1. The cognitive approach to personality …

1. focuses on the attributes that people possess
2. focuses on people’s emotional responses to situations
3. focuses on how perception and cognition are influenced by personality traits
4. focuses on processes of thinking and information processing

2. According to Skinner’s behaviourism …

1. mental processes are not a legitimate focus for scientific study
2. people’s behaviour is a result of their learning histories
3. people have collections of specific habits rather than broad traits
4. all of the above

3. According to Maslow, people …

1. have a natural tendency to self-expression
2. have a natural tendency to self-actualization
3. have a natural tendency to self-complexity
4. have a natural tendency to self-aggrandizement

4. Which of the following statements is the best definition of Rotter’s concept of locus of control?

1. The belief that the outcomes of one’s behaviour is or is not under our control
2. The belief that one is or is not responsible for the outcomes of one’s behaviour
3. The belief that one is capable of successfully carrying out a behaviour
4. The belief that one can control one’s impulsive tendencies

5. Which of the following statements best displays Albert Bandura’s concept of self-efficacy?

1. I am the greatest
2. I can do whatever I set my mind to do
3. My future is bright
4. I am my own boss

6. George Kelly argued that personal constructs are …

1. bipolar
2. hierarchical
3. categorical
4. all of the above

7. An ‘idiographic’ approach to personality maintains that …

1. personality psychology should seek generalizations about people
2. a standard set of descriptive concepts can be applied to all people
3. people should be investigated as unique individuals
4. personality research should study large samples of people

8. The psychological concept of ‘attribution’ is closest to which of the following concepts?

1. Concept
2. Explanation
3. Interpretation
4. Judgement

9. Which of the following is an external, unstable attribution for why something happened to a person?

1. Fate
2. The weather
3. Hard work
4. Bad mood

10. Which of the following statements about defensive pessimists is incorrect?

1. They hold unrealistically low expectations about how well they will perform
2. They withdraw effort from tasks on which they think they will do poorly
3. They perform just as well as optimists
4. They are motivated to minimize future disappointment

11. Which of the following forms of coping illustrates the indicated kind of coping strategy?

1. Emotion-focused: attacking a person who is making you unhappy
2. Problem-focused: recognizing that an issue is causing you difficulties
3. Emotion-focused: imagining that a problem will just go away
4. Problem-focused: actively trying to change how you feel about a stressor

12. In coping research, high ‘goodness of fit’ exists when people engage in …

1. problem-focused coping for uncontrollable stressors
2. problem-focused coping for problem-based stressors
3. emotion-focused coping for uncontrollable stressors
4. emotion-focused coping for emotion-based stressors

13. Which of the following statement is true of self-esteem?

1. Mean levels of it have been declining in recent decades
2. It is the global evaluation of the self-concept
3. It has been shown to have numerous positive effects
4. All of the above

14. Which of the following does defensive self-esteem represent?

1. Low explicit self esteem and low implicit self-esteem
2. Low explicit self-esteem and high implicit self-esteem
3. High explicit self-esteem and low implicit self-esteem
4. High explicit self-esteem and high implicit self-esteem

15. Which of the following statements about self-complexity is incorrect?

1. High self-complexity makes people more vulnerable to stressful life events
2. High self-complexity involves having more self-aspects
3. High self-complexity involves having self-aspects with little overlap
4. High self-complexity can sometimes indicate a lack of self-concept clarity