13b. Contemporary Perspectives on Personality

According to Hans Eysenck and Sybil Eysenck, variations in human personality can be reduced to _____ dimensions.

2 or 3

The Big Five personality factors are reported to have a heritability of approximately _____ percent for each dimension.

40

self-actualization

According to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved is the motivation to fulfill one's potential.

unconditional positive regard

According to Rogers, unconditional positive regard is an attitude of total acceptance toward another person.

self-actualization

According to the humanistic perspective, after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved, people are motivated to fulfill their potential.

reciprocal determinism

According to the social-cognitive perspective, reciprocal determinism is the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment on personality.

agreeableness

Agreeableness refers to a scale of uncooperative to helpful.

Albert Bandura.

Albert Bandura is associated with social-cognitive theory; psychology's concern with people's sense of self predates his work.

The _____ personality factors include conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion

Big Five

The _____ personality factors include conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion.

Big Five

empirical test

Empirically derived refers to how the test was created, not to the type of questionnaire.

_____ is a statistical procedure that can be used to identify clusters of behaviors that tap basic components of a trait.

Factor analysis

factor analysis

Factor analysis is a statistical procedure that is used to identify clusters of test items that tap basic components of a trait.

Gordon Allport.

Gordon Allport is associated with the trait perspective; psychology's concern with people's sense of self predates his work.

the self

In the psychoanalytic perspective, the unconscious refers to a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories; for contemporary psychologists, the unconscious refers to information processing of which people are unaware.

According to the text, which of the following is NOT a reason that people disparage themselves even though self-serving bias is so prevalent?

It pertains to one's new self

learned responses

Learned responses are psychological influences on the biopsychosocial approach to the study of personality.

The _____ includes a lie scale that is designed to assess the extent to which a person is faking to make a good impression.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

openness

Openness refers to a scale of conforming to independent.

psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is a theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts.

humanistic perspective

The humanistic perspective focuses on the potential for healthy personal growth.

psychoanalytic

The psychoanalytic perspective began with Sigmund Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts.

the self-concept

The self-concept is all of one's thoughts and feelings about oneself in answer to the question, "Who am I?"

trait

The trait perspective assumes that people have certain stable and enduring characteristics.

genetic temperament

This is a biological factor influencing reaction style.

In a psychology class debate on the social-cognitive perspective, students need to take the opposing view and rebut its positive aspects. Which of the following criticisms of the social-cognitive perspective can they cite?

This perspective focuses too much on the situation and fails to appreciate a person's inner traits.

unconscious thought processes

Unconscious thought processes are psychological influences.

According to the text, psychology's concern with people's sense of self dates back at least to:

William James

Card players who attribute their wins to their own skill and their losses to bad luck BEST illustrate:

a self-serving bias

One of the Big Five personality factors is:

agreeableness

Research has shown that our traits appear in our language patterns. In text messaging, _____ predicts use of positive-emotion words.

agreeableness

Which of the following is NOT a psychological influence in the biopsychosocial approach to the study of personality?

childhood experiences

Yu-Fin is from China. She defines her goals in terms of her family's goals and values. Her identity is based on her identification with her extended family, which brings her great comfort and security. Yu-Fin is demonstrating _____.

collectivism

The Big Five personality factors include:

conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion.

Because of their strong sense of group identification, collectivist cultures give a great deal of respect and care to their _____ family members.

elderly

The MMPI was originally developed to identify:

emotional disorders

Two dimensions mentioned by Hans Eysenck and Sybil Eysenck include extraversion-introversion and:

emotional stability-instability.

Gordon Allport was concerned less with _____ individuals than with _____ them.

explaining; describing

According to Hans Eysenck and Sybil Eysenck, the individual variation that is apparent across people can be reduced to several dimensions, including:

extraversion-introversion.

The Big Five personality factor that involves the endpoints sociable versus retiring and affectionate versus reserved is called:

extraversion.

When people's genetically influenced traits evoke specific responses from others, which then nudge them in a particular direction, what is involved?

gene-environment interaction

Researchers have found that those who possess a specific gene associated with aggression and were raised in a difficult environment are more likely to exhibit antisocial behaviors as an adult. These findings support:

gene-environment interactions related to aggression

When asked to describe herself and her goals, Donna focuses on her personality traits. She goes on to list her hopes for personal achievements and the importance of being independent. One could say that Donna is a(n) _____.

individualist

The social-cognitive perspective highlights the interacting influences of behavior, ____, and environment, a process that Albert Bandura called reciprocal determinism.

internal cognition

Donnie enjoys ice skating with his friends. What would be a behavioral factor associated with ice skating for Donnie?

learning to ice skate

Mark is often anxious. He probably has _____ self-esteem.

low

Walter always seems to make judgmental comments about others—for example, about their clothing, the way they walk, and the way they talk. Why might Walter act this way?

low self-esteem

Research has shown that our traits appear in our language patterns. In text messaging, _____ predicts use of negative-emotion words.

neuroticism

A questionnaire on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors and is used to assess selected personality traits is known as a(n):

personality inventory

John daydreams of being a firefighter. He is envisioning a(n)

possible self

Teresa is worried that she will flunk out of college. This is a(n) _____ that she does not want to become.

possible self

Joshua's history of romantic relationships influences his attitudes toward romantic relationships, which affects how he responds to his current girlfriend. This is an example of:

reciprocal determinism

Brenda's past experiences in college classes influence her attitude toward academic achievement, which then influences how she prepares for her current classes. This is an example of:

reciprocal determinism.

Elaine just received her grade for the final exam in her psychology course. She was absolutely sure she knew the material but received a 67 on the exam. Elaine is likely to:

say that the exam was unfair.

According to contemporary psychology, the _____ is the center of personality.

self

According to contemporary psychology, the _____ is the organizer of one's thoughts, feelings, and actions.

self

Abigail has a reputation as a gossip. She is frequently making nasty comments about her classmates. Abigail probably has low _____.

self-esteem

Tiffany has high self-esteem. Which of these qualities does she NOT have?

shyness

Reciprocal determinism is associated with the _____ perspective.

social-cognitive

The _____ perspective is centered around the concept of reciprocal determinism.

social-cognitive

The _____ perspective views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people's traits and their social context.

social-cognitive

These theories build from research on learning and cognition.

social-cognitive

These theories of personality believe that conditioning and observational learning interact with cognition to create behavior patterns.

social-cognitive

Trenady's friend is giving a speech tomorrow and is worried because she just got an unflattering haircut. She is convinced everyone will stare at her bangs and focus on her unattractive hair. Her overestimation of people's reactions is known as the _____.

spotlight effect