Personality Assessment Notes

Chapter 8: Personality Assessment

Objective Personality Measures

  • Definition: Involve administering a standard set of questions/statements with fixed response options.

  • Advantages:

    • Economical

    • Scoring and administration are simple and objective

    • Reliable

  • Disadvantages:

    • Items may not accurately characterize respondents' behaviors

    • Mixtures of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional items can exist

    • Transparent questions may lead to faking by respondents

    • Forced-choice format limits elaboration in responses

Methods for Constructing Objective Tests

  1. Content Validation:

    • Requires defining relevant aspects of the variable being measured.

    • Involves consulting experts, using judges for item relevance, and employing psychometric analyses to evaluate items.

  2. Empirical Criterion Keying:

    • Items created to measure traits are tested on groups with and without the characteristic. Items that discriminate between groups are selected.

    • Example: MMPI test items are validated based on responses indicative of psychopathy.

  3. Factor Analysis:

    • Purifies scales to reflect basic dimensions of personality.

    • EFA: Reduces items to core traits without theoretical basis.

    • CFA: Validates a hypothesized factor structure based on theory.

  4. Construct Validity Approach:

    • Theory-driven and involves continuous refinement based on empirical feedback.

Major Objective Personality Measures Available to Clinical Psychologists

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

  • Purpose: Identify psychiatric diagnoses.

  • Developers: Starke R. Hathaway and J.C. McKinley.

  • Versions:

    • Original MMPI: 550 items (true/false/cannot say)

    • MMPI-2: 567 items, restandardized for a wider age range (13+ years).

  • Key Scales:

    • Scale 1: Hypochondriasis (Hs) - concern with bodily symptoms

    • Scale 2: Depression (D) - feelings of hopelessness

    • Scale 3: Hysteria (Hy) - conversion of conflict into physical issues

    • Scale 4: Psychopathic Deviate (Pd) - social deviance

    • Scale 5: Masculinity/Femininity (Mf) - gender role perceptions

    • Scale 6: Paranoia (Pa) - suspiciousness

    • Scale 7: Psychasthenia (Pt) - OCD-like symptoms

    • Scale 8: Schizophrenia (Sc) - unusual thoughts and withdrawal

    • Scale 9: Hypomania (Ma) - overactivity

    • Scale 0: Social Introversion (Si) - withdrawal from social situations.

Validity Scales

  • Four Original Validity Scales:

    • Cannot Say Scale: Items left unanswered

    • Infrequency Scale (F): Suggests deviant responding

    • Defensiveness Scale (K): Identifies faking good

    • Lie Scale (L): Detects positive self-presentation attempts.

  • Three New Validity Scales:

    • TRIN Scale: Detects inconsistent true responses.

    • VRIN Scale: Identifies random responses.

    • Fb Scale: Evaluates back-page responding.

MMPI Interpretation

  • Profile Analysis: Looks at patterns of scores, not just elevated scores.

  • Content-Based Interpretation: Specific item responses reveal deeper fears and concerns.

NEO-PI-R

  • Purpose: Comprehensive assessment of normal adult personality based on Big Five traits (McCrae and Costa).

  • Structure: 240 questions, five domains, thirty facets.

    • Domains:

    • Neuroticism: Psychological distress traits

    • Extraversion: Engagement with social world

    • Openness to Experience: Appreciation for variety

    • Agreeableness: Compassionate interactions

    • Conscientiousness: Organization and responsibility

  • Clinical Applications: Assessed for personality disorders and normal traits.

  • Limitations:

    • Lack of validity items for response styles

    • Clinical usage needs further research

Projective Techniques and Their Issues

  • Overview: Based on Freudian theories, examines behavior in ambiguous situations.

  • General Characteristics:

    • Unstructured stimulus revealing personal dispositions

    • Indirect method with varied interpretation

  • Key Tests:

    • Rorschach Inkblot Test: Ten inkblot cards; responses scored by location, content, and determinants.

    • Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): Cards elicit storytelling to infer personality traits.

    • Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank: Sentence completions scored for adjustment levels.

Incremental Validity and Utility

  • Definition: The usefulness of assessments in predicting outcomes beyond what is already known.

  • Example of Clinical Application: Identifying learning delays in students via comparative methods.

Ethical Considerations in Testing

  • Protections: Psychologists should use competent methodologies with proper ethical standards.

  • Privacy Issues: Informed consent and relevance of test purposes to evaluations.

  • Confidentiality Concerns: Safeguarding test result privacy amidst growing data systems.

  • Discrimination: Awareness of how tests may disadvantage minorities or certain groups.

  • Test Bias: Recognizing and addressing biases in predictive accuracy across different demographic groups.

  • Computer-Based Assessment: Challenges in ensuring accurate interpretations from software-generated results.