Lesson 11: Assessment of Personality

personality

For laypersons, it refers to components of an individual’s makeup that can elicit positive or negative reactions from others.

McClelland

defines personality as the most adequate conceptualization of a person’s behavior in all its detail.

menninger

defines personality as the individual as a whole, his height and weight and love and hates and blood pressure and reflexes; his smiles and hopes and bowed legs and enlarged tonsils. It means all that anyone is and that he is trying to become.

byrne

defines personality as psychology’s garbage bin in that any research which doesn’t fit other existing categories can be labeled ‘personality.’.”

hall and lindzey

they said that no substantive definition of personality can be applied with any generality

hall and lindzey

according to them, personality is defined by the particular empirical concepts which are a part of the theory of personality employed by the observer

personality

An individual’s unique constellation of psychological traits that is relatively stable over time.

personality assessment

The measurement and evaluation of psychological traits, states, values, interests, attitudes, worldview, acculturation, sense of humor, cognitive and behavioral styles, and/or related individual characteristics

allport

defines trait as “bona fide mental structures in each personality”

allport

defines trait as “generalized and focalized neuropsychic system (peculiar to the individual) with the capacity to render many stimuli functionally equivalent, and to initiate and guide consistent (equivalent) forms of adaptive and expressive behavior”

holt

defines trait as real structures inside people that determine their behavior in lawful ways

cattell

defines trait as mental structures, but for him structure did not necessarily imply actual physical status.

guillford

defines trait as any distinguishable, relatively enduring way in which one individual varies from another.

types

A constellation of traits that is similar in pattern to one identified category of personality within a taxonomy of personalities.

hippocrates

according to him, these are the types of personality:

melancholic, phlegmatic, choleric, and sanguine

melancholic, phlegmatic, choleric, sanguine

types of personality according to hippocrates

jung

defines types as people exhibit definite preferences in the way that they perceive or become aware of—and judge or arrive at conclusions about—people, events, situations, and ideas

myers

describes types as corresponding differences in their reactions, in their interests, values, needs, and motivations, in what they do best, and in what they like to do.

Artistic, Enterprising, Investigative, Social, Realistic, or Conventional

types of personality according to holland

holland

according to him, these are the types of personality:

Artistic, Enterprising, Investigative, Social, Realistic, or Conventional

rosenman

according to him, these are the types of personality:

Type-A Personality and Type-B Personality

Type A Personality and Type B Personality

types of personality according to rosenman

minnesota multiphasic personality inventory

mmpi stands for ___

mmpi

The personality typology that has attracted the most attention from researchers and practitioners alike

profile

a narrative description, graph, table, or other representation of the extent to which a person has demonstrated certain targeted characteristics as a result of the administration or application of tools of assessment

states

An inferred psychodynamic disposition designed to convey the dynamic quality of id, ego, and superego in perpetual conflict

states

The transitory exhibition of some personality trait

states

A relatively temporary predisposition

charles spielberger

made a team of researchers who developed a number of personality inventories designed to distinguish various states from traits.

ackerman

according to him, we assess personality because aspects of personality could be explored in identifying determinants of knowledge about health

brandstaetter

according to him, we assess personality because it helps in categorizing different types of commitment in intimate relationships

jackson

according to him, we assess personality because it helps in determining peer response to a team’s weakest link

mccrae

according to him, we assess personality because it helps in tracking trait development over time

eisenberg

according to him, we assess personality because it helps in studying some uniquely human characteristic such as moral judgment

gosling

he viewed their research on the personality of dogs as paving the way for future research in previously uncharted areas such as the exploration of environmental effects on personality.

weiss

he viewed cross-species research as presenting an opportunity to explore the heritability of personality

approaches to personality assessment

they differ in terms of who is being assessed, what is being assessed, where the assessment is conducted, and how the assessment is conducted.

self-report

A process wherein information about assessees is supplied by the assessees themselves

self-report

May be obtained in the form of diaries kept by assessees or in the form of responses to oral or written questions or test items.

self-report

In some cases, the information sought by the assessor is so private that only the individual assessees themselves are capable of providing it.

self-concept

One’s attitudes, beliefs, opinions, and related thoughts about oneself

self-concept measure

it is the tool of choice to infer self-concept

self-concept measure

an instrument designed to yield information relevant to how an individual sees him- or herself with regard to selected psychological variables.

self-concept differentiation

The degree to which a person has different self-concepts in different roles

highly differentiated people

they are likely to perceive themselves quite differently in various roles.

another person as the referent

In some situations, the best available method for the assessment of personality, behavior, or both involves reporting by a third party such as a parent, teacher, peer, supervisor, spouse, or trained observer.

personality inventory for children

example of another person as the referent personality assessment

leniency error

Generalized biases to rate in a particular direction

generosity error, severity error, error of central tendency

examples of leniency error

halo effect

Favorable response bias

leniency error and halo effect

errors to be considered in another person as the referent

context of the evaluation

When another person is the referent, it is an important factor to consider with regard to ratings

cultural background of the assessees

A number of concerns have been raised regarding the use of personality tests and other tools of assessment with members of culturally and linguistically diverse populations

primary content area sampled

The wide array of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors associated with all aspects of the human experience

response style

a tendency to respond to a test item or interview question in some characteristic manner regardless of the content of the item or question

traditional sites

sites for personality assessment, as well as other varieties of assessment, are schools, clinics, hospitals, academic research laboratories, employment counseling and vocational selection centers, and the offices of psychologists and counselors.

scope and theory

the scope of an evaluation may be very wide, seeking to take a kind of general inventory of an individual’s personality.

scope of an evaluation

this may be very wide, seeking to take a kind of general inventory of an individual’s personality.

procedures and item formats

personality may be assessed by many different methods, such as face-to-face interviews, computer-administered tests, behavioral observation, paper-and pencil tests, evaluation of case history data, evaluation of portfolio data, and recording of physiological responses.

frame of reference

aspects of the focus of exploration such as the time frame (the past, the present, or the future) as well as other contextual issues that involve people, places, and events.

scoring and interpretation

personality measures differ with respect to the way conclusions are drawn from the data they provide.

logic and reason

The content or content-oriented approach to test development.

theory

Personality measures differ in the extent to which they rely on a particular theory of personality in their development as well as their interpretation

data reduction methods

Includes several types of statistical techniques collectively known as factor analysis or cluster analysis.

data reduction methods

Used to aid in the identification of the minimum number of variables or factors that account for the intercorrelations in observed phenomena.

criterion group

A reference group of testtakers who share specific characteristics and whose responses to test items serve as a standard according to which items will be included in or discarded from the final version of a scale.

criterion

a standard on which a judgment or decision can be made.

logic and reason, theory, data reduction methods, criterion groups

they are essential in developing personality tests