Deck 4: Developmental Change and Stability of Personality

Question 1

Which of the following questions would be studied by personality researchers who are examining the topic of personality stability and change?

A)Why do some people prefer things to be stable and other people prefer things to change?
B)How does the average level of the trait (as taken across many persons)change between young adulthood and late middle age?
C)What is the correlation between trait levels at young adulthood and at late middle age?
D)Both A and B
E)Both B and C

Answer 1

E

Question 2

Recall the Hawaiian longitudinal study of personality by Hampson and Goldberg (2006),in which middle-aged persons' self-reports of personality were compared with their elementary school teachers' ratings of their personalities made 40 years earlier.Which of the following best summarizes the findings of that study regarding the stability of personality across this time period?

A)Stability was very high for all Big Five factors.
B)Stability was close to zero for all Big Five factors.
C)Across the Big Five factors,stability ranged from moderate to very high.
D)Across the Big Five factors,stability ranged from near-zero to moderate.
E)Stability could not be examined directly because completely different traits were assessed at the two time points.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the HEXACO personality factors shows the largest age differences,with an average level in 60-year-olds that is about one standard deviation unit higher than the average level in 18-year-olds?

A)Agreeableness
B)Honesty-Humility
C)Conscientiousness
D)Openness to Experience
E)Extraversion

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Recall two longitudinal studies that each examined a single trait in childhood and examined its relation to later outcomes in life: the study of childhood aggressiveness by Huesmann et al. (2009)and the study of childhood "delay of gratification" by Mischel et al. (1988).Which of the following best summarizes the results of those studies?

A)Both childhood aggressiveness and childhood delay of gratification were predictive of important outcomes.
B)Only childhood aggressiveness was predictive of important outcomes.
C)Only delay of gratification was predictive of important outcomes.
D)Neither childhood aggressiveness nor childhood delay of gratification were predictive of important outcomes.
E)The relation of these traits to later outcomes depended on the children's religion.

Question 5

For which of the following "facet"-level personality traits do average levels tend to increase throughout adulthood?

A)Sociability
B)Unconventionality
C)Patience
D)Perfectionism
E)Social Boldness

Question 6

Which of the following best summarizes the results obtained by Lamb et al. (2002)in their study of developmental change and stability of personality throughout childhood?

A)Personality was moderately stable across intervals of a few years,and there was an increase in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness during the early school years.
B)Personality was moderately stable across intervals of a few years,and there was a decrease in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness during the early school years.
C)Personality was highly unstable across intervals of a few years,and there was an increase in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness during the early school years.
D)Personality was highly unstable across intervals of a few years,and there was a decrease in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness during the early school years.
E)Personality was highly unstable across intervals of a few years,and there was essentially no change in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness during the early school years.

Question 7

Recall the study by Neyer and Lehnart (2007)about romantic partner relationships and personality change in young adults over an eight-year period.Which of the following statements is NOT consistent with their findings?

A)Among participants who were single at the start of the study,those who were less sociable and less anxious were more likely to enter a relationship during the following years.
B)Among participants who entered a relationship during this period tended to become less anxious,less shy,and higher in self-esteem.
C)Among participants who were already in a relationship at the start of the study,personality trait levels did not differ between those who stayed in that relationship and those who didn't.
D)Among participants who were already in a relationship at the start of the study,those whose relationships ended tended to become more extraverted.
E)All of the above.

Question 8

According to the results of several longitudinal studies,how does the stability of personality during young adulthood (say,the typical college-age years)compare with the stability of personality during later adulthood (say,any time after the age of 30)? (Assume a similar time interval in both cases. )

A)Personality is very much more stable in young adulthood than in later adulthood.
B)Personality is somewhat more stable in young adulthood than in later adulthood.
C)Personality is equally stable in young adulthood and in later adulthood.
D)Personality is somewhat less stable in young adulthood than in later adulthood.
E)Personality is very much less stable in young adulthood than in later adulthood.

Question 9

Which of the following best summarizes the results of studies that have examined the correlations between adults' levels of a personality trait across a period of several years?

A)The correlations are rather high (typically about .70),regardless of which characteristic is considered.
B)The correlations are of moderate size (typically about .40),regardless of which characteristic is considered.
C)The correlations are rather low (typically about .10),regardless of which characteristic is considered.
D)The correlations are positive but can vary widely in size (from about .10 to about .70),depending on which characteristic is considered.
E)The correlations tend to be small (ranging from -.20 to .20)and their direction can differ,depending on which characteristic is considered.

Question 10

Which of the following statements best summarizes what is known about the structure of personality characteristics during childhood?

A)There is only one major personality dimension,which is much larger than the dimensions observed in adults.
B)There are dozens of personality dimensions,which are much smaller than those observed in adults.
C)The structure is consistently found to be identical to that observed in adults.
D)The structure is roughly similar to that observed in adults,but the details are not yet clear.
E)None of the above;personality structure has not been examined in children due to difficulties of measurement.

Question 11

Which of the following can be considered as a difficulty in assessing the personalities of children?
1)Until about the age of 10,most children tend not to describe people's personalities in terms of specific traits
2)The level of reading comprehension of most young children makes it difficult to obtain self- or observer reports from children
3)For nearly all personality characteristics,children are so much alike that reliable measurement cannot be achieved.

A)1 only
B)2 only
C)1 and 2 only
D)1 and 3 only
E)2 and 3 only