Deck 14: Theories of Personality

Question 1

_______________ is a habitual way of behaving, thinking, and feeling.

A) A personality
B) A trait
C) An archetype
D) A temperament

Answer 1

A trait

Question 2

Which of the following theories of personality would be most likely to emphasize the freedom of individuals to choose to act in particular ways?

A) humanist
B) behaviorist
C) psychodynamic
D) collectivist

Answer 2

humanist

Question 3

For Gordon Allport, our personalities reflect:

A) five to ten central traits and additional secondary traits.
B) the ways we cope with the struggle to find meaning in existence.
C) whether or not a person received unconditional positive regard throughout childhood.
D) a gradual progression toward self-actualization.

Answer 3

five to ten central traits and additional secondary traits.

Question 4

According to the ____________ view of personality, the story we tell about ourselves shapes who we are.

A) humanist
B) social-cognitive learning
C) narrative
D) psychoanalytic

Question 5

According to Freud, the psychosexual stage that occurs during the grade school years until puberty is called the:

A) latency stage.
B) oral stage.
C) anal stage.
D) phallic stage.

Question 6

_______________ is a statistical estimate of the proportion of the total variance in some trait among individuals within a group that is attributable to genetic differences.

A) Reciprocal determinism
B) Heritability
C) Factor analysis
D) Congruence

Question 7

In psychoanalysis, the part of the personality that represents reason, good sense, and rational self-control is called:

A) the libido.
B) the ego.
C) the superego.
D) the id.

Question 8

Raymond Cattell advanced the study of personality by:

A) developing case-study analysis.
B) rejecting early Greek theories of personality.
C) devising the Myers-Briggs inventory.
D) using factor analysis.

Question 9

Mark is angry when the teacher blames him for misbehaving when it actually was the child behind him who had been acting up. As he leaves after school, he shoves another boy who gets in his way. Freud would say
That Mark is unconsciously using the defense mechanism of:

A) displacement.
B) repression.
C) projection.
D) denial.

Question 10

_______________ is defined as a distinctive and relatively stable pattern of behaviors, thoughts, motives, and emotions that characterizes an individual throughout life.

A) A trait
B) Personality
C) Temperament
D) The ego

Question 11

Which of the following theories of personality would be most likely to emphasize the freedom of individuals to choose to act in particular ways?

A) humanist
B) behaviorist
C) psychodynamic
D) collectivist

Question 12

_______________ occurs when people refuse to admit to an event, feeling, or memory that causes them anxiety or distress.

A) Projection
B) Sublimation
C) Displacement
D) Denial

Question 13

When childrearing methods are studied, researchers have found that:

A) almost all children have lasting emotional damage if their parents use abusive methods.
B) loving parents who are consistent in their childrearing seldom have troubled children.
C) the shared environment of the home has little if any influence on personality.
D) parents adopt a preferred method of childrearing and seldom vary it from child to child.

Question 14

What does the empirical evidence show about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator's ability to predict a person's behavior on the job or in relationships?

A) The evidence supports its use to predict job performance, but not behaviors in relationships.
B) The evidence does not support it.
C) The evidence does not support its use to predict job performance, but it does make useful predictions about behavior in relationships.
D) The test has been clearly established as strong and reliable for both job performance and relationship predictions.

Question 15

Which of the following is one of the Big Five personality traits?

A) boringness
B) openness to experience
C) cleanliness
D) psychopathy

Question 16

Members of individualist cultures:

A) give priority to personal goals.
B) value obligation and security.
C) place responsibilities to the group above personal goals.
D) tend to explain behaviors through group norms.

Question 17

Innate physiological dispositions to respond to the environment in certain ways that are present in infancy are called:

A) personalities.
B) aptitudes.
C) temperaments.
D) traits.

Question 18

A person's personality can affect the way they perceive an experience. Conversely, different experiences can change the way a person's perceptions take place. This is an example of which concept?

