Personality and Individual Differences

Hans Eysenck suggested that two traits are the most important traits of the Five-Factor Model. More recently, Jeffrey Gray has suggested that these two traits are important because they are related to fundamental reward and avoidance systems in the brain. Which two traits of the Five-Factor Model are Eysenck and Gray referring to, and how do they map onto the reward and avoidance systems?

Extroverts approach rewards while Neurotic individuals avoid punishment.

One challenge to the trait approach to personality is that traits may not be as stable across situations as we think they are. An explanation for this instability is that personality:

is shaped by the situations that we are exposed to

The HEXACO model proposes:

there is a sixth dimension to the Five-Factor model

The night before a midterm exam, Kurt is invited to a party by his friends. He decides not to go to the party because doing well in the course is important to his career goals. Which of the Big 5 factors of personality would Wayne likely score high in?

conscientiousness

Knowing Paige is extremely high in Extraversion does not help predict her scores on Neuroticism. This is because scores within the Five-Factor Model are mostly ___________, where two traits are separate from one another. Thus, in the Five-Factor Model, you need five scores to describe most of an individual's personality.

independent

Personality refers to ______.

characteristic ways that people differ from one another.

Wayne likes to travel to learn about new cultures. Whenever he returns from a trip he brings home a piece of art from that culture to add to his collection. Which of the Big 5 factors of personality would Wayne likely score high in?

openness

In the classic study by Hartshorne, May, Maller, and Shuttleworth (1928), the authors found that if they varied the situation, they could get children to behave honestly or dishonestly depending on the situation. This study supports the belief that ______.

children's ethical behavior depends on the situation

Hammond likes his daily routine that involves eating the same breakfast while reading the newspaper, and taking the same route to work. Every year he vacations at his favorite beach resort. Which of the Big 5 factors of personality would Wayne likely score low in?

openness

David is happy and optimistic. He enjoys being around other people and participating in extreme sports like skydiving and bungee jumping. Which of the Big 5 factors of personality would Wayne likely score high in?

extraversion

Anita's father will not let her stay out at night with her friends as late as her younger brother is allowed to stay out because he believes Anita deserves to be protected, supported, and adored by men since she is a woman. Anita's father is displaying what type of sexism?

benevolent sexism

Which of the following have researchers found to differ between genders?

Boys exhibit more behaviors of unprovoked aggression.

Mia walks to work on the busy city sidewalks. As she walks many men make crude comments about her beautiful appearance. Mia greatly dislikes these experiences and does not want this type of treatment. This scenario is one example of gender discrimination, specifically known as what?

sexual harassment

Differential treatment on the basis of gender is also known as gender _____________.

discrimination

While at the track one night, Eriq is practicing his half-mile runs. A woman who is also working on her running asks him if he'd like to do some friendly races and exercise together. "Sure. Why don't I give you a ten-second head start," Eriq asks her. This attitude that women need to be supported and even protected by men is an example of __________ sexism.

benevolent

While conducting a study on marital practices in various cultures, Dr. Ekoba unintentionally uses language that implies that her culture uses the best mating and marriage rituals, while other cultures' practices are deviant or inferior. This reflects a(n) ________ bias in her study.

ethnocentric

The tendency to define one's self in terms of stable traits that guide behavior is one's ________ self.

independent

When you judge people from other cultures using your own cultural backdrop as the standard of what is "right" or "good," you are employing ________ bias in your judgment.

ethnocentric

Vladamir comes from a culture in which his own accomplishments are very important to him because he feels that they set him apart from others. On his resume he lists the jobs he's had, the awards he's won, and the degrees that he has earned. He feels that this will help him get the new job for which he is applying. The culture in which Vladamir comes appears to value ________.

individualism

According to research conducted by Diener and his colleagues that examined the happiness of people from over 40 nations, there was a universal tendency for ________ to be mildly associated with higher life satisfaction.

money

Dr. Zelbing and her graduate assistant want to compile a list of personality traits using the approach advocated by Allport and Odbert. In order to do this, they get two copies of the unabridged dictionary of the English language, use it to look for words that are related to personality traits. When they are done several weeks later, they have a list of several thousand words that they will reduce based on duplicate terminology. Dr. Zelbing advocates for a(n) __________ to the study of personality.

lexical hypothesis

Personality traits are defined as:

relatively enduring dispositions in behavior that characterize individuals across varying types of situations

Kyle has a reputation for being very calm during an emergency. He copes very well with stress and is able to think clearly and make effective decisions. Which of the Big 5 factors of personality would Wayne likely score low in?

neuroticism

Walter Mischel (1968, 2009) pointed out this apparent fact about the predictability of individuals' behavior through personality tests:

People's behavior varies greatly situation by situation, but tests can reveal their average behavior across many situations.

