Personality: Theories and Assessment for IGNOU students

IGNOU MAPC material© 2015, M S Ahluwalia Psychology Learners
MPC003/ASST/TMA/2014-15
IGNOU Assignment

Personality: Theories and
Assessment
Solved Assignment - MAPC

1000 words
Section A
3

Define personality.
Discuss the psychological and
environmental determinants of
personality development.
Q1.
4

Personality
5
A1
The term ‘personality’ is derived from the Latin word ‘persona’ which means a mask. Some definitions of the term
are as follows:
K. Young: “Personality is a …. patterned body of habits, traits, attitudes and ideas of an individual, as these are
organised externally into roles and statuses, and as they relate internally to motivation, goals, and various
aspects of selfhood.”
G. W. Allport: It is “a person’s pattern of habits, attitudes, and traits which determine his adjustment to his
environment.”
Robert E. Park and Earnest W. Burgess: Personality is “the sum and organisation of those traits which determine
the role of the individual in the group.”
Herbert A. Bloch: It is “the characteristic organisation of the individual’s habits, attitudes, values, emotional
characteristics……. which imparts consistency to the behaviour of the individual.”
Personality is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency and
individuality to a person’s behavior. Traits contribute to individual differences in behavior, consistency of behavior
over time, and stability of behavior across situations. Each person, though like others in some ways, has a unique
personality. Characteristics are unique qualities of an individual that include such attributes as temperament,
physique, and intelligence.

Personality contd.
6
A1
It may be said there are two main approaches to the study of personality:
(1) The psychological approach considers personality as a certain style peculiar to the individual. This style is
determined by the characteristic organisation of mental trends, complexes, emotions and sentiments.
(2) The sociological approach considers personality in terms of the status of the individual in the group, in terms of
his own conception of his role in the group of which he is a member. What others think of us plays a large part in the
formation of our personality.

Psychological and Environmental determinants of
personality
7
A1
Elizabeth B. Hurlock, in her book ‘Personality Development’, has listed various determinants of personality. Here we
categorize them into Physical, Psychological and Environmental factors, and then discuss Psychological and
Environmental determinants in further detail.

Psychological Factors
8
A1
These include our motives, acquired interests, our attitudes, our will and character, our intellectual capacities such as
intelligence i.e., the abilities to perceive, to observe, to imagine, to think and to reason. These factors determine our
reactions in various situations and thus affect our personality, growth and direction. For ex: an individual with a
considerable amount of will power will be able to make decisions more quickly than others. The various psychological
factors affecting personality development are as follows:
• Intelligence provides a person the capacity to meet and solve the problems that adjustment to life requires. Intellectual
capacity influence personality directly through the kind of life adjustments individual makes and indirectly through the
judgements others make of him on the basis of his intellectual achievements
• Factors that affect personality development include intellectual development, conditions influencing intellectual capacities
and deviant intelligence. Intelligence affects adjustment in values, morality and humour.
Intellectual determinants
• Emotions are important personality determinants because they affect personal and social adjustments. They do so directly
by colouring interests, attitudes, likes and dislikes and by upsetting homeostasis. Indirect effect comes from social
judgments based on how the person handles his emotions and from his ability to establish emotional relationship with
others.
• Factors that affect personality development directly and indirectly include emotional balance, dominant emotions,
emotional deprivation, excessive love, emotional expressions, emotional catharsis, emotional stress and self-disclosure.
Emotional determinants
• Aspirations are ego-involved goals person sets for himself.Aspiration is influenced by intelligence, sex, personal interests
and values, family pressures, group expectations, cultural traditions, competition with others, past experience, mass media,
personal characteristics.. Level of aspiration affects personality.
• Achievement can be judged objectively by comparing a person’s achievement with those of peers and subjectively by
comparing his achievement with his level of aspiration. Factors that affect personality development include level of
aspiration, level of achievements and age of achievement.
Aspiration and achievements

Environmental factors
9
A1
The personality of the individual develops within certain environment. It is in the specific environment, that he comes
to have moral ideas, social attitudes and interests. This enables him to develop a social self which is another term for
personality.
The important aspects of the environment affecting personality are as follows:
• A child is born in a society. He learns and lives there. Hence, the social environment has an important say in the personality
development of the child. The cultural environment, i.e. certain cultural traditions, ideals, and values etc. accepted in a
particular society, also plays a role in personality development.
• Factors that affect personality development include early social experiences, social acceptance, social deprivation,
prejudice and discrimination, group status and social mobility.
Social determinants
• Schools play an important role in moulding the personality of the children because a significant part of a child's life is spent
in school between the ages of 6 and 20 years. In the school, the teacher substitutes the parents.
• The school poses new problems to be solved, new taboos to be accepted into the superego and new models for imitation
and identification, all of which contribute their share in moulding personality. Factors that affect personality development
include readiness for school, early school experiences, emotional climate of school or college, teacher attitudes and
behaviour, academic success, extracurricular activities, peer acceptance, school subjects and kind of school.
Educational (school) determinants
• Family is the cradle of all social virtues. The first environment, the child moves in, is his home. Here the child comes in
contact with his parents and other family members. His likes, dislikes, stereotypes about people, expectancies of security
and emotional responses all are shaped in early childhood. This plays an important role in the development of personality.
• Factors that affect personality development include emotional climate of the home (including relation between parents),
ordinal position, size of family, Family composition, family roles, deviant family patterns and economic condition of the
family.
Family environment