A) social-cognitive interaction
B) nature-nurture theory
C) heritability
D) reciprocal determinism

Question 19

In psychoanalysis, which component of personality is present at birth and is the reservoir of unconscious psychological energy and the motives to avoid pain and obtain pleasure?

A) the id
B) the ego
C) the libido
D) the superego

Question 20

Penny is a folklorist who studies myths and stories from different cultures around the world. She notices that there are some character types that appear frequently, despite the fact that the cultures she studies have had little to no contact with each other. Whose work would Penny likely cite to explain this observation?

A) Karen Horney
B) Sigmund Freud
C) Melanie Klein
D) Carl Jung

Question 21

_______________ is a habitual way of behaving, thinking, and feeling.

A) A personality
B) A trait
C) An archetype
D) A temperament

Question 22

During a job interview, Dr. Sarter informs the search committee that she is a psychodynamic theorist. Given this information, the committee realizes that Dr. Sarter most likely believes that:

A) humans are rational decision makers.
B) personality development is smooth and continuous.
C) psychologists need to rely on objective rather than subjective methods.
D) early childhood experiences are critical in shaping a person's adult personality.

Question 23

_______________, one of the oldest theories of personality, was very influential and still appeals to some psychologists today.

A) Humanist theory
B) Genetic theory
C) Psychoanalytic theory
D) Cognitive theory

Question 24

In psychoanalysis, the part of the personality that represents conscience, morality, and social standards is called:

A) the libido.
B) the ego.
C) the superego.
D) the id.

Question 25

In psychoanalysis, which component of personality is present at birth and is the reservoir of unconscious psychological energies and the motives to avoid pain and obtain pleasure?

A) the id
B) the ego
C) the libido
D) the superego

Question 26

In psychoanalysis, which component of personality is a "referee" between the needs of instinct and the demands of society?

A) the id
B) the ego
C) the libido
D) the superego

Question 27

In psychoanalysis, which component of personality represents morality and parental authority?

A) the id
B) the ego
C) the libido
D) the superego

Question 28

Freud's theory is called psychodynamic because it emphasizes the:

A) dynamic interaction between consequences in the environment and the psyche's interpretation of those consequences.
B) importance of family dynamics throughout the lifespan in the development of a healthy personality.
C) movement of psychological energy within the person, in the form of attachments, conflicts, and motivations.
D) existential conflicts that lead a person to seek the meaning of life and to explore his or her personal

Question 29

The first psychodynamic theory of personality was developed by:

A) Sigmund Freud.
B) John Watson.
C) Abraham Maslow.
D) Carl Jung.

Question 30

Latasha sees an iPad sitting on a park bench. According to the psychoanalytic view, if her superego had a voice, it would probably tell her:

A) to take the iPad because she really wants it and it will bring her pleasure.
B) that stealing is wrong and she should leave the iPad where it is.
C) that if she wants the iPad, the logical thing to do is save her money so she can by one.
D) it's OK to take the iPad because the owner clearly didn't want it anymore.

Question 31

_______________ is defined as a distinctive and relatively stable pattern of behaviors, thoughts, motives, and emotions that characterizes an individual.

A) A trait
B) Personality
C) Reciprocal determinism
D) Ego

Question 32

In psychoanalysis, the psychic energy that fuels sexuality and life instincts is called:

A) the libido.
B) the ego.
C) the superego.
D) the id.

Question 33

Winnie is attracted to her best friend's boyfriend. Despite her friendship, when her friend isn't around, Winnie tries to steal him away. According to Sigmund Freud, which part of the personality would be responsible for this behavior?

A) the collective unconscious
B) the id
C) the ego
D) the superego

Question 34

Phrases such as "displacing one's anger," "being in denial," and "repressing a memory" are all based on ideas related to:

A) social-cognitive learning theory.
B) psychodynamic theory.
C) humanist theory.
D) trait theory.

