Deck 9: Personality

Question 1

The T in TESSERA stands for transitions.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

When we imagine what we might be like in the future, we are creating a reflective self.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

A brain structure called the thalamus helps regulate emotion.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The epigenetic principle hypothesizes that development is driven by problems that occur at any time during life.

Question 5

Jung's theory incorporates elements of both Freudian theory and behavioral psychology.

Question 6

The Six Foci Model combines three structural and three process aspects of personality to provide a more complete explanation of development in adulthood.

Question 7

In Whitbourne's theory, over-reliance on accommodation makes a person resistant to change.

Question 8

The bulk of the evidence suggests dispositional traits are unstable across adulthood.

Question 9

Dispositional traits can be compared across a group along a continuum representing high and low degrees of the characteristic.

Question 10

According to McAdams, people create a life story as an internalized narrative with a beginning, middle, and specified ending.

Question 11

An evaluation of one's life that is associated with positive feelings is called subjective well-being.

Question 12

A person who is the "life of the party" would score high on the neuroticism dimension in Costa and McCrae's model.

Question 13

Erik Erikson proposed that the life cycle has eight stages of development and that the sequence of these stages is fixed to cognitive development.

Question 14

Life-story theorists assume that little change in personality will occur across adulthood.

Question 15

Placing trust in God and praying are coping strategies associated with spirituality.

Question 16

Seeking pastoral care, participating in organized and nonorganized religious activities, and expressing faith in a God is the coping strategy called spiritual support.

Question 17

European Americans are more likely to rely on God for support than are African Americans.

Question 18

In general, life transition theories tend to underestimate the commonality of age-linked transitions.

Question 19

A universal assumption of life transition theories is that people go through predictable age-related crises.

Question 20

A life story includes the notions of self-esteem and self-image.

Question 21

According to your textbook, personality growth or change across adulthood does not normally occur unless

A) biological forces dictate it is needed for survival.
B) there are special circumstances and with an environmental push for it to occur.
C) interpersonal relationships force it to happen.
D) an individual recognizes it is needed to increase happiness.

Question 22

The epigenetic principle in Erikson's theory means that

A) ego development is determined by the environment.
B) each psychosocial strength has its own special time of importance.
C) the order of the stages of ego development is variable.
D) psychosocial development is due to assimilation-accommodation.

Question 23

According to McAdams model, generative ____________ leads to life satisfaction and overall happiness, whereas generative ____________ does not.

A) concern; action
B) action; concern
C) productivity; stagnation
D) integrity; despair

Question 24

An evaluation of one's life associated with positive feelings is known as

A) self-reflection.
B) a possible self.
C) subjective well-being.
D) an objective self.

Question 25

According to Erikson, late in life those who become self-affirming, self-accepting, and judge their lives to have been worthwhile and good have achieved

A) autonomy.
B) intimacy.
C) identity.
D) ego integrity.

Question 26

Changing your identity over time is a process of fashioning and refashioning one's life story, which according to McAdams, is strongly influenced by

A) generativity.
B) personal control.
C) personal concerns.
D) culture.

Question 27

According to Jung, which of the following age groups is most likely to act in accordance with the gender-role stereotypes of their culture?

A) young adults
B) middle-aged adults
C) young-old adults
D) old-old adults

Question 28

Which of the following is not a dimension of Costa and McCrae's theory?

A) Neuroticism
B) Psychoticism
C) Agreeableness
D) conscientiousness

Question 29

Whitbourne's identity theory combines assimilation and accommodation, concepts central to the cognitive theory of whom?

A) Baltes
B) Piaget
C) Erikson
D) Costa and McCrae

Question 30

For some older adults, especially ____________, a strong attachment to God is what they believe helps them deal with life's challenges.

A) Hispanic Americans
B) African Americans
C) Native Americans
D) European Americans

Question 31

Being lazy, careless, late, unenergetic, and aimless are characteristics that fall on the low end of Costa and McCrae's ____________ dimension.

A) neuroticism
B) openness to experience
C) agreeableness
D) conscientiousness

Question 32

Research findings show reliance on spiritual beliefs acts to help people

A) focus their attention on parts of a problem that may be under their control.
B) accept social injustices.
C) share their problems with others for support.
D) persist in their efforts to improve themselves.

Question 33

Rachel plans to go to college, major in art history, obtain a master's degree, and then work in an art museum. In Whitbourne's theory, this is Rachel's

A) life story.
B) scenario.
C) self-concept.
D) identity.

Question 34

____________ marks the attempt to create an appealing story "ending" that will generate new beginnings for future generations.

A) Autonomy
B) Creation
C) Generativity
D) Integrity

Question 35

There is considerable evidence linking spirituality and

A) health.
B) greater longevity.
C) fewer feared selves.
D) a highly differentiated self-concept.

Question 36

Which theorist(s) described three parallel levels of personality structure and function?

