Exam 2 Study Set - PSY 2530 - Psychology of Personality - The Personality Puzzle (8th Edition) - Chapters 4-7

Facets of Neuroticism

- Anxiety - Hostility - Depression - Self-consciousness - Impulsiveness - Vulnerability to stress

Facets of Conscientiousness

- Competence - Order - Dutifulness - Achievement striving - Self-discipline - Deliberation

Facets of Openness

- Fantasy - Aesthetics - Feelings - Actions - Ideas - Values

In terms of moderators of accuracy, what are some "good traits" that make personality easier to judge?

- They are high in judgability. - They are more well-adjusted, agreeable, and extraverted. - Their future behavior can be predicted from past behavior. More easily observed traits, such as "talkativeness," "sociability," and other traits related to extraversion, are judged with much higher levels of interjudge agreement than are less visible traits, such as cognitive and ruminative styles and habits.

Facets of Agreeableness

- Trust - Straightforwardness - Altruism - Compliance - Modesty - Tender-mindedness

Facets of Extraversion

- Warmth - Gregariousness - Assertiveness - Activity - Excitement seeking - Positive emotion

Research has shown that when people use words such as ________ to describe their life story, they are described by acquaintances as more intelligent. a. smart b. mindfully c. absolutely d. positivity

Absolutely People who used a relatively large number of certainty words were described by their acquaintances as (among other attributes) intelligent, verbally fluent, the kind of person who is turned to for advice, ambitious, and generous.

What is the narrative theme of "agency"?

According to Dan McAdams, the narrative theme of "agency" organizes the life story around episodes of challenging oneself and then accomplishing one's goals.

What are the essential traits according to Hans Eysenck?

According to Hans Eysenck, these were extraversion, neuroticism (or "unstable emotionality"), and a trait he (rather confusingly) labeled psychoticism, which he saw as a blend of aggressiveness, creativity, and impulsiveness.

Rosenthal's four-factor theory of expectancy effects

According to Rosenthal's theory, high-expectancy students perform better because their teachers treat them differently in four ways. The first, climate, refers to the way that teachers project a warmer emotional attitude toward the students they expect to do well. The second, feedback, refers to the way teachers give feedback that is more differentiated—varying according to the correctness or incorrectness of a student's responses. The third, input, refers to the way teachers attempt to teach more material and more difficult material. Finally, the fourth way high-expectancy students are treated differently, called output, reflects how teachers give them extra opportunities to show what they have learned. Each of these aspects of teaching leads students to perform better.

narrative identity

An internalized and evolving story of the self designed to provide life with some measure of temporal unity and purpose. Beginning in late adolescence, people craft self-defining stories that reconstruct the past and imagine the future to explain how the person came to be the person that he or she is becoming.

Research has found that laterborns are more __________ than firstborns. a. neurotic b. extraverted c. ambitious d. open-minded

Birth order has a significant effect on personality development, and individuals born second or third tend to be more open-minded than firstborns.

In Rosenthal's four-factor theory of expectancy effects, __________ refers to the way that teachers project a warmer emotional attitude toward the students they expect to do well. a. input b. feedback c. output d. climate

Climate

Which trait has been consistently linked to a range of health outcomes? a. conscientiousness b. authoritarianism c. neuroticism d. openness

Conscientiousness has been consistently linked to a range of positive health outcomes.

Which trait is associated with obsessive effort into hairstyles and clothing? a. narcissism b. conscientiousness c. authoritarianism d. self-monitoring

Narcissism

According to Hudson and Roberts (2014), which trait do most people wish to change in themselves? a. agreeableness b. neuroticism c. conscientiousness d. extraversion

Neuroticism

In Rosenthal's four-factor theory of expectancy effects, __________ refers to the way teachers give their high-expectation students extra opportunities to show what they have learned. - Output - Climate - Feedback - Input

Output

What have we learned about depression (especially between men vs. women) from the many-trait approach?

Overcontrolled women and uncontrolled men are more susceptible.

