Deck 6: Traits and Types: the Big Five and Beyond

Question 1

People who adjust their behavior to best fit the situation are called ________, and people whose behavior is guided by their personality are called ________.

A) ego resilient; ego controlled
B) ego controlled; ego resilient
C) high self-monitors; low self-monitors
D) low self-monitors; high self-monitors

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The ________ is a personality assessment device consisting of a deck of 100 cards, each of which describes an aspect of personality. These cards are sorted into categories by the respondent.

A) California F scale
B) self-monitoring scale
C) California Q-Set
D) NEO Personality Inventory

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Research on ________ addresses important questions concerning the way that inner reality and the private self relate to external reality and the self as presented to others.

A) authoritarianism
B) introversion and extraversion
C) self-monitoring
D) conscientiousness

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which approach to studying personality begins with the question "Who does that?" and then seeks to understand the traits associated with a specific behavior?

A) many-trait approach
B) essential-trait approach
C) single-trait approach
D) typological approach

Question 5

Julie is a serious and conscientious employee; however, with her friends at happy hour on Friday afternoon she is the life of the party. According to Snyder's theory, Julie would MOST likely be

A) a high self-monitor.
B) a low self-monitor.
C) high in private self-consciousness.
D) low in public self-consciousness.

Question 6

Which trait is associated with putting more effort into hairstyles and clothing?

A) conscientiousness
B) self-monitoring
C) narcissism
D) authoritarianism

Question 7

A researcher who tries to discover the most important or basic personality traits that exist is taking a(n) ________ approach.

A) single-trait
B) many-trait
C) essential-trait
D) typological

Question 8

Low self-monitors are more likely than high self-monitors to be described as

A) talkative.
B) self-dramatizing.
C) having social poise and presence.
D) independent.

Question 9

Which trait is associated with positive first impressions but more negative impressions in longer-term relationships?

A) conscientiousness
B) self-monitoring
C) narcissism
D) authoritarianism

Question 10

Which of the following is NOT a currently discussed explanation for narcissistic behavior?

A) Narcissists are struggling to maintain an unrealistic self-concept.
B) Narcissists have trouble controlling impulses.
C) Narcissists are motivated by power and prestige and use certain strategies to attain these goals.
D) Narcissists are actually shy and timid but believe that these traits reflect personal weaknesses.

Question 11

The items in the California Q-Set were derived from

A) a quantitative factor analysis.
B) a biologically based model of personality.
C) Allport and Odbert's original list of trait terms from everyday language.
D) efforts by researchers to develop a complete list of items sufficient to describe any person.

Question 12

A researcher taking the many-trait approach to understanding personality would likely use which of the following measurement instruments?

A) California F scale
B) California Q-Set
C) the NEO-PI neuroticism scale
D) self-monitoring scale

Question 13

Which dimension of personality assessed by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory appears to be the one MOST responsible for obnoxious and arrogant behavior?

A) leadership/authority
B) self-sufficiency
C) entitlement/exploitativeness
D) self-esteem

Question 14

A researcher interested in identifying common patterns of traits that characterize whole persons will likely use a ________ approach.

A) single-trait
B) typological
C) configural
D) many-trait

Question 15

The MOST important advantage of Q-sorting is that it

A) allows the judge to rate the target person consistently high or low on every trait.
B) does not require the judge to make subtle discriminations between trait ratings.
C) can only be used by trained clinicians, thus preventing problems with untrained judges.
D) forces the judge to compare all the items directly against each other.

Question 16

According to recent research about personality and energy drink preferences (Smidt & DeBono, 2011), those high in self-monitoring would likely prefer which brand of energy drink in a consumer taste test study?

A) Superstar Energy
B) Acme Energy Drink
C) Energy Enhancer
D) Energy for You

Question 17

A researcher who starts with an interest in delinquency and then identifies the traits associated with that category of behavior is taking a(n) ________ approach.

A) single-trait
B) many-trait
C) essential-trait
D) typological

Question 18

When compared to high self-monitors, people who score low in self-monitoring tend to

A) perform better in job interviews.
B) use strategies to influence coworkers.
C) be willing to lie to get a date.
D) be regarded as more honest.

Question 19

Given Snyder's description of self-monitoring, you would expect someone who is low in self-monitoring to be ________ than someone high in self-monitoring.

A) harder to judge
B) easier to judge
C) less depressed
D) less conscientious

Question 20

A researcher seeks to understand the reasons that a person uses drugs. Which approach is the researcher MOST likely to adopt?

