PSYC2019 – Sample Essay Questions
One of these will appear in your final exam. We do NOT provide answers.
Q1. Your textbook states that personality psychologists study a person’s enduring and
distinctive patterns of experience and behavior. However, a person can be studied at
different levels, depending on the theoretical premise. In a George Kelly manner, compare
and contrast the level of personality analysis among i) the factor analytic approach, ii)
heritability research, and iii) Cervone’s knowledge-and-appraisal personality architecture
(KAPA) model.
Q2.
a) Discuss any three cultural personality dimensions in Geert Hofstede’s model in terms
of their definitions, behavioral implications, and plausible causes.
b) You met two persons in a youth hostel, Jamie from the United States and Rei from
Japan. The United States scored 91 and Japan scored 45 on Hofstede’s individualismcollectivism dimension. Why would it be wrong to expect Jamie to be more
individualistic than Rei?
Q3. Rachel, who was known as a perfectionist among her friends, was a final-year student
who had extended her studies for 3 years. She could not stand the thought of not getting an
A in her course. In this semester, she late-dropped two courses again on medical grounds
because she was overwhelmed by the feeling that she had screwed up the mid-term tests.
Analyze her problem and give suggestions to Rachel from a behaviorist and social-cognitive
perspective.