Exam 7: The Trait Approach: Theory, Application, and Assessment

Traits were introduced into the field of personality psychology by

A researcher compares the speeches of American presidents to determine the presidents' needs for Achievement. The researcher's research was influenced by which personality theorist's work?

The nomothetic approach to personality measurement looks at cardinal traits.

Different teams of researchers examining human personality traits have independently found evidence that there may, in fact, only be___________ such traits.

Personality psychologists use factor analysis to help them determine

Allport called the 5-10 traits that best describe an individual's personality ___________traits.

Why were pioneers in the study of personality traits limited in what they could discover?

If we say Ted is high on the personality trait of assertiveness, we would expect that he will act assertively

Among the Big Five personality dimensions, individual differences in ___________typically are the best predictors of job performance.

Which of the following is true about the five-factor model?

Murray referred to each environmental force that activates a need as a(n)

Andrew has strong opinions and enjoys a good argument in which he can stand up for his beliefs. He prefers to work where he can compete with others, rather than an organization that stresses cooperation. Andrew would probably score low on a measure of which of the Big Five traits?

People who score high on a measure of the ___________trait are helpful, trusting, and sympathetic when interacting with others.

One strength of the trait approach to personality is that it

Identify at least three strengths and three criticisms of the trait approach to personality. Do you think that the strengths outweigh the weaknesses enough to make this a dominant force in personality study? Or are the weaknesses salient enough that the trait approach is less effective than other models? Why?

According to the "person by situation" approach,

A psychologist examines six personality tests. She suspects that four of the tests are really measuring the same personality trait and that the other two measure another personality trait. What kind of research should the psychologist conduct to test her hypothesis?

Test makers often examine the correlation between scores on the new test and scores on a measure of social desirability. They do this to

People with traits that dominate their personality can be described in terms of what Allport called a___________ trait.

Sometimes test makers reverse the direction of the test items. That is, whereas sometimes agreeing with an item indicates a high score on the trait being measured, sometimes disagreeing with the item indicates a high score. Test makers do this to control for which potential problem?