W2 - Personality Traits and Mental Health Flashcards
What is the Five Factor Model (FFM), and what are its primary traits?
A framework describing personality through five traits: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Openness to Experience.
What are the facets of the Big Five, and how do they provide deeper insights?
Each trait has facets: Extraversion (sociability, assertiveness, energy), Agreeableness (trust, altruism, cooperation), Conscientiousness (order, discipline, goals), Neuroticism (anxiety, mood, stress), Openness (creativity, curiosity, aesthetics).
Why are facets important in personality research?
Facets allow detailed personality assessment and differentiation between individuals with similar broad traits.
What are the main tools used to measure the Big Five traits?
NEO Personality Inventories (NEO-PI-R: 240 items, NEO-FFI: 60 items), Big Five Inventory (BFI, 44-60 items), TIPI (10 items), IPIP (open-source).
What are the advantages and limitations of self-reports in personality measurement?
Advantages: Access internal information, efficiency. Limitations: Response biases (social desirability, acquiescence), limited self-awareness.
How do informant reports complement self-reports?
They provide external perspectives, valuable for visible traits like extraversion.
What does rank-order stability refer to in the context of the Big Five?
Consistency of individuals’ trait rankings relative to others over time. Increases with age, peaking in middle adulthood.
What is mean-level stability, and how does it change across the lifespan?
Refers to average trait levels in a population. Changes: Increased conscientiousness and agreeableness, decreased neuroticism with age.
Why is stability important in the study of personality traits?
Stability supports predictive power, allowing accurate forecasting of behaviors and mental health outcomes.
What is Eysenck’s PEN model, and how does it compare to the Big Five?
Eysenck’s model includes extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism. Excludes agreeableness and openness.
What does the HEXACO model add to the Big Five framework?
Introduces Honesty-Humility to address ethical and moral personality dimensions.
How does the vulnerability model explain the relationship between traits and mental health?
Traits indirectly increase disorder susceptibility. Example: High neuroticism promotes rumination, escalating anxiety symptoms.
What is the spectrum model of personality and mental health?
Suggests traits and disorders exist on a continuum. Example: Extreme neuroticism aligns with anxiety/depression.
What evidence supports the spectrum model?
Shared genetic and environmental risk factors link personality traits and mental health disorders.
How do traits like extraversion and conscientiousness protect against mental health issues?
Extraversion fosters resilience through positive emotions; conscientiousness aids self-regulation and goal-setting.
