Self-study
A research psychologist used a personality test to classify high school students as "repressors"—people who repress upsetting thoughts and feelings from conscious awareness—or as "sensitizers"—those especially attuned to internal states who freely express distress. ███ ██████████ █████ █████ ████████ ██ ████████████ ███ ██████████ ████ ████ ███ ███ ████████ █████ ██████ ████████ ████████████ ███ ███ ████████ ██████ ███████ ██████ ███████ ███ █ ███████ █████ ██ ████████████
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Compared to sensitizers, why are repressors less shy and anxious, better able to tolerate frustration, and have superior social skills, higher grades, and a greater sense of self-esteem?
Objective
This is an EXCEPT question. The four wrong answers will connect repression of upsetting thoughts and feelings with the features associated with repressors or connect expression of distress with the features associated with sensitizers.
20.
Each of the following, if █████ ███████████ ██ ██ ███████████ ██ ███ ███████████ ███████████████ █████████ █████ ███████
a
Repressors are better ████ ████ ███████████ ██ █████ ██ █████ ████ ███ ██ █████ █████████████
Better ability to focus on work and to avoid distractions could explain why repressors have higher grades than sensitizers.
b
Repressors are less ███ ████ ███████████ ██ ████████ ██████ ██ ██████████ █████ █████████
Less likelihood of alienating people through expression of emotions could explain why repressors have better social skills and a greater sense of self-esteem.
c
Parents and other ██████████ ████ ██ ██████ ██████████ ████ ████ ████ ██████ ███████████ ███ ████████ ███████████ ███ ██████ ████████ ██████ ██████████
Being more likely to be rewarded for academic performance and desirable social behavior could explain why repressors get better grades and have superior social skills.
d
Some psychologists have ████████████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ ████████ ██████ ███ ████████ ███████ ███ ███████████ ███████████ ███████████ ████████ ██ ███████ █████████ ████████ ███ █████████
Even if we accept this hypothesis, this reverses the direction of the relationship we want to explain. It helps establish that desire for success/self-esteem can intensify repressors’ repression. But how could repression lead to success/self-esteem?
e
Sensitizers tend to █████ ████ ████ ██████████ ██ ██ ███ ████████████ ██ ██████████ ██ █████ ████████ ██████ ████ ██ ███████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ ██████████ ██ ████████
Less focus on things that are likely to contribute to success might explain why sensitizers have worse grades, worse self-esteem, and less ability to tolerate frustration.