Chapter 4: Personality

Question 1

Define Personality according to the book

Answer 1

a variety of characteristics whose unique organization define an individual, and to a certain degree, determine that person’s interactions with themselves, with others, and with the environment

Question 2

What other subjects can personality assess? (hint: they are other chapter topics)

Answer 2

psychopathology
positive functioning
attitudes, values, and interests

Question 3

Why would we want to measure personality for I/O?

Answer 3

selection and hiring

Question 4

Why would we want to measure personality for clinical psych?

Answer 4

diagnosing personality disorders

Question 5

Why would we want to measure personality for developmental psych?

Answer 5

genetic vs. environmental influences

Question 6

What are the 5 theoretical models that address internal vs. external validity? (Endler and Magnusson 1976)

Answer 6

1. The Trait Model: basic personality core, traits are the main source of personality differences, traits are stable
2. The Psychodynamic Model: basic personality core that is impacted by early experiences, traits are components, how early experiences affect later development
3. The Situational Model: behavior is dictated by the situation, situation is the source of individual differences
4. The Interaction Model: behavior is an interaction between the person and the situation. Thus, a person can be influenced by a situation (a shy person speaking up forcefully when a matter of principle is at stake), but a person also chooses situations (preferring to stay home rather than going to a party) and influences situations (being the “hit of the party”).
5. The Phenomenological Model: focuses on the individual’s introspection and on internal subjective experiences, self-concept

Question 7

Self-Rating vs. Other Rating
Which is more valid?

Answer 7

Evidence shows that self-ratings are better
and are more valid in some situations.

Question 8

Self-Rating vs. Other Rating
Which is better at predicting job performance?

Answer 8

Connelly & One’s (2010) results showed that other ratings of personality may do a better job of predicting job performance.

Question 9

What do personality tests measure?

Answer 9

Personality tests measure the characteristics and the traits of an individual that are nonmental and nonphysical.
Attitudes
Values
Interpretations
Styles
Individual Characteristics

Question 10

What are the two types of personality tests? Give two examples of tests for each.

Answer 10

Objective: clear & unambiguous questions, items leave no doubt as to how one should respond, highly structured, objectively scored, usually reliable and valid
Examples: Big Five, MBTI

Projective: ambiguous, unclear questions, subject must draw their own meaning, unstructured, subjectivity scored, lacks reliability and validity
Example: Rorschach Inkblot, Thematic Appreciation Test (TAT)

Question 11

What are some downsides of Rorschach Inkblot?

Answer 11

• # of responses chosen impacts variance:
• Clinician saying “good” after each response increased # of responses by 50%
• Most objective clinical tests > Rorschach
• Dependent on clinician
• Completely lacks standardization

Question 12

Thematic Appreciation Test (TAT)
What are the basics of the test? How does it work?

Answer 12

Picture cards that provide stimuli for examinees to create stories concerning relationships or social situations suggested by the pictures
1.Current situation; what is happening at the moment?
2.Thoughts and feelings of the character(s)
3.Preceding events; what has led up to this event?
4.Outcome

31 picture cards for creation of stories concerning social situations
* One of the cards is intentionally blank
* 10-20 cards are generally administered

Question 13

Thematic Appreciation Test (TAT)
What is the assumption?

Answer 13

Postulated that examinees will project their needs, emotions, conflicts, attitudes, and emotional difficulties in their responses

Question 14

Thematic Appreciation Test (TAT)
What type of scoring? (objective or subjective)

Answer 14

Scoring involves subjective analysis of themes

Question 15

What is a personality trait vs a personality type?

Answer 15

Personality Trait: continuum
enduring or transitory quality
Example: outgoing & shy

Personality Type: category
constellation of characteristics and traits of an individuals, category of individuals who share a combination of traits

Question 16

Characteristics and Examples of the Internal Consistency Approach

Answer 16

aka: Inductive method
use of theory is minimal
May use statistical tools such as factor analysis. Give items to a group then analyze them to determine which go together. A set of variables that are related is called a “factor”

Examples:
* Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey
* 16 Personality Factors Inventory (16PF) used factor analysis
* NEO 4 also constructed based on factor analysis

Question 17

Characteristics and Examples of the Theoretical Approach

Answer 17

aka: deductive method
Uses content and theory to both generate the item pool and the assignment of items to scales
Theory helps in the prediction of behaviors that certain personality types (i.e., risk takers) engage in

Examples:
* Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
* Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS)
* Personality Research Form (PRF)

Question 18

Characteristics and Examples of Criterion-Keying

Answer 18

aka: method of contrasted groups
Wants to find the best method for discriminating between two distinct dichotomy groups (depressed vs. non depressed)
Retains items that correlate significantly with the criterion

Example:
* California Psychological Inventory (CPI)

Question 19

Characteristics of Fiat Method

Answer 19

aka: rational or logical approach
Content validity method
“Tests” published in popular magazines
Few such tests now exist because psychology has become much more empirical and demanding of evidence, and because many of the early personality tests built using this strategy were severely criticized

Question 20

Why might personality change over a life time?

Answer 20

Changes may be due to:
1. Intrinsic maturation
2. Social demands
3. Experiences

Question 21

What is a taxonomy?

Answer 21

A taxonomy is a model helpful in subsequent theory building because it provides lawful representation of the elements that comprise a theory.

Question 22

The lexical hypothesis

Answer 22

The individual differences that are most important in peoples’ lives will eventually become a part of their language
* One of first examples of this with personality: Thurstone, 1934:
* “Sixty adjectives that are common use for describing people were given to 1,300 raters…it is of considerable interest to know that the whole list of sixty adjectives can be accounted for by postulating only five independent factors.”

Question 23

What are the most common personality taxonomies?

Answer 23

Five-factor model (FFM) (5 factors)
HEXACO (6 factors)
Myers-Briggs Type Indicators (16 types)

Question 24

What are the five factors in the Five-Factor Model?

Answer 24

OCEAN

Openness
 Artistic
 Curious
 Imaginative
 Insightful
 Original
 Wide interests

Conscientiousness
 Efficient
 Organized
 Reliable
 Responsible
 Thorough
 Cautious

Extraversion
 Active
 Assertive
 Energetic
 Enthusiastic
 Outgoing
 Talkative

Agreeableness
 Appreciative
 Forgiving
 Generous
 Kind
 Sympathetic
 Trusting

Neuroticism
 Anxious
 Self-pitying
 Tense
 Self-conscious
 Unstable
 Worrying

Question 25

Normal vs. Abnormal Levels of OCEAN

Answer 25

High Conscientiousness = OCD
High Extraversion = narcissistic, antisocial
High Openness = Schizotypal, histrionic
High Neuroticism –> Borderline PD
Low E –> schizoid, schizotypal, avoidance
Low A –> antisocial & narcissistic, paranoid
Low O = OCD

Question 26

Normative vs. Ipsative

Answer 26

Ipsative
* Given 2-4 positive statements and must give their preference of one
* Forced-choice is an example of an ipsative item

Normative
* Likert scales, rating agreement with each item

Question 27

What are the pros & cons of Ipsative measurement?

Answer 27

Pros
* Less faking
* Higher attention
* Developmental tool

Cons
* Can’t compare
* Time-consuming
* Shouldn’t be used in decision-making

Question 28

What are the pros & cons of Normative measurement?

Answer 28

Pros
* Allows comparisons
* Best for prediction
Cons
* Easier to fake