Theories of Personality Question Bank
Course Introduction
Theories of Personality explores the major theoretical perspectives that have shaped our understanding of human personality. Students examine foundational concepts from psychoanalytic, humanistic, trait, biological, behavioral, cognitive, and social-cognitive models, while also evaluating empirical research supporting each perspective. The course emphasizes critical analysis of how personality is assessed, developed, and manifested across the lifespan, as well as the cultural and social influences on personality formation. Through discussions, case studies, and assessments, students gain a comprehensive understanding of both classical and contemporary approaches to personality theory and their practical applications in various settings.
Recommended Textbook
Personality 9th Edition by Jerry M. Burger
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17 Chapters
1024 Verified Questions
1024 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: What Is Personality
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54 Verified Questions
54 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) To explain depression, trait theorists would most likely focus on A) identifying people prone to depression.
B) the genetic susceptibility individuals have toward depression.
C) the unconscious feelings of anger within people.
D) how people interpret a world that seems uncontrollable.
Answer: A
Q2) A psychologist argues that people are often not aware of why they act the way they do. Further, although he acknowledges that genetics may play a role in determining personality, our behavior is determined by the environment more than we recognize. This psychologist probably aligns himself with which approach to personality?
A) Psychoanalytic
B) Trait
C) Humanistic
D) Behavioral/social learning
Answer: D
Q3) What are the four essential components for the study of personality? Choose one of the six general approaches to personality and use it as an example to illustrate the differences in these components.
Answer: NOT ANSWERED
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Personality Research Methods
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59 Verified Questions
59 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A test is said to have high internal consistency when it yields similar scores each time it is administered to the same people.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) A personality researcher administered her new measure of self-esteem to a group of participants. She waited two weeks and then gave the test to the same people again. She found that scores on the test changed quite a bit during the two-week period. Many participants who had scored low during the first administration scored high the second time, and many who had scored high initially scored low on the second administration. What problem does the researcher have with the new test?
A) Poor reliability
B) Poor internal consistency
C) Poor congruent validity
D) Poor face validity
Answer: A
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4
Chapter 3: The Psychoanalytic Approach: Freudian Theory, Application,
and Assessment
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70 Verified Questions
70 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A man becomes a leader in a crusade promoting sexual morality. A year later, he is arrested for a variety of sex crimes. Freud might have interpreted the man's earlier behavior as an example of A) repression.
B) denial.
C) reaction formation.
D) projection.
Answer: C
Q2) A man is angry with his wife, but instead of confronting her, he takes out his anger on his children. This is an example of A) repression.
B) sublimation.
C) displacement.
D) projection.
Answer: C
Q3) Make a list of the defense mechanisms proposed by Freud. For each mechanism give an example from your own life or someone you know who has used the defense mechanism to reduce or avoid anxiety.
Answer: NOT ANSWERED
Page 5
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Chapter 4: The Freudian Approach: Relevant Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) Research on Freud's theory of humor has found all of the following results except one. Which one?
A) People find mildly hostile humor funnier when it is aimed at a person or group they do not like.
B) Angry people find hostile humor funnier than nonangry people.
C) The greater the tension build-up to a joke, the funnier people find the punch line.
D) Anxious people are not able to enjoy a joke.
Q2) Which of the following concepts do sociocognitive theorists often use to explain the behavior of hypnotic subjects?
A) Expectancy
B) Motivation
C) Concentration
D) all of the above
Q3) According to Freud, a good joke teller should
A) get to the punch line quickly.
B) get people to relax as the punch line approaches.
C) build tension in the audience as the joke is told.
D) avoid jokes with hostile or aggressive content.
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Chapter 5: The Psychoanalytic Approach: Neo Freudian
Theory, Application, and Assessment
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Sample Questions
Q1) Like Freud's original theory, the neo-Freudian approach can be criticized for A) a lack of scientific evidence.
B) being more descriptive than scientific.
C) incomplete or limited accounts of personality.
D) all of the above
Q2) "Parents should allow children to be independent, to make their own choices and mistakes, but without depriving the children of the parental attention they need." Which theorist is most likely to have said this?
A) Adler
B) Erikson
C) Horney
D) Fromm
Q3) According to Jung, the objectionable characteristics we see in other people are often projections of our own
A) anima or animus.
B) personal unconscious.
C) shadow.
D) id impulses.
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Chapter 6: Neo Freudian Theories: Relevant Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) Sam is facing a difficult midterm exam and is feeling stressed out about it. As the exam date approaches and his anxiety increases, Sam starts thinking about ways to study more effectively. He schedules a large portion of time for active study of the material on the test so that he is prepared. In terms of coping, which of the following is Sam's strategy?