Question 35

Mark is angry when the teacher blames him for misbehaving when it actually was the child behind him who had been acting up. As he leaves after school, he shoves another boy who gets in his way. Freud would say that Mark is unconsciously using the defense mechanism of:

A) displacement.
B) repression.
C) projection.
D) denial.

Question 36

Theorists within the psychodynamic tradition would agree that:

A) humans are rational decision makers.
B) personality development is smooth and continuous.
C) psychologists need to rely on objective rather than subjective methods.
D) adult personalities and ongoing problems are formed primarily by experiences in early childhood.

Question 37

In psychoanalysis, the part of the personality that represents reason, good sense, and rational self-control is called:

A) the libido.
B) the ego.
C) the superego.
D) the id.

Question 38

Which of the following is an emphasis shared by all psychodynamic theories?

A) an emphasis on unconscious processes within the mind
B) an emphasis on our uniquely human capacity to determine our own actions and futures
C) an emphasis on adult experiences as the cause of ongoing problems
D) an emphasis on the heritability of temperaments

Question 39

After twelve years of attending the same schools, Holly and Amy chose to attend colleges in different states. Holly remembered Amy as a shy but friendly girl who rarely took risks, and so Holly was surprised when her friend sent an e-mail describing the thrill of skydiving. Holly's surprise occurred because Amy's behaviors don't match the ________________ that Holly had observed in high school.

A) peak experiences
B) personality traits
C) archetypes
D) defense mechanisms

Question 40

Cecil is sexually attracted to his middle-school English teacher. He doesn't act on his feelings however, because he realizes that it is unrealistic that his teacher would respond positively to his advances. According to Sigmund Freud, which part of the personality would be responsible for Cecil's restraint?

A) the collective unconscious
B) the id
C) the ego
D) the superego

Question 41

Making a vow of celibacy was difficult for Andrew when he became a priest, but he remained true to his vow. On his 25th anniversary, the congregation held a reception and displayed several pieces of liturgical art that Andrew had created over the past two decades. According to Freud, Andrew's artistic creations might be the result of:

A) sublimation.
B) regression.
C) denial.
D) projection.

Question 42

Which defense mechanism involves unconscious expulsion or conscious suppression of disturbing material from awareness?

A) repression
B) regression
C) displacement
D) projection

Question 43

According to Sigmund Freud, the aspect of personality that is partly conscious, but mostly unconscious, is the:

A) id.
B) ego.
C) superego.
D) libido.

Question 44

During a grade school field trip, Ryan and his friends were running down a hill when he stepped on a snake. He was unharmed but shaken by the experience. When one of his friends mentioned the incident months later, Ryan could not remember running down the hill that day. Sigmund Freud would say that this is an example of:

A) sublimation.
B) displacement.
C) repression.
D) regression.

Question 45

_______________ occurs when a person's own unacceptable or threatening feelings are repressed and then attributed to someone else.

A) Projection
B) Sublimation
C) Displacement
D) Denial

Question 46

If the frustration, conflict, and anxiety associated with a particular psychosexual stage are not properly resolved, Freud believed children may:

A) jump forward to the next stage.
B) regress back to the previous stage.
C) remain fixated, or stuck, at that stage.
D) fail to develop a superego.

Question 47

Which defense mechanism involves reversion to an earlier phase of psychological development?

A) repression
B) regression
C) displacement
D) projection

Question 48

According to Freud, the psychosexual stage that occurs during the grade school years until puberty is called the:

A) latency stage.
B) oral stage.
C) anal stage.
D) phallic stage.

Question 49

According to Sigmund Freud, which of the following occurs in the phallic stage?

A) the Oedipus complex
B) a period of nonsexuality
C) toilet training
D) the emergence of the superego

Question 50

According to Sigmund Freud, _______________ is the stage of psychosexual development that is present during the first year of life.

