1. Chapter Fourteen Personality

2. Question
Which of the following parts of Freud’s model of the structure of personality most closely resembles what most people would call a person’s conscience? Id
Ego
Superego
Unconscious

3. Answer Choice c is correct.
The superego is created via internalizing parental and societal values. It is the component of personality that tells a person what they should and should not do. (Chapter 14, The Structure of Personality section)

4. Question
When I come home and kick the dog because I’m mad that 50% of my students failed a test, I am showing evidence of which of the following defense mechanisms?
Repression
Projection
Sublimation
Displacement

5. Answer Choice d is correct.
Displacement is demonstrated when one deflects an impulse, in this case an aggressive one, from an original target to a less threatening one. (Chapter 14, The Structure of Personality section)

6. Question
Freud suggested that the ___________ involves young boys’ sexual feelings for their mother and the desire to eliminate their father. According to Freud, this conflict arises during the ____________ stage of psychosexual development.
Oedipus complex; phallic
Oedipus complex; genital
Electra complex; anal
Electra complex; latency

7. Answer Choice a is correct.
Freud termed these impulses in little boys the Oedipus complex, based on the classical Greek play Oedipus Rex. He also suggested that such impulses play a prominent role in the phallic stage of psychosexual development, between the ages of three and five. (Chapter 14, Stages of Personality Development)

8. Question
Psychologists taking the __________ approach view personality as a combination of stable characteristics that people display over time and across different situations.
psychodynamic
trait
social-cognitive
humanistic

9. Answer Choice b is correct.
Trait theorists hold the view that personality is the construct represented by temporally and situationally consistent personal characteristics. This view stands in contrast to the other theories represented by the other answer choices. (Chapter 14, The Trait Approach section)

10. Question
A student in your class is very studious and hard working. She is never late for class and always hands in assignments on time. It is likely that she would score high on which of the following dimensions of the big-five model of personality?
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism

11. Answer Choice b is correct.
Individuals scoring high on the conscientiousness dimension would typically be described as follows: efficient, organized, reliable, thorough, dependable, and productive. These descriptors capture the essence of this student’s behavior. (Chapter 14, The Big-Five Model of Personality section)

12. Question
In the children’s story The Little Engine That Could, the little blue engine repeatedly says to himself, “I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.” Such statements seem to indicate that the little blue engine has high levels of ___________, as outlined by Albert Bandura in his social-cognitive theory of personality.
self-esteem
superego
self-efficacy
self-determinism

13. Answer Choice c is correct.
Self-efficacy involves the belief that one can successfully perform the behaviors necessary in a given situation. It is important because it affects the effort a person will expend in a given situation, a person’s persistence in the face of obstacles, and the likelihood that the individual will give up in the face of obstacles. (Chapter 14, Prominent Social-Cognitive Theories section)

14. Question
Which of the following individuals is associated with the humanistic approach to personality?
Rogers
Watson
Freud
Mischel

15. Answer Choice a is correct.
Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow are two major figures in humanistic approaches to personality. (Chapter 14, Prominent Humanistic Theories section)

16. Question
When we raise concerns about a personality test’s ___________, we are concerned that it may not measure what it is purported to measure.
objectivity
standardization
reliability
validity

17. Answer Choice d is correct.
Validity is concerned with the degree to which a measure actually measures what it was designed to measure. Reliability, in contrast, is concerned with the stability or consistency of results from a measure. (Chapter 14, Assessing Personality section)

18. Question
Which of the following is a prototypical example of an objective personality test?
MMPI-2
TAT
Rorschach
WAIS

19. Answer Choice a is correct.
The MMPI-2 is an objective personality test that includes clear, specific questions to which the test-taker responds. It stands in contrast to projective tests, such as the TAT and the Rorschach, which ask the test-taker to provide responses to ambiguous stimuli, such as pictures and inkblots. (Chapter 14, Objective Personality Tests section)

20. Question
You go to see a new psychologist. As part of the intake process, she shows you a series of cards with inkblots on them. It appears that she is giving you the ____________ and that she takes a(n) ___________ approach to personality assessment.
Thematic Apperception Test; objective
MMPI-2; projective
Rorschach Inkblot Test; projective
State-Trait Test; objective

21. Answer Choice c is correct.
The Rorschach Inkblot Test is a projective personality test that features a series of ten inkblots to which the examinee must respond. Such projective techniques are based on the assumption that unconscious needs, motives, fantasies, and conflicts will shape an individual’s responses to ambiguous test stimuli, such as inkblots. (Chapter 14, Projective Personality Tests section)

22. Question
One criticism of projective personality tests is that such tests have relatively weak __________ in comparison to objective personality tests.
sampling
reliability
validity
reliability and validity

23. Answer Choice d is correct.
Overall, projective personality tests are substantially less reliable and valid than objective tests. (Chapter 14, Projective Personality Tests section)