Chapter 8 Test Bank Docx Personality and Coping

CHAPTER 8

PERSONALITY AND COPING

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Chapter 8 is divided into four main sections which cover the topics of personality and coping. The first section reviews the approaches used to investigating personality by first explaining that personality is a complex construct that includes how we view others, how they view us, and how we view ourselves. This is followed by a brief discussion of how the cross-sectional and longitudinal research designs that were introduced in Chapter 2 could be applied to the study of personality

The second section of the chapter covers approaches that have been used to measure personality. The self-report method is the most common and entails using a set of oral questions or a written questionnaire. The latter can be given to large groups but relies on respondents’ honesty. With projective measures individuals respond to ambiguous stimuli and it is assumed that by doing so they will reveal something about their personality, although responses may be difficult to interpret. A third method is behavioral observation either in naturalistic settings or under controlled conditions.

The third section of the chapter covers normative models of personality. The following stage models and related concepts relevant to personality in older adulthood are described in detail: Jung, Erikson, Peck’s necessary adjustments in old age, Butler’s concept of life review, and McAdams’s life story model. These stage models and related concepts are followed by a different approach to the study of personality, which has been taken by researchers such as Costa and McCrae, who propose a Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality. This model is described and the results of studies based on this model are discussed. This is followed by a discussion of how nonscientists (lay individuals) view personality, both their own and that of others. This section includes a description of the stereotypes people hold about personality in older adulthood.

The fourth section looks at personality from the vantage point of individual differences in coping and adjustment. This includes a discussion of how people view themselves (self-concept) and what they think they will be like in the future (possible selves). Possible selves motivate behavior that helps individuals realize what they hope for and avoid what they fear. In this vein, people can adopt coping strategies that help them maintain the desired aspects of their self-concept as well as cope with information and events that challenge concepts they have about themselves. These strategies include assimilation, accommodation, and immunization. Self-esteem is the evaluative aspect of self-concept.

With regard to perceptions about personal control, there has been a great deal of speculation whether age-related changes occur over the adult life span. A recent model of coping and control (strength and vulnerability integration, or SAVI) proposes there are both age-related gains (strengths) and age-related losses (vulnerabilities) when it comes to dealing with stress. Coping may depend on the level of stress experienced. Sense of personal control could affect older adults’ motivation to control their health outcomes. It is commonly thought that because people experience more losses as they get older, older adults have a greater sense of external control as opposed to internal control. However, most available data on community-living older adults do not substantiate an age-related increase in external control. Even so, several studies on institutionalized older adults, who presumably have very little control over their environment, indicate that assigning them control over some aspect of their daily lives (e.g., taking care of a plant or making a decision on when or for how long they wish to have visitors) has a beneficial effect on their psychological well-being. The concepts of primary and secondary control are one further way of conceptualizing how individuals cope with various circumstances and events as they proceed from young to older adulthood. Primary control processes, which are similar to assimilation, are actions and behaviors that influence, shape, and change the environment. Secondary control processes, which are similar to accommodation, involve altering goals and expectations to be more in line with realities that cannot be changed. One model calls for the optimization of primary and secondary control (OPS) over the adult life span, which means that especially in older adulthood, individuals should cope with changing circumstances by adjusting their expectations and selectively concentrating their efforts at primary control on goals that are age-appropriate and likely to be attainable.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES

The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging

www.grc.nia.nih.gov/branches/blsa/blsanew.htm

This website provides an overview and introduction to the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging (BLSA), which is being conducted by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Links on this website lead to recent information and publications related to the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality and other publications relative to the study.

Five Factor Model of Personality

Searching the internet with the term “Five Factor Model” yields a large number of entries. Some are publications based on this model. Others offer sample tests that can be taken.

Aging, Stress, and Coping

Searching the internet with the terms “Aging Stress Coping” yields a large number of entries, many of which are publications on this topic.

MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS

Select the best answer from the options provided.

