How Would a Personality Psychologist Most Likely Explain the Mass

question 140

Multiple Choice

How would a personality psychologist most likely explain the mass suicide in Jonestown?

• A) An increasingly complex and mobile society creates confusion and the need to belong to a group at any cost.
• B) People who have traits of being unstable are more likely to join cults.
• C) She wouldn't try to explain it; personality psychologists are not interested in suicide.
• D) The leader's control over his followers increased slowly over time.

---

Definitions:

James-Lange Theory

The James-Lange theory of emotion suggests that emotions arise from physiological reactions to events, implying that bodily responses precede and drive the subjective experience of emotions.

Autonomic Arousal

The activation of the autonomic nervous system, which includes physiological responses such as increased heart rate and sweating, typically in reaction to stress or excitement.

Signal-Detection Theory

A framework describing how individuals differentiate between informative signals and noise in the environment.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

A theory suggesting that we experience discomfort (dissonance) when our thoughts, beliefs, or behaviors are inconsistent with each other, leading to a change in one to reduce the dissonance.