is structured on five different dimensions, which are often referred to as the "Big Five" or "Five-Factor Model." These dimensions include openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

Question 4

Ramon is a psychotherapist whose therapeutic orientation follows that of Maslow and Rogers. He readily has an explanation for why his depressed and anxious clients improve with treatment ("They must have have removed the conditions inhibiting a sense of worth from their lives") as well as why some of his patients fail to improve with treatment-"Important people in their lives seem to continue to thwart the development of self-actualization." A critical thinker would recognize that Ramon's approach

Accepted Answer

The answer of Ramon is a psychotherapist whose therapeutic orientation...

Question 5

What are the Big Five Personality traits?

Accepted Answer

The Big Five Personality traits are commonly considered to be openness, extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and agreeableness. Option A lists all of these five traits, while the other options either list some incorrectly or leave some out entirely. Therefore, A is the best choice.

Question 6

Ursula tends to be nervous and tense, and she has a difficult time calming herself down if she gets upset. Ursula is likely to have an elevated score on which of the following Big Five traits?

Accepted Answer

Neuroticism is the Big Five trait that relates to experiencing negative emotions such as anxiety, depression, and vulnerability. Ursula's tendency to be nervous and difficulty calming down indicate that she may have a high level of neuroticism.

Question 7

Proponents of trait models of personality are primarily interested in

Accepted Answer

Trait models of personality are focused on describing and understanding the structure of personality, including identifying and categorizing traits that are consistent across individuals. They are not focused on past learned behaviors, barriers to self-actualization, or interpreting conscious and unconscious desires.

Question 8

A key criticism of the humanistic perspective on personality is that it is

Accepted Answer

The humanistic perspective on personality, particularly as proposed by theorists like Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, has been criticized for being overly optimistic about human nature, emphasizing the inherent goodness and potential for growth of individuals. Critics argue that this view may overlook or downplay negative aspects of human behavior and the capacity for evil.

Question 9

Which of the following statements a common criticism of Maslow's perspective on self-actualization?

Accepted Answer

Maslow's perspective on self-actualization has been criticized for confirmation bias, as he reportedly identified self-actualized individuals based on his own personal beliefs and values, rather than through empirical research.

Question 10

If you wanted to predict which person is most likely to be willing to try new foods or consider a new theory, which trait are you focused on?

Accepted Answer

Openness is the personality trait that refers to an individual's willingness to explore new ideas, experiences, and perspectives. It includes curiosity, imagination, creativity, and a tolerance for ambiguity. Therefore, if you are looking for someone who is likely to try new foods or be open to a new theory, you should look for someone who scores high on openness. Extraversion, neuroticism, and agreeableness are not directly related to an individual's willingness to explore new things.

Question 11

When we say that someone is friendly, we could predict that they will have an easy time making friends. If we also say that we know someone is friendly because they have an easy time making friends, which logical fallacy have we committed?

Accepted Answer

This is an example of circular reasoning, because the explanation itself relies on the conclusion being true. We are saying that someone is friendly because they make friends easily, and then using the fact that they make friends easily to support the claim that they are friendly. It is circular because it doesn't truly provide any new information to support the initial claim that the person is friendly.

Question 12

The ________________ assumes that the most crucial features of personality are embedded in our language.

Accepted Answer

The lexical approach assumes that the most crucial features of personality are embedded in our language, specifically in the words we use to describe ourselves and others. This approach focuses on identifying and measuring individual differences in personality traits that have become encoded in language over time. The trait approach also focuses on identifying and measuring personality traits, but does not specifically prioritize language as the source of these traits. The psychodynamic and humanistic approaches are both theoretical frameworks for understanding personality, but do not prioritize language or the identification of specific personality traits.

Question 13

______________ is a statistical technique that analyzes the correlations among responses on personality inventories and other measures.

Accepted Answer

Factor analysis is a statistical technique used to analyze the correlations among responses on personality inventories and other measures. This technique identifies underlying factors that explain these correlations and helps researchers better understand the structure of personality traits.

Question 14

The Big Five personality traits were categorized using a ______________ to personality.

Accepted Answer

The Big Five personality traits were categorized using a lexical approach, which involves identifying and describing personality traits based on the words in a language that are used to describe people. Researchers looked for the most commonly used adjectives to describe personality and identified five major dimensions: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. This approach relies on language as a way to capture and understand personality differences.

Question 15

Which of the following is one of the dimensions of the Big Five?

Accepted Answer

Conscientiousness is one of the widely recognized dimensions of the Big Five personality traits, which includes traits such as being responsible, dependable, and organized. Superiority, psychoticism, and sociability are not dimensions of the Big Five.

Question 16

Ted is friendly, loves to tell jokes at parties, and is perceived by others as warm and considerate. On which two of the Big Five traits would you expect Ted to obtain high scores?

Accepted Answer

Ted's love for telling jokes and being perceived as warm and considerate suggest high levels of extroversion and agreeableness. Extroverts are typically outgoing, sociable, and friendly, while agreeable individuals tend to be cooperative, empathetic, and considerate towards others.

Question 17

What technique is used by trait theorists to categorize the diversity of traits into as few as three or five underlying traits?

Accepted Answer

Trait theorists use factor analysis to categorize the diversity of traits into as few as three or five underlying traits. Factor analysis is a statistical technique that identifies patterns in large data sets by identifying which variables are most closely related to each other. This helps researchers to identify underlying factors that drive behavior or personality traits.

Question 18

Which of these is an acronym that could help you remember the Big Five traits?

Accepted Answer

CANOE is a commonly used acronym to remember the Big Five traits. Each letter represents one of the traits: Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, Openness to experience, and Extraversion.

Question 19

Which perspective on personality development was the foundation for the modern positive psychology movement?

Accepted Answer

Positive psychology emphasizes personal growth and well-being, which aligns with humanism's focus on individual potential and self-actualization. Thus, the humanistic perspective on personality development provided the foundation for the modern positive psychology movement.

Question 20

Which of the following is a piece of evidence suggesting that humans have an innate capacity for aggression, contrary to suggestions of the humanistic model of personality?

Accepted Answer

Genetic evidence suggests that there are biological predispositions toward aggression, which suggests that there may be an innate capacity for aggression in humans. This contradicts the humanistic model of personality, which emphasizes the potential for individuals to develop peaceful and cooperative tendencies through self-actualization.

Quiz 14: Personality