Summary and Sources
10
A1
Personality is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency and
individuality to a person’s behavior. It is determined by various physical, psychological and environmental factors. The
psychological factors include intellectual determinants like intellectual development, emotional determinants like
deprivation and excessive love and the level of aspirations and level and age of achievements. The environmental
factors include family environment like size and economic conditions of family, physical environment viz. climate,
social determinants like social acceptance and deprivation and educational determinants like teacher attitudes and
academic success.
Sources:
http://www.publishyourarticles.net/knowledge-hub/education/what-are-the-factors-affecting-personality-
development.html
Personality Development, Elizabeth B. Hurlock (Click for eBook)
http://nptel.ac.in/courses/110105034/SM_Web/module%20two-lec-4-12.pdf
Psychology, Robert Baron (Click for eBook)
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/personality/personality-meaning-and-determinants-of-personality/24336/
Theories of Personality, Jess Feist and Gregory Feist

Discuss various projective
techniques in assessment of
personality.
Q2.
11

Projective techniques in assessment of personality
12
A2
According to Pervin (1975), a projective technique ‘‘is an instrument that is considered especially sensitive to covert
or unconscious aspects of behavior, permits or encourages a wide variety of subject responses, is highly
multidimensional, and evokes unusually rich or profuse response data with a minimum of subject awareness
concerning the purpose of the test’’ (p. 33).
In Projective techniques subjects are asked to interpret or fill in visual stimuli, complete sentences, or report what
associations particular words bring to mind. Because of the leeway provided by the tests, subjects project their own
personalities onto the stimulus, often revealing personal conflicts, motivations, coping styles, and other
characteristics.
Major techniques and their classification
The projective techniques are classified by the nature of the response evoked from the subject as follows.

Association techniques
13
A2
The subject is instructed to respond to the stimulus with the first word, image, or percept that occurs to him.
a. Word association
A series of disconnected words are orally presented, one at a time. Subject is instructed to respond with the first
word that occurs to him. Subject’s association and reaction time to each word are recorded. Interpretation involves
analysis of the content of the associations, in terms of their relevance to particular motives or conflict areas such as
dominance or aggression, or the subject’s responses may be compared with the typical performance of psychiatric
and normal groups on the same list of words.
b. Rorschach (Rorschach 1921) and other inkblot techniques
It consists of ten symmetrical inkblots. The cards are presented individually and in a set order. Subject is instructed to
report what the figures resemble or suggest to him. Responses to each card are recorded verbatim and reaction
times are noted. Then an inquiry is conducted where the subject identifies the characteristics of the stimuli which
affected his associations. Various aspects of responses are scored ex: location, relative size of the blot area, use of
color and shading, presence of movement etc.
Holtzman Inkblot Technique (Holtzman et al. 1961), introduced desirable psychometric properties to the basic
Rorschach approach.

Construction techniques
14
A2
They require the subject to create or construct a more elaborate product, typically a complete art form, such as a
story or picture.
a. Thematic Apperception Test (Murray 1943)
It consists of cards containing black-and-white pictures of vague scenes. Subject is required to compose a story to fit
each picture, describing what the people are thinking and feeling, what led up to the scene depicted, and what the
outcome will be. Scoring is based on the content of behavior and experiences described in the story. The basic
assumption is psychological isomorphy between dispositions attributed to the part of the major character in the story
and those that exist in the storyteller.
b. The Blacky Pictures test (Blum 1949)
It is intended to investigate 11 specific psychoanalytic variables, including oral eroticism, oedipal intensity, and
castration anxiety. The test consists of 12 cartoons concerned with experiences in the life of a dog named Blacky,
including his relationships with Mama, Papa, and Tippy, a sibling. The procedure involves story construction in
response to the pictures but adds indications of preference and a series of direct questions for each picture. While
administration is highly standardized, scoring and interpretation are not.

Completion techniques
15
A2
Subject is presented some type of incomplete product, and asked to complete it in any manner he wishes.
Sentence-completion tests (Ex: Rotter & Wilierman 1947)
The device consists of thirty to one hundred brief sentence stems which the subject is instructed to complete with
the first words that come to mind. Sometimes it is emphasized that the completions should reveal subject’s own
feelings.The technique is considered most efficient in assessing the content of personality (attitudes, motives, and
conflicts) at a more conscious or manifest level than such instruments as the
Rorschach or TAT.
Other examples of completion tests are story-completion and argument-completion tests and the Rosenzweig
Picture-Frustration Study (Rosenzweig 1949).

Choice or ordering techniques
16
A2
They require the respondent to choose the item or arrangement (or even hypothetical response) that fits some
specified criterion, such as meaningfulness, relevance, or attractiveness from a number of alternatives.
a. The Szondi Test
The test materials consist of 48 photographs of individuals drawn from eight psychiatric diagnostic categories. The
subject’s expressions of preference for the different photographs are elicited. While recommendation of repeated
administrations and highly objective scoring system make it useful, empirical verification attempts have been
negative (Borstelmann & Klopfer 1953).
b. TomkinsHorn Picture Arrangement Test
This device consists of 25 plates. Each contains three line drawings that depict the same figure involved in different
but related activities. Subject is asked to indicate the order in which these activities took place and to provide a
sentence indicating what is going on in the picture. Rare response patterns are used to estimate certain tendencies
such as hypochondriasis or avoidance of people and for distinguishing normal from abnormal subjects. Existence of a
highly objective scoring procedure and demonstration of distinct differences in the performances of normal and
disturbed subjects make it useful. Cons include delimited data collection.

