Exam 3 -- Chapter 11 -- Personality

Question 1

define personality

Answer 1

the long-standing traits and patterns that propel individuals to consistently think, feel, and behave in specific ways.

Question 2

what is a trait?

Answer 2

a unit of personality

a characteristic that describes a habitual way of behaving, thinking, and feelign

Question 3

personality is ___ and relatively ___

Answer 3

distinctive

stable

Question 4

explain personality and first impressions

Answer 4

because we assume personality is distinctive and relatively stale, we often rely too much on 1st impressions –> leads to difficulties in making attributions about motives for behavior

(whether behavior is situational or dispositional)

Question 5

situational vs dispositional attributions

Answer 5

dispositional –> internal –> this person is acting like this because they are always this way

situation –> external –> this person is acting this way because of situational factors

Question 6

what is fundamental attribution error?

Answer 6

tendency to attribute motivations of others more to personality factors than to situational factors

Question 7

however, when it comes to making attributions about ourselves, we are more likely to engage a ___ bias

Answer 7

self-serving

Question 8

explain successes and failures with the lens of self-serving bias

Answer 8

personality drives our successes

situations drive our failures

Question 9

projective tests

Answer 9

a test to measure personality

based on assumption that the test taker will project unconscious conflicts and motives onto an ambiguous stimulus

• ex. show a picture of the duck/rabbit picture –> whatever you see first tells something about your personality

Question 10

personality inventories

Answer 10

answer a series of questions about self

there are no right or wrong answers

from responses, develop a personality profile

Question 11

what are the 2 types of projective tests?

Answer 11

thematic apperception test

Rorschach inkblot test

Question 12

describe a thematic apperception test

what kind of test is it?

Answer 12

a type of projective test

person is asked to tell a story about the “hero” in the picture

psychologist interprets the needs and motives that are projected via the story

Question 13

what are 2 ways to measure personality?

Answer 13

projective tests

personality inventories

Question 14

describe a Rorschach Inkblot test

what kind of test is it?

Answer 14

a type of projective test

show the person an ambiguous stimulus, ask them to explain what they see

Question 15

what is a type of personality inventory?

Answer 15

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Question 16

what is a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)?

what does it measure?
who created it?
what is it used for?

Answer 16

measures personality across several personality “types” identified by Carl Jung

often used for employment/personnel management purposes

Question 17

what are the personality “types” in the MBTI?

Answer 17

extroversion vs. introversion

sensing vs. intuition

thinking vs. feeling

judging vs. perceiving

Question 18

what is factor analysis?

Answer 18

used to identify how personality traits cluster together across the population

Question 19

studies suggest personality is more strongly based on ___ than most people might expect

Answer 19

genetics

Question 20

Costa and McRae proposed a ___ model.

what are the ___ factors?

Answer 20

5

neuroticism – prone to worry?
extroversion – outgoing?
openness to experience – like trying new things?
agreeableness – say to get along with?
conscientiousness – responsible?

Question 21

how do 5 factors of personality change over time?

Answer 21

mostly stable over the lifespan, though a few have consistent variations

ex. introversion increases and oppress decreases w/ age

Question 22

what is the Five Factor Model?

Answer 22

theory that personality is composed of 5 factors, including openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neurotocism

Question 23

explain heritability of the 5 factors:

Answer 23

proportion of difference among people that is attributed to genetics

Question 24

environmental vs. genetic factors:

how does parenting affect personality?

Answer 24

parental influence depends on genetics –> parenting varies according to child’s personality

Question 25

what does Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory look at?

Answer 25

looks at how children may learn personality thru imitation and cognitive processes

Question 26

what does reciprocal determinism in Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory address?

Answer 26

addresses how cognitive processes, behaviors, and situational factors all interact to reinforce or punish personality traits

Question 27

how were historical theories of personality developed?

Answer 27

not developed scientifically but thru practice

Question 28

what is Freud's psychodynamic theory?

Answer 28

emphasizes interactions b/n different components of personality emphasizes psychosexual development of the Id, Ego, and Superego

Question 29

what is the Id of the psychosexual theory?

Answer 29

aspect of personality that consists of our most primitive drives or urges, including impulses for hunger, thirst, and sex

Question 30

what is the Ego of the psychosexual theory?

Answer 30

aspect of personality that represents the self, or the part of one's personality that is visible to others

Question 31

what is the Superego of the psychosexual theory?

Answer 31

aspect of personality that serves as one's moral compass, or conscience

Question 32

Freud's theory of personality: personality develops thru ___ ___

Answer 32

developmental stages

Question 33

Freud's theory of personality: developmental stages are focused on how we use and respond to the...

Answer 33

libido drive how we employ defense mechanisms to protect the ego

Question 34

Freud's theory of personality: describe what stages and fixation are

Answer 34

there are 5 childhood stages when stages are resolved properly during childhood, they may become stuck, or fixated, in that stage, even as adults

Question 35

Freud's theory of personality: list the 5 childhood stages

Answer 35

(1) oral (2) anal (3) phallic (4) latency period (5) genital

Question 36

Freud's theory of personality: oral -- describe stage and fixation

Answer 36

baby wants to suck nipple if weaned too early or too late --> fixation to ease anxiety includes smoking or biting nails as adults

Question 37

Freud's theory of personality: anal -- describe stage and fixation

Answer 37

pleasure in pooping if not allowed to poop --> very over-controlling if allowed to poop whenever --> very careless and disorganized

Question 38

Freud's theory of personality: phallic -- describe stage and fixation

Answer 38

boy is attracted to mother girl is attracted to father afraid of penis castration so become more like father to win mother girl is envy of boy's penis

Question 39

Freud's theory of personality: latency period -- describe stage and fixation

Answer 39

sexual feelings are dormant while children focus on other pursuits w/ other children of same sex

Question 40

Freud's theory of personality: genital -- describe stage and fixation

Answer 40

sexual reawakening and incestuous urges resurface young person finds partners that remember their parents

Question 41

why do Freud's theories have little empirical support?

Answer 41

- results are unfalsifiable - based on study of dubiously useful population - based on patients' fallible memories

Question 42

why is Freud's theory of personality useful?

Answer 42

set up personality as a domain of study set forth the idea of a stage theory emphasized impact of childhood experiences on adult personality emphasized unconscious motivations

Question 43

what is the humanistic theory?

Answer 43

focus on personality development as part of our question for growth and achievement of potential

Question 44

what did Abraham Maslow do with Humanistic theory?

Answer 44

emphasized pursuit of self-actualization

Question 45

what did Carl Rogers do with Humanistic theory?

Answer 45

importance of unconditional positive regard, and congruence b/n real self and ideal self

Question 46

why was humanistic theory criticized for little empirical support?

Answer 46

terms often vague (e.g. self actualization) little scientific testability

Question 47

why is humanistic theory of personality useful?

Answer 47

returned to human side of psychology very influential in domain of therapy has led to development of positive psychology --> subfield that emphasizes studying positive aspects of personhood

Question 48

what is unconditional positive regard according to Carl Rogers's Humanistic theory?

Answer 48

we flourish when we're in an environment with unconditional positive regard when positive regard is conditional --> maladaptive personality development and emotional neediness

Question 49

what is congruence according to Carl Rogers's Humanistic theory?

Answer 49

extent to which your perceived self matches your ideal self

Question 50

what is reciprocal determinism according to Albert Bandura?

Answer 50

person's behavior both influences and is influenced by personal factors and environment