Personality Testing

Definitions: J.P. Guilford (1959)

An individuals personality, then, is his

unique pattern of traits.
A trait is any distinguishable, relatively
enduring way in which one individual
differs from others.

Definitions: Mackinnon (1959)

Personality refers to factors inside

people that explain their behavior

The sum total of typical ways of acting,

thinking, and feeling that makes a
person unique.

Definitions:
DSM-IV-TR (2000)

Are enduring patterns of perceiving,

relating to, and thinking about the
environment and oneself that are
exhibited in a wide range of social and
personal context.

Definitions: R.B. Cattell (1950)

The personality of an individual is that

which enables us to predict what he will do
in a given situation

3 Facts to Consider When Defining

Personality

Individuals are unique

Individuals behave differently in

different situations

Although individuals are unique and

behave inconsistently across
situations, there is considerable
commonality in human behavior

History

WW-I: saw the first real organized assessment of

personality- seeing if new recruits could make
adjustment to the military.
Just focused on one facet of personality
Very specific (e.g., ability to follow orders, submission to
authority, degree of comfort when socializing with others)
Over the next 2 decades multiscaled test emerged that
examined assertiveness, anxiety, impulsiveness

History

1930s and 1940sAllport and Murray began

writing about personality and theories of
personality

Then came two camps:

Objective empirically derived tests
Projectiveproduced items and interpretations based
on the theory of personality. This method was more
unstructured and less defined (e.g., TAT)

History

Empirically based tests used statistics

and a criterion to develop test items
Item correlations
Factor analytic approach
Criterion-referenced approach
These two branched from empirically
based tests of the early part of the century

Today
New tests have emerged but most tend
to be variants of the original themes
and theories of personality
Most excepted to use a theory and to
test out items on a criterion as well as
using statistics

Personality as a construct may include:

Emotional responses
Social behavior
Emotional thoughts and behaviour
Motivations
Values
Interests

Methods of Measuring Personality:

Paper & pencil tests: questionnaires, inventories
Situational exercises
Field or natural observations
Projective measures

Value of Personality Questionnaires

Value to the individual (face validity)

Self-insight
Points of discussion
Norms provide comparison info

Value of Personality Questionnaires

Value to research (construct validity)

Study relationships of personality w/ other variables
Study changes over time

Value for Counseling

- marital therapy
- university counseling centers

Value for personnel management

Screening
Prediction of success
Placement & counseling

Disadvantage of Personality Tests

Social Desirability
Faking Good
Faking Bad
Random Responding

Two Main Personality Theories

1. Trait theory: people differ based on stable
attributes (called traits)
characteristics lie on a continuum
e.g., the Big Five

2. Type theory: people can be sorted into categories

(either one type or the other)

There are many different personality inventories

that measure traits or types

The Big Five

OCEAN

Openness to Experience
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism

Personality Tests Using Traits

NEO Personality Inventory Revised (NEO

PI-R, 1992)
- Unaware of the Big Five, Costa & McCrae built the
NEO Inventory in 1978
Assessed Neuroticism, Extraversion, and
Openness to Experience
Added Agreeableness and Conscientiousness
Items are behavioral statements

The NEO PI-R (cont.)

Examples of Items:
Neuroticism - Frightening thoughts sometimes come into my

head.

Extroversion - I dont get much pleasure from chatting with

people.

Openness - I have a very active imagination

Agreeableness - I believe that most people will take
advantage of you if you let them.

Conscientiousness - I pay my promptly and in full.

The NEO PI-R (cont.)

Example Neuroticism facet: Anxiety

I

am not a worrier.
I am easily frightened.
I rarely feel fearful or anxious.
I often feel tense and jittery.
I am seldom apprehensive about the future.
I often worry about things that might go wrong.
I have fewer fears than most people.
Frightening thoughts sometimes come into my head.

Personality Tests Using Traits

NEO Personality Inventory Revised (NEO

PI-R, 1992)
5 traits x 6 facets each x 8 items each = 240 total
Items are all very face valid - anchored by SD to
SA
No Validity Scales
Raw scores for the domain converted to T scores
Norms provided for adults (21 and up) & college
age individuals (17 - 20)
Norms come from 500 men and 500 women (U.S)

List of Domain and Facet Scores

Neuroticism

Extraversion

Openness

Anxiety
Warmth
Fantasy
Angry Hostility Gregariousness
Aesthetics
Depression Assertiveness Feelings
Self-Consciousness ActivityActions
Impulsiveness Excitement-Seeking Ideas
Vulnerability Positive Emotions
Values

Agreeableness

Conscientiousness

Trust Competence
Straightforwardness Order
Altruism
Dutifulness
Compliance Achievement Striving
Modesty
Self-Discipline
Tender-Mindedness Deliberation

The NEO PI-R (cont.)

