Problem 7: Personality Traits and States

Question 1

Research studies testing the existence of traits

Answer 1

–> differences among people in their tendencies to behave in ways related to a given trait will depend a great deal on the situation

–> if we know how individuals typically behave across several situations, then we can guess very accurately how they typically behave across several other situations

–> even though the situation is important, we can still see very consistent differences among people when we consider their overall behavior as observed across many different situations

Question 2

Person argument/side

Answer 2

Because behavior is determined in large parts by a person’s traits, a given individual will act similar much of the time, except for some reasonable adaptation to changing circumstances

–> traits predict and describe behavior very well over long stretches of time and behavior is highly stable

Question 3

Situation argument/side

Answer 3

Because the immediate situation is the primary determinant of behavior, a given individual will act very differently on different occasions

–> traits do not predict, describe, or influence behavior very strongly; the typical individual’s behavior is highly variable

Question 4

Interactionism

Answer 4

Personality consists of differences between individuals in how they react to situations, rather than in general ways of acting (traits)

–> compromise position

Question 5

Density-distributions

Answer 5

= determine how differently the typical person acts on different occasion

–> observing people as they conduct their daily lives and measuring a large number of their behaviors in a manner that allows their similarity to be assessed

Question 6

Evidence for the Situation Position: People Act very differently on different occasions

Answer 6

High amounts of within-person variability mean that the person acts very differently from occasion to occasion

Low amounts of between-individual variability in one occasion

Question 7

Evidence for the Person Position: People act very similarly from one Week to another

Answer 7

Small amounts of within-person variability mean that the person acts similar on different occasions and that traits would accurately describe how the person acts

High amounts of between-individual variability in one occasion

People may differ in the central point around which they vary –> two central points from the same person are almost identical to each other
–> people have different central points

Question 8

Research Fraud

Answer 8

= fabrication, falsification, and deception in performing or reporting results

–> it deceives employers, funders, research publishers, and readership, by attempting to publish research that is misleading, has been fabricated in some way, has not even been conducted in the first place, or has already been published elsewhere

Question 9

Fabrication

Answer 9

= research data has been made up

–> the most extreme form of research fraud

Question 10

Not doing the study

Answer 10

= taking the research grant (money) but not doing the research

Question 11

Altering data

Answer 11

= involves adjustments to data to fulfill the desired results, rather than complete fabrication

Question 12

Plagiarism

Answer 12

= occurs when a proposed publication includes substantial selections from other people’s work without any citation or acknowledgment of the original source

Question 13

Duplication of publication

Answer 13

= simultaneous submission of the same article to more than one journal

salami-slicing of a research project = publishing several articles from the same piece of research

Question 14

Why might fraud be committed?

Answer 14

• pressure to attract research funding
• “publish or perish” standards cause pressure
• publication of positive results; negative findings are less likely to get published

Question 15

Personality Traits

Answer 15

Generalized and personalized determining characteristics - consistent and stable modes of an individual’s adjustment to his/her environment

Question 16

Personality States

Answer 16

Temporary states, moods, and activities

Question 17

Fleeson’s Whole Trait Model

Answer 17

–> personality traits are best conceptualized as density distributions of momentary states

–> certain situational cues could explain variations in personality states

–> individual differences in the underlying causes of personality fluctuations may have important explanatory power, both for predicting outcomes and making sense of people’s seemingly inconsistent thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

–> within-person variation in personality results from interpretive processes that arise from reaction to environmental (situational) and internal events

Question 18

State Affect

Answer 18

–> extraversion and neuroticism are both strongly
related to affect
–> agreeableness and openness strongly
covaried with affect at the within-person level
–> affect accounted for a moderate amount of
within-person variance in conscientiousness
–> extraversion, and, to a lesser extent,
agreeableness, neuroticism, and openness
tended to covary with positive affect
–> neuroticism, and, to a lesser extent,
extraversion, agreeableness, and
conscientiousness, tended to covary with
negative affect

When participants were studying/working, they were:
o less extraverted, less agreeable, less open
o more conscientious and more neurotic than
when they were not studying/working

Question 19

Approach orientation

Answer 19

The impetus to promote or sustain desired physical or psychological stimuli

–> motivation to achieve mastery, status enhancement, affiliation, altruism, or learning
–> conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and openness