Expressive techniques
17
A2
They place emphasis upon the manner and style in which the product is created. They are often considered to be
therapeutic as well as diagnostic devices, since the subject is presumed to relieve his difficulties in the process of
revealing them.
a. Play
These approaches present the subject with an array of toys which he is encouraged to use in some manner. Among
the objects frequently selected are dolls representing adults and children of both sexes and various age levels. The
examiner is responsible for recording as much of the subject’s behavior as possible, including choice and
arrangement of toys, accompanying comments, and expressive behavior. The examiner recognizes important motives
and conflicts when he sees them.
b. Drawing and painting
Attention has centered chiefly on procedures using drawings of the human figure, the most publicized of which have
been those of Buck (1948) and Machover (1949). When the test is administered individually, the examiner usually
notes the subject’s comments, the sequence of parts drawn, and other procedural details. Scoring of human-figure-
drawing tests is essentially qualitative, being concerned with such stylistic features as the figure’s stance, size, and
position on the page, disproportions, shading, and erasures.

Summary and Sources
18
A2
A projective test is a personality test designed to let a person respond to ambiguous stimuli, presumably revealing
hidden emotions and internal conflicts projected by the person into the test. The five types of techniques when
classified by nature of response are association techniques, construction techniques, completion techniques, choice
or ordering techniques and expressive techniques.
Sources:
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3045000995.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projective_test
Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology
Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology (Click for eBook)

Elucidate Allport’s development of
selfhood.
Q3.
19

Allport’s development of selfhood
20
A3
Whether motivational or stylistic, some personal dispositions are close to the core of personality, whereas others are
more on the periphery. Those that are at the center of personality are experienced by the person as being an
important part of self. They are characteristics that an individual refers to in such terms as “That is me” or “This is
mine.” All characteristics that are “peculiarly mine” belong to the proprium (Allport, 1955).
The major concepts of Allport’s trait theory revolve around the different kinds of traits that are contained in the
proprium, and how they, develop continuously from a person’s infancy to death and moves through a series of stages
as discussed below.
The bodily self
The first aspect of selfhood, the bodily self, becomes salient in infancy. As infants, we are continually receiving
sensory information from our internal organs, muscles, joints, and tendons.
These sensations become particularly acute when we are hungry, when we are frustrated, and when we bump into
things. In such situations, we learn the limits of our own bodies. As we mature, these recurrent bodily sensations
provide information that confirms our own existence.
In Allport’s view, these sensations provide an anchor for our self-awareness. When we are healthy, we hardly notice
the sensations; when we are ill, we are keenly aware of our bodies (Allport, 1961, p. 114).
Allport believed strongly that this bodily sense forms the core of the self and remains an important aspect of
selfhood throughout life.

Allport’s development of selfhood contd.
21
A3
Self-identity
The second aspect of the proprium, self-identity, also develops during the first 18 months of life. Despite the vast
changes that occur in the course of our lives, there is a certain continuity and sameness in the way we perceive
ourselves. “Today I remember some of my thoughts of yesterday; and tomorrow I shall remember some of my
thoughts of both yesterday and today; and I am certain that they are the thoughts of the same person––of myself”
(Allport, 1961, p. 114).
Although this concept of self-identity may seem obvious and even trite, recall Erik Erikson’s description of the crises
faced by people, especially adolescents, who doubt or are confused about their identities.
Self-esteem
The third aspect of the proprium, which emerges during the second and third years of life, is self-esteem. At this
point, children have become more familiar with their environment; they experience pride when they master available
tasks and humiliation when they fail. One symptom of their growing self-awareness is the outpouring of opposition to
virtually any suggestion from the parents. It is a time for testing the limits of the environment and for refusing to take
orders from others. Children are typically very negativistic at this stage.
These oppositional tendencies often reappear in adolescence, when the perceived enemies typically are parents and
other authority figures.
Self-extension
From approximately 4 to 6 years of age, children are primarily concerned with possessions. At this age, children are
typically very egocentric. As people mature, they extend their loyalties to family, church, nation, and career group.
They no longer see these groups from a selfish perspective (“What can they do for me?”), but become more
concerned with benefiting other people on the basis of moral principles and ideals (Allport, 1955, p. 45). Thus, self-
extension in the earliest phases of development is selfish; in the later phases, it is unselfish.

22
A3
Self-image
Along with self-extension, children begin to develop a self-image. According to Allport, the self-image has two
components:
(1) learned expectations of the roles we are required to enact;
(2) aspirations for the future we seek to attain (Allport, 1955, p. 47).
The self-image evolves slowly in conjunction with the conscience.
Children learn to do things that others expect of them and to avoid behaviors that will bring disapproval. They begin
to formulate plans for the future and to make tentative decisions about careers and the values they will embrace.
The self-as-rational-coper
During the period between 6 and 12, children begin to engage in reflective thought. They devise strategies to cope
with problems and delight in testing their skills, particularly intellectual ones. At the same time, they are capable of
distortion and defense. Nevertheless, the thrust of Allport’s argument is that children at this stage are beginning to
sense their rational powers and to exercise them (Allport, 1955, p. 46). Allport calls this aspect of the proprium the
self-as-rational-coper, or sometimes simply the rational agent.

