Week 22: Personality Flashcards
1
Q
What do personality traits reflect?
A
Characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Personality traits imply consistency and stability in behaviors across different situations and over time.
2
Q
What is the Five-Factor Model of personality commonly known as?
A
OCEAN.
OCEAN stands for Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.
3
Q
What are the three criteria that characterize personality traits?
A
- Consistency
- Stability
- Individual differences
4
Q
What does the lexical hypothesis suggest?
A
All important personality characteristics should be reflected in the language used to describe people.
This hypothesis guided the research of Allport and Odbert in identifying personality traits.
5
Q
What method did Gordon Allport and Henry Odbert use to identify personality traits?
A
They searched the dictionary for personality descriptors.
They started with around 18,000 words and reduced the list using statistical techniques.
6
Q
What is the significance of factor analysis in personality psychology?
A
It helps determine whether a small number of dimensions underlie the diversity of personality descriptors.
This technique was crucial in developing the Big Five personality traits.
7
Q
How do scores on the Big Five traits relate to one another?
A
Scores are mostly independent.
A person’s standing on one trait does not predict their standing on another trait.
8
Q
What role does Conscientiousness play in predicting success in college?
A
Highly conscientious individuals tend to study hard, get work done on time, and avoid distractions.
This trait contributes to better academic performance.
9
Q
What is a facet in the context of personality traits?
A
A more specific, lower-level unit of personality related to a broad trait.
Facets provide detailed descriptions of personality beyond the Big Five traits.
10
Q
What are some examples of facets for the Big Five traits?
A
- Openness: Imagination, Artistic interests
- Conscientiousness: Self-discipline, Orderliness
- Extraversion: Gregariousness, Assertiveness
- Agreeableness: Trust, Altruism
- Neuroticism: Anxiety, Emotional instability
11
Q
What is a critique of the personality-trait concept?
A
People do not act consistently across different situations and are influenced by situational forces.
This critique highlights the debate between traits and situational influences on behavior.
12
Q
True or False: Personality traits are distinct personality types.
A
False.
Personality traits reflect continuous distributions rather than distinct types.
13
Q
Fill in the blank: The acronym OCEAN represents the five major traits: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and _______.
A
Neuroticism
14
Q
Who proposed the idea that Extraversion and Neuroticism are the most important personality traits?
A
Hans Eysenck.
Eysenck’s model suggested these two traits could account for many personality differences.
15
Q
What can personality traits help psychologists predict?
A
- Job performance
- Health and longevity
- Types of activities a person enjoys
16
Q
What is the relationship between personality traits and social learning?
A
Traits and social learning combine to predict social activities.
This interaction suggests that personality traits can be refined through social experiences.
17
Q
What is the Five-Factor Model also known as?
A
The Big Five
The Five-Factor Model summarizes personality variability with five broad traits.
18
Q
List the five traits included in the Five-Factor Model.
A
- Openness
- Conscientiousness
- Extraversion
- Agreeableness
- Neuroticism
These traits capture much of the variability in people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
19
Q
What does the HEXACO model add as a sixth dimension of personality?
A
Honesty-Humility
People high in Honesty-Humility are sincere, fair, and modest.
20
Q
What is Neuroticism?
A
A personality trait that reflects the tendency to experience negative emotions like anxiety, fear, sadness, and anger.
21
Q
What does Extraversion reflect in a person?
A
A tendency to be sociable, outgoing, active, and assertive.
22
Q
Define Agreeableness.
A
A personality trait that reflects a person’s tendency to be compassionate, cooperative, warm, and caring to others.
23
Q
What is Conscientiousness?
A
A personality trait that reflects a person’s tendency to be careful, organized, hardworking, and to follow rules.
24
Q
What is the lexical hypothesis?
A
The idea that the most important differences between people will be encoded in the language that we use to describe them.
25
True or False: The person-situation debate suggests that personality traits are consistent across all situations.
False
## Footnote
The debate indicates that situational factors can significantly influence behavior.
26
What did Walter Mischel argue regarding personality traits?
He suggested that consistency in behavior across different situations is not as impressive as believed.
27
What are 'facets' in relation to personality traits?
Narrower aspects or components of broad personality traits.
28
What is the person-situation debate?
A historical debate about the relative power of personality traits compared to situational influences on behavior.
29
Fill in the blank: People high in __________ are likely to be manipulative, narcissistic, and self-centered.
