Question 1

Situationism is the position that ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  situations do not influence behavior 
B)  situations are more important than personality traits in determining behavior 
C)  the ability of personality traits to predict behavior is severely limited 
D)  both b and c

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT one of the responses to the situationist argument?

Accepted Answer

A)  Personality researchers argued that Mischel's literature review was selective. 
B)  Personality researchers searched for certain kinds of people who were more consistent than others. 
C)  Personality researchers started to think more carefully about the importance of a correlation of .40. 
D)  Personality researchers worked harder to find single traits that could strongly predict single responses at a particular point in time.

Question 3

Interactionism is the view that traits and situations work with each other to produce behavior.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 4

The trait approach focuses exclusively on ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  the measurement of absolute levels of traits 
B)  aspects of personality that are the same in all people 
C)  physical dimensions 
D)  individual differences

Question 5

There is a tendency to equate a situationist perspective with a more optimistic view of the world.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 6

One difficulty in searching for variables that might predict consistency is that ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  it is hard to think of variables that would predict differences in consistency 
B)  such research is too time-consuming to conduct 
C)  only one variable seems to predict consistency 
D)  the effects of such variables are subtle and are sometimes difficult to detect

Question 7

Situationists are often concerned with precisely calculating how much situations affect behavior.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 8

The trait approach is based on empirical research ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  that is mostly correlational in nature 
B)  that is mostly experimental in nature 
C)  from case studies 
D)  from archival studies

Question 9

The person-situation debate reflects deep-seated views about human nature.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 10

According to recent research, individuals high in ________ might actually be more consistent.

Accepted Answer

A)  self-control 
B)  consistency seeking 
C)  preference for consistency 
D)  extraversion

Question 11

Which of the following characteristics seems to predict increased consistency?

Accepted Answer

A)  sociability 
B)  neuroticism 
C)  preference for consistency 
D)  none of these attributes

Question 12

What is interactionism? Explain different ways that personality attributes and situations can work together. Illustrate your arguments using examples of the associations between personality and work outcomes.

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is interactionism? Explain different ways that...

Question 13

Substance use is positively associated with what trait?

Accepted Answer

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

Question 14

People low in agreeableness tend to have greater risks to their cardiac health.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 15

Citizenship behavior at work is predicted by which trait?

Accepted Answer

A)  neuroticism 
B)  self-monitoring 
C)  extraversion 
D)  conscientiousness

Question 16

Which of the following is NOT one of Funder's conclusions?

Accepted Answer

A)  Most situational coefficients are actually between .30 and .40. 
B)  Situational coefficients are similar in size to personality coefficients. 
C)  Both situational variables and personality variables have an effect on behavior. 
D)  It is impossible to translate experimental results into effect sizes.

Question 17

The ultimate criterion for judging a measure of personality is whether it ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  is reliable 
B)  is internally consistent 
C)  predicts behavior 
D)  has content validity

Question 18

According to the analogy drawn in the text between situational effects on behavior and Scud missiles, situations ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  can overshadow individual differences in all cases 
B)  never seem to affect behavior 
C)  seem to have inconsistent effects 
D)  seem to bring out individual differences in all people

Question 19

Which of the following would be an example of trying to improve the predictability of behavior from personality traits by taking into account the possibility that some people are more consistent than others?

Accepted Answer

A)  measuring how frequently you are late to work using a daily diary report of your everyday behavior 
B)  collecting information about your responses to stressful work situations 
C)  trying to predict how warm and friendly you will act when you meet your in-laws next Monday 
D)  determining if the behavior of high self-monitors is less predictable than that of low self-monitors

Question 20

Funder and Ozer (1983) converted the results of three classic social psychological studies to effect sizes. After comparing those effect sizes with those typically obtained by personality psychologists, Funder and Ozer concluded that ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  situational variables, like personality variables, cannot predict behavior 
B)  both situational and personality variables are important determinants of behavior 
C)  the upper limit for a situation coefficient is only .20 
D)  the three studies were so fundamentally flawed that they do not allow us to conclude anything about the predictability of behavior from situational variables

Exam 4: Personality Traits, Situations, and Behavior

Situationism is the position that ________.

Which of the following is NOT one of the responses to the situationist argument?

Interactionism is the view that traits and situations work with each other to produce behavior.

The trait approach focuses exclusively on ________.

There is a tendency to equate a situationist perspective with a more optimistic view of the world.

One difficulty in searching for variables that might predict consistency is that ________.

Situationists are often concerned with precisely calculating how much situations affect behavior.

The trait approach is based on empirical research ________.

The person-situation debate reflects deep-seated views about human nature.

According to recent research, individuals high in ________ might actually be more consistent.

Which of the following characteristics seems to predict increased consistency?

What is interactionism? Explain different ways that personality attributes and situations can work together. Illustrate your arguments using examples of the associations between personality and work outcomes.

Substance use is positively associated with what trait?

People low in agreeableness tend to have greater risks to their cardiac health.

Citizenship behavior at work is predicted by which trait?

Which of the following is NOT one of Funder's conclusions?

The ultimate criterion for judging a measure of personality is whether it ________.

According to the analogy drawn in the text between situational effects on behavior and Scud missiles, situations ________.

Which of the following would be an example of trying to improve the predictability of behavior from personality traits by taking into account the possibility that some people are more consistent than others?

Funder and Ozer (1983) converted the results of three classic social psychological studies to effect sizes. After comparing those effect sizes with those typically obtained by personality psychologists, Funder and Ozer concluded that ________.