Lecture 5 - Personality and the prediction of behavior: current highlights, the person-situation debate, and the study of moderators

Question 1

Rank-order/relative change

Answer 1

Is when (often same-age, -sex, and so on) people change when compared to each other

Question 2

Mean-level/absolute change

Answer 2

Is when people change their levels of a feature

Question 3

Optimistic bias

Answer 3

It refers to the fact that the average individual also underestimates one’s risks.

Question 4

What are the health consequences of optimism?

Answer 4

Optimism is linked with good health and health behaviors.

Question 5

Type A and Type D personalities

Answer 5

The Type A and Type D personalities should not be understood as true types nor refer to a single trait. Instead, they refer to a dimension along which individuals differ.

Question 6

Type A personality

Answer 6

The Type A personality is associated with achievement motivation, competitiveness, time urgency, aggressiveness, and hostility. Heart attacks are more common among individuals labeled Type A. However, hostility is found to drive the link between Type A and heart attacks. Thus, ambitious, time-sensitive workaholics may face no elevated risk of heart attacks, assuming that hostility is controlled.

Question 7

Type D personality

Answer 7

It represents Neuroticism and low Extraversion. It is useful to talk about Type A instead of the Big Five because there is an interactive effect - the effect of either trait on recovery from heart problems is moderated by the other.