Quiz — Chapter 8: Personality
25 questions. Multiple choice unless otherwise indicated. Answers with explanations at the end.
1. Which of the following is NOT part of the definition of personality as used in scientific psychology?
a) Characteristic patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior b) Relatively stable across time and situations c) Permanent and completely resistant to change d) Distinguishing individuals from one another
2. The Big Five personality model is also known as:
a) The Myers-Briggs Inventory b) The Five-Factor Model (FFM) c) The HEXACO system d) The Temperament Index
3. Which Big Five trait is the strongest single predictor of occupational achievement and academic performance?
a) Openness to Experience b) Extraversion c) Conscientiousness d) Agreeableness
4. A person who is high in Neuroticism would be expected to:
a) Be energized by social situations b) Experience frequent negative emotions and emotional reactivity c) Show strong creativity and aesthetic appreciation d) Display manipulative interpersonal behavior
5. The assertion that introversion is the same as shyness is:
a) Supported by most personality research b) A false equivalence — shyness involves anxiety; introversion involves preference for less stimulation c) True for introverts with high agreeableness d) True only for people who score below 30 on the Extraversion scale
6. Which of the following is a major scientific criticism of the MBTI?
a) It has too many possible type classifications (16 is too many) b) It does not measure the Neuroticism dimension c) Test-retest reliability is poor — a significant proportion of people receive a different type when retested weeks later d) It was developed before the Big Five was established
7. The MBTI treats personality dimensions as:
a) Continuous spectra b) Binary categories (e.g., either Introvert or Extravert) c) Hierarchical, with some traits more important than others d) Culturally relative and not universally applicable
8. Thomas and Chess's New York Longitudinal Study identified three broad categories of infant temperament. Which of the following is NOT one of them?
a) Easy b) Difficult c) Slow-to-warm-up d) Agreeable
9. The concept of "goodness of fit" in temperament research refers to:
a) How well an individual's personality matches their job description b) The match between a child's temperament and their caregiving environment c) The compatibility between two partners' Big Five profiles d) How well a personality assessment predicts real-world behavior
10. Jerome Kagan's research on behavioral inhibition found that:
a) Highly inhibited children consistently became introverts as adults b) Behavioral inhibition in early childhood is associated with increased risk of anxiety disorders, though the relationship is not deterministic c) Inhibited temperament was completely overridden by parenting style d) Behavioral inhibition was unrelated to later personality traits
11. The "maturity principle" in personality research refers to:
a) The idea that personality is fully fixed by age 30 b) The finding that personality cannot change without professional intervention c) The pattern of increasing conscientiousness and agreeableness, and decreasing neuroticism, as people age across adulthood d) The theoretical principle that traits should be measured in adulthood, not childhood
12. Hudson and Fraley's research on deliberate personality change found that:
a) Personality cannot be deliberately changed through effort alone b) People who set intentions to change Big Five traits showed more change than controls, particularly for extraversion and conscientiousness c) Only therapy, not self-directed effort, produces meaningful personality change d) Personality change was only possible for people below age 25
13. Why might the chapter suggest focusing on specific behavioral change rather than attempting direct trait change?
a) Traits are completely immutable, so behavioral change is the only option b) Behavioral change is more tractable — specific habits are easier to modify than underlying trait tendencies c) Traits are irrelevant; only behavior matters d) Trait change is too rapid and unpredictable to control
14. Research on self-reports of personality versus external behavioral observation finds that:
a) People's self-reports are accurate and fully capture their personality b) People systematically rate themselves lower than they deserve c) People tend to rate themselves more favorably and have systematic blind spots, particularly about negative traits d) Self-reports and behavioral observation are completely uncorrelated
15. The most robust research finding on partner selection ("assortative mating") suggests that:
a) Opposites attract — people systematically seek partners who are very different from them b) People select partners who are similar to them on personality dimensions, particularly agreeableness and conscientiousness c) Personality is irrelevant to partner selection; appearance and status are the only predictors d) People select partners who complement their weaknesses
16. Which personality trait is the strongest predictor of relationship satisfaction and stability?
a) Conscientiousness (negatively) b) Openness to Experience c) Neuroticism d) Agreeableness
17. The Dark Triad consists of:
a) Introversion, neuroticism, and low conscientiousness b) Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy c) Aggression, impulsivity, and low empathy d) Antisocial personality, borderline traits, and histrionic traits
18. What do the three Dark Triad traits have in common?
a) All are highly heritable and unresponsive to environment b) All are associated with low agreeableness, manipulative orientation, and harm to others c) All three are classified as mental disorders in the DSM d) All three primarily affect women more than men
19. The HEXACO model of personality differs from the Big Five by:
a) Reducing the number of factors to four b) Adding a sixth factor: Honesty-Humility c) Replacing Neuroticism with Emotional Stability d) Including cognitive ability as a personality dimension
20. Cross-cultural research on the Big Five has found:
a) The five-factor structure only holds in Western, English-speaking cultures b) Each of the five factors has unique meaning in each culture, making comparison impossible c) The five-factor structure has been found across dozens of cultures, with some variation in factor structure and meaning d) Only Extraversion and Conscientiousness replicate cross-culturally
21. A person who scores very high on Agreeableness might struggle with:
a) Relating to others empathically b) Following through on commitments c) Asserting their own needs and setting limits in relationships d) Abstract thinking and creativity
22. According to the chapter, the relationship between temperament and personality is best described as:
a) Temperament is personality — the two terms are interchangeable b) Temperament is the biologically based foundation from which personality develops; temperament constrains but does not fully determine adult personality c) Personality is fixed before birth; temperament is what changes in response to environment d) Temperament refers to emotional style only; personality refers to cognitive style only
23. Heritability estimates for Big Five traits are approximately:
a) 10–20% b) 20–30% c) 40–60% d) 80–90%
24. Psychopathy, as a component of the Dark Triad, is best described as:
a) A categorical diagnosis that someone either has or doesn't have b) Synonymous with criminal behavior c) A spectrum dimension characterized by lack of empathy, interpersonal callousness, and impulsivity d) Primarily a cognitive disorder rather than a personality dimension
25. (Short answer) Describe the difference between personality and self-concept, and explain why this distinction matters practically. (3–5 sentences)
Answer Key
1. c — The definition specifies relative stability, not perfect or permanent stability. Personality is stable but changes across the lifespan and can change deliberately.
