chapter 2 (for exam 2)

Question 1

what is temperament

Answer 1

tendency to act in certain ways that are believed to be biologically based- have been observed in infants and toddlers
(seen in 3-4 months)

Question 2

explain the biological basis for temperaments

Answer 2

different temperaments have different reactions in the brain to stimuli

Question 3

explain collab between developmental and personality psych

Answer 3

recently there has been more collab

Question 4

explain childhood behaviors that could be predictive of extraversion

Answer 4

• social inhibition (shyness, approaching new people)

- activity level (physically active)

Question 5

explain childhood behaviors that could be predictive of neuroticism (susceptible to negative emotions)

Answer 5

-anxious distress (manifestations of anxiety, internal)

Question 6

explain childhood behaviors that could be predictive of conscientousness

Answer 6

• attention (sustain attention, shift attention, and avoid distraction)
• persistence (in video, reaching for toy behind glass)

Question 7

explain childhood behaviors that could be predictive of agreeableness

Answer 7

• aggression (innate capacity to be aggressive, some have it more than others)
• prosocial behavior (seem to help others more)

Question 8

explain childhood behaviors that could be predictive of openness

Answer 8

-this is the one researchers are the most unsure about

1) stimulation seeking (tend to seek out noises, etc) might lead to wanting to seek out new environment and experiences
2) sensitivity to sensory stimulation might lead to aesthetic sensitivity

Question 9

what are the three questions of interest when thinking about personality over time

Answer 9

1) how consistent are people over time?
2) how much do people change in general?
3) how and why do individuals develop in their own particular ways?

Question 10

two aspects of personality development

Answer 10

1) continuity/consistency: amount of trait remains the same
2) change: amount of trait differs overtime

amount = where person falls on continuum

Question 11

what is personality coherence and examples

Answer 11

stability in underlying personality trait, but a change in how it is behaviorally expressed

ex. delay of gratification: performance in marshmallow task, ability to quit smoking
ex. shyness: minimal interaction with others on playground, living at home longer as adult
ex. aggression: bullying as child, crime as adult

Question 12

what does research suggest about people’s personalities overtime

Answer 12

personality is highly consistent

• strong correlations in overall personalities, most consistent in extraversion and least consistent in agreeableness
• researchers look at ages too (what ages have more change) and they found a mid-life personality stability

Question 13

what are stability coefficients

Answer 13

correlations
-correlation between giving personality tests overtime, did meta-analyses (see chart in book- ranged from 3-25 years old)

Question 14

sketch a general graph that shows personality overtime

Answer 14

on paper

Question 15

why are people more stable in midlife

Answer 15

life changes in 20s and 80s, life is mainly stable in 40s

Question 16

how consistent are personality measures (comparison)

Answer 16

as consistent as IQ, more than BP and cholesterol

Question 17

what is normative change

Answer 17

similar changes in personality that affect most

-often occurs as people age

Question 18

what are the normative changes that usually happen

Answer 18

• decrease in social vitality (energy, sociability)
• increase in assertiveness and self confidence
• agreeableness and conscientiousness increase
• emotional stability increases
• openness increases, stable, then decreases

graphs on slides

Question 19

why do these normative changes in personality occur

Answer 19

maturation: process of becoming fully developed
- most people experience similar changes at certain times of life (work, relationships, parenting, etc)

• agreeableness and conscientiousness go up because you are progressing in the work force
• relationships could play into increase in agreeableness and emotional stability
• parenting with increase in conscientiousness

Question 20

non-normative experiences

Answer 20

not everyone goes through the normative changes, leads to non-normative personality development

ex. looking at people with abnormal work behaviors, did not increase in conscientiousness, but did in neuroticism

Question 21

explain positive and negative life events

Answer 21

people differ in how many of these they experience which effects personality

ex. more negative events associated with increase neuroticism and more positive events associated with increased emotional stability

Question 22

explain study that explains if people are generally happy with their personalities

Answer 22

Hudson and Roberts (2014)

method: 102 undergrads completed multiple personality measures (correlational)
- big 5 measure
- desire to change within big 5 traits
- life satisfaction in various domains

results: found 85% wanted to change at least one aspect of personality
- amount of trait (1-5 scale)
- change goals of trait (-2 to 2 scale), people wanted to change conscientiousness and stability the most

so, people do want to change personalities

Question 23

why do people want to change (study cont.)?

Answer 23

look at correlation between trait levels and change goals

• lower in extraversion, want to increase positive change, same across all of Big 5 (see chart)
• so, the lower someone is in a trait, the more they want it, want what they do not have

also looked at life satisfaction domains

• dissatisfaction in certain domains, associated with desire to change traits relative to those domains
  ex. dissatisfaction with relationships = increase in extraversion
• if you are unsatisfied with certain aspects of life you need a better personality

Question 24

what is the mechanism for change in personality

Answer 24

state level changes (if sustained overtime) can possibly lead to trait level changes (which are more permanent)

Question 25

explain the Hudson et al study about behavioral challenges (can people change)

Answer 25

method: 15 week longitudinal study with 377 college student participants
IV (quasi): 1) acceptance of behavioral challenge of week
2) complete behavioral challenge
ex. things supposed to increase aspect of personality, “smile at someone” - extraversion

DV; trait change overtime (Big 5)

results: out of the groups who accepted the challenge, those who completed the behavioral challenge found the increase/change in their personalities they wanted
- there was a similar pattern among all traits of the Big 5 except for openness

Question 26

explain the different starting levels of extraversion in the Hudson et al study about people changing

Answer 26

does it matter if the two groups started with different levels of extraversion?

• cannot rule out maybe those who were already more extraverted had an easier time completing studies
• but there was not always this big of a difference to start in other traits