A) Avoidance strategy
B) Emotion-focused strategy
C) Problem-focused strategy
D) Repression strategy
Q2) Researchers find that men are more likely to use ______ coping strategies than women and women are more likely to use ______ coping strategies than men.
A) emotion-focused; problem-focused
B) active; avoidant
C) avoidant; active
D) problem-focused; emotion-focused
Q3) Discuss how Freud's original frustration-aggression hypothesis influenced research by behavioral psychologists on the topic. Give evidence that frustration is one cause of aggression. Define displacement and catharsis and specify their roles in aggressive behavior.
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Page 8
Chapter 7: The Trait Approach: Theory, Application, and Assessment
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67 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) The idiographic approach to personality has advantages. For example, A) researchers can compare all people on measures of a certain trait.
B) it reveals common traits.
C) the person rather than the researcher determines what traits to examine.
D) it provides information about the relationship between traits and behavior.
Q2) Test makers often examine the correlation between scores on the new test and scores on a measure of social desirability. They do this to
A) make certain they are measuring something that is socially appropriate.
B) establish the discriminant validity of the new scale.
C) ensure that people are not offended by items on the new scale.
D) establish the face validity of the new scale.
Q3) Personality psychologists use factor analysis to help them determine A) a person's central traits.
B) which personality traits correlate together.
C) the stability of personality traits over time and situations.
D) the validity of personality trait measures.
Q4) What is meant by using the score on a measure of social desirability to test discriminant validity? List the problems associated with self-report inventories and the logic behind assessment of social desirability.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: The Trait Approach: Relevant Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is correct about the relation between affect intensity and well-being?
A) People with high affect intensity are happier than those with low affect intensity.
B) People with low affect intensity are happier than those with high affect intensity.
C) People with high affect intensity are happier because they do more exciting things.
D) People with high and low affect intensity tend to experience happiness differently.
Q2) Research has found that the strength of students' immune systems was related to A) the number of exams they had per month.
B) their level of optimism.
C) pessimism about their health.
D) the number of negative emotions they displayed.
Q3) Shy people are more likely than nonshy people to be polite. A)True B)False
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Chapter 9: The Biological Approach: Theory, Application, and Assessment
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following has been found by researchers examining cerebral asymmetry?
A) When most people experience positive emotions, they have higher levels of electrical activity in their right hemisphere.
B) Most people have more electrical activity in the left hemisphere than the right hemisphere.
C) Changes in electrical activity can be detected when people experience negative emotions, but not when they experience positive emotions.
D) Differences in hemispheric activity levels can be detected in children less than one year old.
Q2) People who are easily upset or have a quick temper are high in emotionality.
A)True
B)False
Q3) According to Eysenck's original model, why do introverts often prefer to isolate themselves from others?
A) They have had a history of negative social experiences.
B) They are trying to keep their arousal levels from getting too high.
C) They have failed to develop appropriate social skills.
D) They generally do not trust people.
Page 11
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Chapter 10: The Biological Approach: Relevant Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) Researchers using the twin-study method take advantage of which naturally occurring phenomenon?
A) Monozygotic twins have identical genes.
B) Dizygotic twins have similar genes.
C) Monozygotic twins are often treated alike by parents.
D) Dizygotic twins are more alike genetically than typical siblings.
Q2) Two babies that come from different fertilized eggs may be A) siblings.
B) dizygotic twins
C) unrelated
D) all of the above
Q3) How do most personality researchers phrase the "nature-nurture" question today?
A) Which determines personality-genetics or the environment?
B) Which is more important in determining personality-genetics or the environment?
C) To what extent are our personalities influenced by genetics?
D) To what extent and how do both genetics and the environment influence personality?
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12
Chapter 11: The Humanistic Approach: Theory, Application, and Assessment
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to Carl Rogers, individuals progress toward an ultimate satisfying state of being self-actualized.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Research suggests that people are most likely to have flow experiences when they
A) work at something that has no clear goal.
B) relax and do something that is not very taxing.
C) are in their leisure time.
D) are working at their jobs.
Q3) Which of the following is true about Abraham Maslow's background?
A) He had a happy childhood.
B) He was drawn to psychology by his interest in behaviorism.
C) His writings were not well received by professional psychologists until after his death.
D) He worked closely with Carl Rogers.
Q4) The humanistic approach to personality is most similar to A) behaviorism.
B) existential philosophy.
C) the trait approach to personality.
D) the psychoanalytic approach to personality.