Honesty-Humility
30
What is meant by 'continuous distributions' in personality traits?
Characteristics can go from low to high, with varying amounts possible.
31
What is factor analysis?
A statistical technique for grouping similar things together according to their associations.
32
What is the role of situational factors in behavior according to the person-situation debate?
Situational factors can significantly influence how a person behaves in different contexts.
33
True or False: Research shows that personality traits are the only determinants of behavior.
False
## Footnote
Both personality traits and situational factors play significant roles in determining behavior.
34
What is heterotypic stability?
The psychological coherence of an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors across development
## Footnote
Heterotypic stability examines the consistency of underlying personality attributes expressed differently at various ages
35
What does homotypic stability refer to?
The amount of similarity in the same observable personality characteristics across time
## Footnote
The prefix 'homo' means 'same' in Greek, indicating that homotypic stability looks at consistent traits over time
36
Define absolute stability in personality psychology.
The consistency of the level of the same personality attribute across time
## Footnote
This can be assessed at both individual and group levels
37
What is differential stability?
The consistency of a personality attribute in terms of an individual’s rank-ordering among peers
## Footnote
This means that individuals maintain their relative standing over time, even if average levels change
38
What are the four processes that promote personality stability?
* Attraction
* Selection
* Manipulation
* Attrition
## Footnote
These processes help maintain personality traits across different environments and situations
39
What is the maturity principle of adult personality development?
As we age, we adjust our traits to fit with our new, adult responsibilities
## Footnote
This principle suggests that attributes associated with positive adaptation increase during adulthood
40
Explain person-environment transactions.
Interactions between an individual and their environment that influence personality development
## Footnote
These transactions can be active, reactive, or evocative
41
What does active person-environment transaction mean?
When individuals seek out environments that match their personality traits
## Footnote
This can reinforce existing traits and behaviors
42
What is a longitudinal study?
A research design that follows the same group of individuals and assesses their personalities at multiple time points
## Footnote
This method is better for studying personality stability than cross-sectional studies
43
What are the Big Five personality traits?
* Extraversion
* Agreeableness
* Conscientiousness
* Neuroticism
* Openness
## Footnote
These traits are commonly used to categorize personality attributes
44
True or False: Neuroticism generally increases with age.
False
## Footnote
Research indicates that neuroticism tends to decrease with age
45
What is the difference between cross-sectional and longitudinal studies?
Cross-sectional studies compare different age groups at the same time, while longitudinal studies follow the same individuals over time
## Footnote
Longitudinal studies can better isolate age effects from cohort effects
46
What is the significance of the correlation coefficient in personality studies?
It summarizes the linear association between two variables, indicating the strength of personality stability
## Footnote
Correlation coefficients range from small (around .1) to large (around .50 or larger)
47
What does cumulative continuity principle refer to?
The idea that individual differences in personality become more consistent and stable as people age
## Footnote
This principle suggests that personality traits solidify over time
48
Fill in the blank: The principle that higher levels of agreeableness and conscientiousness are associated with better outcomes is known as the _______.
maturity principle
## Footnote
The maturity principle highlights the positive changes in personality traits during adulthood
49
What is the primary focus of personality psychology?
How individuals differ from each other in their characteristic ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving
## Footnote
It explores both stability and change in personality attributes
50
What are the implications of personality change on mortality?
The rate and direction of change in characteristics like stress reaction may predict mortality
## Footnote
Understanding these changes can provide insights into health outcomes
51
What is the linear association between two variables called?
Correlation
## Footnote
Correlations around .1 or –.1 are often called 'small' associations, whereas correlations around .50 and –.50 (or larger) are often called 'large' associations.
52
What principle states that differential stability increases with age?
Cumulative continuity principle of personality development
## Footnote
This principle suggests that personality attributes become increasingly stable as individuals age.
53
What are the two types of stability in personality research?
* Heterotypic stability
* Homotypic stability
## Footnote
Heterotypic stability refers to consistency in underlying psychological attributes, while homotypic stability refers to consistency in observable manifestations.
54
What does the maturity principle of personality development indicate?
Average levels of personality attributes change in predictable ways across the lifespan
## Footnote
Traits correlated with positive outcomes, such as conscientiousness, tend to increase from adolescence to adulthood.
55
True or False: Personality attributes are perfectly stable across the lifespan.
