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Chapter 2
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES, MENTAL ABILITY,
AND PERSONALITY
Examination Questions
Multiple Choice
____ 1. The equation B = f (P x E) means that behavior is
a. governed by personal and educational factors.
b. likely to be productive in the right environment.
c. a combination of personal heredity and the environment.
d. a function of the person interacting with his or her environment.
____ 2. Which one of the following is the least likely to be a consequence of individual differences on the job?
a. People differ in productivity.
b. People differ in salary based on seniority.
c. People differ in their need for contact with each other.
d. A given leadership style does not work for all people.
____ 3. A study by a group of economists indicated that self-esteem of workers
a. contributed to productivity.
b. had a negative relationship to productivity.
c. was unrelated to wages.
d. varied directly with the self-esteem of their managers.
____ 4. A major difference in the communication styles of men and women is that men typically
a. communicate to convey information or establish status.
b. communicate to establish rapport and solve problems.
c. strive to say what others want to hear.
d. begin sentences with the word “like.”
____ 5. Which of the following generation of workers has the highest percentage of workers who are the most likely to be respectful of authority?
a. traditionalists
b. baby boomers
c. generation X
d. generation Y
____ 6. A workplace consequence noted of generational differences in values is the presence of
a. an over-reliance on harmony.
b. personality clashes.
c. traditionalists taking over most of the technology jobs.
d. labor-management disputes.
____ 7. A research study with a large number of government workers suggested that age and experience is more likely to be an asset in jobs requiring
a. considerable quantitative skill.
b. considerable qualitative skill.
c. a higher level of complexity to master.
d. a lower level of complexity to master.
____ 8. The Internet can be used to help workers with less acute memory by
a. accessing memory exercises that enhance new learning.
b. giving them an opportunity to surf, thereby relieving mental pressure.
c. enabling them to quickly access information they may have forgotten.
d. doing some of the routine work for the workers.
____ 9. Older workers, in contrast to younger workers, tend to have
a. lower job performance.
b. lower absenteeism.
c. lower job satisfaction.
d. higher illness rates.
____ 10. According to one study, when workers find other workers of demographic characteristics
similar to themselves, the workers who make the observation tend to
a. be optimistic about advancement opportunities.
b. be pessimistic about advancement opportunities.
c. think that the work environment will be highly competitive for promotions
d. think that the work environment will be almost non-competitive for promotions.
____ 11. Part of the argument that environment is a major contributor to intelligence is that
a. working in a bad job lowers your IQ.
b. the right food supplements can spike your IQ by 20 points.
c. IQs have been increasing from one generation to the next.
d. some families have smarter members than others.
____ 12. The fact that National Football League quarterbacks score higher on the Wonderlic Personnel
Test (a test of mental ability test) suggests that
a. the Wonderlic may not be an accurate measure of intelligence.
b. most NFL quarterbacks are college graduates.
c. you need a smart quarterback to have a winning season.
d. high intelligence is required to be a professional football quarterback.
____ 13. Human intelligence is composed of _____ and____ factors or components.
a. objective, subjective
b. analytical, non-analytical
c. general, specific
d. numerical, quantitative
____ 14. According to the triarchic theory of intelligence,
a. traditional intelligence is no longer so important.
b. creative thinkers lack street smarts.
c. the human brain has three centers of intelligence.
d. intelligence is composed of three different subtypes.
____ 15. You know you have good crystallized intelligence when you can
a. memorize telephone numbers faster than your peers.
b. solve problems of a practical nature based on experience.
c. score in the top ten percent on mental ability tests.
d. figure out how to install a liquid display crystal (LDC) on your computer or television receiver.
____ 16. According to the theory of multiple intelligences,
a. humans have eight separate intelligences.
b. workers must have five different forms of intelligence to succeed.
c. intelligence, motivation, and personality are closely related.
d. when workers are properly challenged, their intelligence multiplies.
____ 17. The concept of the Five Factor Model of personality factors implies that the human personality is
a. represented by five broad personality factors.
b. divided into five parts.
c. mostly formed by age five.
d. shaped by five areas of the brain.
____ 18. Bill scores high on the personality factor openness to experience. Bill is most likely
a. very conscientious.
b. agreeable in many situations.
c. emotionally stable.
d. well developed intellectually.
____ 19. Anna, who scores high on self-monitoring of behavior, attends an office party. She would be
likely to
a. act shy and withdrawn.
b. tell people what they want to hear.
c. smile frequently, but say little.
d. help with cleaning up after the party.
