Psychology

Chapter 17. Self and Personality Textbook Solutions

NIOS Class 12 Psychology Chapter 17 Answers

INTEXT QUESTIONS 17.1

Fill in the blanks:

i. Self develops because of child’s ……………………………………………with others.

Ans: Interactions

ii. These concepts of self are either ……………………….. or ……………………………

Ans: Positive, Negative

iii. The core concept is called ………………………………………………………………….

Ans: Self-concept

iv. Self-esteem is evaluation of self as ………………………..or …………………………

Ans: Positive, Negative

v. Self-efficacy is related to …………………………………………………………………………

Ans: Initiative

vi. Self-concept develops from……………………………………………….

Ans: Childhood

vii. Feedback from …………….., ……………….and ……………..determines self-concept.

Ans: Parents, siblings, and friends

viii. ………………………..helps in development of positive self-concept.

Ans: Positive, Feedback

ix. Even your ……………………….. and ……………………….. affect your self-concept.

Ans: Teachers and classmates/friends

INTEXT QUESTIONS 17.2

i. Explain the meaning of personality.

Ans: Personality is our unique ways of behaving in different situations, such as being excited, joyful, warm, or friendly, etc.

ii. Why do psychologists study personality?

Ans: Knowing the personalityof people enables us to predict their behaviour in different situations. The purpose of studying personality is to understand how it develops in a certain way. This knowledge would help us plan experiences that would facilitate change in a positive direction.

iii. Fill in the blanks:

a. Personality is………………..,……………….. and consistent.

Ans: unique, flexible

b. Knowing personality helps us to plan ………………..experiences for individuals.

Ans: Positive

INTEXT QUESTIONS 17.3

1. Mention the different theories of personality.

Ans: Type Theories & Trait theory

2. Name at least four type theories.

Ans: Hippocrates’ theory, Kretschmer’s theory, Charak’s theory and Jung’s theory.

3. What are the different types of personality suggested by Charak?

Ans: vata, pita and kapha

4. What are the different types of traits in Allport’s theory?

Ans: Cardinal, central and secondary

5. What are the two types of traits in Cattell’s theory of personality.

Ans: Central and secondary

6. Fill in the blanks:

i. Sheldon identified the …………, ………, and …………………………..

Ans: endomorphs, ectomorphs, mesomorphs

ii. Jung identified two important types of people …………. and ………………..

Ans: Introverts, extroverts

iii. The personality test based on the Cattell’s Personality Theory is……………

Ans: 16 PF

iv. In Allport’s theory cardinal traits are the ———— feature of personality.

Ans: Defining

INTEXT QUESTIONS 17.4

i. Psychodynamic theory was first developed by………………………………………

Ans: Sigmund Freud

ii. Three main parts of the personality given in psychodynamic theory are …………,

……………………….. and ………………………….

Ans: Id, ego, superego

iii. The parents’ teaching and morals are contained in ………………………….

Ans: Super ego

iv. ………………………… is the prime motive that drives people according to psychodynamic theory of Freud.

Ans: Pleasure seeking

v. Conflicts occur because all three parts of personality try to control ………………..

Ans: Libido or energy

vi. List all the stages of development given in the Freud’s theory of personality.

Ans: Oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital

INTEXT QUESTIONS 17.5

Fill in the blanks:

1. i. The common component of Roger’s and Maslow’s theory is that humans can become what they………………………………

Ans: Want

ii. The two most important foundations of Rogers theory are role of subjective-………… and ……………..to develop.

Ans: Experience, will

iii. The main structures of personality in Roger’s theory are ………… and ……………….

Ans: Organism, self

iv. …………………………….. self is what you want to be.

Ans: Ideal

v. …………………………….. self is what you really are.

Ans: Real

vi. …………………………….. is an evaluation of various aspects of your personality.

Ans: Self-esteem

vii. Development is in a positive direction when …………….. and …………….are congruent.