False
## Footnote
The observed correlations do not reach 1.0, indicating that personality can change at any time.
56
What are person-environment transactions?
The mutually transforming interplay between individuals and their contextual circumstances
## Footnote
This concept captures how individuals and their environments interact and influence each other.
57
What are the four processes that produce personality stability according to the acronym ASTMA?
* Attraction
* Selection
* Manipulation
* Attrition
## Footnote
These processes explain how individuals match their personality attributes with their environments.
58
What is the corresponsive principle of personality development?
The idea that personality traits often become matched with environmental conditions
## Footnote
This principle suggests that social contexts reinforce the personality attributes that contributed to the initial environmental conditions.
59
What is differential stability?
Consistency in the rank-ordering of personality across measurement occasions
## Footnote
It reflects how individuals maintain their relative standing in personality attributes over time.
60
Fill in the blank: _______ refers to the tendency of some individuals to interpret ambiguous social cues as aggressive.
Hostile attribution bias
61
What is the primary mechanism by which behavior patterns that produce positive consequences are repeated?
Behaviorism
## Footnote
This principle suggests that behavior is influenced by the consequences it produces, encouraging repetition of positive behaviors.
62
What does attrition refer to in the context of personality and environment?
Individuals with particular traits drop out from certain environments
## Footnote
This reflects how mismatches between personality and environment can lead to individuals leaving certain settings.
63
What is the focus of individual-level statistics in personality development research?
Evaluating stability or change in individuals
## Footnote
This contrasts with group-level statistics, which focus on aggregate averages across cohorts.
64
What are the mechanisms likely to produce personality change?
Transformation
## Footnote
Transformation explains how individuals might change their personality attributes through new experiences and interventions.
65
What is the concept of reactive person-environment transactions?
When attributes of the individual shape how they perceive and respond to their environment
## Footnote
This indicates that personality can influence perceptions and reactions to similar situations.
66
What does the term 'selection' refer to in person-environment transactions?
Individuals with particular attributes choose particular kinds of environments
## Footnote
This process highlights how personality traits can guide the selection of social and professional contexts.
67
What is a longitudinal study?
A research design that follows the same group of individuals at multiple time points
## Footnote
This method allows for the assessment of changes and stability in personality over time.
68
What does the term 'cumulative continuity principle' describe?
Personality attributes show increasing stability with age and experience
## Footnote
This principle reflects the general observation that older adults exhibit more stable personality traits.
69
What is the primary focus of the field of personality psychology?
The study of the thoughts, feelings, behaviors, goals, and interests of normal individuals
70
What are the three main types of personality assessment methods discussed?
* Objective personality tests
* Projective and implicit tests
* Behavioral/performance measures
71
Define objective personality tests.
Tests that involve administering a standard set of items with a limited set of response options, scored in a standardized way
72
What is a key advantage of self-report measures in personality assessment?
Self-raters have access to their own thoughts, feelings, and motives
73
What is the reference group effect in self-ratings?
Self-perceptions are influenced by comparisons to others in one's sociocultural reference group
74
True or False: Informant ratings are only useful for assessing adults.
False
75
What is a significant limitation of informant ratings?
Informants lack full access to the thoughts, feelings, and motives of the person they are rating
76
What is the 'letter of recommendation effect' in informant ratings?
The tendency for informants to produce overly favorable personality ratings
77
List two basic types of objective tests.
* Self-report measures
* Informant ratings
78
What is the primary concern with self-report measures in high-stakes testing?
Raters may present themselves in an overly favorable, socially desirable way
79
Fill in the blank: The _______ is a widely used measure designed to assess broad personality traits.
Big Five Inventory
80
What is the significance of self-reported personality in relation to academic and job performance?
Self-ratings of conscientiousness are significant predictors of overall academic performance and job performance
81
What are some of the common biases affecting self-ratings?
* Self-enhancement bias
* Reference group effect
* Social desirability bias
82
What is the difference between comprehensive and specific personality assessments?
Comprehensive assessments evaluate a wide range of personality traits, while specific assessments focus on a single core attribute
83
What is one way informant ratings can enhance the validity of personality assessments?
They can be combined with self-ratings to produce more reliable and valid measures
84
What are the five traits in the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality?
* Neuroticism
* Extraversion
* Openness
* Agreeableness
* Conscientiousness
85
True or False: Informant ratings are always more valid than self-ratings.