23
A3
Propriate striving
From the beginning of adolescence at age 13, people begin to develop propriate striving. Allport distinguished
between two kinds of motives:
(1) Peripheral motives are impulses and drives. Ex: We are hungry; we eat.
(2) Propriate motives involve the deliberate increase or maintenance of tensions in the service of important goals. Ex:
During adolescence, we may yearn to be a great artist or novelist.
Propriate striving is ego-involved behavior, characterized by the unification of personality in pursuit of major life
goals. “The possession of long-range goals, regarded as central to one’s personal existence, distinguishes the human
being from the animal, the adult from the child, and in many cases the healthy from the sick” (Allport, 1955, p. 51).
The self-as-knower
In adulthood, we begin the development of the self-as-knower. We now are capable of integrating all the prior
aspects of the proprium into a unified whole. As Allport put it: We (now) not only know things, but we know the
empirical features of our own proprium. It is I who have bodily sensations, I who recognize my self-identity from day
to day; I who note and reflect upon my selfassertion, self-extension, my own rationalizations, as well as upon my
interests and strivings. When I thus think about my own propriate functions I am likely to pereceive their essential
togetherness, and feel them intimately bound in some way to the knowing function itself. (Allport, 1955, p. 53)
In Allport’s view, different aspects of Propium continue to develop and function in parallel. Several/all of them can
operate simultaneously.

Summary and Sources
24
A3
Allport’s theory pertaining to the development of self-hood is centered around the concept of Proprium - the self-
composed of the aspects of you see as most essential (as opposed to incidental or accidental), warm (or “precious,”
as opposed to emotionally cool), and central (as opposed to peripheral). He defined seven functions for the self: The
bodily self, self-identity, self-esteem, self-extension, self-image, rational coping, propriate striving. And the last self-
as-knower. These functions begin at different stages of a person’s lifespan but continue to operate simultaneously,
sometimes even together in a single situation.
Sources:
Theories of Personality, Richard M. Ryckman (Click for eBook)
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/allport.html

400 words
Section B
25

Describe neuropsychological basis
of trait and types.
Q4.
26

Neuro-Psychological basis of trait and types
27
A4
Human behaviors and experiences are generated by biological processes, primarily within the brain. The regularities
in these behaviors and experiences that constitute personality are, therefore, associated with regularities in the
biological functions of the brain. The neuropsychological base of various personality theories is discussed below:
Eysenck's Three Factor Model of Personality
Eysenck (1967; Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985) relied on the functions of the brain’s ascending reticular activating system,
associating Extraversion with the reticulo-cortical circuit and Neuroticism with the reticulo-limbic circuit. He
hypothesized:
(a) Extraverts have lower baseline levels of cortical arousal than introverts and and they may have higher preferred or
optimal levels of arousal.
(b) Neurotics are more easily aroused by emotion-inducing stimuli than are emotionally stable people.
(c) Psychoticism was negatively associated with serotonergic function (Eysenck, 1992) and positively associated with
dopaminergic function (Eysenck, 1997)
Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory
Jeffrey Gray developed a “conceptual nervous system”(CNS) describing functional systems that could be mapped
onto brain systems. The main components of CNS are:
1. Behavioral Approach System (BAS): responds to cues for reward and is linked to the dopaminergic system,
2. Fight-Flight-Freezing System (FFFS) is linked to the amygdala, hypothalamus, and periaqueductal gray.
3. Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS): responds to two distinct classes of threatening stimuli (Gray & McNaughton,
2000; Pickering & Gray, 1999) and is linked to the septo-hippocampal system but also to the amygdala.

Growth and development contd., Summary and Sources
28
A4
Cloninger Model of Personality
It is based on the idea that different responses to punishing, rewarding, and novel stimuli is caused by an interaction
of the three dimensions:
1. Novelty Seeking (NS) – degree of impulsiveness. Correlated with low dopamine activity and increased grey matter
volume in regions of the cingulate cortex.
2. Harm Avoidance (HA) - degree of anxiety. Correlated with high serotonin activity and decreased grey matter
volume in the orbitofrontal, occipital, and parietal cortex.
3. Reward Dependence (RD) – Degree of approval seeking behaviour. Correlated with low norepinephrine activity
and decreased grey matter volume in the caudate nucleus.
Five Factor Model of Personality
Four of the traits are found to be correlated with volumes of specific brain areas as discussed below:
1. Openness: acquisition of broad verbal intellectual skills and knowledge not localized to a specific brain region or
neurotransmitter system.
2. Conscientiousness: increased volume in lateral prefrontal cortex, region involved in planning and the voluntary
control of behavior.
3. Extraversion: increased volume of medial orbitofrontal cortex, region involved in processing reward information.
4. Agreeableness: increased volume in regions that process information about the intentions and mental states of
other individuals.
5. Neuroticism: increased volume of brain regions associated with threat, punishment, and negative emotions.

