Module 9: Personality and Identity

Question 1

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 ________________

Answer 1

bidirectional

Question 2

What are 4 methodological challenges for cross-cultural research on personality?

Answer 2

1. Reference group effect
2. Questionnaire choice
3. Cross-cultural differences in self-enhancement
4. Translation

Question 3

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…

Answer 3

reference group effect

Question 4

What is the problem with cross-cultural differences in self-enhancement?

Answer 4

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

Question 5

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…

Answer 5

relatively small

Question 6

Within-group individual differences are a much greater source of variability in personality than the variability found between cultures.

TRUE or FALSE

Answer 6

True

Question 7

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.

Answer 7

Ratings of national character

This bypasses the reference group effect and instead assesses perceptions of national character

Question 8

What is the difference between the minimalist position and the maximalist position?

Answer 8

Minimalist positon:
- Sex differences are small and inconsequential

Maximalist position:
- Magnitude of sex differences is comparable to many other effects in psychology

Question 9

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

Answer 9

Temperament

Question 10

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

Answer 10

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.

Question 11

Women score higher than men (moderately) on all of the big five traits except there is little meaningful sex difference for…

Answer 11

Openness

Question 12

Explain the sex difference with regard to the people-things dimension.

Answer 12

Men more likely to score at the “things” end and women more likely to score at the “people” end

Question 13

Androgynous is the label given to those who…

Answer 13

score high on both masculine and feminine items

Question 14

Researchers viewed those who are androgynous as the most…

Answer 14

highly developed

Question 15

What are some other alternative labels for masculinity-femininity?

Answer 15

instrumentality-expressiveness

competence-warmth

agency-communion

Question 16

Some researchers believe that a scale that assesses masculinity and femininity is actually assessing what?

Answer 16

gender schemas

Question 17

What does it mean to be gender-aschematic?

Answer 17

Not use gender when processing social information

Question 18

What is the most widely held theory of sex differences in personality?

Answer 18

Socialization theory

Boys and girls become different due to reinforcement for being masculine or feminine

Question 19

What theory is a variant of social learning theory that posits that boys and girls are different due to observations of others?

Answer 19

Bandura’s social learning theory

Question 20

What theory suggests that sex differences originate because men and women are distributed differently into different occupational and family roles?

Answer 20

Social role theory

Question 21

If social role theory is correct, sex differences should diminish as society continues to become egalitarian. Does research support this?

Answer 21

No, research has found the opposite pattern - the most gender-egalitarian countries have shown the largest sex differences in personality

Question 22

Young girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) show a marked preference for…

Answer 22

male-typical toys

Question 23

Higher __________ levels are associated with greater dominance and aggressiveness in both sexes.

Answer 23

testosterone

Question 24

Sexual desire is associated with levels of circulating testosterone but only in ___________

Answer 24

women

Question 25

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?

Answer 25

Evolutionary psychology theory

Question 26

Socialization and hormones might provide answers for _______ the sexes differ whereas evolutionary psychology provides the answers for ______ the sexes differ

Answer 26

how; why

Question 27

Within-group similarities and between-group differences can be any sort - physical, psychological, behaviours, or attitudinal. These phenomena are called...

Answer 27

cultural variations

Question 28

Psychologists apply what two major approaches to explaining and exploring differences in personality across cultures?

Answer 28

1. Evoked culture 2. Transmitted culture

Question 29

Cultural differences created by differing environmental conditions activating a predictable set of responses is referred to as ______________ culture

Answer 29

evoked

Question 30

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

Answer 30

evoked

Question 31

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

Answer 31

Conformity Conformity acts as a defence mechanism to avoid diseases

Question 32

___________ 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

Answer 32

Transmitted

Question 33

The view that it is wrong to eat beef is an example of _____________ culture

Answer 33

transmitted

Question 34

It is reasonable to consider that acculturation may produce changes in self-reported levels of the big five traits. What is acculturation?

Answer 34

The process of adapting to the ways of life in one's new culture

Question 35

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

Answer 35

metapersonal

Question 36

In a study of the metapersonal self-construal, a significant association was found with...

Answer 36

environmental concern and pro-environmental behaviour

Question 37

What is an example of a within-culture variation?

Answer 37

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)

Question 38

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.

Answer 38

within

Question 39

Most of the differences in personality occur _________ cultures, not __________ cultures

Answer 39

within; between

Question 40

What are 3 examples of cultural universals?

Answer 40

1. Beliefs about the personality characteristics of men and woman 2. The expression of emotion 3. Possible universality of the five factor model of personality traits