Other test characteristics:

-

criterion validity: conscientiousness

construct validity (e.g., openness to exp.)
practical uses?
relies on honesty of examinee
reliability of domain scales excellent (highest is .
92 for N, lowest is .86 for A)
- reliability of facet scales acceptable
(highest is .80 for ideas facet of O, lowest is .58 for
Actions facet of O)

Personality Tests Using Traits

California Psychological Inventory (CPI)

Gough (1957)
sane persons MMPI
revised in 1987
based on 20 concepts
to predict behavior in social/interpersonal situations
13 special purpose scales (e.g., leadership,
managerial potential)

California Psychological Inventory

CPI - one of the most popular personality inventory

Measures: various facets of normal personality; helps

to make predictions about behaviours

Goughs theory (3 assumptions):

Important characteristics in all societies and cultures
Understandable and useful for both sides
Valid predictors of future behavior in similar social contexts

CPI

462 true-false items covers 20 scales:

Dominance, Social Presence, Sociability, SelfAcceptance, Self-Control, Responsibility, Well-Being,
Achievement vs. Conformity, Achievement vs.
Independence, Psychological Mindedness, Flexibility,
Capacity for Status, Empathy, Tolerance, Femininity vs.
Masculinity, Independence, Good Impression,
Socialization,Communality (p.380)
3 scales provide measures of test-taking attitudes

CPI (cont.)

test construction: empirical approach (13 scales), internal

consistency (4), combo of both (3)
either high or low scores
administration: 1 hr
scores: count the true responses
profiles
extensive norms: 6000
gender specific norms
converts raw scores to T scores
CPI had factor loading on 4 of 5 - Big 5 Factors
(extroversion, openness, neuroticism, conscientiousness)
- not agreeableness

CPI (cont.)

interpretation of profiles: (p.383)

1. profile validity
2. height of scales
3. high and low scores
4. analyze patterns (examples)

CPI (cont.)

Other test characteristics

Construct validity: 20 scales are not independent
Predictive validity: best predicts
academic

underachievement
potential delinquency
Job performance in a number of careers
Performance in school

CPI
Advantages:
1. Looks at interpersonal relating well
2. Predicts underachieving, potential delinquency,
job performance
3. Has good norming sample

16 Personality Factor (16PF)

Raymond Cattell developed the Cattel Sixteen Personality

Factor Test (1949)
Revised 4 times (1956, 1962, 1968, 1993)
Survey all words in the the English language that described
personal characteristics (approx. 4000)
Categorized the words into 45 groups and approx. 15 factors
Designed to measure more personality traits and conflicts
than psychopathology
185 items across 16 scales
3 Point Likert Scale

16PF

Suggests Personality is made up of 16 independent traits Warmth, Reasoning, Emotional Stability, Dominance, Liveliness,
Rule-Consciousness, Social Boldness, Sensitivity, Vigilance,
Abstractedness, Privateness, Apprehension, Openness to
Change, Self-Reliance, Perfectionism, Tension (p. 389)

Each item is scored a between 0,1, or 2 depending if the item is

scored correctly
Raw score are changed to standard scores know as sten (out of
10). Standard scores are calculated in reference to the norm
group.

Psychometrics of 16PF
Reliability: test-retest (.80 x2wk; .70 x3wk)
Internal consistency reliability .74
Only sporadic studies found reliability below .70
Most validity studies have validity coefficients
above .70

16PF

Supports:

1. Less time to give than MMPI-2

2. Has 5 global factors than correspond to the BIG FIVE
3. Reliability and Validity

Criticisms:

1. Overeducated sample
2. New version more complicated to score
3. Converts raw scores to stens- hard for people to understand

16PF Applications
Research and Clinical Settings
Vocational Psychology
Personnel selection and placement
With adults or adolescents (16-yearolds) and 5th grade reading level

Type Theories of Personality

Type A - Coronary-prone behavior pattern: aggressive,

need to achieve more and more, workaholic, hidden
lack of self-esteem (always need to prove self), always
hurried, hostile
Type B easygoing, noncompetitive, relaxed
People fall on a continuum somewhere between the
two

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Myers-Briggs: based on Jungian theory

of personality
Classifies individuals along 4 theoretically
independent dimensions.