Summary and Sources
29
A4
The behaviors and experiences of humans are generated by biological processes that happen in the brain and related
parts of the body. Psychologists seek to identify the various areas and physiological reactions that drive these. An
attempt has accordingly been made by various personality theorists and researchers to identify the
neuropsychological bases of the various traits and types of personality.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_basis_of_personality
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13803391003689770#.VLtEK9KUeE4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray%27s_biopsychological_theory_of_personality
Personality Neuroscience: Explaining Individual Differences in Affect, Behavior, and Cognition, Colin G. DeYoung
Jeremy R. Gray (DeYoung_Gray_personality_neuroscience)

Examine the strengths and
weaknesses of self- report tests.
Q5.
30

Self-reports
31
A5
A self-report method is a data collection technique used in personality assessment where the information about the
subject is provided by the subject itself. There are three types of self-report tests: Direct self-ratings, Indirect self-
reports and Open-ended self-descriptions.
Self-reports are the most common assessment procedures for collecting data in psychology and psychological
assessment. They can be obtained through questionnaires, inventories, or scales containing set of relevant verbal
statements and a variety of response formats (true or false options, checklists, scaled responses, etc.). MMPI-2 and
16 Personality Factor Questionnaire are couple of famous self-Report Inventories.
Strengths
1. Efficiency: It is possible to administer large number of tests in relatively short space of time. Many self-report
inventories can be completed very quickly, often in as little as 15 minutes.
2. Broad coverage: Human beings can report on their private, unobservable, subjective world, their thoughts, and
their emotions, as well as public observable events.
3. Multi-trait analysis: Multi-dimensional inventories allow measurement of multiple traits.
4. Inexpensive: It is an affordable option for researchers faced with tight budgets.
5. Reliability: Generally much more reliable and valid than projective tests. Scoring of the tests are standardized
and based on norms that have been previously established.
6. Interpretability: Self-reports are communicated in the language common to the assessor and the respondent,
therefore, easy to interpret and with better accuracy.
7. Information richness: No-one has better access to information about the respondent than the respondent
himself.
8. Motivation to report: Whereas ratings of others may be done carelessly or superficially, people tend to put in
more time and effort when reporting on their own personalities.

Self-reports contd.
32
A5
9. Causal Force: It engages the respondent's identity. In sum, the causal force of self-perceptions make them
important to personality assessment in a rather different fashion from other indicators-reputation, for example
(Hogan & Smither, 2001).
10. Easy to administer: Someone with little training can administer the test.
Weaknesses
1. Susceptible to deception: Research has shown that people are able to exercise deception while taking self-report
tests (Anastasi & Urbina, 1997).
2. Influence of social desirability: Responses may be swayed by desire for positive and negative impression
management.
3. Acquiescence: Tendency of the subject to respond in the affirmative to all questions.
4. Impact of situational factors: Length of the question and tests, formulation of the question, type of answer and
response requested, time pressure and subject’s characteristics impact responses.
5. Prone to biases: anchoring effects, primacy and recency effects, and consistency motivation impact self-report
results.

Summary and Sources
33
A5
Human beings are the most important source of information about themselves; several assessment methods are,
therefore, based on self-reports. They have several advantages, including ability to get reliable results in an easy,
efficient and inexpensive manner. Their accuracy is threatened by several factors ranging from deliberate deception
to unintentional errors and biases. However, it is commonly accepted that self-report questionnaires can be
optimized through various strategies, and that their accuracy can be maximized.
Sources:
Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology
http://psychology.about.com/od/psychologicaltesting/f/self-report-inventory.htm
Handbook of Research Methods in Personality Psychology, Richard W. Robins, R. Chris Fraley and Robert F. Krueger

Discuss the case study method.
Q6.
34

Case study method
35
A6
A case study (or case history) consists of an intensive, detailed description and analysis of a particular individual,
group, or event. Such studies are frequently used in clinical and medical settings to provide descriptions and
explanations of a person’s actions and experiences, as well as a prescription for the treatment of the individual’s
problems (Runyan, 1982, p. 443). Information may be obtained by means of careful observation, interviews,
psychological tests, or archival records.
Advantages
1. It is useful when the researcher is starting to investigate a new area or a rare phenomenon in which there is little
information available. Case studies are a rich source of ideas and hypotheses for future research.
2. It can also be used to disconfirm a generally accepted principle. Ex: In 1962, Eric Lenneberg reported the
outcome of extensive tests over a five-year period on a young boy who was totally inarticulate because of an
inborn defect of his vocal tract. Testing showed that he had normal and complete understanding of spoken
language. This single counterexample was sufficient to invalidate the motor theory’s basic assumption -
interpreting speech was dependent on the listener’s ability to produce speech.
3. Personality studies using the experimental method examine average or typical differences between individuals,
whereas the case-study procedure provides a rich—that is, complex and integrated—view of the uniqueness of
the person. It accomplishes this goal by describing both the consistencies and the inconsistencies of the person’s
behavior, as well as the ways in which characteristic experiences are organized.

Case study method contd.
36
A6
Limitations
1. Poor representativeness leads to limited generalizability. Because of the exclusive focus on a particular individual
or group, the researcher has no way of knowing whether that individual is typical of people in general.
2. Case studies, by their very nature, do not permit the researcher to draw any conclusions as to causality. In a
conventional experiment, the researcher usually has one or more specific hypotheses that are tested by the
controlled manipulation of the specific variables of interest. Case studies do not permit careful control, thus it is
impossible to identify a specific causal association.
3. The data obtained by the case history method may be retrospective or second-hand in nature and thus distorted
by time.
4. Even if the accuracy of such data can be verified, the conclusions drawn about the individual may reflect the
personal biases of the investigator.
* * *
Case study method gives an in-depth view of a single individual’s life or single event. This provides an opportunity to
investigate phenomena which were hitherto not observed, thus helping in formulating or validating theories to
explain such phenomena. It provides a complex, yet integrated view of a person. However, the focus on a particular
case means the generalizability is limited. Also, the causality of the conclusions cannot be validated because of
limited control on the variables. However, it is still a very useful method.
Sources:

