Personality, Individual Differences and Assessment Practice Questions | GRE Subject Test Psychology

Personality, Individual Differences and Assessment

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A researcher measures Big Five Extraversion at Time 1 and Time 2 (2 years apart) and finds \(r=.72\). They argue this value proves Extraversion is purely trait-like and unaffected by situations. Which critique is most defensible given modern trait theory and the logic of stability coefficients?

Select one option.

The correlation must be near 1.00 for any construct to be called a trait, so the measure is invalid.
A correlation of .72 indicates the trait is entirely situational because it is not perfect.
High rank-order stability does not imply no situational influence; it indicates relative ordering is preserved despite possible mean-level change and situation-linked variance.
The correlation is uninterpretable unless the same rater scored both time points.
Because Extraversion is a broad factor, stability coefficients are mathematically forced to be high and therefore meaningless.

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