PSY255 - Chpts 7-8

Which of the following assumptions underlies the trait approach to personality?

•          A.  Each person belongs in one and only one personality category.
•          B.  We can place a person somewhere along a continuum of behaviors.
•          C.  People in one personality category are distinctly different from people in other categories.
•          D.  Personality can change as a function of the situation the person is in.

The trait approach views personality traits as relatively stable.

• True
• False

The trait approach takes a _______ perspective.

• absolute
• relative
• situational
• individual

Trait theory is most useful as:

• A framework for measuring personality in research
• A means of helping people through therapy
• A comprehensive theory of human behavior
• A means of understanding personality formation

Who started the trait perspective?

• Gordon Allport
• Raymond Catell
• Carl Jung
• Henry Murray

According to Allport, what are the few, but important traits that characterize people.

• Cardinal
• Central
• Peripheral
• Secondary

Niccolo Machiavelli's Machiavellianism is an example of a:

• Cardinal Trait
• Central Trait
• Secondary Trait
• Primary Trait

Studying people as "groups" or "types" is to use the ______ approach.

• trait
• nomothetic
• idiographic
• morphogenic

Gordon Allport preferred the ____ approach.

• nomothetic
• idiographic
• psychoanalytic
• individualistic

To study the combination of trait processes that form the unique personality of a particular individual is to use the:

• nomothetic approach
• idiographic approach
• individualistic approach
• trait approach