MBTI (cont.)
1. Introversion / Extroversion(E-I) : How is your
general attitude toward the world?
2. Sensing / Intuition (S-N) : How do you acquire
information?
3. Thinking / Feeling (T-F) : How is information
processed?
4. Judging / Perceiving (J-P): How do you make
decisions?

MBTI Scales
ExtroversionIntroversion Scale

Sensing-Intuition Scale
S: Individual reports

E: Oriented primarily

toward the outer world;

focus on people and
objects

I: Oriented primarily

toward the inner world;

focus on concepts and
ideas

observable facts through

one or more of the five
senses

N: Reports meanings,

relationships and/or
possibilities that have
been worked out beyond
the reach of the conscious
mind

MBTI Scales
Thinking-Feeling
Scale

Perception-Judging
Scale

T: Judgment is

P: Preference for using a

impersonally based on
logical consequences

F: Judgment is primarily
based on personal or
social values

perceptive process for

dealing with the outer world

J: Preference for using a

judgment process for
dealing with the outer world

MBTI Psychometrics

Test-retest intervals range from:

1. Introversion / Extroversion(E-I) : .73 to .83
2. Sensing / Intuition (S-N) : .69 to .87
3. Thinking / Feeling (T-F) :.56 to .82
4. Judging / Perceiving (J-P): .60 to .87

Internal Consistency intervals range from:

1. Introversion / Extroversion(E-I) : .55 to .65
2. Sensing / Intuition (S-N) : .64 to .73
3. Thinking / Feeling (T-F) :.43 to .75
4. Judging / Perceiving (J-P): .58 to .84

MBTI (cont.)

Uses:
Career counseling
Team building
Family counseling

Criticisms:
Profiles generally positive
Barnum effect
Validation evidence is sticky
Factor analysis shows Big Five solution

MMPI
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory
MMPI-II most widely used
psychological test

10

clinical scales and several

Auxiliary

Table 4-6

MMPI

The MMPI (cont.)

Scale Descriptor: Psychopathic Deviate

Tend

to act without considering consequences.

Experience absence of emotional response.
May feign guilt and remorse when in trouble.
Are impulsive.
Are not seen as overwhelmed by emotional turmoil.

The MMPI (cont.)

Example Items:
I

am about as able to work as I ever was.

I work under a great deal of tension.
I am sure I get a raw deal from life.
I find it hard to keep my mind on a task or job.
I am certainly lacking in self-confidence
I have difficulty in starting to do things.
When in a group of people I have trouble thinking of
the right things to talk about.
I cannot keep my mind on one thing.

Original MMPI

Items on the clinical scales of the original MMPI

were selected on the basis of their ability to
discriminate between normal and clinical groups.
Clinical groups were comprised of depressed,
paranoid, schizophrenic, hypomanic,
hypocrondriacal
Normal groups were comprised of University of
Minnesota students
Initially items were selected from various sources
clinical cases, textbooks, and previous tests

MMPI II

MMPI-II was normed on a nationally

representative sample 1138 men and 1462
women

MMPI added several content and

supplementary scales

A high score on a particular scale indicates

the likelihood that the individual possesses
those characteristics

Projective Personality Tests

The Projective Techniques

Projective tests allow the examinee to respond

to vague stimuli with their own impressions
Assumption is that the examinee will project his
unconscious needs, motives, and conflicts onto
the neutral stimulus
Word association tests, inkblot tests, sentence
completion tests, storytelling in response to
pictures, etc.

The Projective Techniques (cont.)