2. b — The Big Five is also called the Five-Factor Model (FFM). HEXACO is a related but distinct framework.
3. c — Conscientiousness is the single strongest personality predictor of occupational achievement and academic performance. This is one of the most replicated findings in personality psychology.
4. b — High Neuroticism is associated with proneness to negative emotions (anxiety, worry, irritability, sadness) and emotional reactivity. The other options describe Extraversion (a), Openness (c), and Dark Triad traits (d).
5. b — Introversion and shyness are distinct constructs. Introversion is a preference for lower stimulation; shyness involves social anxiety and fear of negative evaluation. An introvert may be socially comfortable — they simply prefer less of it.
6. c — Poor test-retest reliability is a core scientific criticism: substantial proportions of respondents receive different type classifications when retested weeks later. Options (a) and (b) are not standard criticisms; (d) describes historical order, not a scientific criticism.
7. b — The MBTI places people into one of two categories on each dimension (I/E, S/N, T/F, J/P), treating dimensions as binary. The Big Five treats them as continuous spectra.
8. d — Thomas and Chess's three categories were: easy, difficult, and slow-to-warm-up (plus a mixed category). "Agreeable" is a Big Five dimension, not a temperament category.
9. b — Goodness of fit refers to the match between a child's temperament and their caregiving environment. Poor fit (e.g., a "difficult" infant with a rigid, low-patience caregiver) predicts worse developmental outcomes.
10. b — Behavioral inhibition is associated with increased risk of anxiety, but the path is not deterministic. Environmental factors (particularly sensitive parenting and graduated exposure to novelty) substantially moderate the risk.
11. c — The maturity principle describes normative personality changes across adulthood: increasing conscientiousness and agreeableness, decreasing neuroticism. It does not assert that personality is fixed at any age.
12. b — Hudson and Fraley found that people who set intentions to change Big Five traits showed measurably more change than controls, particularly for extraversion and conscientiousness. Change was meaningful but gradual.
13. b — Specific behavioral change is more tractable than attempting direct trait change. Traits are broad tendencies; habits are specific actions. Developing the behaviors associated with a trait (e.g., organized planning practices) is more actionable than trying to change the underlying trait.
14. c — Research consistently finds that people rate themselves more favorably on personality dimensions than behavioral observation supports, and have systematic blind spots about negative traits. Self-reports are informative but imperfect.
15. b — Assortative mating — selecting partners similar to oneself — is the most robust finding. The "opposites attract" hypothesis is not well-supported by research.
16. c — Neuroticism is the strongest Big Five predictor of relationship satisfaction and stability. High neuroticism predicts more frequent negative emotional experiences, more reactive conflict, and lower relationship satisfaction.
17. b — The Dark Triad consists of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. The other options mix unrelated constructs.
18. b — The Dark Triad traits share low agreeableness, manipulative interpersonal orientation, and association with harm to others. They are not mental disorders (c); they affect men more on average (d is false); and heritability studies show variation (a is too absolute).
19. b — The HEXACO model adds a sixth factor, Honesty-Humility (characterized by fairness, sincerity, modesty, and greed-avoidance), to the basic five.
20. c — The five-factor structure has been replicated across dozens of cultures in large-scale studies, making it one of the most cross-culturally robust findings in personality psychology. There is some variation in factor meaning and structure, but the broad framework replicates.
21. c — Very high agreeableness is associated with difficulty asserting one's own needs, chronic conflict avoidance, and susceptibility to exploitation. The trait is generally adaptive at moderate-to-high levels but becomes a liability at extremes.
22. b — Temperament is the biologically based, early-appearing foundation from which personality develops across childhood and adolescence. It constrains the range of likely personality outcomes but does not determine them.
23. c — Heritability estimates for Big Five traits are typically in the 40–60% range across twin and adoption studies. This indicates substantial genetic contribution while leaving considerable room for environmental influence.
24. c — Psychopathy is a spectrum dimension (not categorical) characterized by lack of empathy, interpersonal callousness, and impulsivity. It is associated with (but not equivalent to) criminal behavior, and is not primarily a cognitive disorder.
25. (Model answer) Personality refers to the characteristic patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior that are actually exhibited — what can be observed and measured through behavior and external report. Self-concept is how a person understands and describes themselves — the internal story about who they are. The two are correlated but not identical: people tend to rate themselves more favorably than observers rate them and have blind spots about negative traits. This matters practically because relying only on self-concept may produce a misleadingly flattering picture; seeking external feedback provides information about personality as actually expressed that self-report misses.