A) McAdams
B) Hooker
C) Costa and McCrae
D) Jung

Question 37

The best conclusion to draw from research concerning the midlife crisis is that

A) there is no question it exists.
B) there is little data to support its existence.
C) it clearly exists for women but not for men.
D) it clearly exists for men but not for women.

Question 38

Thinking theoretically or philosophically, with little emphasis on economic values, is most characteristic of people who score high on Costa and McCrae's dimension of

A) neuroticism.
B) extroversion.
C) openness to experience.
D) agreeableness.

Question 39

According to Schoklitsch and Bauman,

A) older adults have more capacity of generativity than middle-aged adults.
B) the capacity of generativity peaks during midlife.
C) the capacity of generativity doesn't change with age.
D) the capacity of generativity is high during young adulthood, low during middle adulthood, and increases during late adulthood.

Question 40

The organized, coherent, and integrated pattern of self-perceptions is the

A) ego.
B) life story.
C) self-concept.
D) scenario.

Question 41

According to Hooker (2002), the three processes that act in tandem with the three structural components of McAdams personality levels are

A) state processes, self-regulatory processes, and cognitive processes.
B) self-concept processes, personal concerns, and cognitive processes.
C) state processes, self-concept processes, and personal concerns.
D) personal concerns, dispositional traits, and life narrative.

Question 42

Monty, a senior member of a successful law firm, enjoys working with interns, doing pro bono work as a public defender, and shows concern for the long-term well-being of the firm's junior members. According to Erikson, Monty is showing

A) integrity.
B) isolation.
C) stagnation.
D) generativity.

Question 43

According to Erikson, the basis for personality growth is

A) achieving a balance of forces.
B) blending among traits.
C) resolving struggles between tendencies.
D) achieving formal operations.

Question 44

When asked to describe their hoped for and feared possible selves, researchers found that adults over the age of 60 were more likely to be focused on ____________ concerns.

A) family
B) material
C) personal
D) occupational

Question 45

In the Six Foci Model of adult personality the process counterpoint to the life story is

A) self-narration.
B) self-regulatory processes.
C) personal action constructs.
D) self-concept.

Question 46

Which of the following is not one of Kotre's (2005) types of generativity?

A) cultural generativity
B) agentic generativity
C) personal generativity
D) technical generativity

Question 47

In cross-cultural studies, ____________ is/are lowest in older adults who report little religious commitment.

A) neuroticism
B) chronic health conditions
C) feelings of self-worth
D) the number of hoped for selves

Question 48

Which of the following is not a criticism of theories based on life transitions?

A) sample selection
B) whether changes really happen
C) degree to which stages are universal
D) whether changes in extroversion occur

Question 49

Which of the following is the last of Kegan's six stages of the development of self?

A) interindividual
B) institutional
C) interpersonal
D) imperial

Question 50

____________ includes seeking pastoral care, participating in organized and nonorganized religious activities, and expressing faith in a God who cares for people.

A) Religiosity
B) Religious identity
C) Spiritual support
D) Religious generativity

Question 51

Costa and McCrae suggest that personality traits stop changing by age 30, after which they appear to be "set in plaster." Which of the following gives validity to their claim?

A) Their studies were cross-sectional.
B) Their correlations were high.
C) Many additional research studies have been conducted that support their claim.
D) Laypeople's observations of the personality traits of others supports their claim.

Question 52

Researchers point out that the idea of a midlife crisis became widely accepted as fact because of

A) the high rate of men experiencing them.
B) scientific data proving the existence of the midlife crisis.
C) the mass media.
D) the number of high-profile people, such as sports figures, politicians, and actors, who showed evidence of such crises.

Question 53

What people want during a particular time in their lives and within specific domains, including their strategies, plans, and defenses used to get what they want, are termed

A) defense mechanisms.
B) life skills.
C) personal concerns.
D) contextual traits.

Question 54

Martin, Long, and Poon (2002) found _____________ for those in their 70s and 80s than for centenarians.

A) greater wariness
B) suspiciousness and sensitivity higher
C) stability of personality traits lower
D) stability of personality traits higher

Question 55

In Hooker's theory, state processes are to dispositional traits as ____________ are to personal concerns.

A) cognitive processes
B) self-regulatory processes
C) life narratives
D) all of the above

Question 56

Thelma quit the job she held for 20 years, spent her life savings on a vintage convertible, divorced her husband, and moved to Australia with her 25-year-old boyfriend. Thelma's behaviors are stereotypic of

A) personal growth patterns associated with middle age.
B) a balance between her masculine and feminine sides.
C) a well-documented and research-supported concept associated with middle age.
D) a midlife crisis.

Question 57

The most basic aspect of a healthy personality in Erikson's theory is

A) introversion.
B) autonomy.
C) integrity.
D) trust.

Question 58

Research regarding generativity concludes that the personal concerns of

A) men are fundamentally different from those of women.
B) older adults are not fundamentally different from those of younger adults.
C) older adults are identical to those of middle-aged adults.
D) middle-aged adults are fundamentally different from those of younger adults.