A fundamental problem for the trait approach is that ________. a. correlational methods do not clearly indicate effect size b. situations do not affect behavior c. individual differences cannot be measured reliably d. people are inconsistent

People are inconsistent

According to Dan McAdams, what is the first step in the development of one's narrative identity? a. seeing oneself as an actor b. seeing oneself as an author c. seeing oneself as an agent d. seeing oneself as an architect

Seeing oneself as an actor.

Studies that investigated self-monitoring (e.g., energy drink study).

Self-monitors will prefer an energy drink if it has an image-oriented name such as Fast Track compared with something more descriptive (and bland) like Energy Drink Enhancer; low self-monitors have the reverse preference.

cumulative continuity principle

The idea that personality becomes more stable and unchanging as a person gets older.

maturity principle

The idea that traits associated with effective functioning increase with age.

rank-order consistency

The maintenance of individual differences in behavior or personality over time or across situations. People tend to maintain the ways in which they are different from other people the same age.

personality development

The mean level change of a trait over time. Change in personality over time, including the development of adult personality from its origins in infancy and childhood, and changes in personality over the life span.

Research finds that by looking at someone's face, a. we detect with some accuracy the difference between extremes of certain personality traits such as openness and neuroticism. b. we detect with some accuracy the difference between extremes of certain personality traits such as extraversion and agreeableness. c. we can discern a number of personality traits, such as courage, agreeableness, and emotional stability, with surprising accuracy. d. the snap judgments we make about his or her personality have no real validity whatsoever.

We detect with some accuracy the difference between extremes of certain personality traits such as extraversion and agreeableness.

What type of design is the trait approach mostly based on?

correlation design For example, if a person scores high on a measure of "dominance," can we accurately predict that they will act in a dominant manner (relative to other people) in one or more life situations?

What method of research examines which traits are the most important? a. single-trait approach b. typological approach c. essential-trait approach d. many-trait approach

essential-trait approach For example, using the "Big Five" traits. The essential-trait approach asks, What traits are the most essential?

What is another name for self-fulfilling prophecies?

expectancy effect or behavioral confirmation

Research on narcissism has discovered a long list of negative behaviors associated with people who score high on narcissism. Which of the following is NOT one of those behaviors? a. maintaining long-term relationships b. driving aggressively c. swearing a lot d.not handling failure well

maintaining long-term relationships

What method of research seeks to explain the pattern of correlation between certain traits and specific behaviors? a. single-trait approach b. many-trait approach c. typological approach d.essential-trait approach

many-trait approach

What method of research seeks to explain the pattern of correlation between certain traits and specific behaviors? a. single-trait approach b. many-trait approach c. typological approach d. essential-trait approach

many-trait approach The many-trait approach asks, Who does that?

Big Five Traits of Personality

neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness (or intellect)

Research has found that laterborns are more __________ than firstborns. a. neurotic b. extraverted c. ambitious d. open-minded

open-minded Birth order has a significant effect on personality development, and individuals born second or third tend to be more open-minded than firstborns.

Which answer below represents the proper sequence in which the four conditions of personality judgment must be met according to the Realistic Accuracy Model (RAM)? a. detection, utilization, availability, relevance b. availability, relevance, detection, utilization c. detection, relevance, availability, utilization d. relevance, availability, detection, utilization

relevance, availability, detection, utilization

What method of research examines the behavior patterns of certain types of individuals? a. many-trait approach b. essential-trait approach c. single-trait approach d. typological approach

single-trait approach For example they might examine the the behavior patterns of narcissists. The single-trait approach examines the link between personality and behavior by asking, What do people like that do?

many-trait approach

the research strategy that focuses on a particular behavior and investigates its correlates with as many different personality traits as possible in order to explain the basis of the behavior and to illuminate the workings of personality. One test used in this approach is the California Q-Set.

