Psychology Degree Personality Psychology and Theories 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: B.F. Skinner's approach to personality holds that behavior patterns are primarily shaped by which process?
- Classical conditioning
- Observational learning
- Operant conditioning (Correct answer)
- Insight learning
Correct answer: Operant conditioning
Skinner argued that personality is largely the product of operant conditioning—behaviors reinforced by rewards are repeated, while punished behaviors are suppressed.
Question 2: In Carl Jung's analytical psychology, what is the term for the layer of the unconscious shared by all humans and containing universal archetypes?
- Personal unconscious
- Collective unconscious (Correct answer)
- Shadow self
- Anima
Correct answer: Collective unconscious
Jung proposed the collective unconscious as a psychic layer inherited by all people, containing universal archetypes such as the Hero, Shadow, and Anima.
Question 3: Which personality disorder is defined by instability in interpersonal relationships, self-image, emotions, and marked impulsivity?
- Narcissistic Personality Disorder
- Antisocial Personality Disorder
- Borderline Personality Disorder (Correct answer)
- Histrionic Personality Disorder
Correct answer: Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is characterized by emotional dysregulation, unstable relationships, identity disturbance, and chronic feelings of emptiness.
Question 4: According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, what must be true before a person can pursue self-actualization?
- Safety needs must be met
- Esteem needs must be met
- Love and belonging must be met
- All lower-level needs must be sufficiently satisfied (Correct answer)
Correct answer: All lower-level needs must be sufficiently satisfied
Maslow proposed that physiological, safety, love/belonging, and esteem needs must all be adequately met before a person can strive for self-actualization.
Question 5: Raymond Cattell's 16PF personality assessment measures personality using which methodological approach?
- Clinical interviews
- Projective testing
- Factor analysis of personality traits (Correct answer)
- Physiological measurement
Correct answer: Factor analysis of personality traits
Cattell used factor analysis to reduce hundreds of personality descriptors to 16 primary personality factors measured by the 16PF questionnaire.
Question 6: Which Freudian defense mechanism involves transforming an unacceptable impulse into its exact behavioral opposite?
- Projection
- Reaction formation (Correct answer)
- Sublimation
- Rationalization
Correct answer: Reaction formation
Reaction formation occurs when an unacceptable urge is repressed and replaced by an exaggerated expression of the opposite behavior or attitude.
Psychology Degree Personality Psychology and Theories 2
B.F.
Skinner's approach to personality holds that behavior patterns are primarily shaped by which process?