Question 59

According to McAdams, all of the following are goals of a life story except

A) coherence.
B) credibility.
C) heroism.
D) to reconcile opposite aspects of oneself.

Question 60

According to McAdams, the narrative that people create and revise throughout adulthood is a

A) life-span construct.
B) life story.
C) life narrative.
D) scenario.

Question 61

Older adults reported that turning problems over to God was a three-step process that included all of the following except

A) differentiating between things that can and cannot be changed.
B) becoming more involved in religious activities.
C) focusing one's effort on the parts of the problem that can be changed.
D) emotionally disconnecting from the parts of the problem that cannot be changed.

Question 62

Which of the following is not an assumption about traits?

A) Behaviors represented by traits must be distinctive.
B) Traits are stable characteristics.
C) Absolute quantitative standards are used to define traits.
D) Traits are based on relative comparisons across people.

Question 63

Older adults are more likely to believe that

A) they will become their hoped for self.
B) they will become their feared self.
C) the hoped for self is not under their personal control.
D) neither the hoped for nor the feared self is under their personal control.

Question 64

Research focusing on life transitions as the basis for personality development shows

A) clear evidence of a single sequence of qualitative changes.
B) supportive evidence based on large representative samples.
C) strong evidence of transitions at specific points (such as age 30).
D) little evidence of universal transitions tied to specific ages.

Question 65

LaBouvie-Vief and colleagues found that the degree of differentiation in the self was related to one's level of cognitive development. This finding provides support for

A) Piaget.
B) Costa and McCrae.
C) Kegan.
D) Whitbourne.

Question 66

The two most common goal themes in life stories are

A) agency and communion.
B) primary and secondary control strategies.
C) intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.
D) external and internal locus of control.

Question 67

One view of personality incorporates ________________, which consist of things important to people.

A) dispositional traits
B) life narrative
C) self-concept
D) personal concerns

Question 68

The creation of an identity or a sense of self is the goal of this level in McAdams model of personality.

A) dispositional traits
B) life narrative
C) self-concept
D) personal concerns

Question 69

Traditionally, critics of Erikson's theory dismissed his theory as

A) untestable and incomplete.
B) well defined but highly subjective.
C) based upon folk wisdom and culturally biased.
D) complete but untestable.

Question 70

Which of the following is false regarding culture and midlife crisis?

A) The midlife crisis is a cultural invention.
B) The concept of midlife itself is limited to adults studied in the United States.
C) In other cultures, transitions and crises are related to role relations such as marriage and relocation into the spouse's family.
D) In other countries, women experience midlife crises at higher rates than men.

Question 71

One of the more popular methods for examining life stories is through

A) case studies whereby individuals are followed over the life span.
B) questionnaires regarding life events.
C) autobiographical memory.
D) recalling and analyzing one's dreams across the life span.

Question 72

In Kegan's theory of the self-concept, his first three stages are incorporative, impulsive, and imperial. These correspond to ____________ first three stages.

A) Piaget's
B) Erikson's
C) Freud's
D) LaBouvie-Vief's

Question 73

Research on Costa and McCrae's model of personality traits shows

A) little evidence of stability.
B) stability for only a few years.
C) no support for trait theories.
D) strong support for long-term stability.

Question 74

What can we conclude about the development of dispositional traits across adulthood?

A) Personality traits remain mostly stable throughout adulthood when the data are averaged across many different kinds of people.
B) Personality traits remain stable but only when examining specific personality traits in specific kinds of people.
C) When the data are averaged across many different kinds of people, the research overwhelmingly points to personality change over time.
D) It has become apparent that we do not have adequate measures to assess personality trait stability and change over time.

Question 75

According to Patterson stage of development called ____________________ is needed in Erikson's model between identity versus role confusion and intimacy versus isolation.

A) creativity versus self-degradation
B) incarnation versus impudence
C) adolescence versus transcendence
D) modesty versus indecency

Question 76

Aspects of our personality pertaining to what we could become, what we would like to become, and what we are afraid of becoming are called

A) life story.
B) possible selves.
C) ego.
D) trait clusters.

Question 77

One of the main criticisms of theories based on life transitions is that

A) each person's life transitions are different.
B) the research methods used are questionable.
C) measuring life transitions is problematic.
D) most of the supporting data is correlational.

Question 78

____________ has/have created new opportunities for young adults to create possible selves.

A) Online social media
B) Higher involvement in the work force
C) More opportunities to travel both domestically and internationally
D) More comprehensive higher education programs

Question 79

In Whitbourne's approach, a person's unified sense of the past, present, and future is termed the

A) life-span construct.
B) life story.
C) perspective hypothesis.
D) scenario.

Question 80

According to Erikson, each stage of psychosocial development represents a kind of

A) challenge.
B) desire.
C) crisis.
D) goal.