Three features:

Disguised: no face validity

Global: the whole personality
Reveals unconscious aspects of personality

Types:

Inkblot: Rorschach
Picture interpretation: TAT
Sentence completion: Rotter Incomplete SB
Picture construction: DAP

The Rorschach Inkblot Test

The Rorschach Inkblot Test is the most

commonly used projective test
In a 1971 survey of test usage, it was used
in 91% of 251 clinical settings survey
It is one of the most widely used tests that
exists
It is widely cited in research

History

The earliest use of inkblots as projective surfaces

was J. Kerner's (1857)
He was the first to claim that some people make
idiosyncratic or revealing interpretations

In 1896, Alfred Binet suggested that inkblots might

be used to assess personality (not psychopathology)

History

Herman Rorschach, a Swiss

psychiatrist, was the first to
suggest (1911) the use of
inkblot responses as a
diagnostic instrument
In 1921 he published his book
on the test, Psychodiagnostik
(and soon thereafter died, age
38)

History

Rorschach's test was not well-received, attracting little

notice
David Levy brought it to the United States - thought it was scientifically
unsound.
His student, Samuel Beck, popularized its use here, writing several papers
and books on it starting with Configurational Tendencies in Rorschach
Responses (1933)

Several other early users also published work on he

Rorschach
Several offered their own system of administration, scoring, and
interpretation, leading to later problems in standardization

What is the Rorschach?

The stimuli were generated by dropping ink onto a card and

folding it
They are not, however, random: the ten cards in the current test
were hand-selected out of thousands that Rorschach generated

Ten blots 5 black/white, 2 red/gray (II & III) and 3 color (VIII X)

Thought to tap into the deep layers of personality and bring out
what is not conscious to the test taker

The following are the inkblots

Administering the Rorschach

The test is usually administered with as little instruction and

information as possible
The tester asks 'What might this be? and gives no clues or
restrictions on what is expected as a response
Anxious subjects often do ask questions, and vague answers
are offered
Some advocate sitting beside the subject to avoid giving
clues by facial expression
If only one response is given, some hint to find more may be
offered: "Some people see more than one thing.

Administering the Rorschach

The cards are shown twice:

The first time responses are obtained - free
association phase
The second time they are elaborated
inquiry phase

Rorschach (cont.)
Exners Comprehensive Scoring System
1. Location
- W = whole (intellectual potential)
- D = subdivisions (common sense)
- Dd = details (compulsive tendencies)
- DW (confabulated detail)
2. Content (i.e., general class to where response belongs)
- people, part of a person, clothing, animal, part of an
animal, nature, anatomical

Rorschach (cont.)
3. Determinants (i.e., specific property of the blot)
- F = shape/outline (rational approach)
- M = movement (imagination)
- C = color (emotional reactions)
- Y = shades of grey (depression)
4. Form Quality
5. typical vs. unusual response
6. time

Rorschach (cont.)

norms = unrepresentative
inter-rater reliability
test-retest reliability
construct validity
criterion validity

Psychometric Properties of the

Rorschach

The Rorschach is a popular test, however, it has been

plagued by low reliability and validity.

Obviously, it is difficult to measure any of the usual

psychometric properties in the usual way
Validity and reliability are usually low because of the openended multiplicity of possibility that is allowed and by the
lack of universally-accepted standardized instructions,
administration protocol, and scoring procedure

Interpreting the Rorschach

Uses norms for five groups: nonpatient, outpatient

nonpsychotic, inpatient character problem, inpatient
depressive, inpatient schizophrenics one

Deviation from norms can mean an invalid protocol, or

brain damage, or emotional problems, or a low mental
age (or just an original person)

Psychometric Properties of the

Rorschach

Reliability studies that have been done find r-values varying from 0.1 to 0.9

Parker (1983) analyzed 530 statistics through meta-analysis (9 studies) and

found an internal reliability of .83

W responses has been linked to general intelligence (r = 0.4); Movement

responses are said to suggest strong impulses or high motor activity; DW
(confabulatory) responses are taken as signs of a disordered state; low
response rate is associated with mental retardation, depression, and
defensiveness

Overall, more research is needed to determine the reliability and validity of

the Rorschach.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Construct a story about what you see on the

following picture

Describe:
- what led up to the scene
- what is happening
- what the characters in the story might think
or feel
- how the story will end

Thematic Apperception Tests

The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): 30

grayscale pictures + one blank for elicitation of
stories each contain a dramatic event or critical
situation
Most subjects see 10-12 cards, over two sessions
Based on Murray's (1938) theory of 28 social
needs (sex, affiliation, dominance, achievement,
attitudes etc.)
People would project into their story their needs
Attention is paid to the protagonist in each story
and his/her environmental stressors
Many variations on this 'story-telling' test exist

TAT (cont.)

