Ch.7 - Personality Stability, Development, And Change

Question 1

Key Forms of Stability

Answer 1

Personality development, rank order consistency, and mean level stability

Question 2

Rank Order Consistency

Answer 2

Maintenance of an individual’s position within a group

Question 3

Mean Level Stability

Answer 3

Constancy of level in population

Question 4

Qualities of Personality Change

Answer 4

Internal or Enduring

Question 5

Internal

Answer 5

Changes inside the person, no changes in environment

Question 6

Enduring

Answer 6

Changes are enduring over time and not temporary

Question 7

Temperament

Answer 7

Individual differences that emerge very early in life, heritable traits

Question 8

Heterotypic Continuity

Answer 8

Effects of fundamental tendencies change with age, manifestations of behavior change

Question 9

Person-environmental transactions

Answer 9

People choosing environments that go with their predispositions or manipulating their environments unintentionally

Question 10

Cumulative Continuity Principle

Answer 10

Consistency of personality increases with age, environments become more stable as we settle down

Question 11

Psychological Maturity

Answer 11

Self-control with interpersonal sensitivity, emotional stability

Question 12

Cross-Sectional Studies

Answer 12

Surveys different people at the same time

Question 13

Cohort effect

Answer 13

May contribute to age differences in cross sectional studies, describes some shared experience amongst subjects

Question 14

Longitudinal Studies

Answer 14

Follows the same group of people over time: people become more agreeable, conscientious, and emotionally stable

Question 15

Self Esteem Variability

Answer 15

Magnitude of short term changes in self esteem, is an indicator of vulnerability to stressful life events. High self variability correlates to low self esteem.

Question 16

Causes of Personality Development

Answer 16

Increase in abilities, hormone changes, change in social roles and responsibilities

Question 17

Social Clock

Answer 17

Places pressure on people to accomplish certain things by certain ages

Question 18

Three Aspects of Personality Development

Answer 18

1. Actor - learning new skills for different roles
2. Agent - plans for the future and striving for outcomes
3. Author - narrative you can tell, how a person views their life

Question 19

Four Methods of Personality Change

Answer 19

1. Psychotherapy or psychiatric drugs
2. General interventions
3. Targeted interventions
4. Behaviors and life experiences

Question 20

Preconditions to Personality Change

Answer 20

• Precondition 1
- changing trait related behaviors is considered desirable

• Precondition 2
- changing trait related behaviors is considered accomplishable

• Precondition 3 (after self regulated behavior changes)
- self regulated changes become habit

Question 21

Maturity Principle

Answer 21

People become better equipped to deal with demands of life as they acquire skills

Question 22

Plasticity Principles

Answer 22

Personality can change at any time

Question 23

Role Continuity Principle

Answer 23

Taking on roles can lead to personality becoming consistent

Question 24

Identity Development Principle

Answer 24

People seek to gain a sense of self, and try to act consistent with this sense of self-view

Question 25

Social Investment Principle

Answer 25

Changing social roles at different life stages, such as becoming a parent or boss can cause change in personality

Question 26

Corresponsive Principle

Answer 26

Person environment transactions can cause traits to magnify or remain constant

Question 27

Personality Change Predictions

Answer 27

Capsi and Herberner found that people married to a spouse similar to themselves showed the most personality stability, those that married the least similar spouses showed the most personality change