False
86
What is the 'honeymoon effect' in the context of informant ratings?
The tendency for newly married individuals to rate their partners in an unrealistically positive way
87
What is one characteristic of omnibus inventories in personality assessment?
They contain a large number of specific scales measuring personality comprehensively
88
Fill in the blank: The _______ is an inventory explicitly designed to provide coverage of both general and specific trait characteristics.
NEO Personality Inventory-3
89
What are the broad traits included in the Big Five model of personality?
* Neuroticism
* Extraversion
* Openness to experience
* Agreeableness
* Conscientiousness
## Footnote
These traits encompass a range of specific characteristics relevant to personality assessment.
90
Define neuroticism in the context of the Big Five traits.
Prone to feeling sad, worried, anxious, and dissatisfied with themselves.
## Footnote
Individuals high in neuroticism often experience emotional instability.
91
What is extraversion characterized by?
* Friendliness
* Assertiveness
* Outgoingness
* Cheerfulness
* Energy
## Footnote
High scorers in extraversion tend to be sociable and energetic.
92
What does openness to experience refer to?
* Tolerance
* Intellectual curiosity
* Imagination
* Artistic interests
## Footnote
Those high in openness are often open-minded and creative.
93
How is agreeableness defined?
* Politeness
* Consideration
* Cooperation
* Honesty
* Trustworthiness
## Footnote
High agreeableness is associated with being compassionate and friendly.
94
What traits characterize conscientiousness?
* Responsibility
* Caution
* Organization
* Discipline
* Achievement-oriented
## Footnote
Individuals high in conscientiousness are often reliable and goal-directed.
95
What are projective tests in personality assessment?
Tests requiring spontaneous answers to ambiguous stimuli to reveal personality traits.
## Footnote
Examples include the Rorschach Inkblot Test and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT).
96
What is the projective hypothesis?
The theory that responses to ambiguous stimuli are influenced by unconscious thoughts, needs, and impulses.
## Footnote
This hypothesis is rooted in Freudian concepts of projection.
97
What is the Comprehensive System in relation to projective tests?
A widely used scoring scheme for the Rorschach test developed by Exner in 2003.
## Footnote
It aims to provide a reliable scoring method for the Rorschach responses.
98
What does the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) assess?
Implicit motives by asking individuals to create stories about ambiguous pictures.
## Footnote
Developed by Morgan and Murray in 1935, TAT is used to explore underlying needs.
99
True or False: The validity of the Rorschach test is universally accepted among psychologists.
False
## Footnote
The Rorschach test's validity has been a subject of considerable controversy.
100
What is the TAT known for in terms of validity?
Significant validity in predicting important criteria and providing information beyond objective measures.
## Footnote
TAT measures of need for achievement have been shown to be valid predictors.
101
Define implicit motives.
Goals important to a person that they cannot consciously express.
## Footnote
These motives can be assessed using projective devices like the TAT.
102
What is the main advantage of behavioral measures in personality assessment?
They sample real-world behavior directly, reducing the impact of response biases.
## Footnote
Behavioral measures can capture personality traits in natural environments.
103
What is a disadvantage of behavioral measures?
They are labor-intensive and may provide a limited view of a person's true characteristics.
## Footnote
Results can be influenced by transient factors like stress or sleep quality.
104
What does reliability refer to in the context of personality tests?
The consistency of test scores across repeated assessments.
## Footnote
Test-retest reliability examines score stability over time.
105
What is self-enhancement bias?
The tendency for people to present themselves in an overly favorable way.
## Footnote
This can manifest through defensiveness or impression management.
106
What is the letter of recommendation effect?
The tendency for informants to rate others in an unrealistically positive manner.
## Footnote
This bias often occurs when informants have a personal relationship with the person being rated.
107
Fill in the blank: The _______ effect refers to the tendency of parents to exaggerate differences between their children.
Sibling contrast
## Footnote
This effect is a specific manifestation of the broader reference group effect.
108
What is the honeymoon effect?
The tendency for newly married individuals to rate their spouses unrealistically positively.
## Footnote
This effect diminishes as marital satisfaction declines.
109
What is validity in the context of personality assessment?
Evidence related to the interpretation and use of test scores.
## Footnote
Criterion validity is a key type of validity, predicting theoretically relevant outcomes.