Page 13
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Chapter 12: The Humanistic Approach: Relevant Research
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60 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to the rule of disclosure reciprocity,
A) we should always wait for people to disclose something about themselves before disclosing intimate information about ourselves.
B) we should always try to say something self-disclosing when first meeting another person.
C) two people involved in a get-acquainted conversation reveal information about themselves at roughly the same level of intimacy.
D) we usually like people who self-disclose to us.
Q2) Based on what researchers have found, what advice would you have for a friend who was keeping a traumatic secret concealed from everyone?
A) Don't talk about it unless it starts to upset you.
B) Find a close friend, or perhaps a professional counselor, that you can discuss this with.
C) As long as it's something you rarely think about, it is not likely to affect your mental or physical health.
D) Try thinking about something you feel good about whenever you find yourself thinking about the traumatic experience.
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14
Chapter 13: The Behavioralsocial Learning Approach:
Theory, Application, and Assessment
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68 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Using the Q-sort procedure, a therapist arranges a situation so that a successful experience for the client is virtually guaranteed.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A behavioral therapist wants his client to record for a week how often and under what circumstances the client bites his fingernails. The therapist is using which assessment procedure?
A) Direct observation
B) Observation by others
C) Self-report
D) Self-monitoring
Q3) In Rotter's model, a behavior potential is determined in part by
A) the estimated likelihood that the behavior will lead to reinforcement.
B) the strength of other behavior potentials.
C) whether or not the role model was rewarded.
D) the distinction between learning and performance.
Q4) Give your own example of shaping. State the circumstances under which shaping is particularly useful. Explain the meaning of behavior therapy and discuss the basic operant conditioning procedures typically used in it.
Page 15
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Chapter 14: The Behavioral Social Learning Approach:
Relevant Research
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62 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) The four interrelated processes involved in observational learning of aggression are
A) attend, remember, enact, expect.
B) enact, expect, remember, imitate.
C) attend, enact, reinforce, expect.
D) repress, enable, expect, reinforce.
Q2) Which of the following has research found to be true of internals?
A) They are more likely to complete their college degree than externals.
B) They are more ambitious than externals.
C) They show higher levels of performance in the workplace.
D) All of the above
Q3) Under which of the following circumstances would we expect children to be least likely to imitate an aggressive model?
A) When the model is declared a hero and rewarded.
B) When they see the model engage in justified aggression.
C) When the model is punished for aggressive behavior.
D) When the child sees a behavior the child likes.
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Chapter 15: The Cognitive Approach: Theory, Application, and Assessment
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55 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Participants in one study were asked to respond with a yes or no to questions on a series of words. When later asked to recall as many of the words as possible, participants recalled words best when they had been asked,
A) "Is the word printed in big letters?"
B) "Does it rhyme with another word?"
C) "Does it mean the same as another word?"
D) "Does it describe you?"
Q2) Which of the following was advocated by George Kelly?
A) People are largely controlled by the environmental stimuli they encounter.
B) People are motivated to make sense out of all the stimuli that impinge on them.
C) People are happier when they accept that life is full of unexpected turns and surprises.
D) Most of what determines our behavior is not readily accessible to consciousness.
Q3) The approach of self-discrepancy theory proposes
A) the actual self is different from one's self-concept.
B) there are three different representations of the self.
C) the internal self and external self are the same.
D) all of the above
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Chapter 16: The Cognitive Approach: Relevant Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) The cognitive approach to personality suggests that negative thoughts can A) be a symptom of depression.
B) cause depression.
C) be the result of changes in brain receptors.
D) be more slowly processed.
Q2) Studies find that women tend to recall more information about ____________ than do men.
A) American history
B) emotional experiences
C) their childhood
D) important issues
Q3) Which of the following have researchers found about negative cognitive style?
A) It is related to depression.
B) Processing filters out positive information.
C) It tends to identify one's problems with specific events.
D) It is a form of negative reinforcement.
Q4) People processing information through a negative schema have greater access to depressing memories.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 17: General Questions
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Q1) Behaviorists argue that many of our seemingly irrational fears are the result of A) inadequate construct systems.
B) conditioning.
C) innate reflexes.
D) unconscious forces.
Q2) Which theorist's ideas about personality were probably influenced by the theorist's personal experiences with social inequality?
A) Jung
B) Horney
C) Murray
D) Bandura
Q3) Many researchers have examined achievement behavior by looking at A) responses from the presentation of TAT cards.
B) the words people recall from a list.
C) number of years of education.
D) how people react to failure.
Q4) If the humanistic approach to personality is the "third force" in American psychology, what were the first and second forces? Carefully contrast these "forces" by emphasizing their similarities and differences in theory, application, and assessment.
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