What method of research focuses on the patterns of traits that characterize whole persons, rather than focusing on the traits directly? a. single-trait approach b. many-trait approach c. typological approach d.essential-trait approach

typological approach

What method of research focuses on the patterns of traits that characterize whole persons, rather than focusing on the traits directly? a. single-trait approach b. many-trait approach c. typological approach d. essential-trait approach

typological approach The typological approach asks, Does it really make sense to array everybody in the world along the various trait scales that psychologists have adopted?

constructivism

The philosophical view that reality, as a concrete entity, does not exist and that only ideas ("constructions") of reality exist.

critical realism

The philosophical view that the absence of perfect, infallible criteria for determining the truth does not imply that all interpretations of reality are equally valid; instead, one can use empirical evidence to determine which views of reality are more or less likely to be valid.

evocative person-environment transaction

The process by which a people may change situations they encounter through behaviors that express their personality.

active person-environment transaction

The process by which people seek out situations that are compatible with their personalities, or avoid situations that they perceive as incompatible.

reactive person-environment transactions

The process by which people with different personalities may react differently to the same situation.

moderator variable

A variable that affects the relationship between two other variables.

When does personality stop developing?

The evidence indicates that personality continues to develop throughout the life span.

judgability

The extent to which an individual's personality can be judged accurately by others.

According to the situationist perspective, what is the upper limit of correlation between behaviors from one situation to the next?

.30 to .40.

narcissism

A personality trait that, in the normal range, is associated with high self-regard and a pattern of extraverted and confident behavior that can make an excellent first impression but become annoying in the long run. At the extreme, this trait can be characterized as a personality disorder.

California Q-Set

A set of 100 descriptive items (e.g., "is critical, skeptical, not easily impressed") that comprehensively cover the personality domain. Raters express judgments of personality by sorting the items into nine categories ranging from highly uncharacteristic of the person being described (Category 1) to highly characteristic (Category 9). Items neither characteristic nor uncharacteristic are placed in or near Category 5. The distribution is forced, which means that a predetermined number of items must go into each category. The usual Q-sort distribution is peaked, or "normal," meaning that most items are placed near the center and only a few (just 5 of the 100) can be placed on each end. An important advantage lies in the fact that the test forces a judge to compare all of the test items directly against each other within one individual.

longitudinal study

A study of personality development in which the same people are assessed repeatedly over extended periods of time, sometimes many years.

cross-sectional study

A study that administers a questionnaire to many people across a wide range of ages.

Neither Social Clock (NSC)

A third group had follows neither the feminine social clock nor masculine social clock. For women, following either the stereotypical feminine or masculine social clocks can lead to long-term life satisfaction, but following neither can lead to problems.

Realistic Accuracy Model (RAM) Example

Consider an attempt to judge someone's degree of courage. This may not be possible unless a situation comes along that allows a courageous person to reveal this trait. But if the target of judgment encounters a burning building, rushes in, and saves the family inside, then she has done something relevant. Next, this behavior must occur in a manner and place that makes it possible for you, as the judge, to observe it. Someone might be doing something extremely courageous right now, right next door, but if you can't see it, you may never know and never have a chance to assess accurately that person's courage. But let's say you happen by just as the target of judgment rescues the last member of the family from the flames. Now the judgment has passed the availability hurdle. That is still not enough: Perhaps you were distracted, or you are perceptually impaired (you broke your glasses in all the excitement), or for some other reason you failed to notice the hero. But if you did notice, then the judgment has passed the detection hurdle. Finally, you must accurately remember and correctly interpret the relevant, available information that you have detected. If you infer that this rescue means the target person rates high on the trait of courage, then you have passed the utilization stage and achieved, at last, an accurate judgment.

In Rosenthal's four-factor theory of expectancy effects, __________ refers to the way that teachers give feedback that is more differentiated for their high-expectancy students; that is, it varies according to the correctness or incorrectness of the students' responses. a. climate b. feedback c. output d. input

Feedback

What are the two primary criteria for evaluating personality judgments?

For personality judgments, the two primary converging criteria are interjudge agreement and behavioral prediction. Psychological research can evaluate personality judgments by asking two questions: (1) Do the judgments agree with one another? (2) Can they predict behavior? To the degree the answers are Yes, the judgments are probably accurate.