Question 20

Avoidance orientation

Answer 20

The motive to prevent or reduce negative stimuli

–> creates vigilance to threat, resulting in negative affect or withdrawal
–> neuroticism

Question 21

Work Experience and Personality

Answer 21

-Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) provides a rewarding sense of fulfillment
–> predicts next-day extraversion, agreeableness, and openness

Interpersonal conflict may focus attention on avoiding loss and averting further unpleasantness
–> agreeableness predicts next-day interpersonal conflict

The desire to achieve goals may be intrinsic to conscientiousness
–> goal setting motivation is positively associated with next-day conscientiousness

Intrinsic motivation should foster approach-oriented behavior
–> predicted next-day conscientiousness

Question 22

Personality as Patterns of Variability

Answer 22

Daytime and physiological changes could influence personality state changes directly or via variations in mood
–> trait personality emerges as a significant predictor of state personality
–> stability between average levels of state personality

Question 23

Neuroticism as a Predictor of Variability

Answer 23

People high in neuroticism are more reactive to negative stressors, which implies a higher level of personality state variation
- vary more in states associated with attention
and focus
- fluctuate between approach and avoidance
behaviors

–> agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism were positively and significantly correlated with the trait neuroticism factor, while extraversion and openness were not correlated with neuroticism

Question 24

Personality-situation transactions

Answer 24

= describe how people select, create, change, and construe situations based on their dispositions

Do not consistently increase with age:
1. External constraints in health or social environments may limit possibilities to choose and create personality-compatible situations
2. People increasingly know themselves more with age, but are not able, or not willing, to act on it
3. It can also be due to cohort effects –> Younger cohorts are more focused on self-fulfillment compared with older cohorts

Question 25

Positive side of narcissistic leaders

Answer 25

o narcissistic leaders promote bold visions and are
perceived as charismatic
o reduce people’s uncertainty and are preferred as
leaders in uncertain contexts

Question 26

Negative side of narcissistic leaders

Answer 26

o narcissistic leaders’ dominance inhibits information sharing among followers, which negatively impacts group performance
o tendency to dismiss the advice of others
o insatiable need for glory
o pursue unrealistic projects
o unethical and counterproductive work behavior
o risky investments  riskier decisions can result in greater volatility in organizational results
o perceived inequality, dissatisfaction, and turnover among employees

Question 27

Narcissism

Answer 27

= a cognitive and affective preoccupation with oneself

–> narcissistic individuals tend to utilize a more controlling, aggressive, and abusive rather than supportive leadership style, which may inhibit employee motivation by stifling job resources

Question 28

Implicit leader theory

Answer 28

The greater the perceived overlap between observed and implicit prototypical leadership characteristics, the more likely that someone will be seen and chosen as a leader, and perceives as a more effective leader

Question 29

Leader visibility

Answer 29

The more opportunities people have in observing someone, the better they can comprehend that person’s behavior and this familiarity can help decrease distance

Question 30

Leader distance theory

Answer 30

Greater social distance prompts the formation of simplified leader perceptions based on followers’ automatic schemas and implicit leader prototypes because more distant followers have access to mainly superficial information about their leader

Question 30

Leader distance theory

Answer 30

Greater social distance prompts the formation of simplified leader perceptions based on followers’ automatic schemas and implicit leader prototypes because more distant followers have access to mainly superficial information about their leader

Question 31

Leadership styles

Answer 31

Supportive: the negative effects of stress on employees are buffered, and employees’ engagement and motivation are enhanced

Autocratic: related to employee withdrawal behavior and burnout symptoms

Abusive or destructive: related to distress in followers, low job satisfaction, and greater turnover intentions

Question 32

Naysayer

Answer 32

= an individual who negates, refuses, and/or criticizes another person or entity regardless of whether such statements can be verified, and without explicit intention to necessarily hurt any particular target

Question 33

Naysaying-Agency-Power-Leadership Efficacy (NAPLE) model

Answer 33

= captures the causal link between naysaying and power, and examines leadership efficacy as a downstream implication

agency: a key determinant of power, it is the psychological mechanism that drives the effect/perception of power
–> the ability to act autonomously and freely

–> naysaying and power are causally linked
through the perception of agency
–> voters perceived negative and critical
presidential candidates as more powerful and,
in turn, were more willing to vote for them
–> naysaying drives the empowerment effect