A) the oral stage
B) the anal stage
C) the phallic stage
D) the latency stage

Question 51

When boys are in the Oedipal stage, according to Freud:

A) they are distressed because when they grow up they won't be able to have babies.
B) they are horrified by naked girls, because they think girls have had their penises cut off.
C) they are distressed to learn that they can never nurse a baby like Mommy can.
D) they do not have a powerful motivation to give up their Oedipal feelings for their mothers.

Question 52

In psychoanalytic theory, the inner voice that says you did something morally wrong is called the:

A) libido.
B) id.
C) ego.
D) superego.

Question 53

Which of the following statements most closely reflects the current view of Freudian theory?

A) Freud's works have largely been ignored because they are uninteresting.
B) Most psychologists agree that careful scientific study has confirmed most of Freud's ideas.
C) Although many of Freud's ideas have been proven wrong, almost all psychologists agree that he used good scientific methodology.
D) Freud's basic ideas are accepted by some psychologists, but many reject his theories as unscientific.

Question 54

According to Sigmund Freud, which psychosexual stage is most crucial for the formation of personality?

A) the oral stage
B) the anal stage
C) the phallic stage
D) the genital stage

Question 55

Vito is angry when the school bus driver blames him for misbehaving, when it actually was the child behind him who had been acting up. As he gets off the bus, he kicks the bus tire. Freud would say that Vito is unconsciously using the defense mechanism of:

A) displacement.
B) repression.
C) projection.
D) denial.

Question 56

_______________ occurs when people refuse to admit to an event, feeling, or memory that causes them anxiety or distress.

A) Projection
B) Sublimation
C) Displacement
D) Denial

Question 57

In psychoanalysis, a _______________ is a strategy that denies or distorts reality, but protects us from conflict and anxiety.

A) libido
B) trait
C) defense mechanism
D) complex

Question 58

Four-year-old Lindsey squeezes between her Mommy and Daddy as they sit together on the couch. She cuddles her Daddy but refuses to kiss her Mommy. Which Freudian concept does this scenario illustrate?

A) the genital stage
B) the Oedipus complex
C) sublimation
D) regression

Question 59

Diego hears from the doctor that he has a serious disease. Diego's response is "This can't be true! There's been a mistake. It cannot be me." What Freudian defense mechanism is Diego using?

A) regression
B) projection
C) displacement
D) denial

Question 60

_______________ occurs when people direct their emotions toward objects, animals, or people that are not the real object of their emotion.

A) Projection
B) Regression
C) Displacement
D) Denial

Question 61

Archetypes are:

A) beliefs about how your own mind and the minds of other people work.
B) habitual ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving.
C) universal, symbolic images that appear in myths, art, and dreams.
D) strategies to succeed in the world that are not explicitly taught.

Question 62

Penny is a folklorist who studies myths and stories from different cultures around the world. She notices that there are some character types that appear frequently, despite the fact that the cultures she studies have had little to no contact with each other. Whose work would Penny likely cite to explain this observation?

A) Karen Horney
B) Sigmund Freud
C) Melanie Klein
D) Carl Jung

Question 63

In the object-relations view of development:

A) boys identify first with the mother and girls identify with the father.
B) boys identify first with the father and girls identify with the mother.
C) children of both sexes identify first with the father.
D) children of both sexes identify first with the mother.

Question 64

Asked about a recently published study showing that little girls do not have penis envy, a psychodynamic theorist immediately says that the little girls are all in denial and do not want to admit to the feelings that they have. This response is an example of:

A) basing theories on the retrospective accounts of adults.
B) overgeneralization.
C) the illusion of causality.
D) violating the principle of falsifiability.

Question 65

Some psychologists critique psychodynamic theories because they are largely based on the retrospective accounts of adults. One reason this is a problem is that:

A) adult memories of childhood experiences may be flawed.
B) random samples are biased.
C) childhood experiences can affect adult personalities.
D) retrospective studies only focus on atypical adults.

Question 66

Carl Jung would have agreed that:

A) Darth Vader and dragons represent the shadow archetype.
B) the collective unconscious differs for each person.
C) human personality is mostly driven by "dark" forces.
D) past conflicts provide the only motivation for current behaviors.