Terms used to describe high and low self monitors

High self-monitors were more likely than low self-monitors to be described by close acquaintances with terms such as the following: • Skilled in social techniques of imaginative play, pretending, and humor (e.g., is good at the game charades) • Talkative • Self-dramatizing, histrionic (exaggerates emotion) • Initiates humor • Verbally fluent • Expressive in face and gestures • Having social poise and presence Low self-monitors, by contrast, were more likely to be described as: • Distrustful • Perfectionist • Touchy and irritable • Anxious • Introspective • Independent • Feeling cheated and victimized by life It is clear from these lists that high self-monitors are described more favorably and are more popular than low self-monitors. However, the difference probably arises because being positively regarded and popular is more important to high self-monitors. The description of low self-monitors might seem more negative, but the low self-monitor probably doesn't care. Other goals, such as independence, are more important.

Understand the trait of self-monitoring, and know the studies that investigated it (e.g., energy drink study).

High self-monitors, according to Snyder, carefully survey every situation they enter looking for cues as to the appropriate way to act, and then adjust their behavior accordingly. Low self-monitors tend to be more consistent regardless of the situation, because their behavior is guided more by their inner personality. As a result, one would expect a low self-monitor to be more judgeable, and a high self-monitor to be much less judgeable.

What were the results of the Snyder, Tanke, and Berscheid (1977) study on social expectancy effects.

If the man had seen an attractive photograph, the woman was more likely to have behaved in a manner rated as warm, humorous, and poised than when he saw an unattractive photograph. This finding implies that when the male student spoke to a woman he thought to be attractive, his behavior caused her to respond in a warmer and more friendly manner than she would have had he considered her unattractive. Snyder interpreted this effect as another form of self-fulfilling prophecy: Attractive women are expected to be warm and friendly, and are treated in such a manner that they indeed respond that way. The study suggests that our behavior with other people is influenced by how they expect us to act, sometimes based on superficial cues such as what we look like. Snyder's results imply that, to some extent, we will actually become what other people perceive, or even misperceive, us to be.

ego-resiliency

In Jack Block's personality theory, the ability to vary one's level of ego control in order to respond appropriately to opportunities and situational circumstances. Also known as psychological adjustment.

ego-control

In Jack Block's personality theory, the psychological tendency to inhibit the behavioral expression of motivation and emotional impulse. At the extremes, people may be either undercontrolled or overcontrolled. Also known as impulse control.

In Rosenthal's four-factor theory of expectancy effects, __________ refers to the way teachers attempt to teach more material and more difficult material. a. input b. feedback c. output d. climate

Input

Familiarize yourself with research on first impressions.

It is possible for people to tell whether a person is high or low in two traits—extraversion and agreeableness—just from looking at the face. In addition, we can do this for emotional stability in men—but (for some reason) not women. What the findings probably mean in practice is that, from looking at someone's face, we are somewhat able to detect accurately the difference between someone who is extremely extraverted and someone who is extremely introverted, or extremely agreeable versus extremely disagreeable. Accurate discrimination in the middle range—where most people are found—is surely more difficult.

Study Table 4.7 (p. 138) along with the section "Personality and Life" (p. 137-140). Know what personality traits are associated with what outcomes. For example, what trait is political liberalism associated with? Work citizenship?

People who score high on the trait of extraversion tend to be happier than people who score low on this trait. Extraverts also enjoy better psychological health, live longer lives, are more popular, and are seen as better leaders. Agreeable people have healthier hearts than disagreeable people do, are less likely to get arrested, and go further in their careers. Conscientious people show an even stronger tendency to achieve career success, and conscientiousness is also associated with religious beliefs and better family ties. Conscientious people tend to be politically conservative, as opposed to people who score high on mea- sures of openness, who are more likely to be liberal. Neuroticism is associated with a whole host of negative outcomes, including just plain unhappiness.

What has the many-trait approach investigation into word use told us about personality (e.g., research on "certainty words")?

