Personality Assessment Overview

These flashcards cover key concepts related to personality assessment, including definitions, major tests, methodologies, and theoretical frameworks.

Personality

Relatively stable and unique characteristics that describe a person.

Objective Personality Tests (OPT)

Self-report inventories scored with predetermined keys, often using structured formats like dichotomous or Likert scale.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

The most widely used personality test, developed to diagnose mental disorders with a long format and various scales.

Empirical Keying

An approach focused on items that can differentiate between groups, unlike logical keying based on face validity.

Validity Scales

Designed to detect deviant test-taking attitudes, including scales such as the Lie Scale (L), Frequency Scale (F), and Defensiveness Scale (K).

NEO Personality Inventory

A personality assessment based on three broad dimensions: neuroticism, extraversion, and openness, with a focus on normal personality traits.

Big 5 Personality Dimensions

A model identifying five broad domains of personality: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

Factor Analysis

A statistical method used to describe variability among observed variables in terms of fewer unobserved variables called factors.

Restandardization of MMPI

The process of updating the test items and sampling to reflect current populations and eliminate biases.

Trait vs. Type

Traits are individual characteristics used to describe personality; types group individuals into broader categories.