Factor analysis allowed personality theorists to:

analyze the correlations among traits and identify the most important ones

A person does not "have" or "not have" a personality trait but instead can possess varying amounts of it. This is because personality traits reflect ____________________ rather than distinct personality types.

continuous distributions

Rose is back on the dating scene and although she dated Thom for 2 years, she found herself being more attracted to the women she met in her life. Now, Rose has been dating June for the past 3 years and is still happy in her relationship. In other words, Rose had a shift in her ____________________ and realized her emotional and erotic attraction was much stronger toward members of her same sex.

sexual orientation

Which of the following includes the attitudes that women are inferior and incompetent relative to men?

hostile sexism

If people, on average, are more likely to remember male rather than female fire fighters this would be because:

Males conform to common gender schemas of firefighters.

"On a scale of one to ten, where one means "Disagree strongly" and ten means "agree strongly," please give a rating of the idea that there is a problem with police violence in the United States." This question, if used in a research study, is an example of a(n) ________ scale.

standard

Dr. Vangknathan wants to conduct a study that will allow her to make comparisons between groups of people from different cultures. What would be her best approach?

a cross-cultural study

Which of the following is an example of the cultural concept of progressive cultivation?

formal etiquette

Of the following, which is the best example of an open-ended question that might be used in research on culture?

What rites of passage exist within your culture?

LaTonya has been given an award by her company and makes a speech at an awards banquet. Her entire speech focuses on the contributions of her work group, her family, and her friends. At no time does she note her own work or her personal achievements. LaTonya seems to emphasize the cultural value of ________.

collectivism

Gordon Allport and his colleagues' approach to personality led to the development of the five-factor model. Their approach, called the __________________, theorized that all important personality characteristics should be reflected in the language that we use to describe other people

lexical hypothesis

Walter Mischel was an important figure in the "person-situation debate" amongst psychologists. What was Mischel's side of the argument?

Traits are an illusion. People may not be consistent across situations and thus it would be fruitful to study the distinct reactions in specific situations.

Istvan is well liked by his friends because he is trusting, considerate, compassionate, loyal, and easy to get along with. Which of the Big 5 factors of personality would Istvan likely score high in?

agreeableness

__________ refers to a form of gender discrimination that is based on unwanted treatment related to sexual behaviors or appearance. It frequently involves unwanted touching or comments, being the target of jokes, having body parts rated, or being called names related to sexual orientation.

sexual harassment

Categories into which children actively organize the behaviors, activities, and attributes of others are called gender __________.

schemas

Adam, at age 2, thinks that if he puts on his mommy's dress he becomes a girl too. However, by age 4, Adam realizes that simply changing external attributes does not change one's gender. Adam has learned _______________.

gender constancy

While at the track one night, Wesley is practicing his 100-meter sprints. A woman who is also working on her running asks him if he'd like to do some friendly races and exercise together. "No thanks. Girls can't run as fast as guys so you wouldn't give me any challenge," Wesley says to her. This attitude that women are inferior to men is an example of __________ sexism.

hostile

Meta-analytic research has found which of the following statements to be the most accurate?

Girls are not more fearful, shy, or scared of new things than boys.

Dr. Gottlieb is an anthropologist who is studying an indigenous culture in Australia. She spends hundreds of hours observing people in this culture and interviews some of them. This is an example of a(n) ________ study.

ethnographic

An approach to researching culture that emphasizes the use of interviews and observation as a means of understanding culture from its own point of view is called ________ psychology.

cultural

Professor Rosenthal is studying the ways that people from different cultures regard violent behaviors. He is looking specifically at the amount of agreement from one group to another. Professor Rosenthal is emphasizing the topic of cultural ________ in his study.

similarities

___________ is the desire to make significant accomplishments by mastering skills or meeting high standards.

need for achievement

What are characteristics of the dimension added by the HEXACO model to the Five-Factor Model?

The honesty-humility dimension was added to describe people who are sincere, fair, and modest, not manipulative, narcissistic, or self-centered.

Dianne has a reputation for being a difficult person. She is suspicious of others, unhelpful, and not very compassionate. Which of the Big 5 factors of personality would Dianne likely score low in?

agreeableness

Which of the following best explains the difference between sex and gender?

Sex is biological and gender refers to social associations regarding masculinity and femininity.

Which of the following refers to a uniquely human form of learning that is taught by one generation to another?

enculturation