Ans: Real-self, ideal-self

INTEXT QUESTIONS 17.6

i. The learning theorists believe that all behavior is due to the formation of ………….and …………… connections.

Ans: Stimulus, Response

ii. Personality consists of …………………………….

Ans: Learned Behaviour

iii. The learning of a behaviour is strengthened by…………………………….

Ans: Reward

iv. In addition to learning …………,………………..,and ………..play an important part in development of personality

Ans: Genetics and Environment

v. Social cognitive theory was developed by…………………………….

Ans: Albert Bandura

INTEXT QUESTIONS 17.7

i. The two important characteristics of personality tests are ………….. and …………….

Ans: Reliability, validity

ii. The problem with self-report inventories is about ——–, ——- and accuracy of ………………

Ans: Social desirability, rating

iii. Self-report inventories include questions about one’s own ……………………………..

Ans: Qualities

iv. MMPI contains ……………………………. items and …………………………….scales.

Ans: 567, ten

v. Cattell’s 16 PF test contains 16 …………………………….

Ans: Personality Factors

vi. Projective techniques make use of the unconscious tendency to ……….one’s own inner ……….. on others.

Ans: Project, Conflicts

vii. Word association tests isabout quality of ……………………………. to words which are presented during testing.

Ans: response

viii. TAT assesses individual response to picture cards in terms of …………, ………. and ……….

Ans: Story, result, hero(story, character, feelings)

TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1. Explain the concept of Self, self-concept, and its development.

Ans:

We describe ourselves in many ways, such as ‘I am tall’, ‘I can learn fast’ ,or ‘I am strong’, etc. There are many such ways of describing ourselves. All these descriptions together define our Self. Later, various self-descriptions such as s/he is good-looking, s/he can make others laugh, and others pay attention to him/her, and s/he is smart as a result of her parents liking her, emerge around the different domains of development like physical, academic, social, emotional, and spiritual.

However, there are certain core concepts which lie at the heart of the Self of the person, while other peripheral concepts may not be so crucial. The self-concept is constituted by those core concepts. If the core concepts are challenged, the individual is threatened and disturbed.

The self-concept constituted by the core concepts is not neutral. It is either positive or negative. Accordingly, individuals think positively or negatively about themselves. Thus, it is not easy to change either the positive or the negative self-concept.

The concept of self develops right from childhood. When parents and caregivers create a pleasant home environment, children develop positive attitudes about themselves.

2. Define self-esteem and self-efficacy.

Ans:

The overall evaluation of all aspects of Self like, like physical, emotional, social, academic, etc., is called self-esteem. Self-esteem is the sum of all the positive evaluations.
Self-efficacy is the expectation of a person about his or her capability to perform different types of tasks successfully. Self-efficacy helps a person to predict his/her success or failure in various tasks.

3. Describe the concept of personality.

Ans: When we talk about someone’s personality, we are referring to the visible characteristics of others to which we are either attracted or are not attracted, i.e., the way they appear. These are physical aspects of personality. Psychologically, personality is our unique ways of behaving in different situations, such as being excited, joyful, warm, or friendly, etc. Personality is the unique, consistent, and dynamic organization of physical and psychological characteristics of an individual. Knowing the personality of people enables us to predict their behaviour in different situations.

4. Mention the trait theories of personality.

Ans: There are several trait theories. Allport’s and Cattell’s theories are two of the important theories.

Allport’s theory – The structure and dynamics of personality: This theory distinguishes between two types of traits – one that are observable behaviours and the other that are underlying internal tendencies that produce the behaviours. The shyness comes from underlying feelings of lack of competence, confidence, and negative expectations. Thus, traits are the result of internal processes of thinking, feeling and behavioural tendencies.
Cattell’s Trait Theory – This theory slightly differs from the Allports’ theory. It assumes that there are central traits that each person possesses. But these traits are present in different individuals to varying degrees. There are 16 central traits which were identified from a list of 171 adjectives. Using a statistical procedure, a personality test was developed using these adjectives. The test is known as the 16PF questionnaire. The test yields 16 traits that are the primary factors. Besides these, other traits are acquired because of the interaction of these traits. These are called secondary traits.

