Test Bank For
Personality Psychology Understanding Yourself and Others, 3rd Edition Jean M.
Twenge W Keith Campbell
Chapter 1-15
Multiple Choice Questions
1. How do psychologists define personality?
a. enduring characteristics shown by the majority of human beings
b. a person‘s patterns of responsiveness that vary across similar situations
c. a person‘s usual pattern of behavior, feelings, and thoughts
d. the unfolding of genetic tendencies toward action
Answer: c
Difficulty Level: Easy
Topic: Defining Personality
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
APA Learning Objective: 1.1 Describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes in psychology.
2. What does the phrase ―usual pattern of behavior‖ mean?
a. Behavior characterizes how most people respond to a given situation.
b. A person reports that she or he experiences the same emotions most of the time.
c. Behavior is regulated by brain activity and genetic tendencies.
d. A person acts consistently across time or across situations.
Answer: d
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Topic: Defining Personality
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
APA Learning Objective: 1.2 Develop a working knowledge of psychology‘s content domains.
3. Ingo has felt anxious and nervous when he‘s been asked to speak in public. Given that these feelings are part
of his personality, what is Ingo most likely to say when he‘s invited to address members of the Moose Lodge at
their upcoming luncheon?
a. ―I‘d really rather not; thanks all the same.‖
b. ―Sounds great; I‘m really looking forward to it!‖
c. ―Would you like me to prepare notes ahead of time or speak extemporaneously?‖
d. ―Sure, I‘ll give it a try.‖
Answer: a
Difficulty Level: Easy
Topic: Defining Personality
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
APA Learning Objective: 1.3 Describe applications of psychology.
,4. Personality reflects shared human tendencies, but how are these tendencies typically conceptualized?
a. as a part of our evolutionary heritage, honed to a common point over time
b. as individual differences that vary from person to person
c. as internal workings of human nature that cannot be measured
d. as core traits that are exhibited to the same degree across people
Answer: b
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Topic: Defining Personality
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Analyze It
APA Learning Objective: 2.1 Use scientific reasoning to interpret psychological phenomena.
5. What limitation applies to most theoretical systems of personality?
a. Personality has proven to be impossible to measure.
b. No personality system can capture all the unique differences among people.
c. It has been difficult to identify a core set of personality dimensions.
d. Personality is, by definition, an unconscious process.
Answer: b
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Topic: Defining Personality
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
APA Learning Objective: 1.2 Develop a working knowledge of psychology‘s content domains.
6. How is personality shaped?
a. through a combination of genetic tendencies and environmental influences
b. through a person‘s conscious decision-making during the first two years of life
c. haphazardly, through a sequence of random events a person might experience
d. by a process of reward and punishment introduced early in life
Answer: a
Difficulty Level: Easy
Topic: Defining Personality
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
APA Learning Objective: 1.1 Describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes in psychology.
7. Where do the historical roots of personality psychology begin?
a. the mental testing movement of the late 1800s
b. the investigations of Sir Francis Galton
c. ancient Greek and Roman philosophy and medicine
d. sociological theories of the 1930s
Answer: c
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Topic: The Story of Personality Psychology
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
APA Learning Objective: 1.1 Describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes in psychology.
,8. What metaphor did Plato use to describe the struggle between passion and reason?
a. an architect designing a complex structure
b. a chariot driver guiding two horses
c. a bull and an ox pulling in opposite directions
d. a still lake disrupted by ripples from a stone
Answer: b
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Topic: The Story of Personality Psychology
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
APA Learning Objective: 1.1 Describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes in psychology.
9. Where do the roots of the modern trait approach to personality begin?
a. Henry Murray‘s approach to understanding motivation
b. Carl Jung‘s psychodynamic view of the self
c. James Cattell‘s early work on mental testing
d. Hippocrates‘s and Galen‘s idea of ―humors‖
Answer: d
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Topic: The Story of Personality Psychology
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
APA Learning Objective: 1.1 Describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes in psychology.
10. Which example represents the assessment and measurement root of personality psychology?
a. administering a test of extraversion to a large group of people
b. proposing a set number of traits that define the entirety of personality
c. developing a personality theory based on people‘s unconscious impulses
d. drawing conclusions about personality dimensions based on works of fiction by great authors
Answer: a
Difficulty Level: Easy
Topic: The Story of Personality Psychology
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
APA Learning Objective: 1.3 Describe applications of psychology.
