Question 1

Women but not men become increasingly conscientious with age.

Accepted Answer

Both men and women tend to become more conscientious as they age, reflecting a general trend in personality development rather than a gender-specific phenomenon.

Question 2

Evidence of trait stability indicates that environments are unimportant in development.

Accepted Answer

Trait stability refers to the consistency of an individual's traits over time, but it does not necessarily indicate that environments are unimportant in development. Both genetics and environment can influence trait stability, and environmental factors can also affect the expression of genetic traits. Thus, while trait stability suggests that individuals may have a stable disposition, it does not negate the importance of environmental influences on development.

Question 3

McCrae and Costa give equal emphasis to genes and environment.

Accepted Answer

McCrae and Costa, in their Five Factor Model of personality, emphasize the influence of biological and genetic factors on personality traits, but they do not give equal emphasis to environment; genetic heritability is often highlighted as a significant factor in their theory.

Question 4

The discovery of the basic structure of personality through the factor analysis of ratings is comparable to the methods used in physics and chemistry.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The discovery of the basic structure of...

Question 5

A problem with the five-factor model is that it shows no links with other personality concepts.

Accepted Answer

The five-factor model has been shown to have links with other personality concepts such as self-esteem, attachment styles, and emotional intelligence.

Question 6

The Big Five can usefully integrate the work of Cattell and Eysenck.

Accepted Answer

The Big Five model of personality traits, also known as the Five-Factor Model (FFM), is based on the factor analysis of various personality traits and can be seen as an integration of the work of previous psychologists, including Cattell and Eysenck. The Big Five includes the traits of openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism, which were found to be universal across cultures and have been extensively studied and validated in research. Cattell's 16PF questionnaire was also based on factor analysis, but it measured different dimensions of personality than the Big Five. Eysenck's model focused on extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism and was similar to some aspects of the Big Five, but it was not as comprehensive. Therefore, the Big Five can be seen as a useful integration of both Cattell and Eysenck's work, but it also goes beyond their models in its scope and complexity.

Question 7

The NEO-PI was specifically designed to measure the basic five factors.

Accepted Answer

The NEO-PI (NEO Personality Inventory) was specifically designed to measure the five basic factors of personality - Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness.

Question 8

Personality is more stable in adulthood than in childhood.

Accepted Answer

Studies have shown that personality traits tend to stabilize and become more consistent as individuals move into adulthood, particularly by their late 20s. While personality can still change throughout adulthood, it tends to be more stable than in childhood and adolescence.

Question 9

McCrae and Costa suggest there is an intrinsic maturation to personality.

Accepted Answer

McCrae and Costa's Five Factor Model suggests that there is an intrinsic maturation to personality, meaning that people naturally develop and change in their personality traits over time.

Question 10

According to the five-factor model, personality disorders represent pathological conditions distinct from normal personality.

Accepted Answer

According to the five-factor model, personality disorders are viewed as maladaptive variations or extremes of normal personality traits rather than entirely distinct conditions.

Question 11

Eysenck's three factors can be located in the Big Five.

Accepted Answer

Eysenck's three factors (Psychoticism, Extraversion, Neuroticism) can be mapped onto three of the Big Five traits (Emotional Stability, Extraversion, Openness). Psychoticism relates to low Emotional Stability, Extraversion maps onto Extraversion, and Neuroticism corresponds to high Emotional Stability.

Question 12

Personality trait structure in childhood is the same as in adulthood.

Accepted Answer

While there may be some consistency in personality traits between childhood and adulthood, research has shown that personality can change and develop over time. Therefore, the personality trait structure in childhood is not always the same as in adulthood.

Question 13

Proponents of the NEO-PI also advocate the use of projective tests in the study of personality.

Accepted Answer

Proponents of the NEO-PI do not advocate for the use of projective tests in the study of personality. Rather, they emphasize the importance of objective measures such as self-report questionnaires and peer evaluations.

Question 14

People become increasingly conscientious with age.

Accepted Answer

According to research, personality traits such as conscientiousness tend to increase with age. Younger individuals may be more impulsive or carefree, while older individuals tend to prioritize responsibility and duty.

Question 15

If research suggests that some traits are universal, whereas others are unique to specific
cultures, then the fundamental lexical hypothesis is completely invalid.

Accepted Answer

The fundamental lexical hypothesis proposes that basic personality traits are encoded in language and can be identified across different cultures. The fact that some traits may be universal while others may be culture-specific does not necessarily negate the hypothesis. It is still possible that there are core traits that are consistently represented across languages, even if there are culture-specific variations as well.

Question 16

Research by Twenge on historical changes in personality traits scores _____ five-factor theory.
A) supports
B) contradicts
C) is irrelevant to

Accepted Answer

The answer of Research by Twenge on historical changes in...

Question 17

According to Ashton and colleagues' analyses, what sixth factor did proponents of the Big Five miss?
A) Openness.
B) Honesty/humility.
C) Conscientiousness.
D) Psychoticism.

Accepted Answer

According to Ashton and colleagues' analyses, proponents of the Big Five missed the factor of honesty/humility. This factor was later proposed by the HEXACO model.

Question 18

The Big Five factor showing the least cross-instrument agreement is Openness.

Accepted Answer

Research studies have shown that Openness has the least cross-instrument agreement among the Big Five personality factors, which means that different methods of measuring Openness (such as self-report questionnaires, observer ratings, or physiological measures) may yield inconsistent results.

Question 19

The fundamental lexical hypothesis suggests that people basically are language oriented.

Accepted Answer

The fundamental lexical hypothesis suggests that all important personality traits are encoded in language.

Question 20

According to the Big Five, intelligence is a major component of personality.

Accepted Answer

Intelligence is not considered a component of the Big Five personality traits. The Big Five traits are openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

Quiz 8: Trait Theory: the Five-Factor Model: Applications and Evaluation of the Trait Approach