Chapter Three

Question 1

the act frequency approach

Answer 1

starts with the notion that traits are categories of acts

Question 2

act nomination

Answer 2

a procedure designed to identify which acts belong to which trait categories

Question 3

prototypicality judgement

Answer 3

involves identifying which acts are more central to, or prototypical of, each trait category

Question 4

the recording of act performance

Answer 4

securing information on the actual performance of individuals in their daily lives

Question 5

the lexical approach

Answer 5

starts with the lexical hypothesis; all important individual differences have become encoded within the natural language

Question 6

synonym frequency

Answer 6

if a trait has multiple adjectives, then it is an important dimension of personality

Question 7

cross-cultural universality

Answer 7

if a trait is sufficiently important in all cultures in which its members have codified terms to describe the trait, then the trait must be universally important in human affairs

Question 8

factor analysis

Answer 8

identifies groups of items that covary, but tend not to covary with other groups of items

Question 9

theoretical approach

Answer 9

starts with a theory that determines which variables are important

Question 10

catell’s 16 personality factor system

Answer 10

• took descriptive adjectives available in the dictionary
• used factor analysis to identify the basic units of personality; produced 16 main personality dimensions
• used the lexical approach

Question 11

eysenck’s hierarchical model of personality

Answer 11

• developed the model of personality based on traits he believed were highly heritable
• developed three main traits that met these criteria
• extraversion-introversion (E): how outgoing vs shy you are
• neuroticism-emotional stability(N): how emotionally stable/unstable you are
• psychoticism (P): how aggressive/submissive you are

Question 12

wiggins circumplex taxonomy of personality

Answer 12

organizes all interpersonal traits (that require social interaction) across two dimensions: agency (status, dominance, control, power) and communion (love, warmth, affiliation, friendliness)

Question 13

adjacency

Answer 13

how close the traits are to each other in the circumplex

Question 14

bipolarity

Answer 14

traits bipolar are located at opposite sides of the circle and are negatively correlated with each other

Question 15

orthogonality

Answer 15

specifies that traits that are perpendicular to each other on the model (right angles to each other) are entirely unrelated to each other (zero correlation between such traits)

Question 16

five-factor model of personality

Answer 16

1. Extraversion (surgency): talkative, extraverted, assertive, forward, outspoken versus shy, quiet, introverted, bashful, inhibited.
2. Agreeableness: sympathetic, kind, warm, understanding, sincere versus unsympathetic, unkind, harsh, cruel.
3. Conscientiousness: organized, neat, orderly, practical, prompt, meticulous versus disorganized, disorderly, careless, sloppy, impractical.
4. Emotional stability (low neuroticism): calm, relaxed, stable versus moody, anxious, insecure.
5. Intellect or imagination (openness to experience): creative, imaginative, intellectual versus uncreative,
   unimaginative, unintellectual.

Question 17

hexaco model

Answer 17

1. Honesty–Humility (H): sincere, honest, faithful/loyal, modest/unassuming, fair-minded (versus sly, greedy, pretentious, hypocritical, boastful, pompous)
2. Emotionality (E): emotional, oversensitive, sentimental, fearful, anxious, vulnerable (versus brave, tough, independent, self-assured, stable)
3. eXtraversion (X): outgoing, lively, extraverted, sociable, talkative, cheerful, active (versus shy, passive, withdrawn, introverted, quiet, reserved)
4. Agreeableness (A): patient, tolerant, peaceful, mild, agreeable, lenient, gentle (versus ill-tempered, quar- relsome, stubborn, choleric)
5. Conscientiousness (C): organized, disciplined, diligent, careful, thorough, precise (versus sloppy, negli- gent, reckless, lazy, irresponsible, absent-minded)
6. Openness to Experience (O): intellectual, creative, unconventional, innovative, ironic (versus shallow, unimaginative, conventional)