11. What question would a trait theorist be most likely to ask?
a. ―Why are thoughts and behaviors a product of momentary experiences?‖
b. ―What are the unconscious drives that motivate human behavior?‖
c. ―How do situational constraints influence behavior?‖
d. ―Which core personality dimensions determine individual differences?‖
Answer: d
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Topic: The Story of Personality Psychology
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
APA Learning Objective: 1.3 Describe applications of psychology.
, 12. How is the psychodynamics root of personality psychology represented?
a. through objectively quantifying terms such as trait or goal
b. in the development of objective measures of personality traits
c. by acknowledging unconscious drives and impulses that influence thought and behavior
d. through an exhaustive catalog of needs that are expressed in human behavior
Answer: c
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Topic: The Story of Personality Psychology
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
APA Learning Objective: 1.2 Develop a working knowledge of psychology‘s content domains.
13. Why is the study of the self important to personality psychology?
a. The ―self‖ is an unconscious ideal and therefore contributes to the psychodynamic approach.
b. This area of investigation examines questions of identity.
c. Selves and traits can be used as interchangeable terms.
d. The study of the self allowed personality psychology to become a quantitative science.
Answer: b
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Topic: The Story of Personality Psychology
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Analyze It
APA Learning Objective: 2.1 Use scientific reasoning to interpret psychological phenomena.
14. At its core, what does personality psychology deal with?
a. how social settings determine the actions a person takes
b. ways to apply basic scientific insights to the concerns of everyday life
c. fundamental questions about who we are and how we got that way
d. whether human nature is better characterized as a process of stability or a process of change
Answer: c
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Topic: Personality Psychology as a Hub Field
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Analyze It
APA Learning Objective: 2.1 Use scientific reasoning to interpret psychological phenomena.
15. What is meant when psychology is called a ―hub‖ field?
a. It is an area of study that links and unifies other areas of study.
b. ―Hub‖ fields attract a small number of researchers investigating a single, highly focused topic.
c. It is a field of inquiry that is tangential to other major, more substantial fields.
d. ―Hub‖ fields represent areas of study that have reached a theoretical dead end.
Answer: a
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Topic: Personality Psychology as a Hub Field
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
APA Learning Objective: 1.2 Develop a working knowledge of psychology‘s content domains.
Personality Psychology Understanding Yourself and Others, 3rd Edition Jean M.
Twenge W Keith Campbell
Chapter 1-15
Multiple Choice Questions
1. How do psychologists define personality?
a. enduring characteristics shown by the majority of human beings
b. a person‘s patterns of responsiveness that vary across similar situations
c. a person‘s usual pattern of behavior, feelings, and thoughts
d. the unfolding of genetic tendencies toward action
Answer: c
Difficulty Level: Easy
Topic: Defining Personality
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
APA Learning Objective: 1.1 Describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes in psychology.
2. What does the phrase ―usual pattern of behavior‖ mean?
a. Behavior characterizes how most people respond to a given situation.
b. A person reports that she or he experiences the same emotions most of the time.
c. Behavior is regulated by brain activity and genetic tendencies.
d. A person acts consistently across time or across situations.
Answer: d
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Topic: Defining Personality
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
APA Learning Objective: 1.2 Develop a working knowledge of psychology‘s content domains.
3. Ingo has felt anxious and nervous when he‘s been asked to speak in public. Given that these feelings are part
of his personality, what is Ingo most likely to say when he‘s invited to address members of the Moose Lodge at
their upcoming luncheon?
a. ―I‘d really rather not; thanks all the same.‖
b. ―Sounds great; I‘m really looking forward to it!‖
c. ―Would you like me to prepare notes ahead of time or speak extemporaneously?‖
d. ―Sure, I‘ll give it a try.‖
Answer: a
Difficulty Level: Easy
Topic: Defining Personality
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
APA Learning Objective: 1.3 Describe applications of psychology.
,4. Personality reflects shared human tendencies, but how are these tendencies typically conceptualized?
a. as a part of our evolutionary heritage, honed to a common point over time
b. as individual differences that vary from person to person
c. as internal workings of human nature that cannot be measured
d. as core traits that are exhibited to the same degree across people
Answer: b
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Topic: Defining Personality
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Analyze It
APA Learning Objective: 2.1 Use scientific reasoning to interpret psychological phenomena.
5. What limitation applies to most theoretical systems of personality?
a. Personality has proven to be impossible to measure.
b. No personality system can capture all the unique differences among people.
c. It has been difficult to identify a core set of personality dimensions.
d. Personality is, by definition, an unconscious process.