A) single-trait
B) many-trait
C) essential-trait
D) typological

Question 21

Research has shown that when people use words such as ________ to describe their life stories, they are described by acquaintances as more intelligent.

A) absolutely
B) smart
C) positivity
D) mindfully

Question 22

A researcher using factor analysis to identify basic traits is likely to favor the ________ approach.

A) single-trait
B) many-trait
C) essential-trait
D) typological

Question 23

Factor analyses are mostly based on which of the following pieces of information?

A) researchers' judgments
B) superfactors
C) thematic apperception tests
D) correlation matrices

Question 24

What is another name for ego resiliency?

A) psychological adjustment
B) self-monitoring
C) extraversion
D) self-control

Question 25

What are essential traits according to Jack Block?

A) neuroticism/extraversion
B) negative emotionality/positive emotionality
C) stability/plasticity
D) ego control/ego resiliency

Question 26

Jack Block found that 23-year-olds who described themselves as being politically conservative were likely to have been described as ________ at age 3.

A) self-reliant and energetic
B) guilty and anxious
C) maintaining close relationships
D) emotionally unstable and aggressive

Question 27

Which of the following terms describes the often-criticized outcome of Raymond Cattell's factor analysis, which revealed 16 factors?

A) underextraction of factors
B) overextraction of factors
C) too few superfactors
D) facets

Question 28

Which essential trait theorist developed a model with the strongest ties to psychoanalytic ideas?

A) Jack Block
B) Hans Eysenck
C) Auke Tellegen
D) Raymond Cattell

Question 29

Positive emotionality in Tellegen's three-factor model is closest to which trait in Eysenck's model?

A) extraversion
B) openness to experience
C) psychoticism
D) neuroticism

Question 30

Sally prefers listening to relaxing music by folk singers who write and perform their own songs. Sally is likely high in which trait?

A) extraversion
B) openness
C) conscientiousness
D) neuroticism

Question 31

The MOST important thing to notice about a table of Q-sort correlates is the

A) general patterns that emerge.
B) exact value of the correlations.
C) wording of specific items.
D) smallest correlation.

Question 32

Negative emotionality in Tellegen's three-factor model is closest to which trait in Eysenck's model?

A) extraversion
B) openness to experience
C) psychoticism
D) neuroticism

Question 33

According to Jack Block, ego ________ gets people into trouble, but ego ________ gets people out of trouble.

A) undercontrol; overcontrol
B) resiliency; overcontrol
C) overcontrol; undercontrol
D) undercontrol; resiliency

Question 34

Manuel is discontented with economic and political systems as an adult. Recent research suggests that as a child, Manuel would have been described as

A) over-controlled.
B) well-adjusted.
C) misbehaved.
D) egocentric.

Question 35

What is another name for ego control?

A) psychological adjustment
B) self-monitoring
C) emotional stability
D) self-control

Question 36

What are the essential traits according to Hans Eysenck?

A) neuroticism/extraversion/openness to experience
B) neuroticism/extraversion/psychoticism
C) ego control/ego resiliency/ego adjustment
D) positive emotionality/negative emotionality/constraint

Question 37

Fast and Funder (2008) found that using words like guarantee was correlated .21 with "has a high aspiration for self." Which of the following is a correct interpretation of this finding?

A) Participants who used the word guarantee were very likely to also have high aspirations.
B) Participants who used the word guarantee were very unlikely to also have high aspirations.
C) Participants who used the word guarantee were slightly more likely to also have high aspirations.
D) Participants who used the word guarantee were slightly less likely to also have high aspirations.

Question 38

What are the Big Three traits according to Auke Tellegen?

A) neuroticism/extraversion/openness to experience
B) neuroticism/extraversion/psychoticism
C) ego control/ego resiliency/ego adjustment
D) positive emotionality/negative emotionality/constraint

Question 39

Which of the following is NOT a dimension that would likely show differences between liberals and conservatives?

A) harm/care
B) in-group loyalty
C) authority/respect
D) purity

Question 40

According to the text, which of the following is one of the reactions an individual high on right-wing authoritarianism would have when playing experimental games?

A) They are less likely to obey an experimenter's commands.
B) They seek to win at all costs.
C) They experience more positive emotions than nonauthoritarians.
D) They tend to be uncooperative and inflexible.

Question 41

Which of the Big Five traits appears to have the MOST inconsistency in terms of cross-cultural replication?

