Q: What is a disposition in personality psychology?
A:
A latent tendency to exhibit a coherent class of behaviors.
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.
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).
Q: How are traits and types distributed?
A:
Traits: Normally distributed.
Types: Bimodally distributed.
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.
Q: What are some popular typologies in personality psychology?
A:
Enneagram
Jung/Myers-Briggs/Kiersky (e.g., MBTI).
Q: What is Eysenck’s 2-Factor Model?
A:
Introversion-Extraversion: Sociable, dominant, active, sensation-seeking.
Emotionality-Stability (Neuroticism): Anxious, depressed, moody, easily upset.
Q: What is Eysenck’s 3-Factor Model?
A:
Introversion-Extraversion
Emotionality-Stability (Neuroticism)
Psychoticism: Impulsive, cold, antisocial, egocentric, aggressive.
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).
Q: How are Eysenck’s traits derived?
A:
Using Factor Analysis, a statistical procedure to uncover latent factors underlying a set of items.
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.
Q: What are the Big Five personality traits?
A:
Neuroticism: Experiencing unpleasant emotions easily (e.g., anger, anxiety).
Extraversion: Energy, positive emotions, surgency, seeking stimulation.
Openness: Appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, imagination.
Agreeableness: Compassionate, cooperative behavior.
Conscientiousness: Self-discipline, dutifulness, achievement-oriented.
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.
Q: What is the OCEAN model?
A:
An acronym for the Big Five traits:
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
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.
Q: What is the 6-factor solution in personality models?
A:
It adds Honesty to the Big Five traits.
Q: What is the hierarchical structure of Eysenck’s traits?
A:
Extraversion subsumes dominance, sociability, and activity.
Neuroticism and Psychoticism are similarly hierarchical.
Q: What is the Wiggins Circumplex Model?
A:
A model that organizes traits in a circular structure based on interpersonal behavior.
Q: What is the heritability of Eysenck’s traits?
A:
E, N, and P are partly coded for by genes and are heritable.
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.