Free Personality Theories MCQs with Answers

209 Personality Theories MCQs from Psychology, each with the correct answer and a written explanation of why it is correct. Free and unlimited, with no account needed.

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209 questions · page 4 of 11

  • A. category used to describe personality
  • B. interrelated system of concepts used to explain personality
  • C. relatively permanent set to behavior patterns
  • D. subjective evaluation of person

Explanation: A personality theory is an organized, interrelated system of concepts that describes and explains how personality develops and functions.

Correct answer: interrelated system of concepts used to explain personality
  • A. an overpowering superego
  • B. an unrestrained id
  • C. dominance of the pleasure principle
  • D. balance among mental processesCounseling Services

Explanation: Freud considered mental health to depend on a workable balance among the id, ego, and superego.

Correct answer: balance among mental processesCounseling Services
  • A. fixation
  • B. imitation
  • C. observation
  • D. identification

Explanation: Identification occurs when a child internalizes the values, attitudes, and behaviors of the same-sex parent after resolving the Oedipal or…

Correct answer: identification
  • A. hostile generous, or destructive impulses arise in the unconscious
  • B. personality is a acquired through conditioning and observational learning
  • C. personality is strongly influenced by one's self image
  • D. personality develops from initial feelings of inferiority

Explanation: Behaviorists explain personality as a set of learned behavior patterns shaped by conditioning and observational learning.

Correct answer: personality is a acquired through conditioning and observational learning
  • A. boring
  • B. ineffective
  • C. dull
  • D. arrogant

Explanation: Excessively high self-esteem can become an inflated or unrealistic sense of worth, expressed as arrogance.

Correct answer: arrogant
  • A. it emphasized the negative dimensions of personality
  • B. it is research rather than experience oriented
  • C. its concepts are imprecise and difficult to study objectively
  • D. its approach is more empirical than philosophical

Explanation: Humanistic concepts such as self-actualization and the fully functioning person are difficult to define and measure objectively, which is…

Correct answer: its concepts are imprecise and difficult to study objectively
  • A. persona
  • B. collective consciousness
  • C. archetypes
  • D. mandalas

Explanation: Jung called universal, culturally recurring patterns such as the mother, hero, and shadow archetypes.

Correct answer: archetypes
  • A. MMPI-2
  • B. Rorschach
  • C. NEO-PI
  • D. TAT

Explanation: The Rorschach uses ambiguous inkblots and asks what the person perceives in them, making it a projective personality test.

Correct answer: Rorschach
  • A. her hereditary aspects of one's emotional nature
  • B. unique and enduring behavior patterns
  • C. favorable and unfavorable personal characteristics
  • D. charisma, character, or temperament

Explanation: Personality is the relatively stable pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that makes an individual distinctive.

Correct answer: unique and enduring behavior patterns
  • A. id-fixated
  • B. archetypical
  • C. an erogenous zone
  • D. a source for modeling

Explanation: Freud proposed that each psychosexual stage centers on a different erogenous zone, such as the mouth in the oral stage and the genitals in…

Correct answer: an erogenous zone
  • A. avoid the use of punishment
  • B. exhibit unconditional love toward the child
  • C. create an atmosphere of intellectual stimulation
  • D. present physical challenges to ensure healthy growth

Explanation: Rogers argued that children develop healthily when they receive unconditional positive regard, meaning love and acceptance that do not…

Correct answer: exhibit unconditional love toward the child
  • A. rationalization
  • B. fantasy
  • C. projection
  • D. displacement

Explanation: Rationalization is creating plausible excuses to protect oneself from the uncomfortable truth of failure, as in blaming sore eyes, an…

Correct answer: rationalization
  • A. MMPI-2
  • B. NEO-PI
  • C. BFQ
  • D. TAT

Explanation: The MMPI-2, NEO-PI, and BFQ use standardized, structured items that can be scored objectively.

Correct answer: TAT
  • A. latency
  • B. phallic
  • C. oral
  • D. anal

Explanation: The phallic stage, occurring roughly from ages three to six, is the stage in which Freud proposed the Oedipus or Electra conflicts and…

Correct answer: phallic
  • A. Piaget
  • B. Freud
  • C. Rorschach
  • D. Jung

Explanation: Hermann Rorschach developed the inkblot technique that bears his name. Piaget studied cognitive development, Freud developed…

Correct answer: Rorschach
  • A. never experience a phallic stage of development
  • B. suffer an Electra complex
  • C. often experience learned helplessness
  • D. have weak superegos

Explanation: Horney rejected Freud’s claim that women develop weaker superegos because they do not experience the same castration anxiety as boys.

Correct answer: have weak superegos
  • A. fixation
  • B. reciprocal determinism
  • C. an external locus of control
  • D. the self-reference phenomenon

Explanation: In Freud’s theory, unresolved conflicts can trap psychological energy at a developmental stage, producing fixation.

Correct answer: fixation
  • A. rationalization
  • B. reaction formation
  • C. regression
  • D. projection

Explanation: Regression means reverting to behavior characteristic of an earlier developmental stage when under stress, such as throwing a childlike…

Correct answer: regression
  • A. the collective unconscious
  • B. reciprocal determinism
  • C. the preconscious
  • D. primeval consciousness

Explanation: Jung proposed that the collective unconscious contains inherited, universal archetypes that can appear in myths and artistic images across…

Correct answer: the collective unconscious
  • A. Sixteen Personality Factor (16 PF) naira
  • B. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
  • C. Rorschach test
  • D. Edwards Personal Preference schedule

Explanation: The Thematic Apperception Test uses ambiguous scenes, often involving people, and asks the person to create stories about their actions…

Correct answer: Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)