Week 1

Question 1

Personality Definition

Answer 1

A personality is a network of subpersonalities each with it’s own motivation, history, and quirks of behavior.

OR

The combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s distinctive characters. I.E. “What makes you, you?”

Question 2

What is “disgust”?

Answer 2

An emotional response of revulsion to something considered offensive, distasteful, or unpleasant.

Question 3

Is there a correlation between disgust and anxiety disorders?

Answer 3

Yes - I.E. you can find a correlation between anxiety and blood contamination.

Question 4

What are some indications that Hitler had a high disgust response?

Answer 4

Hitler was known to bathe four times a day. He also had a high need for orderliness.
He often was disgusted by people different than him.

Question 5

What personality traits can be associated with Hitler?

Answer 5

Disgust and Narcissism

These personality traits have been hypothesized to be developed due to childhood trauma from his father and coddling from his mother.

Question 6

What is “narcissism”?

Answer 6

A high interest in the “self” and low feelings for other people.

Question 7

Define “apartheid”

Answer 7

Apartheid was a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race. This policy was in South Africa and ended in 1994.

Question 8

Who was the first democratic leader of South Africa?

Answer 8

Nelson Mandela - he attributed his ability to use non-violence policies and stay calm, partly to the chance to speak and share feelings with other men, while in prison.

Question 9

Define “continuous distributions”

Answer 9

Characteristics of a trait can go from low to high, with all different intermediate values possible.

One person does not simply have a trait or not have it - they can possess varying amounts of the trait.

Question 10

What are “facets”?

Answer 10

Facets are narrower aspects of a broad personality trait.

I.E. Extraversion has facets such as sociability, dominance, risk-taking, and so forth.

Question 11

Define “factor analysis”

Answer 11

A statistical technique for grouping similar things together according to how highly they are associated.

Question 12

What is it called when “two characteristics or traits are separate from one another”?

Answer 12

Independent (or Orthogonal)- A person can be high on one and low on the other, or vice-versa.

Question 13

Are Big 5 traits “independent/orthogonal” or “dependent”?

Answer 13

Big 5 traits are generally orthogonal because a person can score high for one trait and low for another trait.

Question 14

Neuroticism

Answer 14

A personality trait that reflects the tendency to be interpersonally sensitive and the tendency to experience negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, sadness, and anger.

Question 15

What are the five “Big 5” traits?

Answer 15

Openness (to experience)
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism

Question 16

Openness to Experience

Answer 16

A personality trait that reflects a person’s tendency to seek out and to appreciate new things, including thoughts, feelings, values, and experiences.

Question 17

What are “personality traits”?

Answer 17

Personality traits are enduring dispositions in behavior that show differences across individuals, and which tend to characterize the person across varying types of situations.

Question 18

What do personality traits require to be considered a personality trait?

Answer 18

Consistency, stability, and individual differences.

Question 19

Define “consistency” in terms of personality traits

Answer 19

Behaviors associated with personality traits must be consistent across situations.

I.E. Someone considered “talkative” tend to be talkative at work and home.

Question 20

Define “stability” in terms of personality traits

Answer 20

Individuals with a traits are also somewhat stable over time in behaviors related to the traits.

I.E. If someone is active at age 30, they will likely be active at age 40.

Question 21

Define “individual differences” in terms of personality traits

Answer 21

Personality traits are used to distinguish how people differ from one another. Thus, using speech is not a personality trait and neither is walking on two feet - virtually all individuals do these activities. However, people do differ on how frequently they talk and how active they are, thus personality traits such as “talkativeness” and “activity level” do exist.

Question 22

What is the “lexical hypothesis”?

Answer 22

The Lexical Hypothesis is that important aspects of life will be labeled and represented with words, and if something is truly important and universal, there will be many words for it in all languages.

Using statistics, researchers found the Big 5 personality traits by finding the 5 words that are most representative of human traits.

Question 23

Five-Factor Model (AKA the Big Five)

Answer 23

The Five-Factor Model is a widely accepted model of personality traits.

Advocates of the model believe that much of the variability in people’s thought, feelings, and behaviors can be summarized with five broad traits.

Question 24

What is the HEXACO model?

Answer 24

The HEXACO model is an alternative to the Five-Factor Model with the addition of a 6th factor.

Question 25

What is the 6th personality trait added to Big Five to make the HEXCAO Model?

Answer 25

Honesty-Humility

Question 26

Conscientiousness

Answer 26

The tendency to be careful, on-time for appointments, to follow rules, and to be hardworking.

Question 27

Extraversion

Answer 27

The tendency to be talkative, sociable, and to enjoy others, and also has the tendency to have a dominant style.

Question 28

Agreeableness

Answer 28

The tendency to agree and go along with others rather than to assert one’s own opinions and choices.

Question 29

What is the “person-situation debate”?

Answer 29

Researchers suggest the “situation” is at least as important as traits (carried inside a person) in determining how someone will behave.

Question 30

Do personality traits better predict how people act on average or in specific situations?

Answer 30

Personality traits better predict how people act on average.

Question 31

Are people able to act out of character? What is this called?

Answer 31

Free traits - a person using a free trait might be able to act extraverted and a “party person” even though they are introverted.

People can “turn on” free traits to use them as appropriate.

Question 32

What is the “Aesthetic Character Disorder”?

Answer 32

When your character is adapted from acting so long and so intensely on a free trait, you begin to forget who you are and always act according to the external demands.

Question 33

Which traits are appealing to social/political conservatives?

Answer 33

Binding group together (community), supporting essential institutions (community + order), living in a sanctified and noble way, moral clarity and clarity of purpose.

Question 34

Which traits are appealing to social/political liberals?

Answer 34

Moral freedom, cognitive flexibility, permissiveness with behaviors, and intelligence over tradition.

Question 35

What is an overlapping appealing trait for conservatives and liberals?

Answer 35

Both sides want to be “hands off” and to be able to do their own thing.

Question 36

Authoritrianism

Answer 36

A deep-seated, relatively enduring psychological predisposition to prefer (or demand) obedience and conformity, and “oneness and sameness” over freedom and diversity.

Question 37

Researchers suggest how much of the US population will prioritize obedience-related behavior and order when under stress?

Answer 37

1/3 of the US population