Evaluate Karen Horney’s theory of
self.
Q7.
37

Karen Horney’s theory of self
38
A7
Karen Horney placed emphasis on the inner conflicts that both normal and neurotic individuals experience. Intra-
psychic processes originate from interpersonal experiences; but as they become part of a person’s belief system, they
develop a life of their own—an existence separate from the interpersonal conflicts that gave them life.
There are two important intra-psychic conflicts:
1. Idealized self-image: an attempt to solve conflicts by painting a godlike picture of oneself.
2. Self-hatred: an interrelated yet equally irrational and powerful tendency to despise one’s real self.
Horney believed that human beings, if given an environment of discipline and warmth, will develop feelings of
security and self-confidence and a tendency to move toward self-realization. Unfortunately, early negative influences
often impede people’s natural tendency toward self-realization, a situation that leaves them with feelings of isolation
and inferiority. Added to this failure is a growing sense of alienation from themselves.
Feeling alienated from themselves, people need desperately to acquire a stable sense of identity. This dilemma can
be solved only by creating an idealized self-image, an extravagantly positive view of themselves that exists only in
their personal belief system. These people endow themselves with infinite powers and unlimited capabilities; they
see themselves as “a hero, a genius, a supreme lover, a saint, a god” (Horney, 1950, p. 22).
· Compliant people see themselves as good and saintly
· aggressive people build an idealized image of themselves as strong, heroic, and omnipotent
· detached neurotics paint their self-portraits as wise, self-sufficient, and independent
As the idealized self-image becomes solidified, neurotics begin to believe in the reality of that image. They lose touch
with their real self and use the idealized self as the standard for self-evaluation. Rather than growing toward self-
realization, they move toward actualizing their idealized self.

Karen Horney’s theory of self contd.
39
A7
The glorified self becomes not only a phantom
to be pursued; it also becomes a measuring
rod with which to measure his actual being.
And this actual being is such an embarrassing
sight when viewed from the perspective of a
godlike perfection that he cannot but despise
it. (Horney, 1950, p. 110)
As people build an idealized image of their self,
their real self lags farther and farther behind.
This gap creates a growing alienation between
the real self and the idealized self and leads
neurotics to hate and despise their actual self
because it falls so short in matching the
glorified self-image (Horney, 1950). The self is
thus "split" into a despised self and an ideal
self.
Sources:
Theories of Personality, Jess Feist and Gregory
Feist
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/horney.html

Analyse Maslow’s Need Hierarchy
theory.
Q8.
40

Maslow’s Need Hierarchy theory
41
A8
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of
Human Motivation" in Psychological Review. According to Maslow, human beings have two basic sets of needs that
are rooted in their biology: deficiency (or basic) needs, and growth (or meta) needs.
Basic Needs
From most to least powerful, the basic needs are:
1. Physiological needs: includes hunger, thirst, sex etc. People deprived of food for long periods of time, for example,
would begin to focus more and more of their attention on that deficiency.
2. Safety needs: includes needs for security, protection, structure, law, order, limits, and freedom from fear, anxiety,
and chaos (Maslow, 1970a, p. 39). In Maslow’s view, the need for security manifests itself in infants and children when
their environment is disturbed.
3. Needs for belongingness and love: tend to emerge once the physiological and safety needs are routinely met.
Maslow argued that all of us need to feel wanted and accepted by others.
4. Esteem needs: He divided them into two sets: esteem based on respect for our own competence, independence,
and accomplishments, and esteem based on others’ evaluations.
Meta Needs
Once the basic needs in Maslow’s hierarchy have been sufficiently gratified, the needs for self-actualization and
cognitive understanding become salient. People seek to gratify their innate curiosity about themselves and the
workings of the environment, to know and understand phenomena that go beyond the gratification of basic needs, to
move toward realization of their own unique potentialities.

Maslow’s Need Hierarchy theory contd.
42
A8

Maslow’s Need Hierarchy theory contd.
43
A8
Evaluation of Theory
The theory is evaluated in terms of six criteria:
1. Comprehensiveness: The focus is primarily and explicitly on the issue of positive growth rather than the Freudian
model of Pathology, therefore, it is somewhat limited in the range and diversity of phenomena it encompasses.
2. Precision and testability : Maslow’s theory is not very precise and, as a result, is difficult to test properly. Ex:
Exceptions in hierarchy not defined.
3. Parsimony: The motivational deficiency scheme he used to account for various behaviors is too simplistic to
account adequately for the phenomena within its domain.
4. Empirical validity: Without adequate measures of the major constructs in Maslow’s theory, tests of its empirical
validity are impossible.
5. Heuristic value: Maslow’s theory has been provocative and has stimulated the thinking of many investigators in a
variety of disciplines.
6. Applied value: His formulations have had a decided impact on pastoral and educational counseling programs.
Many business managers have embraced his ideas.
* * *
Maslow’s theory categorises human needs into two major types – Basic needs and Meta needs. Basic needs include
physiological needs like food and sex, safety and security needs, belongingness and love needs and esteem needs.
Meta needs include the need for self-actualisation – i.e, achieving one’s full potential. These needs are hierarchically
ordered and only after a need at the lower level is satisfied can a need at the higher level be satisfied.
Sources:
http://figur8.net/baby/2014/11/06/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-and-how-it-relates-to-your-childs-education/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs

