Question

1.Answer each of the following questions (4 POINT EACH)

A. Identify and briefly describe the five factors that make up the Big Five Model, and then identify the trait approach that this model falls within.

B. Explain each side of the Person-Situation Debate (i.e., provide the main argument from each side of the debate). Describe the interactionist point of view in this debate as well.

Answer 1

A. The five factors in the big five model of personality traits are as follows:

1. Openness to experience - People that score high in this factor are creative, artistic, imaginative, and curious and those who score low are conventional, uncreative nonconforming, and down to earth.
2. Conscientiousness - High scorers are organized, reliable, ambitious, and neat. Low scorers are lazy, unreliable, negligent, careless, and spontaneous.
3. Extraversion - This factor is characterized by excitability, sociability, assertiveness, talkativeness, and high emotional expression. These people are outgoing and gain energy in social situations. On the other hand, people who are low on extraversion are more reserved and have less energy to spend in social settings.
4. Agreeableness - This includes attributes like trust, altruism, affection. kindness, and similar prosocial behavior. Low on this factor, people take little interest in others, do not care about how people feel.
5. Neuroticism - This trait is characterized by moodiness, sadness, and emotional instability. People high in this trait experience anxiety, mood swings, irritability, etc. People who are low in this trait are more emotionally stable.

The big five model is also called the five-factor model and is based on 5 source traits.

B. The person-situation debate is about whether the person or the situation influences a person's behavior more. Trait psychologists argue that a person's personality stays consistent in different situations and situationist argues that behavior is not cross situationally consistent and that if the behavior is not consistent does the personality traits even exist.

Interactionists believe that the effect of personality depends on situations and situations in return, are affected by personalities of the people who are present in that situation.