PSY 370 EXAM 1 QUESTIONS & VERIFIED ANSWERS
In personality psychology, we focus on everything ____ the skin. It is all on the ____
level and reveals the traits of a human being that are relatively enduring. - Answers -
Inside; individual
Personality affects your ____ and is measured across ____ and ____. - Answers -
Outcomes; time; situations
Traits vs. States - Answers - Traits are different from states because they are long-
lasting. Traits persist, states come & go. Ex. A state of panic doesn't mean you're
always panicked.
Traits - Answers - Adjectives. Ex. shy (dimensions from low to high with variations).
There is the assumption that each trait is present in all people, just at different levels.
Behavioral tendencies - Answers - Actions or observable habits, sometimes performed
automatically, that reduce information load and are highly predictable. Basically, how
people tend to behave. Ex. is this person talkative or outgoing? Compared to others,
that's just how they averagely are. They have these outgoing tendencies more than the
average person.
Mechanisms - Answers - Differences in how people perceive or react to opportunities or
threats. What you perceive affects behavioral outcomes and traits. We control which
environments we select ourselves into, where we can even modify ourselves or adapt to
them.
Personality influences on our interactions with our environments: - Answers - 1.
Perceptions
2. Selection
3. Evocations
4. Manipulations
1. Perceptions - Answers - Two people see different things... ex. someone smiling can
be seen as warm OR creepy.
2. Selection - Answers - Places we chose to go, the people we see, and the jobs we
take. These choices are influenced by personality.
3. Evocations - Answers - Reactions we evoke in others. Our behavior illicits different
reactions which allows our personality to construct our own environment. Ex. a crazy
child might evoke surrounding adults to calm the child. Ex. 2: People who go into a
situation thinking it will be hostile invokes hostility itself, even if it's not deliberate.
, 4) Manipulations - Answers - Deliberately evoking ex. sweet talk
Debate of number of personality traits - Answers - Are there 100s or just a few?
How are traits organized? What are their origins? What are the correlations and
consequences of traits? - Answers - Some say traits are related, some say they're
independent. Nature v nature debate - debate on how we inherit traits. Some question if
consciousness affects job performance and if thrill-seekers and junkies experience the
consequences on their traits.
Description vs. Prediction vs. Explanation - Answers - Description - describe what
happened
Prediction - predict things that haven't happened yet (ex. thrill seeker tendencies to
skydive)
Explanation - the goal of science "why does trait A predict trait B" all are cause and
effect variables
All 3 levels of personality analysis have been labeled the "_____ __ _______" -
Answers - Study of personality
1. Human Nature (all) - Answers - Studies how people are ALL the same. ex. Sigmund
freud - laws
2. Individual and group differences - MODERN (some) - Answers - Gender, SES... the
general variation in human characteristics based on personality
3. individual uniqueness (none) - Answers - everyone is different
All 3 levels of personality analysis are types of ______ - Answers - Questions
Nomothetic research vs. Idiographic - Answers - Nomothetic (Traits)
a. more talked about
b. uses statistics
c. assumes everyone has some level of a trait but it varies generally
Idiographic
a. assume each person is free standing
b. case studies
c. doesn't compare people
Grand theories vs. contemporary research - Answers - Grand theories attempt to
provide a universal account of the core of human nature
In personality psychology, we focus on everything ____ the skin. It is all on the ____
level and reveals the traits of a human being that are relatively enduring. - Answers -
Inside; individual
Personality affects your ____ and is measured across ____ and ____. - Answers -
Outcomes; time; situations
Traits vs. States - Answers - Traits are different from states because they are long-
lasting. Traits persist, states come & go. Ex. A state of panic doesn't mean you're
always panicked.
Traits - Answers - Adjectives. Ex. shy (dimensions from low to high with variations).
There is the assumption that each trait is present in all people, just at different levels.
Behavioral tendencies - Answers - Actions or observable habits, sometimes performed
automatically, that reduce information load and are highly predictable. Basically, how
people tend to behave. Ex. is this person talkative or outgoing? Compared to others,
that's just how they averagely are. They have these outgoing tendencies more than the
average person.
Mechanisms - Answers - Differences in how people perceive or react to opportunities or
threats. What you perceive affects behavioral outcomes and traits. We control which
environments we select ourselves into, where we can even modify ourselves or adapt to
them.
Personality influences on our interactions with our environments: - Answers - 1.
Perceptions
2. Selection
3. Evocations
4. Manipulations
1. Perceptions - Answers - Two people see different things... ex. someone smiling can
be seen as warm OR creepy.
2. Selection - Answers - Places we chose to go, the people we see, and the jobs we
take. These choices are influenced by personality.
3. Evocations - Answers - Reactions we evoke in others. Our behavior illicits different
reactions which allows our personality to construct our own environment. Ex. a crazy
child might evoke surrounding adults to calm the child. Ex. 2: People who go into a
situation thinking it will be hostile invokes hostility itself, even if it's not deliberate.
, 4) Manipulations - Answers - Deliberately evoking ex. sweet talk
Debate of number of personality traits - Answers - Are there 100s or just a few?
How are traits organized? What are their origins? What are the correlations and
consequences of traits? - Answers - Some say traits are related, some say they're
independent. Nature v nature debate - debate on how we inherit traits. Some question if
consciousness affects job performance and if thrill-seekers and junkies experience the
consequences on their traits.
Description vs. Prediction vs. Explanation - Answers - Description - describe what
happened
Prediction - predict things that haven't happened yet (ex. thrill seeker tendencies to
skydive)
Explanation - the goal of science "why does trait A predict trait B" all are cause and
effect variables
All 3 levels of personality analysis have been labeled the "_____ __ _______" -
Answers - Study of personality
1. Human Nature (all) - Answers - Studies how people are ALL the same. ex. Sigmund
freud - laws
2. Individual and group differences - MODERN (some) - Answers - Gender, SES... the
general variation in human characteristics based on personality
3. individual uniqueness (none) - Answers - everyone is different
All 3 levels of personality analysis are types of ______ - Answers - Questions
Nomothetic research vs. Idiographic - Answers - Nomothetic (Traits)
a. more talked about
b. uses statistics
c. assumes everyone has some level of a trait but it varies generally
Idiographic
a. assume each person is free standing
b. case studies
c. doesn't compare people
Grand theories vs. contemporary research - Answers - Grand theories attempt to
provide a universal account of the core of human nature
