This document discusses and compares three personality assessment techniques: interviews, self-report assessments, and projective techniques. It outlines the merits and demerits of each. Interviews can produce valuable information but rely on skilled interviewers and are subjective. Self-report assessments are standardized, reliable, and valid but can be influenced by social desirability and deception. Projective techniques tap unconscious traits but are less objective and require extensive training. No single technique is perfect, so a combination is recommended to best understand human personality.

1. By,
SREEJA GANGADHARAN P

2. Topics under discussion
• Interview technique
– merits
– Demerits
• Self-report Assessment
– Merits
– Demerits
• Projective Techniques
– Merits
– Demerits

3. Personality Assessment technique
• For systematic quantification of personality
variables.
• All personality assessment falls into three distinct
categories: subjective, objective, and projective.
• For any assessment technique to be accepted
scientifically, should possess the following features:
• Standardization
• Norms
• Reliability
• Validity

4. Interview
• Oldest and most widely used method.
• The way in which it is conducted depends on
the particular objective or goal in question.
• Structured format tends to be favored in the
research setting .
• Unstructured format tends to be favored by
clinical psychologists in therapeutic setting.

5. Merits
• Sense of trust.
• Degree of freedom.
• Can be used in hypothesis testing.
• Produce valuable information about
personality and life situation.
• Communicate effectively.

6. Demerits
• Issue of reliability and validity
• Needs highly skilled interviewer.
• Highly subjective
• Poor inter rater reliability
• Theoretical and personal biases of interviewer.
• Withholding or distorting of information vital
to the purpose of an interview.

7. Self report Assessment technique
• Reveals information directly by responding to
specific questions with a limited number of
prescribed choices.
• It is the most widely used technique.
• Differ by the number of dimensions they
measure.
• Single-trait test used by academic research
measure some specific aspect of personality.
• Multidimensional personality test have the
advantage of measuring more than one
dimensions simultaneously.

8. Merits
• High objectivity
• Standardization of scoring minimizes the
risk of personal bias.
• Reliable
• Valid
• Greater scene of privacy and autonomy
by using computerized self report
inventories
• Can measure several different personality
traits.
• Large group of subjects can be assessed.

9. Demerits
• Acquiesce response set: Tendency of some people
to respond in a particular way regardless of the
content of the item.
• Social desirability: tendency to respond to items in
such a way that makes them feel good.
• Deliberate deception: The test takers deliberately
withhold the information about themselves if they
believe that they stands to gain something from the
fraudulent responds.

10. • Highly personal characteristics of questions
may consider as an invasion of privacy.
• Restricting the degree of freedom.
• Lengthy
• It takes time to respond diligently.
• Is not good among children or elderly people.
• Minor changes in the words can lead to major
changes in the results.

11. Projective techniques
• Assess personality by presenting ambiguous
stimuli and requiring a subject to respond,
projecting his or her personality into the
responses.
• To uncover the person’s unconscious
conflicts, fear and concern.
• The tests can be very helpful in
identifying personality problems.

12. Merits
• Reduces intentional deception.
• Doesn't depend on verbal abilities
• Taps both conscious & unconscious traits and
its influence on behavior.
• Can be used to assess achievement
motivation and drives, adoption of
innovations and to study cultural meaning.
• Developed for emotionally disturbed person.

13. Demerits
• Less objectivity
• High Subjectivity in interpreting the response and
the final score.
• Inter scorer reliability is very low.
• Every aspect does not necessarily relate to a
personality attribute.
• Poorly standardized, no established method of
administration, scoring and interpretation.
• Extensive training in specific scoring system is
required for inter judgmental agreement.

14. CONCLUSION
• Measurement of individual difference
can be done using interview techniques,
self report personality test and projective
techniques. Each of these techniques has
its own merits and demerits. To have a
better understanding of the human
personality a combination of techniques
can be used.

15. KEY WORDS
• Personality
• Interview
• Self-report
• Projective technique
• Reliability
•Validity
•Deception
•Social desirability
•Acquiescence Bias

16. REFERENCE
• Friedman, H.S. & Schustaccks, M.W. (2003).
Personality-Classic Theories and Modern
Research. (2nd Edition). USA: Pearson
Education.
• Hjelle, L.A.& Ziegler, D.J.(1992). Personality
Theories-Basic Assumptions, Research and
Applications. (3rd edition). NY:McGraw-Hill.

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By,
SREEJA GANGADHARAN P