Module 9: Personality and Identity Flashcards
A study by van Anders et al., 2015 found that engaging in gendered behaviour (i.e., wielding power) impacts testosterone levels. However, we also know that one’s testosterone levels impact their behaviour. This illustrates that the relation between hormones and behaviour is ________________
bidirectional
What are 4 methodological challenges for cross-cultural research on personality?
- Reference group effect
- Questionnaire choice
- Cross-cultural differences in self-enhancement
- Translation
Personality questionnaires usually ask respondents to rate themselves as high or low on traits. The questionnaires do not supply instructions on who to compare themselves to, so respondents usually rate themselves relative to people they know. This is an example of the…
reference group effect
What is the problem with cross-cultural differences in self-enhancement?
If one culture tends to self-enhance more than another, it might be unclear whether differences in “good” personality traits reflect true differences or if it reflects a tendency for people in one culture to view themselves more positively
One study had more than 70,000 participants in 62 countries/cultures completed the NEO-PI-R. A big take away from this study is that cross-cultural differences in personality were…
relatively small
Within-group individual differences are a much greater source of variability in personality than the variability found between cultures.
TRUE or FALSE
True
Which type of information do you think accurately reflects true national patterns of Agreeableness across the world. Self-report or ratings of national character? Explain.
Ratings of national character
This bypasses the reference group effect and instead assesses perceptions of national character
What is the difference between the minimalist position and the maximalist position?
Minimalist positon:
- Sex differences are small and inconsequential
Maximalist position:
- Magnitude of sex differences is comparable to many other effects in psychology
Biological based emotional and behavioural consistencies that appear early in life and predict (often in conjunction with other factors) patterns and outcomes in other domains such as psychopathology and personality
Temperament
When examining sex differences in temperament in children between age 3 and 13, inhibitory control showed the largest sex different. However this sex difference appears to fade with age. Explain
Inhibitory control is related to the later development of conscientiousness and because adult men and women do not differ much in conscientiousness this sex difference fades.
Women score higher than men (moderately) on all of the big five traits except there is little meaningful sex difference for…
Openness
Explain the sex difference with regard to the people-things dimension.
Men more likely to score at the “things” end and women more likely to score at the “people” end
Androgynous is the label given to those who…
score high on both masculine and feminine items
Researchers viewed those who are androgynous as the most…
highly developed
What are some other alternative labels for masculinity-femininity?
instrumentality-expressiveness
competence-warmth
agency-communion
Some researchers believe that a scale that assesses masculinity and femininity is actually assessing what?
gender schemas
What does it mean to be gender-aschematic?
Not use gender when processing social information
What is the most widely held theory of sex differences in personality?
Socialization theory
Boys and girls become different due to reinforcement for being masculine or feminine
What theory is a variant of social learning theory that posits that boys and girls are different due to observations of others?
Bandura’s social learning theory
What theory suggests that sex differences originate because men and women are distributed differently into different occupational and family roles?
Social role theory
If social role theory is correct, sex differences should diminish as society continues to become egalitarian. Does research support this?
No, research has found the opposite pattern - the most gender-egalitarian countries have shown the largest sex differences in personality
Young girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) show a marked preference for…
male-typical toys
Higher __________ levels are associated with greater dominance and aggressiveness in both sexes.
testosterone
Sexual desire is associated with levels of circulating testosterone but only in ___________
women
According to what theory is it that men and women are suggested to differ only in some domains in which they have faced different adaptive problems and show large similarities across most domains since they have faced similar adaptive problems?
Evolutionary psychology theory
Socialization and hormones might provide answers for _______ the sexes differ whereas evolutionary psychology provides the answers for ______ the sexes differ
how; why
Within-group similarities and between-group differences can be any sort - physical, psychological, behaviours, or attitudinal. These phenomena are called…
cultural variations
Psychologists apply what two major approaches to explaining and exploring differences in personality across cultures?
- Evoked culture
- Transmitted culture
Cultural differences created by differing environmental conditions activating a predictable set of responses is referred to as ______________ culture
evoked
Harsh, rejecting, uncertain, and inconsistent child-rearing practices foster a personality of impulsivity and a mating strategy marked by early reproduction. This is an example of ____________ culture
evoked
One study found that people in cultures with a high prevalence of pathogens tended to be substantially more ________ than those with a lower pathogen prevalence. Explain
Conformity
Conformity acts as a defence mechanism to avoid diseases
___________ culture consists of ideas, values, attitudes, and beliefs that exist originally in at least one person’s mind that are transmitted to other people’s minds through their interaction with the original person
Transmitted
The view that it is wrong to eat beef is an example of _____________ culture
transmitted
It is reasonable to consider that acculturation may produce changes in self-reported levels of the big five traits. What is acculturation?
The process of adapting to the ways of life in one’s new culture
Those high in _____________ self-construal may see themselves not simply as a sibling or a parent, for instance, but rather as a member of the human race
metapersonal
In a study of the metapersonal self-construal, a significant association was found with…
environmental concern and pro-environmental behaviour
What is an example of a within-culture variation?
Growing up in different socioeconomic classes.
i.e., lower SES patents tend to emphasize obedience to authority whereas higher status parents tend to emphasize self-direction and non-conformity (correlational not causal)
Those who grew up during the Great Depression might be more anxious about job security whereas those who grew up during the sexual revolution may show a greater openness to experimentation. This is an example of a ________-culture variation.
within
Most of the differences in personality occur _________ cultures, not __________ cultures
within; between
What are 3 examples of cultural universals?
- Beliefs about the personality characteristics of men and woman
- The expression of emotion
- Possible universality of the five factor model of personality traits
