Module 3: Context and Stability Over Time

Question 1

For trait theories of personality (like the five factor model) what are the 3 primary assumptions?

Answer 1

1. Traits reflect meaningful individual differences among people
2. Traits should exhibit some consistency across situations
3. Traits should show a degree of consistency over time

Question 2

What position does Walter Mischel endorse?

Answer 2

Situationism (power of situations on behaviour)

Question 3

Trait differences in personality are related to behaviour but only in certain situations. This is referred to as…

Answer 3

person-situation interaction

Question 4

With regard to person-situation interactions - describe strong situations versus weak situations.

Answer 4

Strong situations:
- circumstances where most people will behave in the same way regardless of their personality

Weak situations:
- circumstances where individual differences in personality traits have their greatest influence on behaviour

Question 5

What are the 3 forms of person-situation interactionism? Briefly describe each.

Answer 5

1. Situational selection
   - individual differences in personality traits are related to the situations one chooses to enter or avoid
2. Evocation
   - People partially create situations or circumstances because they elicit certain responses from others
3. Manipulation
   - Involves the ways in which people use certain tactics to influence others and alter the situation

Question 6

Increases or decreases in a whole population’s average scores over time

Answer 6

mean-level change

Question 7

To know if personality is changing in an individual more or differently than what would be expected for the entire population we need to consider…

Answer 7

rank-order change

Question 8

At around what age do personality traits become increasingly stable and when we observe the largest mean-level increases (especially in agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability)

Answer 8

Around age 25

Question 9

Describe some literature that has supported the idea that life experiences can make lasting changes on our personality

Answer 9

Modest increases in neuroticism among those who were affected by the series of major earthquakes in New Zealand

People living in geographic areas where atmosphere lead was higher had lower conscientiousness, lower agreeableness, and higher neuroticism

Question 10

Why does some literature NOT support the idea that life experiences can make lasting changes on personality?

Answer 10

Traits are not assessed frequently enough and over a long enough period to be certain that the traits have actually changed

Question 11

Traits that show high test-retest correlations (i.e., intelligence, impulsiveness, shyness, aggressiveness) and traits that are thought to have a biological basis (i.e., extraversion, sensation-seeking) show…

Answer 11

consistency over time

Question 12

Aggregation is the process of…

Answer 12

adding up, or averaging, several single observations, resulting in a better (i.e., more reliable) measure of a personality trait rather than a single observation of behaviour

Question 13

More than any other approach to personality, the trait approach relies on what sources of personality data?

Answer 13

Self-report

Question 14

What are 3 measurement issues that pertain to self-report questionnaires?

Answer 14

1. Carelessness
2. Faking
3. Barnum statements

Question 15

What are 2 methods to detect carelessness?

Answer 15

1. The infrequency scale (contains items that most people will answer the same)
2. Duplicate questions

Question 16

What are 2 methods to detect faking?

Answer 16

1. Compare to a “faking good profile” and a “faking bad profile”
2. Forced choice responding

Question 17

What are Barnum statements?

Answer 17

Statements that could apply to anyone

Question 18

Employers use personality assessment in the workplace for what 3 main reasons?

Answer 18

1. Personnel selection
2. Integrity testing
3. Concerns over negligent hiring

Question 19

The most widely used personality assessment in business settings is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). However what are the three problems with the MBTI?

Answer 19

1. Typologies (are not real)
2. Cutoff scores (can drastically change based on sample)
3. Unreliable scores (slight change in score can result in a person being classified as a different type)

Question 20

Given the problems with the MBTI why does it continue to be used?

Answer 20

Easy to understand

Question 21

The Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI)

Answer 21

Measures aspects of the big five traits that are relevant to 3 motives:
1. Acceptance, respect, approval
2. Status and control of resources
3. Predictability

Question 22

What are some reasons for why the HPI is a better choice than the MBTI when it comes to employee selection?

Answer 22

1. Based in statistical procedures (so high reliability)
2. Can predict occupational success in many different jobs
3. No adverse impact on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity
4. Available in many languages

Question 23

Personality coherence includes both elements of change and stability. Describe

Answer 23

It refers to maintaining rank order in relation to other individuals but changing the manifestations of the trait

Question 24

Mary Rothbart studied infant temperament and found (4 major findings):

Answer 24

1. Individual differences appear early in life
2. For most temperament variables there are moderate levels of stability over time during the first year of life
3. The stability of temperament tends to be higher over shorter internals
4. Stability increases as infants mature

Question 25

Block and Block longitudinal study follow a sample of children and repeatedly tested them at various ages. What were the 2 main findings?

Answer 25

1. Activity level shows moderate stability during childhood 2. The size of the stability correlation tends to decrease as the time interval between the different testing increases

Question 26

Do individuals maintain their rank order stability on aggression over the years?

Answer 26

Yes and to a substantial degree

Question 27

One meta-analysis examined "personality consistency" defined as the correlation between time 1 and time 2 measures of personality and found 2 key results:

Answer 27

1. Personality consistency tends to INCREASE with increasing age 2. As people age, personality appears to become more "set"

Question 28

Especially after age ____ there is little change in the average level of stability of the big five traits

Answer 28

50

Question 29

What big five traits tend to gradually decline with increasing age (until about 50) and what big five traits tend to show a gradual increase at the same time?

Answer 29

Decrease: - Openness - Extraversion - Neuroticism Increase: - Agreeableness - Conscientiousness

Question 30

What was the gender difference that a study found that assessed self-esteem in a sample of 14 year olds and again when they were 23?

Answer 30

Over time the gender difference emerged with men's self-esteem increasing and women's self-esteem decreasing

Question 31

Describe the developmental trajectory of sensation-seeking

Answer 31

Increases with age from childhood to adolescence; peaks in adolescence; falls as people get older

Question 32

Both sensation seeking and impulsivity have been found to decline from late adolescence to early adulthood but the decline in __________ was much steeper and began earlier

Answer 32

impulsivity

Question 33

Describe two experiences/interventions that can impact the trait of openness

Answer 33

1. Psilocybin 2. Mindfulness-based meditation

Question 34

Cohort effects

Answer 34

The social time in which people live

Question 35

Jean Twenge observed that women's trait scores on assertiveness rose and fell dramatically depending on the time period when they were raised. This is an example of a....

Answer 35

cohort effect

Question 36

One longitudinal study showed that one of the best predictors of coping well with the death of a spouse was the personality disposition of...

Answer 36

emotional stability (low neuroticism)

Question 37

Neuroticism and impulsivity early in life in men have been linked to what socially relevant outcomes later in life?

Answer 37

1. Emotional problems 2. Alcoholism

Question 38

Personality in youth appears to influence spirituality and religiousness later in life regardless of the early socialization practices to which they are exposed TRUE or FALSE

Answer 38

TRUE

Question 39

Adolescents who scored high on ____________ and _____________ were more likely to score high on religiousness later in life. ___________ in contrast was the only personality trait in adolescence that predicted spirituality seeking in late adulthood.

Answer 39

Conscientiousness; agreeableness Openness

Question 40

What big five trait is the single best predictor of successful achievement in school and work?

Answer 40

Conscientiousness

Question 41

What are the 4 most important traits conducive to living a long life?

Answer 41

1. High conscientiousness 2. Extraversion 3. Low hostility 4. Low neuroticism