5th 100 pages

Personality Assessment

  • Personality assessment includes a variety of tests used to evaluate an individual's personality traits, motivations, and other psychological attributes.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

  • The TAT is a projective test where individuals create stories based on ambiguous images.

  • It helps to uncover an individual’s unconscious thoughts and feelings.

Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank (RISB)

  • The RISB is another projective test developed by Julian Rotter in 1950 that requires individuals to complete 40 unfinished sentences, helping to reveal desires and fears.

  • Average completion time is about 20 minutes. It is used in educational and career counseling.

Cultural Biases in Personality Testing

  • Traditional projective tests like TAT and RISB have limitations when used across different cultural contexts due to biases.

  • The need for culturally-specific assessments arose, leading to the development of tests like the Contemporized-Themes Concerning Blacks Test (C-TCB).

  • C-TCB includes images reflecting African-American life and yields more extensive narratives and positive feelings than TAT when used with African-American individuals.

TEMAS Multicultural Thematic Apperception Test

  • TEMAS, which stands for "Tell Me a Story," focuses on cultural relevance and uses images relevant to Hispanic youths.

Key Terms Defined

  • Anal Stage: A psychosexual stage characterized by pleasure in bowel and bladder movements.

  • Analytical Psychology: Carl Jung's theory focusing on balancing opposing forces in personality.

  • Archetype: Common patterns in our collective unconscious found across cultures.

  • Collective Unconscious: Shared psychological tendencies passed down generations.

  • Defense Mechanisms: Unconscious protective behaviors aiding to reduce anxiety.

  • Locus of Control: Beliefs regarding the extent of control one has over life events.

  • Neurosis: A tendency to experience negative emotions.

  • Self-Concept: How we perceive ourselves, encompassing our thoughts and feelings.

  • Sublimation: Channeling unacceptable urges into acceptable activities.

  • Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): A projective test utilizing ambiguous images.

Summary of Personality Theories

Freud’s Psychodynamic Perspective

  • Personality is shaped through childhood experiences and comprises the id, ego, and superego.

  • Development occurs in stages (psychosexual), and unresolved conflicts in any stage can lead to personality issues.

Neo-Freudians

  • Focus on social aspects of personality rather than sexual drives, notable figures include Adler and Jung.

Learning Approaches

  • Emphasizes the role of learning and environment in shaping personality traits, as suggested by Bandura’s reciprocal determinism.

Humanistic Approaches

  • Stresses personal growth and self-actualization as key components of personality development.

Biological Perspectives

  • Studies genetic factors influencing personality traits.

Trait Theorists

  • Describe personality by identifying stable characteristics; the Five Factor Model is widely accepted.

Cultural Influences

  • Personality is also understood through cultural contexts, emphasizing the values of individualistic vs. collectivistic cultures.

Personality Assessment Techniques

  • Self-report inventories: Most common, such as the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory).

  • Projective tests: Assess unconscious feelings through ambiguous stimuli responses.