Question 67

Raymond Cattell advanced the study of personality by:

A) developing case-study analysis.
B) rejecting early Greek theories of personality.
C) devising the Myers-Briggs inventory.
D) using factor analysis.

Question 68

The _______________ are the most critical for the inner core of personality, according to objection-relation theorists.

A) first two years of life
B) preadolescent years
C) late adolescent years
D) early adulthood years

Question 69

For Gordon Allport, our personalities reflect:

A) five to ten central traits and additional secondary traits.
B) the ways we cope with the struggle to find meaning in existence.
C) whether or not a person received unconditional positive regard throughout childhood.
D) a gradual progression toward self-actualization.

Question 70

What does the empirical evidence show about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator's ability to predict a person's behavior on the job or in relationships?

A) The evidence supports its use to predict job performance, but not behaviors in relationships.
B) The evidence does not support it.
C) The evidence does not support its use to predict job performance, but it does make useful predictions about behavior in relationships.
D) The test has been clearly established as strong and reliable for both job performance and relationship predictions.

Question 71

Early philosophers suggested that human personality is based on:

A) the sense of being able to achieve goals.
B) early relationships with the mother.
C) the mixes of four basic body fluids.
D) a person's subjective sense of self and free will.

Question 72

Professor Benvolio's personality course emphasizes the importance of Gordon Allport's contributions to the field of psychology. Professor Benvolio would be most likely to agree that:

A) people fail to understand the power of culture on behavior, and so they attribute another person's mysterious actions to the individual's personality rather than cultural norms.
B) repression occurs when a person's own unacceptable or threatening feelings are repressed and then attributed to someone else.
C) the price of free will is often anxiety and despair, which is why many people try to escape from freedom into narrow certainties.
D) most individuals have five to ten central traits that reflect a characteristic way of behaving, dealing

Question 73

The "objects" in the object-relations school of thought refer to:

A) both real and mental representations of other people.
B) the toys an infant plays with.
C) the parts of a person's personality.
D) a person's most basic needs and desires.

Question 74

_______________ is a fundamental personality dimension that describes the extent to which people are outgoing or shy.

A) Agreeableness versus antagonism
B) Extroversion versus introversion
C) Neuroticism versus emotional stability
D) Openness to experience versus resistance to new experience

Question 75

According to Gordon Allport, the number of central traits that most individuals have is:

A) one.
B) five to ten.
C) twenty.
D) fifty to sixty.

Question 76

According to Carl Jung, part of the legacy of human history is a:

A) womb envy shared by all men, consisting of universal symbols of the "Earth Mother."
B) penis envy shared by all women, consisting of universal memories of the "Powerful Father."
C) collective unconscious shared by all human beings containing universal memories, symbols, and images.
D) liturgical unconscious shared by all human beings containing symbols from each of the major world

Question 77

A patient confides his homosexual orientation to his psychoanalyst. If the psychoanalyst shares the opinions of Sigmund Freud, he will view this sexual orientation as:

A) a sin.
B) a variation of sexual function.
C) a perversion.
D) something shameful.

Question 78

Howard's psychologist asks him to take a personality test. The test consists of a series of standardized multiple-choice items. The test also includes a section where Howard is asked to rate himself on a series of scales. It is most likely that this is a(n):

A) projective test.
B) objective test.
C) Rorschach test.
D) humanist test.

Question 79

_______________ said that there is a collective unconscious shared by all human beings, containing universal memories, symbols, and images that are the legacy of human history.

A) Carl Jung
B) Sigmund Freud
C) Karen Horney
D) Raymond Cattell

Question 80

Which of the following is the scientific failing in which a researcher concludes from a few cases that something is true for all?

A) violating the principle of falsifiability
B) generalizing from small sample sizes
C) relying on emotional reactions rather than sound reasoning
D) basing theories on retrospective accounts