A) agreeableness
B) extraversion
C) psychoticism
D) openness

Question 42

Which Big Five domain captures a tendency to experience negative emotions?

A) neuroticism
B) extraversion
C) conscientiousness
D) openness

Question 43

Factor analyses have revealed a broader personality factor called plasticity. Which of the following Big Five factors are subfactors of this factor?

A) conscientiousness and extraversion
B) openness and neuroticism
C) extraversion and openness
D) neuroticism and agreeableness

Question 44

According to the text, tests of conscientiousness predict

A) psychopathy and happiness.
B) job performance and employee thefts.
C) talkativeness and social anxiety.
D) criminal behavior and political affiliation.

Question 45

According to a recent study described in the textbook, which trait has been linked to a decrease in life satisfaction following a period of unemployment?

A) agreeableness
B) conscientiousness
C) narcissism
D) self-monitoring

Question 46

Which trait is MOST closely linked with dominance?

A) agreeableness
B) neuroticism
C) conscientiousness
D) extraversion

Question 47

Which of the following Big Five domains is related to less smoking?

A) neuroticism
B) extraversion
C) agreeableness
D) openness

Question 48

What additional trait(s) do some psychologists argue should be added to expand the Big Five to the Big Six?

A) narcissism
B) conscientiousness
C) honesty-humility
D) self-monitoring

Question 49

According to the text, some researchers propose that openness to experience is related to ________, while others claim it is related to ________.

A) athleticism; religiosity
B) drug use; conservativeness
C) liking rock music; liking classical music
D) creativity; intelligence

Question 50

According to recent research (Boyce & Wood, 2011), which trait seems to be related to quicker recovery from disabling accidents or illnesses?

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

Question 51

Pooja is a strong proponent of the lexical hypothesis. Where would she likely begin her search for the essential traits of personality?

A) the dictionary
B) observation of the personalities of nonhuman animals
C) Eysenck's theories
D) ancient Greek medical texts

Question 52

Which trait has been consistently linked to a range of health outcomes?

A) neuroticism
B) authoritarianism
C) openness
D) conscientiousness

Question 53

In order to alleviate the effects of bias in employment testing, employers might want to use ________ because they typically do not show racial or ethnic differences.

A) aptitude tests
B) ability tests
C) tests of conscientiousness
D) achievement tests

Question 54

Which trait is linked to avoiding risks and driving carefully?

A) narcissism
B) openness
C) conscientiousness
D) self-monitoring

Question 55

The lower your score is on measures of psychological health and well-being, the ________ your score is on ________.

A) higher; agreeableness
B) higher; neuroticism
C) higher; self-monitoring
D) lower; authoritarianism

Question 56

Which Big Five domain captures a tendency to experience positive emotions?

A) neuroticism
B) extraversion
C) conscientiousness
D) openness

Question 57

According to the text, individuals high in ________ are usually valued employees.

A) extraversion
B) agreeableness
C) emotional intelligence
D) conscientiousness

Question 58

Which of the following traits has been difficult to replicate across different samples and cultures?

A) openness
B) agreeableness
C) emotional stability
D) conscientiousness

Question 59

Which of the Big Five traits appears to be the most complex and "difficult to grasp"?

A) neuroticism
B) extraversion
C) psychoticism
D) openness

Question 60

Factor analyses have revealed a broader personality factor called stability. Which of the following Big Five factors are subfactors of this factor?

A) extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness
B) extraversion, openness, conscientiousness
C) neuroticism, openness, agreeableness
D) neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness

Question 61

Which trait describes people who are psychologically well adjusted and tend to be religious?

A) honesty-humility
B) sensuality
C) frugality
D) humor

Question 62

Which choice does NOT describe a reason that the typological approach to personality traits is less valid than trait-based approaches?

A) Researchers have to know which personality types are sufficient, which is very difficult.
B) Personality is more diverse than typological approaches would lead us to believe.
C) Personality types may summarize many traits within an overarching label.
D) Knowing a person's personality type lends a researcher little ability to better predict behavior beyond traits.

Question 63

When compared to personality types, personality traits are ________ at predicting behavior.

A) better
B) worse
C) equally good
D) equally poor

Question 64

Though some researchers disagree, after over 60 years of research, most personality psychologists think there are how many essential personality factors?

A) three
B) four
C) five
D) six

Question 65

According to the text, which three personality types are the MOST replicable?