Answer: b
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Topic: Defining Personality
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
APA Learning Objective: 1.2 Develop a working knowledge of psychology‘s content domains.
6. How is personality shaped?
a. through a combination of genetic tendencies and environmental influences
b. through a person‘s conscious decision-making during the first two years of life
c. haphazardly, through a sequence of random events a person might experience
d. by a process of reward and punishment introduced early in life
Answer: a
Difficulty Level: Easy
Topic: Defining Personality
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
APA Learning Objective: 1.1 Describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes in psychology.
7. Where do the historical roots of personality psychology begin?
a. the mental testing movement of the late 1800s
b. the investigations of Sir Francis Galton
c. ancient Greek and Roman philosophy and medicine
d. sociological theories of the 1930s
Answer: c
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Topic: The Story of Personality Psychology
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
APA Learning Objective: 1.1 Describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes in psychology.
,8. What metaphor did Plato use to describe the struggle between passion and reason?
a. an architect designing a complex structure
b. a chariot driver guiding two horses
c. a bull and an ox pulling in opposite directions
d. a still lake disrupted by ripples from a stone
Answer: b
Difficulty Level: Difficult
Topic: The Story of Personality Psychology
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
APA Learning Objective: 1.1 Describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes in psychology.
9. Where do the roots of the modern trait approach to personality begin?
a. Henry Murray‘s approach to understanding motivation
b. Carl Jung‘s psychodynamic view of the self
c. James Cattell‘s early work on mental testing
d. Hippocrates‘s and Galen‘s idea of ―humors‖
Answer: d
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Topic: The Story of Personality Psychology
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
APA Learning Objective: 1.1 Describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes in psychology.
10. Which example represents the assessment and measurement root of personality psychology?
a. administering a test of extraversion to a large group of people
b. proposing a set number of traits that define the entirety of personality
c. developing a personality theory based on people‘s unconscious impulses
d. drawing conclusions about personality dimensions based on works of fiction by great authors
Answer: a
Difficulty Level: Easy
Topic: The Story of Personality Psychology
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
APA Learning Objective: 1.3 Describe applications of psychology.
11. What question would a trait theorist be most likely to ask?
a. ―Why are thoughts and behaviors a product of momentary experiences?‖
b. ―What are the unconscious drives that motivate human behavior?‖
c. ―How do situational constraints influence behavior?‖
d. ―Which core personality dimensions determine individual differences?‖
Answer: d
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Topic: The Story of Personality Psychology
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
APA Learning Objective: 1.3 Describe applications of psychology.
, 12. How is the psychodynamics root of personality psychology represented?
a. through objectively quantifying terms such as trait or goal
b. in the development of objective measures of personality traits
c. by acknowledging unconscious drives and impulses that influence thought and behavior
d. through an exhaustive catalog of needs that are expressed in human behavior
Answer: c
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Topic: The Story of Personality Psychology
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
APA Learning Objective: 1.2 Develop a working knowledge of psychology‘s content domains.
13. Why is the study of the self important to personality psychology?
a. The ―self‖ is an unconscious ideal and therefore contributes to the psychodynamic approach.
b. This area of investigation examines questions of identity.
c. Selves and traits can be used as interchangeable terms.
d. The study of the self allowed personality psychology to become a quantitative science.
Answer: b
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Topic: The Story of Personality Psychology
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Analyze It
APA Learning Objective: 2.1 Use scientific reasoning to interpret psychological phenomena.
14. At its core, what does personality psychology deal with?
a. how social settings determine the actions a person takes
b. ways to apply basic scientific insights to the concerns of everyday life
c. fundamental questions about who we are and how we got that way
d. whether human nature is better characterized as a process of stability or a process of change
Answer: c
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Topic: Personality Psychology as a Hub Field
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Analyze It
APA Learning Objective: 2.1 Use scientific reasoning to interpret psychological phenomena.
15. What is meant when psychology is called a ―hub‖ field?
a. It is an area of study that links and unifies other areas of study.
b. ―Hub‖ fields attract a small number of researchers investigating a single, highly focused topic.
c. It is a field of inquiry that is tangential to other major, more substantial fields.
d. ―Hub‖ fields represent areas of study that have reached a theoretical dead end.
Answer: a
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Topic: Personality Psychology as a Hub Field
Learning Objective: 1.1 Define personality and describe its history and scope.
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
APA Learning Objective: 1.2 Develop a working knowledge of psychology‘s content domains.