People who used a relatively large number of certainty words were described by their acquaintances as (among other attributes) intelligent, verbally fluent, the kind of person who is turned to for advice, ambitious and generous. People who used such words relatively rarely were more likely to be described as emotionally bland, exploitative, and "repressive" (which means they tend to avoid recognizing unpleasant facts).

My judgment that you are conscientious converges with the subsequent empirical fact that you arrive on time for all your class meetings. This is an example of a. predictive validity b. interjudge agreement c. the RAM model d. construct validity

Predictive validity

Masculine Social Clock (MSC)

Prescribes that one should start a career with the potential to achieve status by the time one is 28 or so.

Feminine Social Clock (FSC)

Prescribes that one should start a family by the time one is in one's early to mid-twenties.

What might be a good way of understanding the relationship between situational variables and personality traits? A. Situational variables tell us about how people will act under certain circumstances; personality traits tell us about how people act in general. B. Situational variables tell us about how people will act in general; personality traits tell us about how people act under specific circumstances. C. Because of the ongoing debate between the situationist and trait approaches, it remains difficult to determine which factor is more important in determining behavior. D. Personality traits tell us about how people will act in general; situational variables are not as statistically relevant to predicting behavior.

Situational variables tell us about how people will act under certain circumstances; personality traits tell us about how people act in general.

What are the two sides of the situation-person debate?

Situationists, or opponents of the trait approach, argue (1) that according to a review of the personality literature, the ability of traits to predict behavior is extremely limited; (2) that situations are therefore more important than personality traits for determining what people do; and (3) that not only is personality assessment (the measurement of traits) a waste of time, but also many of people's intuitions about each other are fundamentally wrong. The rebuttals to the first situationist argument are that a fair review of the literature reveals that the predictability of behavior from traits is better than is sometimes acknowledged; that improved research methods can increase this predictability; and that the putative upper limit for predictability (a correlation of about .40) yields better outcomes than is sometimes recognized. The response to the second situationist argument is that many important effects of situations on behavior are no bigger statistically than the documented size of the effects of personality traits on behavior. The effect of personality on behavior shows up in relative consistency, the maintenance of individual differences; it does not imply that people act the same way regardless of the situation. Behavioral change and consistency can and often are seen in the same data. The evidence in favor of the existence and importance of personality is sufficiently strong as to disconfirm the argument that people's intuitions are fundamentally flawed. People perceive personality traits in themselves and others because such perceptions are often valid and useful. The large number of personality-trait terms also implies that traits are a useful way for predicting behavior and understanding personality.

situationalism

The belief that behavior is largely driven by the situation, and that personality is relatively unimportant.

interactionalism

The belief that individuals and situations interact continuously to determine individuals' behavior

What psychologists essentially started the person-situation debate?

The debate was triggered by the publication in 1968 of a book by Walter Mischel entitled Personality and Assessment. Mischel argued that behavior is too inconsistent from one situation to the next to allow individual differences to be characterized accurately in terms of broad personality traits. Other psychologists—including, not surprisingly, those who were heavily invested in the technology and practice of personality assessment—emphatically disagreed. Thus the person-situation debate began.

behavioral prediction

The degree to which a judgment or measurement can predict the behavior of the person in question.

interjudge agreement

The degree to which two or more people making judgments about the same person provide the same description of that person's personality.

convergent validation

The process of assembling diverse pieces of information that converge on a common conclusion. For personality judgments, the two primary converging criteria are interjudge agreement and behavioral prediction. If I judge you to be conscientious, and so do your parents, and so do your friends, and so do you, it is likely—though not certain—that you are conscientious. Moreover, if my judgment that you are conscientious converges with the subsequent empirical fact that you arrive on time for almost all your class meetings for the next three semesters, and thereby demonstrates predictive validity, then my judgment of you is even more probably correct (although 100 percent certainty is never attained). In sum, psychological research can evaluate personality judgments by asking two questions: (1) Do the judgments agree with one another? (2) Can they predict behavior? To the degree the answers are Yes, the judgments are probably accurate.

