Chapter 1

Question 1

Personality

Answer 1

A persons stable and enduring traits and characteristics, which lead them to behave in a steady way over time

Question 2

Fundamental attribution error

Answer 2

The tendency to explain the causes of other people’s behaviour as a product of their internal characteristics and dispositions rather than external situational factors

Question 3

Individual differences

Answer 3

Any characteristics that are susceptible to variation between individuals; for example, personality or intelligence

Question 4

Personality theory

Answer 4

A set of propositions about the structure and/or development of personality that forms the basis of a coherent evidence-based explanation

Question 5

Extraversion

Answer 5

A personality type characterised by outgoing and gregarious behaviour. It forms an extraversion-introversion continuum with introversion, at the opposite pole, typified by reserved and inward-looking behaviour

Question 6

Psychoanalysis

Answer 6

A set of theories and therapeutic methods exploring the unconscious processes influencing human behaviour

Question 7

Authoritarian personality

Answer 7

A kind of personality typified by obedience to authority, strict adherence to rules, and hostility towards anyone different from oneself

Question 8

Anti-semitism

Answer 8

Prejudice and hostility towards Jews

Question 9

Fascism

Answer 9

A political ideology or regime marked by extreme nationalism and racism, centralisation of authority and the suppression of political opposition

Question 10

Attitudes

Answer 10

A persons beliefs and feelings about issues, events, objects or people, which are thought to influence behaviour

Question 11

Scale

Answer 11

A set of items such as questions on a questionnaire which combine to measure a bigger construct (e.g. Personality characteristic) that cannot be measured directly.

Question 12

Ethnocentrism

Answer 12

Belief in the superiority of ones own ethnic group or culture

Question 13

F-scale

Answer 13

A measure of personality characteristics underpinning potential for fascism

Question 14

Interview

Answer 14

A ‘conversation with a purpose’ designed to gather in depth information from research participants, interviews may be structured, asking the same questions of all participants, or semi-structured , allowing interviewers to adapt questions according to participants responses

Question 15

Quantitative data

Answer 15

Data that can be measured, counted or expressed in numerical terms, for example, scores, ratings or percentages

Question 16

Qualitative data

Answer 16

Data that is not in numerical form. There are different kinds of qualitative data, for instance interview material, written text such as newspaper articles, or diaries

Question 17

Acquiescence response bias

Answer 17

A tendency to agree with statements presented in scales, regardless of content

Question 18

Confirmatory bias

Answer 18

A tendency to pay most attention to those features of a phenomenon that appear to confirm prior expectations

Question 19

Double blind

Answer 19

A research design where neither the participants nor the investigator know which group the participants belong to, thus reducing the risk of bias in measures and interpretations

Question 20

Cognitive style

Answer 20

The habitual way a person processes information