____ 20. Kris, a job candidate, is evaluated to have a high propensity for risk-taking and thrill seeking. Kris should be
a. automatically excluded from any job involving handling money.
b. assigned to a repetitive job like data entry.
c. assigned to a job with rapid changes and hazardous tasks.
d. given a lie-detector test before being hired.
____ 21. A consistent finding is that intelligence combined with the personality factor of ______is especially important for job performance.
a. self-monitoring of behavior
b. high neuroticism
c. agreeableness
d. conscientiousness
____ 22. As developed by the NEO Personality Inventory, each of the factors in the Five Factor model of personality consists of
a. personality traits and mental ability.
b. measurable and un-measurable sub-factors.
c. five facets or sub-factors.
d. general and specific sub-factors.
____ 23. A person with good emotional intelligence is most likely to
a. regulate emotions to enhance living.
b. avoid analytical problem solving.
c. avoid expressing sorrow or crying.
d. get depressed when faced with problems.
____ 24. Rocky, a materials manager, recently lost a big chunk of his retirement savings at a casino. He is in a bad mood, but does not let his problems interfere with treating employees decently. Rocky is most clearly demonstrating which aspect of emotional intelligence?
a. self-awareness
b. self-management
c. social awareness
d. relationship management
____ 25. An important message from the study of emotional intelligence is that
a. traditional intelligence is losing importance.
b. mentally slow people have the best chance for success.
c. the components of emotional intelligence cannot be developed.
d. both cognitive and non-cognitive skills are required for success.
True/False
____ 1. In most situations, behavior is the combined influence of the individual’s characteristics and the environmental forces.
____ 2. Individual differences have a much bigger impact on jobs of low complexity.
____ 3. The desire to be empowered is not influenced by individual differences on job performance and behavior.
____ 4. An important component of self-esteem is to believe that you can cope with the basic challenges of life.
____ 5. Based on research findings, there appear to be relatively few differences between men and women in such factors as ability and motivation that affect their job performance.
____ 6. Generational differences often influence attitudes and behavior related to work.
____ 7. In terms of generational differences, members of the baby boomer generation tend to be more tech savvy than members of Generation Y.
____ 8. Advances in technology, such as memory enhancing drugs and Internet search engines can help workers compensate for memory loss associated with age.
____ 9. Ethnic-group membership and race tend to have a bigger impact on job performance and behavior than do the culture to which the person belongs.
____ 10. In general, job satisfaction tends to be higher for employees when there are more coworkers of similar demographic characteristics.
____ 11. Memory and inductive reasoning are two examples of special factors that contribute to overall mental aptitude.
____ 12. According to the triarchic theory of intelligence, traditional intelligence interferes with the ability to solve abstract problems.
____ 13. Practical intelligence is more likely to decline with age than might analytical intelligence.
____ 14. According to the theory of multiple intelligences, people know and understand the world in distinctly different ways.
____ 15. Based on the theory of multiple intelligences, a person with outstanding musical talent would be regarded as possessing one type of multiple intelligence.
____ 16. According to the Five Factor Model of personality, five broad factors represent the basic structure of personality.
____ 17. A person with very high neuroticism is likely to be perceived as emotionally unstable.
____ 18. A low self-monitoring individual is likely to shade the truth a little to make others feel happy.
____ 19. A success factor for fork-lift truck drivers at stores like Home Depot is to score in the top ten percent for risk taking and thrill seeking.
____ 20. Workers who score high on the trait of optimism tend to have low job satisfaction because their expectations are so high.
____ 21. According to research, high self-monitors tend to receive higher performance ratings and more promotions than do their lower-scoring counterparts.
____ 22. The personality factor agreeableness consists of the five facets of trust, straightforwardness,
altruism, compliance, modesty, and tender-mindedness.
____ 23. The personality factor conscientiousness consists of the five facets of fantasy, aesthetics, feelings, action, ideas, and values.
____ 24. The ability to understand your own emotions is the most essential of the four emotional competencies in emotional intelligence.
____ 25. A key part of self-management in emotional intelligence is having the right interpersonal skills to communicate clearly and convincingly
Essay
1. Describe some of the ways in which individual differences have an impact on the behavior of workers.
2. Describe the meaning of the triarchic theory of intelligence and explain its relevance for job performance.
3. Describe how several specific personality factors could have an influence on job performance.
4. Explain the meaning of emotional intelligence, and identify several characteristics of a worker who is emotionally intelligent.