Free Personality Theories MCQs with Answers

• A. Attain the attributes of the ought self
• B. Attain the attributes of the ideal self
• C. Reduce discrepancies between the actual self and ideal self
• D. Reduce discrepancies between the actual self and ought self
• E. All of the above

Explanation: Self-discrepancy theory proposes that people are motivated to reduce gaps between the actual self and both the ideal self and the ought…

• A. Competencies
• B. Goals and values
• C. Affects
• D. Encodings

Explanation: Encodings are the ways people selectively attend to, interpret and categorize events, thereby giving situations personal meaning.

• A. Introverts: extroverts
• B. Extroverts; introverts
• C. Similar; unique
• D. Unique; similar

Explanation: The nomothetic approach searches for general laws and shared dimensions across people, so it emphasizes similarity.

• A. Research as shown monozygotic twins to have much more similar personality traits than dizygotic twins
• B. Both adoption studies and twin studies are consistent with a genetic influence on personality
• C. Adoption studies have shown that environment plays no part in the development of personality
• D. Children who are genetically more active and impulsive can cause their parents to be more responsive to their needs than other children

Explanation: Adoption findings do not show that environment has no role; they generally indicate both genetic and environmental influences on…

• A. Traits are descriptors used to label personality
• B. Sheldon (1974) categorized people according to four body types
• C. Modern theorists view traits as discrete rather than continuous entities
• D. According to trait theorists, categorizing people into separate groups of 'sociable' versus 'unsociable' is extremely useful

Explanation: Traits are descriptive labels for relatively consistent personality characteristics.

• A. Forthright-shrewd
• B. Placid-Neurotic
• C. Undisciplined-controlled
• D. Tough-minded-tender-minded

Explanation: Cattell's 16PF includes dimensions such as forthright–shrewd, undisciplined–controlled, and tough-minded–tender-minded.

• A. Openness
• B. Anxiety
• C. Extraversion
• D. Agreeableness

Explanation: The five-factor model contains openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

• A. 1 & 2
• B. 3 & 4
• C. 1 & 3
• D. 2 & 4

Explanation: Kelly developed personal construct theory to explain how people interpret and anticipate the world, and it does not rank them on fixed…

• A. Allport
• B. Rogers
• C. Freud
• D. Cattell

Explanation: Raymond Cattell developed the 16 Personality Factor model by identifying 16 underlying trait dimensions.

• A. Oral
• B. Anal
• C. Phallic
• D. Latency

Explanation: Freud linked oral fixation with mouth-related habits and adult characteristics such as overeating, nail-biting, smoking, and sarcastic or…

• A. At an early oral stage children usually start to explore their environment but experience control and discipline from their parents
• B. Fixation at the anal stage results in children deriving pleasure in adulthood from activities such as overeating, smoking, drinking and kissing
• C. At the genital stage children discover pleasure from touching their genitals
• D. During the latency period sexual impulses are rechanneled into activities such as sport, learning and social activities

Explanation: Freud proposed that during latency, sexual energy is largely redirected into learning, sports, friendships, and other socially acceptable…

• A. Present a positive and optimistic view of human behaviour
• B. Regard people as victims of their unconscious motivations and conflicts
• C. Place an emphasis on individual experiences, relationships and ways of understanding the world
• D. Are based on beliefs that everyone's experience is unique, and that he individual's perception of the world is critical to their understanding and behaviour

Explanation: Humanistic theories stress growth, choice, unique experience, and a basically positive view of people.

• A. environmental influences
• B. biological influences
• C. one's perception of the environment
• D. collective unconscious

Explanation: In this definition, personality is shaped by how a person perceives and interprets the environment, not merely by the environment itself.

• A. The concept of unconscious mental processes is the idea that unconscious motivations and needs have a role in determining or behaviour
• B. The concept of unconscious mental processes emphasizes the rational aspects of human behaviour
• C. A psychogenetic model of development shows how the mind is organized
• D. A topographic model of the psyche shows how personality develops

Explanation: Freud’s unconscious-process concept holds that motives and needs outside awareness can influence behaviour.

• A. strong feelings of self-efficacy
• B. a sense of superiority
• C. strong feelings of self-esteem
• D. strong defense mechanisms

Explanation: Self-efficacy is confidence in one’s ability to perform a particular task successfully, which fits Irving’s confidence about his course.

• A. the humanistic approach
• B. the psychoanalytic approach
• C. Skinner's approach
• D. the behavioral approach

Explanation: The humanistic approach gives the greatest emphasis to free will, personal choice, and self-directed growth, so it is least deterministic.

• A. the failure of parents to reinforce healthy behavior
• B. a poor self-concept resulting from excessive parental demands
• C. unconscious and unresolved sexual conflicts rooted in childhood experiences
• D. the exposure of children to unhealthy role models

Explanation: Freud linked many personality disturbances to unconscious conflicts, especially unresolved psychosexual conflicts originating in…

• A. his ego
• B. his superego
• C. his id
• D. Bacchus

Explanation: The id follows the pleasure principle and seeks immediate gratification of basic urges.

• A. displacement
• B. reaction formation
• C. identification
• D. replacement

Explanation: Displacement involves redirecting an emotion from its threatening source to a safer target, such as transferring anger from a boss to…

• A. physical gratification
• B. existential anxiety
• C. striving for superiority
• D. the need for power

Explanation: Adler viewed striving for superiority, or progress toward competence and significance, as the central motivating force.