Chapter 12: A Look Toward the Future of Positive Psychology

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. The field of positive psychology was created in ______.

A. the 1960s

B. the 1970s

C. the 1980s

D. the 1990s

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: A Look Toward the Future of Positive Psychology

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Historically, researchers in the area of positive psychology have studied well-being operating from the assumption that ______ and ______ are the major criteria for understanding the good life.

A. flourishing; savoring

B. happiness; life satisfaction

C. optimism; hope

D. positive emotions; optimism

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: How Do We Recognize a Life Well Lived?

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Which of the following personality theorists posited that happiness should never be a goal, but rather a probable consequence of full involvement in life?

A. Freud

B. Kelly

C. Allport

D. Jung

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: How Do We Recognize a Life Well Lived?

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. Ken Wilbur’s theory is considered the most comprehensive ______.

A. theory of positive emotion

B. transpersonal theory of personality

C. hierarchical theory of needs

D. systems theory

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ken Wilber and Integral Psychology

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Which of the following about Ken Wilber’s theory is FALSE?

A. It is a stage theory.

B. It has been criticized for being extremely difficult to verify.

C. His model incorporates both Western and Eastern theories.

D. His most advanced stage is essentially the same as Maslow’s concept of self-actualization.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Ken Wilber and Integral Psychology

Difficulty Level: Hard

6. Dov Shmotkin’s model of subjective well-being borrowed ideas from research on ______.

A. eudaimonic theory

B. terror management theory

C. flow

D. character strengths

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Theories That Integrate Multiple Perspectives

Difficulty Level: Hard

7. Which of the following is NOT one of the concerns of the modules described by Dov Shmotkin?

A. self-awareness

B. how we report our own well-being to others

C. how much time we spend in flow

D. our narrative well-being

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Dov Shmotkin and Well-Being Modules

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. ______ use(s) unstructured or semistructured techniques to gather data.

A. Quantitative methods

B. Qualitative methods

C. Meta-analysis

D. Randomized-controlled trials

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Qualitative Research

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Of the following, who proposed a 10-stage theory that culminated with a state of spiritual well-being that leads to enlightenment or nirvana?

A. Maslow

B. Wilber

C. Allport

D. Seeman

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Ken Wilber and Integral Psychology

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. ______ argued that the holistic organization of a psychological system may be more important than the individual parts.

A. Allport

B. Wilber

C. Maslow

D. Seeman

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Personality Integration

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. According to ______, how all of the parts work together may be more important than any one element of the system.

A. transpersonal theory of personality

B. systems theory

C. the “billiard ball” model of causality

D. Western individualism

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Personality Integration

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. ______ is one of the unique aspects of a systems approach.

A. An emphasis on hedonism

B. Subjective well-being

C. Reciprocal determinism

D. An emphasis on positive emotion

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Beyond the Billiard Ball

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. In Seeman’s human system model, ______ is a function of all the subsystems acting together, rather than comprising a separate subsystem.

A. culture

B. flourishing

C. emotion

D. motivation

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Personality Integration

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. In ______, there are six subsystems: the biochemical, physiological, precognitive, cognitive, person to person, and person to environment.

A. Seeman’s model

B. the mindfulness model

C. all Western models

D. Maslow’s model

Cognitive Domain: Conceptual

Answer Location: Personality Integration

Difficulty Level: Hard

15. Which of the following is NOT a critique of the field of positive psychology?

A. It relies too much on quantitative data.

B. It does not take a developmental perspective that pays attention to the developmental paths people take as they journey through life.

C. It does not use a systems approach.

D. The perspectives of positive psychology view people too much in a holistic fashion.

Cognitive Domain: Conceptual

Answer Location: New Research Methods

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. Park (2011) noted that topics such as ______ are almost nonexistent in positive psychology. She argues that positive psychology would have more depth if such topics were addressed more fully.

A. intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

B. death and loneliness

C. eudaimonia and hedonism

D. wisdom and creativity

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Alternative Perspectives on Well-Being

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. Both Sheldon and Seeman based their perspectives on ______.

A. Freudian theory

B. systems theory

C. Eastern philosophy

D. the “Billiard Ball” model of causality

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Systems Theory

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. Qualitative methods are also called ______

A. experimental methods

B. surveys

C. meta-analytic strategies

D. constructivist research strategies

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Qualitative Research

Difficulty Level: Hard

19. ______ methods can be useful tools for examining the impact of the historical time period and the sociocultural contexts.

A. Experimental

B. Quantitative

C. Qualitative

D. Correlational

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Qualitative Research

Difficulty Level: Easy

20. According to terror management theory, our attempts to find a stable sense of well-being are motivated in part by ______.

A. our id and ego

B. fear and death anxiety

C. hedonism and egocentrism

D. a resilient personality

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Dov Shmotkin and Well-Being Modules | Integrate Positive Psychology With Psychology

Difficulty Level: Easy

True/False

1. According to Allport, happiness should never be a goal, but rather a probably consequence of full involvement in life.

Cognitive Domain: Conceptual

Answer Location: How Do We Recognize a Life Well Lived?

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Israeli psychologist, Shmotkin, has been criticized for only addressing positive emotions in his model of subjective well-being.

Cognitive Domain: Conceptual

Answer Location: Dov Shmotkin and Well-Being Modules

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Compton and Hoffman, your textbook authors, noted that Freud’s theory “is unquestionably the most comprehensive transpersonal theory of personality.”

Cognitive Domain: Conceptual

Answer Location: Ken Wilber and Integral Psychology

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Reciprocal determinism is one of the unique aspects of a systems approach.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Beyond the Billiard Ball

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. The idea of a “person” in Chinese Taoism involves multiple interdependent relationships, especially one’s relationship with family members.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Postmodern considerations

Difficulty Level: Easy

Essay

1. If a “happiness pill” became readily available, would this be the answer to helping all people experience “the good life?” In other words, would most positive psychologists be in favor of this?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: How Do We Recognize a Life Well Lived?

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. There are cross-cultural differences in the way that healthy psychological functioning is conceptualized and experienced. Drawing upon research cited in the text, how would Loreto, a Latino male, or Jasmine, a Latina female, differ from their European American counterparts in how they define well-being or feel a sense of life satisfaction.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Cross-Cultural Well-Being

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Describe one critique of research in positive psychology. In other words, what is an area that is likely to be addressed in future research.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: New Research Methods

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Explain the benefits of more qualitative research in the area of positive psychology.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Qualitative Research

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. One of the criticisms of positive psychology has been that it relies too much on North American and European research participants. Give a specific example of how research in a particular area may not generalize to other samples.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Cross-Cultural Considerations

Difficulty Level: Medium