WGU D564 |1
WGU D564 — THEORIES OF PERSONALITY | STUDY
GUIDE | LATEST UPDATE 2026/2027 | PRACTICE
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS | EXAM PREP.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction to Personality: Description, Dynamics, and Development
2. Sigmund Freud: Psychoanalytic Theory
3. Carl Jung: Analytical Psychology
4. Alfred Adler: Individual Psychology
5. Karen Horney: Neo-Freudian Theory
6. Erik Erikson: Psychosocial Development
7. Trait Theory: Allport, Eysenck, and the Big Five
8. Humanistic Theory: Maslow and Rogers
9. Social-Cognitive Theory: Bandura, Mischel, and Rotter
10. Behavioral and Learning Approaches
11. Personality Assessment and Research Methods
12. Applications and Integration of Personality Theories
, WGU D564 |2
Question 1: A personality theorist who focuses on how an individual's characteristic patterns
of behavior are influenced by unconscious conflicts and early childhood experiences is
operating from which perspective?
A) Trait perspective
B) Humanistic perspective
C) Psychodynamic perspective
D) Social-cognitive perspective
Correct Answer: C) Psychodynamic perspective
The psychodynamic perspective, pioneered by Sigmund Freud, emphasizes the role of
unconscious conflicts, drives, and early childhood experiences in shaping personality. This
contrasts with trait, humanistic, and social-cognitive perspectives, which focus on different
explanatory factors.
Question 2: In personality psychology, the "three Ds" refer to description, development, and
which of the following?
A) Diagnosis
B) Dynamics
C) Deviance
D) Disposition
Correct Answer: B) Dynamics
The "three Ds" of personality are description (how people differ from one another), dynamics
(the motivations and processes that drive behavior), and development (how personality
changes over the lifespan). Dynamics are the "gears" behind thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Question 3: A researcher who compares many people on a few numerical scores, making it
difficult to understand any one person in depth, is using which approach?
A) Idiographic approach
B) Nomothetic approach
C) Typological approach
D) Clinical approach
Correct Answer: B) Nomothetic approach
, WGU D564 |3
The nomothetic approach compares individuals based on a limited set of quantitative
dimensions, allowing broad generalizations across populations. The idiographic approach, in
contrast, focuses on the unique, in-depth study of a single individual.
Question 4: A personality test that places individuals into distinct categories (e.g., introvert
vs. extravert) with no partial memberships is using which approach?
A) Trait approach
B) Type approach
C) Factor approach
D) Dimensional approach
Correct Answer: B) Type approach
The type approach categorizes people into discrete groups, meaning each person belongs to
one category with no partial membership. Trait and dimensional approaches, by contrast,
score individuals on continuous scales.
Question 5: According to Freud's structural model of personality, which component operates
entirely in the unconscious and is driven by the pleasure principle?
A) Ego
B) Superego
C) Id
D) Persona
Correct Answer: C) Id
The id is the primitive, entirely unconscious component of personality that operates on the
pleasure principle, seeking immediate gratification of basic drives. The ego operates on the
reality principle, and the superego represents internalized moral standards.
Question 6: In Freudian theory, which component of personality develops to mediate between
the demands of the id, the superego, and external reality?
A) Id
B) Ego
C) Superego
D) Libido
, WGU D564 |4
Correct Answer: B) Ego
The ego is the rational, reality-oriented component of personality that develops to balance
the instinctual demands of the id, the moral restrictions of the superego, and the constraints
of the external world.
Question 7: A client who is overly rigid, moralistic, and guilt-ridden may have an
overdeveloped which component of Freud's structural model?
A) Id
B) Ego
C) Superego
D) Libido
Correct Answer: C) Superego
An overly strict superego leads to excessive guilt, rigidity, and moralistic behavior. The
superego represents internalized parental and societal standards of right and wrong.
Question 8: According to Freud, which defense mechanism involves pushing threatening
impulses or memories into the unconscious?
A) Projection
B) Repression
C) Displacement
D) Rationalization
Correct Answer: B) Repression
Repression is the primary defense mechanism in Freudian theory, involving the unconscious
exclusion of threatening or unacceptable thoughts, memories, and impulses from awareness.
Question 9: A man who is angry at his boss but yells at his spouse instead is using which
defense mechanism?