5. Describe the Freud’s theory of personality and the assessment procedures.

Ans: According to Freud’s theory, people were suffering from internal conflict among their various desires and expectations. The conflict is not all conscious. Psychodynamic refers to this pull of psychological forces in different directions, which causes mental health problems. The theory is described under the following heads: structure and development.

Assessment procedures

Self-Report Inventories: These are measures which include questions about the person’s own qualities, which are to be answered by the person him/herself. These questions are related to behaviours, attitudes, beliefs, and feelings in different situations. The person taking the test is asked to rate each item with respect to him/herself.
Projective Techniques: These are psychological tests which are based on psychodynamic theory. These tests make use of the concept of unconscious projection, of one’s own unacceptable anxiety causing thoughts and feelings about others. The tests use unclear or vague pictures, inkblots and photographs which are presented to people with questions as to what they would see in them. The person’s unconscious thoughts and feelings are identified from their responses.

6. Name two the humanistic theories of personality and explain any one theory?

Ans: This theory is based on the fact that the subjective experience of situations is different from reality. Two humanistic theorists, Rogers and Maslow, had focused on the capability of human beings to become what they want, unlike psychoanalysts, who believe that personal development is decided during childhood. Their theories are called Rogers’ theory and Abraham Maslow’s theory.

Abraham Maslow’s theory of personality. This theory of personality, just like Rogers, believes in the strong need in the individual to grow and develop. This means that human beings have the power within them to realize the potential that they are born with. But the theory also proposes that the basic needs of the individual must be fulfilled. These needs are for food, safety, love, and self-esteem. These needs are hierarchically important for the individual. That means the first three basic needs must be fulfilled before they progress to the other higher needs.

7. What are the basic structural unit of personality in learning theory.

Ans: In learning theory, behaviour is understood as a response to a stimulus. The response is linked to the stimulus known as S-R connections. There are two kinds of responses: those genetically embedded in the individuals’ reflexes, and the others are learned during development. In this theory, the role of genetics and environment is prominent, but the individuals’ own inner thoughts and feelings are not given any importance.

8. Explain the social-cognitive theory.

Ans: Albert Bandura, known as a social-cognitive learning theorist, suggested the role of observation and attention in learning. He highlighted the role of modelling, our own cognitions or thoughts, and social context in learning.

According to him, people learn by seeing others do certain actions. For example, when you see others begin preparation for an examination, you too start thinking about your own studies and preparation.
The role of self-efficacy, or the beliefs about one’s own ability to successfully perform certain actions, also plays an important role in learning. Those students who believe they will be able to get through the exams put in hard work, whereas those who think they will not pass stay distracted.
The third aspect, which is a social context or environmental support, is also considered important. The expectations and support of the parents or teachers facilitate learning and performance.

9. Explain self-report means of assessment.

Ans: Self-Report Inventories are measures which include questions about the person’s own qualities, which are to be answered by the person him/herself. These questions are related to behaviours, attitudes, beliefs, and feelings in different situations. The person taking the test is asked to rate each item with respect to him/herself. The ratings have to be given on traits like aggressiveness, shyness, seriousness, etc, in various situations. People must answer on a rating scale of ‘1to 5’, if the trait or quality mentioned in the question/item describes them.

10. Describe any one Projective tests of assessment.

Ans: Word association test is a clinical diagnostic tool, though it is used along with other projective techniques.

It uses a hundred stimulus words to be presented to the person and asks him/her to say the first word that comes to their mind as quickly as possible.
These words are neutral.
The time taken by the person to give the word in response to stimulus words is noted, and the answers are recorded.
These records provide clues to the personality of the person.
It is also used to identify progress in therapy.
The responses that are normal are known, and the responses that deviate from these indicate the nature of the problem.
Long reaction time, feelings accompanying the response, and inability to give a response indicate the problem, and the efforts to block the normal responses.