A) well-adjusted/undercontrolled/overcontrolled
B) Type A/Type B/Type D
C) introvert/extravert/thinker
D) resilient/controlled/anomic

Question 66

The ________ approach to personality usually assumes that all people can be characterized by points on a continuous score of measurement; the ________ approach to personality suggests that people might differ in kind more than in degree.

A) typological; trait
B) trait; typological
C) essential-trait; single-trait
D) constructivist; critical realist

Question 67

Chan tends to be disorganized, irresponsible, and unable to handle criticism well. What is the best description of Chan's personality?

A) low extraversion and high openness to experience
B) low agreeableness and high neuroticism
C) low conscientiousness and high neuroticism
D) low openness to experience and high conscientiousness

Question 68

According to the text, why is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator particularly popular?

A) It is free for researchers to use.
B) It is particularly good at predicting important life outcomes.
C) Its vague questions give the impression that it offers deep insight.
D) It has strong psychometric properties.

Question 69

The Big Five are believed to be orthogonal factors of personality. What does orthogonal mean?

A) People's scores on one of the factors are useful for predicting their scores on only one of the other factors.
B) People's scores on one of the factors are useful for predicting their scores on two of the other factors.
C) People's scores on one of the factors are useful for predicting their scores on three or four of the other factors.
D) People's scores on one of the factors do not predict their scores on any of the other factors.

Question 70

What is the best summary of the current state of knowledge about personality types?

A) Knowing a person's personality type adds to our ability to predict his or her behavior beyond what can be predicted by knowing how the person stands on the traits that define the typology.
B) Although types add little for psychometric purposes of measurement and prediction, they still may have value as aids in education and theorizing.
C) There are five basic personality types, each corresponding to one of the Big Five personality traits.
D) Compared to the trait approach, the typological approach is completely useless for explaining or describing people or behavior.

Question 71

In the factor analysis approach to personality, a "factor" can be best described as a personality

A) trait.
B) type.
C) theory.
D) item.

Question 72

Which of the following does NOT describe a reason that people gravitate to the typological approach in contrast to the trait approach?

A) Qualitative differences between types of people are somewhat easier to comprehend than traits.
B) The typological approach has many years worth of empirical support.
C) The trait approach assumes that all people can be characterized using similar traits, which might be wrong.
D) Different types of people may be qualitatively distinct from each other.

Question 73

Which of the following descriptions best characterizes the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator?

A) It is a short version of a questionnaire that assesses the Big Five personality traits.
B) It is a long questionnaire, often used in cross-cultural contexts, that tests how individuals rate on dozens of personality characteristics.
C) It is a short questionnaire that tests whether individuals are well adjusted, maladjusted overcontrolling, or maladjusted undercontrolling.
D) It is a long questionnaire, often used by corporations to assess potential employees, that tests which of two opposing tendencies characterizes an individual.

Question 74

According to the lexical hypothesis,

A) the most important aspects of human life are labeled and will exist in many languages.
B) personality does not have a significant influence on behavior.
C) traits can only be identified in an experimental setting.
D) the trait honesty-humility should be added to the Big Five personality traits.

Question 75

Someone who scores high on extraversion likely ________, whereas someone who scores high on agreeableness likely ________.

A) is thrifty; is accident-prone
B) is sensitive to rewards; is psychologically well adjusted
C) scores low on agreeableness; scores low on extraversion
D) does not show their emotions; is vulnerable to bullying

Question 76

Ciara is an advertiser who is interested in labeling consumers in terms of their spending habits and shopping behavior to efficiently target groups of people for different products. What approach to personality should Ciara use in her assessment?

A) essential-trait
B) typological
C) many-trait
D) single-trait

Question 77

Carlos is interested in understanding everything there is to know about a person, and he is developing a lengthy personality measure to achieve this. What approach is Carlos taking to study personality?

A) essential-trait
B) typological
C) many-trait
D) single-trait

Question 78

Which of the following characteristics is NOT associated with conscientiousness?

A) high IQ
B) avoidance of risks
C) educational level
D) longevity

Question 79

According to your text, what is one important use of personality types?

A) They serve as a way to summarize how someone stands on several traits.
B) They are good indicators of how people are quantitatively different from one another.
C) They are the best way to predict job performance.
D) There is no real use for personality types.

Question 80

Which of the following is NOT a criticism of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator?

A) Its scales are distributed normally and not bimodally.
B) Its measurements of personality types are not reliable over time.
C) The theory behind personality types and job placement is not supported empirically.
D) It is time-consuming to score and interpret.