Explanations of the Answers to the TOPI DEMO AB/C
01. A person is straightforward and modest. Most likely, she also could be described as:
- Valuing ideas and beliefs
- Active and full of energy
- Sympathetic to others and “tender minded”
- Self-conscious and more anxious than average
Answer: 3 Research into traits indicate that people who are straightforward and modest are also likely to be more tender-minded and sympathetic to others rather than hard-headed.
02. A person likes the people in his book club and their selection of books, and his general schedule and activities haven’t changed, but he is attending the club meetings less and less. The most likely reason is that the person:
- is too busy to attend any longer
- is enjoying the discussions less and less
- is less energetic and interested in things around him generally
- is harming himself in some way.
Answer 2: The description doesn’t say anything about energy level and the individual’s other activities remain the same; the person likes the other members; therefore the best choice is that this person specifically finds the discussion less engaging.
03. A person is rated high on physical attractiveness. Most likely, this person could also be described:
- disorganized
- flexible
- glamorous
- outgoing
Answer: 3 Studies of relationships among personality traits indicate that certain characteristics “go together.” Unique combinations of traits are possible, but there are general tendencies, which this question asks about. For instance, people high in physical attractiveness are also often perceived as glamorous.
04. A person is tactless and lacks a sense of humor. Which of the following is most likely to describe this person:
- disagreeable
- neurotic
- carefree
- desiring of attention
Answer: 1 Of course, not everyone who has trouble telling a joke is disagreeable, but the research on combinations of personality traits suggests that people who lack a sense of humor can be tactless and are often disagreeable.
05. Which group of characteristics usually go with one another?
- religious, cold, comical
- orderly, sociable, moody
- sensitive-to-comments, negative mood, sociable
- lively, sociable, risk taking
Answer: 4 Extraverted people tend to have high energy, like to be with others and often engage in risk taking. As with other items in this demonstration assessment, we used the research literature on relationships among personality traits to generate the test item. Yes, there are extraverted people who are prone to moodiness, but they are relatively less common.
06. People who exhibit the trait of self-deception are likely to:
- Dislike the reality of their situation and lie to others about it.
- Want something badly, hold a false belief about it, and make excuses to justify their belief, hoping they’ll get their way.
- Fear failure and being criticized
- Be subconsciously aware of the truth but act falsely
Answer: 2 Research into self-deception indicates that people who fool themselves try to maintain their beliefs, overlooking contradictory evidence and making excuses for themselves, in the hope that they’ll achieve a personal goal. “A” refers to deceiving others, “C” could apply to many people, and “D” is overly vague in its reference to the subconscious and acting falsely.
07. How could you send a message to others that you are outgoing and open-minded?
- create a very colorful office space
- create neat piles of paper on your desk
- hang pictures of famous artists on your walls
- have background music playing
Answer: 1 Research connecting cues from offices to personality suggest that a colorful office space communicates to other people a sense of being open-minded and sociable.