50 words
Section C
44

Conscientiousness
45
A9
Conscientiousness is one of the factors of the Big Five personality theory. It describes people who are ordered,
controlled, organized, ambitious, achievement focused, and self-disciplined. In general, people who score high on C
are hardworking, conscientious, punctual, and persevering. In contrast, people who score low on conscientiousness
tend to be disorganized, negligent, lazy, and aimless and are likely to give up when a project becomes difficult.
Conscientious children, for instance, get their homework done on time and keep their rooms neat. They set goals and
fulfill them, and they generally don’t take many risks. In the California study, persons high in this characteristic have
been fully 30 percent less likely to die in any given year than persons low in this trait.
However, recent research has indicated some positive effects of low conscientiousness. Research has demonstrated
that lack of conscientiousness is associated with innovation. Defined by terms such as fastidious, ordered, neat, and
methodical, the evidence shows that individuals high on conscientiousness are more resistant to changes at work and
are more likely to comply with current organizational norms.
* * *
Sources:

Factor Analysis
46
A10
Factor analysis is a method of analyzing a set of correlations to discover which variables in the set are correlated with
each other but are largely independent of the other variables. Thus, factors represent the underlying processes that
hold together each subset of correlations.
Factor analysis can account for a large number of variables with a smaller number of more basic dimensions. These
more basic dimensions can be called traits, that is, factors that represent a cluster of closely related variables. Ex: we
may find high positive inter-correlations among test scores in algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus. We have
now identified a cluster of scores that we might call Factor M, representing mathematical ability.
Steps in factor analysis
· Step 1: Selecting and Measuring a set of variables in a given domain
· Step 2: Data screening in order to prepare the correlation matrix
· Step 3: Factor Extraction
· Step 4: Factor Rotation to increase interpretability
· Step 5: Interpretation
· Further Steps: Validation and Reliability of the measures
* * *
Sources:
California state university lecture

Eysenck Personality Questionnaire
47
A11
It is a questionnaire to assess the personality traits of a person. It was devised by the psychologists Hans Jürgen
Eysenck and his wife Sybil B. G. Eysenck.
The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire is a self-assessment test for administration to normal populations. It assesses
the three primary Eysenckian traits of extraversion (E), neuroticism (N), and Psychoticism (P). In addition the test
contains a Lie Scale (L).
1. High E scorer is “sociable, likes parties, has many friends, needs to have people to talk to, and does not like reading
or studying by himself.”
2. High N scorer is “an anxious, worrying individual, moody and frequently depressed. He is likely to sleep badly, and
to suffer from psychosomatic disorders.”
3. High P scorer is “tough-minded and non-comformist, likely to be aggressive, cold, and impersonal. He may also be
prone to Machiavellianism and antisocial behavior.”
The EPQ-R (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1991) contains 100 items to measure the three personality dimensions – E, N and P,
as well as L. A dichotomous response format is used with respondents ticking “Yes” or “No”. The short form of the
EPQ-R comprises 48 items, 12 for each of the sub-scales.
* * *
Sources:
Comprehensive Handbook of Psychological Assessment, Personality Assessment, chapter by Jeremy Miles and Susanne
Hempel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eysenck_Personality_Questionnaire

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
48
A12
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory is a test used to gather information on personality, attitudes, and
mental health of persons aged 16 or older and to aid in clinical diagnosis.
The current version, MMPI–2, contains ten clinical scales and several validity scales. It has 567 true-false items. It is
untimed and can take anywhere from 60-90 minutes to complete. It is normally done in a single session, but can be
extended to a second session if necessary. Specific conditions or syndromes that the test can help identify include
hypochondriasis, depression, hysteria, paranoia, and schizophrenia.
Raw scores based on deviations from standard responses are entered on personality profile forms to obtain individual
results. There’s a validity scale to thwart attempts to “fake” the test.
Because the MMPI is a complex test whose results can sometimes be ambiguous (and/or skewed by various factors),
professionals are cautious in interpreting it, often preferring broad descriptions to specific psychiatric
diagnoses unless supported by further testing and observable behavior.
A fifth-grade reading level is required in order to take the test. A tape-recorded version is available for those with
limited literacy, visual impairments, or other problems.
* * *
Sources:
http://www.pearsonclinical.com/psychology/products/100000461/minnesota-multiphasic-personality-inventory-2-
mmpi-2.html#tab-pricing

Structured interview
49
A13
A structured interview (also known as a standardised interview or a researcher-administered survey) is a quantitative
research method commonly employed in survey research. It is essentially a statistical survey, where the survey is
delivered by an interviewer rather than being self-administered. Interviewers read the questions exactly as they
appear on the survey questionnaire. The choice of answers to the questions is often fixed (close-ended) in advance.
The interviewer cannot probe beyond the answers given.
Advantages
1. Reliable: Each interviewee is presented with exactly the same questions; therefore, answers can be reliably and
more easily aggregated.
2. Easy to replicate: Easier to replicate to collect responses from large samples.
3. Quick to conduct: Large sample can be obtained resulting in the findings being representative and having the
ability to be generalized to a large population.
Limitations
1. Lack of flexibility: New questions cannot be asked impromptu (i.e. during the interview) as an interview schedule
must be followed.
2. Lack of detail: Only closed questions are asked which generates quantitative data. Therefore, researcher won't
know why a person behaves in a certain way.
* * *
Sources:
Research Methods in the Social Sciences, Bridget Somekh and Cathy Lewin
http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Structured_interview
http://www.simplypsychology.org/interviews.html