person-environment transaction

The processes by which people respond to, seek out, and create environments that are compatible with, and may magnify, their personality traits.

heterotypic continuity

The reflection of the consistency of fundamental differences in personality that changes with age; e.g., the emotionally fragile child will act differently than the emotionally fragile adult, but the underlying trait is the same.

single-trait approach

The research strategy of focusing on one particular trait of interest and learning as much as possible about its behavioral correlates, developmental antecedents, and life consequences. This approach has been used to study self-monitoring and narcissism, among many others.

essential-trait approach

The research strategy that attempts to narrow the list of thousands of trait terms into a shorter list of the ones that really matter. The most widely accepted essential trait list is the Big Five.

typological approach

The research strategy that focuses on identifying types of individuals. Each type is characterized by a particular pattern of traits. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a very popular and widely used test that is based off of this approach (but it has seriously shortcomings of reliability and validity, and should probably be used only for entertainment).

At what point of life do people show the most consistency in their personality?

The stability of the differences between people increases with age. 30-year-olds are more stable across time than are children and adolescents, and people between the ages of about 50 and 70 are the most stable of all.

predictive validity

The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation between test scores and the criterion behavior.

cohort effect

The tendency for a research finding to be limited to one group, or cohort, of people, such as people all living during a particular era or in a particular location.

temperament

The term often used for the "personality" of very young, pre-verbal children. Aspects include basic attributes such as activity level, emotional reactivity, and cheerfulness

social clock

The traditional expectations of society for when a person is expected to have achieved certain goals such as starting a family or getting settled into a career.

What is the fundamental problem of the trait approach?

The trait approach, by its very nature, is prone to neglect aspects of psychology common to all people, as well as the ways in which each person is unique.

What is the "transparent self" theory of psychological health?

Theorists have long postulated that it is psychologically healthy to conceal as little as possible from those around you, to exhibit what is sometimes called a "transparent self." If you exhibit a psychological façade that produces large discrepancies between the person "inside" and the person you display "outside," you may feel isolated from the people around you, which can lead to unhappiness, hostility, and depression. Acting in a way that is contrary to your real personality is a lot of work, and can be psychologically tiring. Evidence even suggests that concealing your emotions may be harmful to physical health. Recent research builds on this theory by pointing out that judgability itself—the "what you see is what you get" factor—is a part of psychological adjustment precisely because it stems from behavioral coherence and consistency.

What are other visible signs of personality beyond the face?

[Clothing and hair choices, voice volume, state of bedroom, type of music, how they tell a story] - The degree to which someone dresses fashionably and has a stylish haircut can lead perceivers to infer that she is extraverted, and they are correct more often than not. - When a person speaks in a very loud voice, judges are apt to infer that he is extraverted, and that inference is usually accurate, too. - Looking at the person's bedroom. People whose bedrooms house a variety of reading material are likely to be open to experience, whereas those who carefully make their beds and are otherwise neat tend to be conscientious -The kind of music a person listens to. According to one study, people who enjoy reflective, complex music (New Age) tend to be inventive, imaginative, tolerant, and liberal. People who prefer aggressive and intense music (heavy metal) are more likely to be curious, risk-taking, and physically active. People who like upbeat and conventional music (pop) are relatively cheerful, outgoing, and helpful, but are not very interested in abstract ideas. - The way a person tells a story. In one study, research participants wrote short stories and then other people read them and tried to assess what the writer was like. The personality ratings were remarkably accurate. Readers correctly inferred, among other cues, that sophisticated writing and creativity was a sign of openness to experience, and that using words that describe positive emotions and social orientation indicated that the writer tended to be agreeable

Realistic Accuracy Model (RAM)

[relevance, availability, detection, utilization] The Realistic Accuracy Model For an attribute of an individual's personality to be judged accurately, four things must happen: 1. The individual must do something relevant to the attribute 2. This behavioral information must be available to the judge 3. The judge must detect this information 4. The judge must utilize this information correctly.

According to Dan McAdams, every individual develops three aspects of identity, one on top of the other, in the following order:

actor, agent, author.