Personality: Dispositions

Flashcard 1

Q: What is a disposition in personality psychology?
A:
A latent tendency to exhibit a coherent class of behaviors.


Flashcard 2

Q: How are people categorized by disposition?
A:

  • Types: Exclusive categories (nominal or ordinal variables), e.g., Marmite Lovers/Haters, Introverts/Extroverts.

  • Traits: Continuous dimensions (interval variables), e.g., Levels of Extraversion.


Flashcard 3

Q: What is the difference between types and traits?
A:

  • Types: Qualitative differences, exclusive categories (e.g., Introvert/Extrovert).

  • Traits: Quantitative differences, continuous dimensions (e.g., Levels of Extraversion).


Flashcard 4

Q: How are traits and types distributed?
A:

  • Traits: Normally distributed.

  • Types: Bimodally distributed.


Flashcard 5

Q: Can you convert a trait to a type or vice versa?
A:
You can convert a trait to a type, but not a type to a trait.


Flashcard 6

Q: What are some popular typologies in personality psychology?
A:

  • Enneagram

  • Jung/Myers-Briggs/Kiersky (e.g., MBTI).


Flashcard 7

Q: What is Eysenck’s 2-Factor Model?
A:

  • Introversion-Extraversion: Sociable, dominant, active, sensation-seeking.

  • Emotionality-Stability (Neuroticism): Anxious, depressed, moody, easily upset.


Flashcard 8

Q: What is Eysenck’s 3-Factor Model?
A:

  • Introversion-Extraversion

  • Emotionality-Stability (Neuroticism)

  • Psychoticism: Impulsive, cold, antisocial, egocentric, aggressive.


Flashcard 9

Q: What is the theoretical basis of Eysenck’s model?
A:

  • Extroverts: Need more stimulation to achieve optimal cortical arousal.

  • Neurotics: Possess a more unstable autonomic nervous system.

  • Psychotics: Have more testosterone and less MAO (neurotransmitter).


Flashcard 10

Q: How are Eysenck’s traits derived?
A:
Using Factor Analysis, a statistical procedure to uncover latent factors underlying a set of items.


Flashcard 11

Q: What is the lexical hypothesis in Cattell’s 16-Factor Model?
A:
All important traits are encoded in natural language; the more important a trait is, the more frequently it is used.


Flashcard 12

Q: What are the Big Five personality traits?
A:

  1. Neuroticism: Experiencing unpleasant emotions easily (e.g., anger, anxiety).

  2. Extraversion: Energy, positive emotions, surgency, seeking stimulation.

  3. Openness: Appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, imagination.

  4. Agreeableness: Compassionate, cooperative behavior.

  5. Conscientiousness: Self-discipline, dutifulness, achievement-oriented.


Flashcard 13

Q: What are the core mechanisms and benefits/costs of the Big Five traits?
A:

  • Extraversion: Response to reward (mid-brain dopamine). Benefits: Increased reward pursuit. Costs: Physical dangers.

  • Neuroticism: Response to threat (amygdala, serotonin). Benefits: Vigilance. Costs: Anxiety, depression.

  • Conscientiousness: Response inhibition (prefrontal cortex). Benefits: Planning. Costs: Rigidity.

  • Agreeableness: Regard for others (theory of mind). Benefits: Harmonious relationships. Costs: Lost status.

  • Openness: Breadth of mental associations. Benefits: Artistic sensibility. Costs: Unusual beliefs.


Flashcard 14

Q: What is the OCEAN model?
A:
An acronym for the Big Five traits:

  • Openness

  • Conscientiousness

  • Extraversion

  • Agreeableness

  • Neuroticism


Flashcard 15

Q: Are the Big Five traits the fundamental building blocks of personality?
A:

  • Maybe not, but they are useful organizational tools.

  • They have stimulated research and reflect underlying order in personality.


Flashcard 16

Q: What is the 6-factor solution in personality models?
A:
It adds Honesty to the Big Five traits.


Flashcard 17

Q: What is the hierarchical structure of Eysenck’s traits?
A:

  • Extraversion subsumes dominance, sociability, and activity.

  • Neuroticism and Psychoticism are similarly hierarchical.


Flashcard 18

Q: What is the Wiggins Circumplex Model?
A:
A model that organizes traits in a circular structure based on interpersonal behavior.


Flashcard 19

Q: What is the heritability of Eysenck’s traits?
A:
E, N, and P are partly coded for by genes and are heritable.


Flashcard 20

Q: What is the purpose of Factor Analysis in personality psychology?
A:
To reduce specific traits to fewer, more general traits and decide which general traits matter more.

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