1. A cross-sectional research study on personality would __________.

a. compare the personality characteristics of individuals in two or more age groups

b. compare the personality characteristics of the same people over time

c. compare the personality characteristics of one sample of older adults with those of another sample of sample of older adults ten years later

d. compare the personality of same-aged individuals in various parts of the world

2. In studying personality, which type of research design would interview a sample of individuals who are age 70 in the year 2000 and interview the same people again in 2010 when they are 80?

a. Cross-sectional

b. Longitudinal

c. Sequential

d. Time lag

3. An advantage to studying personality by following the same individuals over time is being able to detect changes within each person.

a. True

b. False

4. Self-report personality inventories __________________.

a. can be given to large numbers of people

b. are always given orally

c. are more objective than behavioral measures of personality

d. All of the above

5. Which type of personality measure asks people to respond to ambiguous stimuli?

a. Self-report measures

b. Behavioral observation

c. Projective measures

d. Case studies

6. According to theorist Carl Jung, there is an emphasis in older adulthood on_________.

a. meeting the demands of the external world

b. devoting time to the inner self

c. making investments in new relationships

d. focusing on same-sex gender identity

7. According to theorist Carl Jung, men (and women) have both masculine and feminine aspects to their personalities. In young adulthood, men suppress the feminine aspects, but as they move toward late adulthood, they are less likely to suppress the feminine aspects. This means that men who were very aggressive and achievement-oriented in young adulthood may become more expressive and nurturing later on.

a. True

b. False

8. Which of the following is (are) assumptions of Erikson’s theory of personality?

a. Stages follow in sequential order

b. Each stage has a central unique challenge

c. Both of the above

d. Neither of the above

9. Erik Erikson ___________________.

a. is considered a stage theorist

b. emphasizes that development comes to a close in middle adulthood

c. is totally focused on psychosexual development

d. believes that masculinity and femininity are the only important aspects of personality

10. Erik Erikson’s 7th stage of development is ________________.

a. ego integrity versus despair

b. generativity versus stagnation

c. intimacy versus isolation

d. identity versus role confusion

11. If individuals resolve the psychosocial challenge of middle adulthood successfully, Erikson believes they are graced with the virtue of __________.

a. Love

b. Wisdom

c. Care

d. Beauty

12. Which of the following is NOT one of Peck’s necessary adjustments in old age?

a. Ego differentiation versus work-role preoccupation

b. Ego transcendence versus ego preoccupation

c. Body transcendence versus body preoccupation

d. Preoccupation with the past versus planning the future

13. According to Butler, life review _________________.

a. should be discouraged in older adults

b. is a purposive process

c. often leads to depression

d. is a sign of dementia

14. A study by Wong and Watt found that the reminiscences of older adults who had been categorized as “unsuccessful agers” contained themes that ____________.

a. were instrumental

b. showed persistent unresolved feelings

c. were integrative

d. All of the above

15. According to McAdams’s life story model, ________________.

a. all individuals tell a common story regardless of their cultural environment

b. people are concerned with their own needs and do not care about future generations

c. individuals construct a personal myth to make sense of their lives

d. people tend to emphasize the negative aspects of their lives as they get older

16. Which of the following is NOT one of the factors in Costa and McCrae’s Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality?

a. Empathy

b. Conscientiousness

c. Agreeableness

d. Neuroticism

17. According to research by Mroczek and his colleagues, which of the following is (are) associated with earlier mortality?

a. Being low on neuroticism

b. Being low on extraversion

c. Being low on conscientiousness

d. All of the above.

18. Which statement is the most accurate description of Costa & McCrae’s Five-Factor Model of personality?

a. Personality undergoes growth and change over the adult years.

b. Personality traits influence how people adapt to the aging process.

c. People go through a well-defined psychosocial crisis in middle age.

d. The timing of nonnormative events is the most important influence on adult development.

19. Costa and McCrae are _______ Erikson to believe that there is a mid-life crisis.

a. more likely than

b. less likely than

c. equally likely compared to

20. Costa and McCrae’s Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality ____________.

a. does not generalize across cultures

b. emphasizes the stability of personality dimensions over time

c. emphasizes that personality differs considerably in young and older adulthood

d. maintains that absolute scores on the five personality dimensions stay exactly the same as people go from young to middle to older adulthood

21. Heckhausen and Krueger asked young, middle-aged, and older adult study participants whether they thought desirable traits would increase (gains) and whether undesirable traits would increase (losses) over the adult years (20s through the 80s). They found that study participants thought ______________.

a. losses would outnumber gains over the adult years

b. there would be the same number of gains and losses over the adult years

c. gains would outnumber losses over the adult years

22. Hummert and her colleagues found that stereotypes that people have about older adults are ____.

a. all negative (e.g., bitter, inflexible)

b. all positive (e.g., dignified, wise)

c. a mixture of negative and positive

23. Slotterback studied young adults’ perceptions of a typical 22-, 41-, or 69-year old target person at the present time, in the past, or in the future, and found that ________.