A) Sublimation
B) Projection
C) Displacement
D) Denial
Correct Answer: C) Displacement
WGU D564 — THEORIES OF PERSONALITY | STUDY
GUIDE | LATEST UPDATE 2026/2027 | PRACTICE
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS | EXAM PREP.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction to Personality: Description, Dynamics, and Development
2. Sigmund Freud: Psychoanalytic Theory
3. Carl Jung: Analytical Psychology
4. Alfred Adler: Individual Psychology
5. Karen Horney: Neo-Freudian Theory
6. Erik Erikson: Psychosocial Development
7. Trait Theory: Allport, Eysenck, and the Big Five
8. Humanistic Theory: Maslow and Rogers
9. Social-Cognitive Theory: Bandura, Mischel, and Rotter
10. Behavioral and Learning Approaches
11. Personality Assessment and Research Methods
12. Applications and Integration of Personality Theories
, WGU D564 |2
Question 1: A personality theorist who focuses on how an individual's characteristic patterns
of behavior are influenced by unconscious conflicts and early childhood experiences is
operating from which perspective?
A) Trait perspective
B) Humanistic perspective
C) Psychodynamic perspective
D) Social-cognitive perspective
Correct Answer: C) Psychodynamic perspective
The psychodynamic perspective, pioneered by Sigmund Freud, emphasizes the role of
unconscious conflicts, drives, and early childhood experiences in shaping personality. This
contrasts with trait, humanistic, and social-cognitive perspectives, which focus on different
explanatory factors.
Question 2: In personality psychology, the "three Ds" refer to description, development, and
which of the following?
A) Diagnosis
B) Dynamics
C) Deviance
D) Disposition
Correct Answer: B) Dynamics
The "three Ds" of personality are description (how people differ from one another), dynamics
(the motivations and processes that drive behavior), and development (how personality
changes over the lifespan). Dynamics are the "gears" behind thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Question 3: A researcher who compares many people on a few numerical scores, making it
difficult to understand any one person in depth, is using which approach?
A) Idiographic approach
B) Nomothetic approach
C) Typological approach
D) Clinical approach
Correct Answer: B) Nomothetic approach
, WGU D564 |3
The nomothetic approach compares individuals based on a limited set of quantitative
dimensions, allowing broad generalizations across populations. The idiographic approach, in
contrast, focuses on the unique, in-depth study of a single individual.
Question 4: A personality test that places individuals into distinct categories (e.g., introvert
vs. extravert) with no partial memberships is using which approach?
A) Trait approach
B) Type approach
C) Factor approach
D) Dimensional approach
Correct Answer: B) Type approach
The type approach categorizes people into discrete groups, meaning each person belongs to
one category with no partial membership. Trait and dimensional approaches, by contrast,
score individuals on continuous scales.
Question 5: According to Freud's structural model of personality, which component operates
entirely in the unconscious and is driven by the pleasure principle?
A) Ego
B) Superego
C) Id
D) Persona
Correct Answer: C) Id
The id is the primitive, entirely unconscious component of personality that operates on the
pleasure principle, seeking immediate gratification of basic drives. The ego operates on the
reality principle, and the superego represents internalized moral standards.
Question 6: In Freudian theory, which component of personality develops to mediate between
the demands of the id, the superego, and external reality?
A) Id
B) Ego
C) Superego
D) Libido
, WGU D564 |4
Correct Answer: B) Ego
The ego is the rational, reality-oriented component of personality that develops to balance
the instinctual demands of the id, the moral restrictions of the superego, and the constraints
of the external world.
Question 7: A client who is overly rigid, moralistic, and guilt-ridden may have an
overdeveloped which component of Freud's structural model?
A) Id
B) Ego
C) Superego
D) Libido
Correct Answer: C) Superego
An overly strict superego leads to excessive guilt, rigidity, and moralistic behavior. The
superego represents internalized parental and societal standards of right and wrong.
Question 8: According to Freud, which defense mechanism involves pushing threatening
impulses or memories into the unconscious?
A) Projection
B) Repression
C) Displacement
D) Rationalization
Correct Answer: B) Repression
Repression is the primary defense mechanism in Freudian theory, involving the unconscious
exclusion of threatening or unacceptable thoughts, memories, and impulses from awareness.
Question 9: A man who is angry at his boss but yells at his spouse instead is using which
defense mechanism?
A) Sublimation
B) Projection
C) Displacement
D) Denial
Correct Answer: C) Displacement