Reliability and validity of Rorschach
50
A14
Rorschach test is a psychometric tool that uses a series of inkblots shown to a subject, and elicits verbal responses as
to what the individual sees in the images. It is administered by an examiner who asks questions and records
answers. Subject responses are used to determine a set of variables, which are used to define their personality along
a set of various axes.
Reliability
Reliability depends on the ability to achieve a given measurement consistently (Weiner & Greene, 2008). It is reliable
when evaluated using a defined rating scale and an appropriate set of examiners. Inter-rater reliability and test-
retest reliability are acceptable under these conditions. Exner reported reliabilities from .26 to .92 over a 1-year
interval considering 41 variables; four of them were above .90, 25 between .81 and .89, and 10 below .75.
Validity
Validity depends on the ability of a test to measure the constructs that it is purported to measure (Wiener & Greene,
2008). Groth-Marnat (2009, p. 391) pointed out that results of validity studies on the Rorschach are mixed, but are
confounded by various factors including the “type of scoring system, experience of the scorer, and type of
population.”
* * *
Sources:
http://www.brainmaster.com/kb/entry/489/

Apperception
51
A15
Apperception is "the process by which new experience is assimilated to and transformed by the residuum of past
experience of an individual to form a new whole."
Leibniz defines apperception as “consciousness, or the reflective knowledge of this internal state.” “Something not
given to all souls, nor at all times to a given soul.”
Simply, it is to perceive new experience in relation to past experience. Apperception is thus a general term for all
mental processes in which a presentation is brought into connection with an already existent and systematized
mental conception, and thereby is classified, explained or, in a word, understood.
Example: A rich child and a poor child walking together come across a $10 bill on the sidewalk. The rich child says it is
not lot of money whereas the poor child says it is a lot of money. The difference lies in how they apperceive the same
event – the lens of past experience through which they see and value (or devalue) the money.
Application: In education the teacher should fully acquaint himself with the mental development of the pupil, in
order that he may make full use of what the pupil already knows.
* * *
Sources:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/leibniz-mind/#AppDesUnc
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apperception#cite_note-Dagobert_D_1972-1

Self-efficacy
52
A16
Self-efficacy is the belief in one’s capacity to perform a specific task (Bandura, 1986; Gist & Mitchell, 1992). The
higher a person’s feelings of self-efficacy, the better that person tends to do at a wide range of tasks. And this can
ultimately lead to more generalized positive feelings about one-self.
The strength of self-efficacy will determine whether coping behavior will be initiated. Perceived self-efficacy
influences choice of behavioral settings. People fear and tend to avoid threatening situations they believe exceed
their coping skills, whereas, they get involved in activities and behave assuredly when they judge themselves capable
of handling situations that would otherwise be intimidating.
Through expectations of eventual success, self-efficacy can affect coping efforts once they are initiated. Efficacy
expectations determine how much effort will be expended, and how long it will be sustained in the face of obstacles
and aversive experiences. Stronger the perceived self-efficacy, more active will be the efforts.
Those who persist in subjectively threatening activities that are in fact relatively safe will gain corrective experiences
that reinforce their sense of efficacy, thereby eventually eliminating their defensive behavior. Those who cease their
coping efforts prematurely will retain their self-debilitating expectations and fears for a long time.
* * *
Sources:
Self-efficacy - Toward a unifying theory of Behavioural Change, Albert Bandura

Congruence
53
A17
Congruence refers to the state of harmony that exists when there is no discrepancy between the person’s
experiencing and his or her self-concept.
In Carl Rogers’s view, the ideal condition for development of a healthy self-concept and movement toward becoming
fully functioning, is unconditional positive regard—a deep and genuine caring by others, uncontaminated by
judgments or evaluations of our thoughts, feelings, or behaviors (Rogers & Sanford, 1984, p. 1379). With
unconditional positive regard, the self-concept carries no conditions of worth, there is congruence between the true
self and experience, and the person is psychologically healthy. Rogers believed that parents and others can establish
creativity-fostering environments, with rules that encourage children to be curious, self-reliant, and respectful of
themselves and others.
Rogers believed that when we are guided by the expectations of others that run counter to our innate evaluations,
problems occur. In this case, our social selves prevent our getting in touch with our true selves and actual feelings,
and movement toward actualization is hindered. Congruence between the true self and organismic experiencing
leads to accurate symbolization of experiences and positive growth; incongruence leads to inaccurate or distorted
symbolization, psychological maladjustment, and vulnerability.
* * *
Sources:

Personification
54
A18
Beginning in infancy and continuing throughout the various developmental stages, people acquire certain images of
themselves and others. These images are called personifications.
They may be relatively accurate, or because they are colored by people’s needs and anxieties, they may be grossly
distorted. Sullivan (1953b) described three basic personifications that develop during infancy—the bad-mother, the
good mother, and the me. In addition, some children acquire an eidetic personification.
Bad-Mother, Good-Mother
Bad-mother personification, grows out of the infant’s experiences with the bad-nipple: (nipple that does not satisfy
hunger needs).
Goodmother personification is based on the tender and cooperative behaviors of the mother.
Both combine to form a complex personification composed of contrasting qualities projected onto the same person.
Me Personifications
Me personifications, acquired during mid-infancy form the building blocks of self-personification.
Bad-me personification is fashioned from experiences of punishment and disapproval that infants receive from their
mothering one.
Good-me personification results from infants’ experiences with reward and approval.
Not-me personification results due to sudden severe anxiety.
Eidetic Personifications
Eidetic personifications: unrealistic traits or imaginary friends that many children invent in order to protect their self-
esteem. Adults may see fictitious traits in other people.
Source: Theories of Personality, Jess Feist and Gregory Feist

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