a. chronological age was the only factor that influenced their views of a target’s personality

b. cohort membership was the only factor that influenced their views of a target’s personality

c. both chronological age and cohort membership influenced their views of a target’s personality

d. neither chronological age or cohort membership influenced their views of a target’s personality

24. Bargh and his colleagues found that compared to young adults who unscrambled a set of neutral words, young adults who unscrambled words that are stereotypically associated with older adulthood walked more slowly after completing the task. They concluded that this was an example of _______________.

a. internal control

b. immunization

c. secondary processes

d. implicit priming

25. Lichtenstein and colleagues found that middle-school age children have a uniformly negative view when asked to describe a typical older person.

a. True

b. False

26. Self-concept refers to what we think about ourselves, whereas self-esteem refers to how we feel about ourselves.

a. True

b. False

27. Possible selves ______________.

a. refer to future selves

b. can be either hoped-for or feared

c. are cognitive schemas that motivate a great deal of our behavior

d. All of the above

28. A coping strategy that has been termed “tenacious goal pursuit” is ________.

a. assimilation

b. accommodation

c. immunization

d. secondary control

29. Juan is 67 years old and he thinks it is important to be physically fit. Since he retired at age 65, he prides himself on his daily 3-mile jog around a lake. Lately, his knees have been bothering him and he cannot keep up with his jogging pals. Juan is forced to substitute walking for jogging, but he has refined his definition of physical fitness as being able to walk three miles each day. Which of the following coping strategies is Juan using?

a. Remediation

b. Assimilation

c. Immunization

d. Accommodation

30. Accommodation ___________________.

a. involves intentional actions and efforts

b. involves flexible goal adjustment

c. is most effective when a person’s self-concept is not complex

d. shields the individual from information that conflicts with the self-concept

31. Norman considers himself to be an excellent tennis player. He has been playing on the most competitive team in his retirement community. Lately, however, he has not been playing as well, but he attributes his poor showing to the deteriorating condition of the tennis courts. Which coping strategy is Norman using?

a. Remediation

b. Assimilation

c. Accommodation

d. Immunization

32. An individual who says, “Whatever happens will happen. It is just a matter of chance and fate” is best described as a person who is __________.

a. high in external locus of control

b. high in primary control

c. high in self-efficacy

d. high in use of an immunizing coping strategy

33. According to the strength and vulnerability integration model (SAVI), older adults are best able to use their ability to regulate their emotions when stressors create a high level of physiological arousal.

a. True

b. False

34. Compared to older adults with a low sense of personal control, older adults with a high sense of personal control are ______ to watch their diet, exercise, and take prescribed medications.

a. more likely

b. less likely

c. equally likely

35. In studies that compared young adults and community-living older adults on measures of personal control, older adults are always lower than young adults are on measures of internal locus of control.

a. True

b. False

36. Placing a plant in nursing home residents’ rooms and instructing them to take charge of the plant’s care has _______.

a. a negative effect on their sense of well-being

b. no effect on their sense of well-being. well-being

c. a positive effect on their sense of well-being

37. Primary control processes involve _____, whereas secondary control processes involve _________________.

a. changing the environment; altering goals and expectations

b. changing the environment; giving up a goal and leaving everything to fate or chance

c. making drastic changes in the environment; making smaller changes in the environment

d. accommodative processes; assimilative processes

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

1. What two dimensions of personality did Jung refer to and what did he have to say about adult development for each one?

men become more accepting of their nurturing tendencies and women of their assertive tendencies.

2. Describe Erikson’s 8th and final stage of development that coincides with older adulthood.

3. Briefly describe McAdams’s life story model

4. According to Robert Peck, what are three necessary adjustments in old age?

5. What are the factors in Costa and McCrae’s Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality? Briefly describe the developmental course of these factors over the adult life span?

6. Define the concept of possible selves and describe what is found to be most important for older adults’ possible selves.

7. Strength and vulnerability integration (SAVI) is a recent theory that tries to explain how older adults cope with stress in order to maintain a high level of well-being. What are the aspects of this theory, and what does it predict about how older adults deal with moderate and high stress situations?

8. With regard to the self-concept, what is the meaning of the terms assimilation and accommodation?

9. What is meant by internal control and external control, and what is the relationship of these two terms to aging and older adulthood?

10. What are primary control processes and secondary control processes? Describe what is meant by “optimization of primary and secondary control” in older adulthood.