Administration: not standardized

-

Not the same 20 cards

Not the same order
Seldom 2 sessions
Instructions differ

Scoring is Minimal
Low Reliability & Validity

TAT scoring/interpretation
Scoring

Congruence with picture stimuli

Conformity with directions
Conflict

Psychometric properties:
internal consistency is low;
high reliability but diminishes with time, 2 months, r
= .80; 10 months r = .50;
Inter-rater reliability vary with studies: range .3 to .9

Examples of Projectives
Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank (RISB)

Complete the following sentences to express

your real feelings:
-

I like ..
My greatest fear ..
This PSY 3090.D instructor is ..

RISB (cont.)

Designed to screen for emotional maladjustment

Info about wishes, desires, likes, dislikes, fears, and locus
of control
40 items: easy to administer (group or ind.)
Rigorous scoring system: high interrater r
Scoring ranges from 0 to 6
Responses are scored as to the degree of conflict
expressed, optimism shown, length of responses,
omissions
Psychometrically sound but less used

Draw-a-Person Test
- Originally to assess childrens intelligence
- Now: a screening procedure for emotional disturbance
- Cannot constitute a diagnosis
- The administration:
Draw a person
Draw a person of the opposite sex
Draw yourself

Draw-a-Person Test

Administrator Asks:
- Can you please draw a person?
- Draw whatever you like in any way you like?
Administrator Then Asks:
- Draw a person of the opposite sex?

Draw-a-Person Test (cont.)

Subjective vs. quantitative scoring system
Clinician looks for:

Sequence of body parts

Verbalizations during the drawing process
Size & placement of figures on the page
Amount of action depicted
Systematization in doing the task
Number of erasures
Shading
Gender of picture
Over attention to certain body parts

Draw-a-Person Test (cont..)

Among the plausible but empirically untrue relations that

have been claimed:
- Large size = Emotional expansiveness or acting out
- Small size = emotional constriction; withdrawal, or
timidity
- Overworked lines = tension, aggression
- Distorted or omitted features = Conflicts related to that
feature
- Large or elaborate eyes = Paranoia

Other common projective tests

CAT Children Apperception Test (Bellak, 1975)

Word Association Test Rapaport et al. (1946, 1968) 60
words: neutral and traumatic scored: popularity, RT,
content, test-retest responses
Sentence Completion Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank
40 sentences evaluated on 7 point scale by need for
therapy to extremely good adjustment
House-Tree-Person Test (Buck, 1948) & Draw-A-Person
(Machover, 1949): Subject is asked to draw
Scoring is on absolute size, relative size of elements, omissions
"If there is a tendency to over-interpret projective test data without sufficient
empirical grounds, then projective drawing tests are among the worst
offenders."
Kaplan & Saccuzo, Psychological Testing, 2001, p. 467

Sources of Inaccuracy in Personality

Testing

Personality assessment largely depends on

self-report

Response sets may affect personality results

Social Desirability
Some test takers choose socially acceptable
answers or present themselves in a favourable
light

People often do not attend as much to the trait

being measured as to the social acceptability of
the statement

This represents unwanted variance

Social Desirability (cont.)

Example items:
Friends would call me spontaneous.
People I know can count on me to finish what I
start.
I would rather work in a group than by myself.
I often get stressed-out in many situations.

Faking
Faking -- some test takers may respond in a particular
way to cause a desired outcome
may fake good (e.g., in employment settings) to create a
favourable impression
may fake bad (e.g., in clinical or forensic settings) as a cry
for help or to appear mentally disturbed
may use some subtle questions that are difficult to fake
because they arent clearly face valid

Faking Bad
People try to look worse than they really are
Common

problem in clinical settings

Reasons:
Cry

for help
Want to plea insanity in court
Want to avoid draft into military
Want to show psychological damage

Most people who fake bad overdo it

Random Responding
Random responding may occur when test takers
are unwilling or unable to respond accurately.
likely to occur when test taker lacks the skills (e.g.,
reading), does not want to be evaluated, or lacks
attention to the task
try to detect by embedding a scale that tends to yield
clear results from vast majority such that a different
result suggests the test taker wasnt cooperating

Random Responding
Detection:
Duplicate

items:
I love my mother.
I hate my mother.

Infrequency

scales:
Ive never had hair on my head.
I have not seen a car in 10 years.

Impression Management
Mitigating IM:
Use

positive and negative impression scales

(endorsed by 10% of the population)
Use lie scales to flag those who score high
(e.g., I get angry sometime).
Inconsistency scales (e.g., two different
responses to two similar questions)
(Use multiple assessment methods (other than
self-report)