The document discusses various techniques for personality assessment, including both projective and objective methods. It describes self-report inventories, projective techniques like the Rorschach inkblots and Thematic Apperception Test, as well as structured tests like the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. Different assessment methods vary in terms of their structure, whether the true purpose is concealed from the participant, and what aspects of personality they aim to evaluate, such as conscious versus unconscious traits.

1. PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT
Week 12-13
FEM4105
Psychology of Personality & Human Dynamics
BS(PM)-PJJ
INSTRUCTOR:
SITI NOR BINTI YAACOB, PhD.
sitinor@upm.edu.my/012-2841844

2. 2
* Personality measurement
* Use personality inventory(assessment tool) to determine
* Different theories of personality use different types of assessment
techniques
* Types of tests/assessment techniques used depends on:
* Objectives
* Theoretical perspectives held (various theory)
* Examples of personality assessment techniques:
* Self-report inventories (psychometric) : Dispositional
* Projective techniques : Psychoanalytic
* Clinical/in-depth interviews (subjective): Person-centered/Attachment
* Behavioral assessment(objective) : Behaviorism/Social Learning

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3 Levels of Measurement
1. Instrument: A large personality inventory
consisting of many scales or tests (e.g., the
full Big 5 Inventory, California Personality Test)
2. Test/Scale: Several items that measure one
personality dimension (e.g., a trait scale on
the Big 5, such as extraversion)
3. Measure/Item: A single item (or behavior)
that assesses only one personality trait or
dimension (e.g., one item of the Big 5)

4. Descriptive Methods
-Involves measuring and recording behaviors, thoughts, or feelings in natural
state
-Useful in estimating correlations
Naturalistic
Observations
That is observing behavior as it occurs in the real-life settings.
Case Studies Is in intensive examinations of a single person or group.
Archives Assessing or looking into public records of social behaviors.
Survey
Methods
By asking people questions about their beliefs, feelings, and
behaviors. Questionnaires are normally utilized to collect
information from respondents.
Psychological
Tests
That is a standardized procedure for sampling behavior and
describing it with categories or scores.
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5. 5
Experimental Methods
-People are randomly assigned to different, experimentally manipulated conditions
-Involves attempts to manipulate social processes by varying aspect of situation.
-Independent Variable is manipulated while Dependent Variable is measured.
Laboratory
based
It is a direct manipulation of independent variables and the
observation are made on its effects on the dependent variables.
Field based It is a manipulation of independent variables using “unknowing”
participants in natural (field) settings.

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Personality Assessment: Classification Schemes
Disguised Non-Disguised
Unstructu-
red
1) Projective test (broad theme)
-Respond freely
-True purposes are concealed
-Example:
-Thematic Apperception Test(TAT)
2) Subjective test
-Respond freely
-True purposes are not concealed
-Example:
-Clinical Interview
Structured 3) Empirically-constructed
psychometric test
-Force to respond to a limited
number of items in a standard test
-True purposes are concealed
-Examples:
-Self-report Minnesota Multiphasic
Personality Inventory (MMPI)
- Jackson PersonalityResearchForm
4) Rationally-constructed
psychometric test
-Force to respond to a limited
number of items in a standard test
-True purposes are not concealed
-Accept as useful but not self-biased
-Examples:
-16PF
-Big Five
5) Structured/ Behavioral Tests
- Objective-behavioral in nature
- Force to respond(behave) in a limited number of ways in controlled situations(lab)
- Example: The Behavioral Avoidance Test

7. *Are unstructured, disguised, and geared to assess broad
themes in personality structure and functioning.
*Designed to assess convert, unconscious forces that might
guide behavior.
*Generate rich and varied responses (e.g. latent thoughts,
aspirations, fears, and deep feelings).
*Individuals impose (project) their own wishes, fantasies,
goals, hopes, and fears on to the stimuli.
*Stimuli are free of structure and cultural themes.
*Example:
*The Rorschach Inkblots and Thematic Apperception Test
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8. The Rorschach Inkblots:
*In diagnosing a particular certain personality disorder, the
content of responses given by the client (respondents) is very
important.
*Examples:
*Two animals fighting may disclose fundamental personal
conflicts.
*Explosions may indicate aggression and hostility.
*Pigs symbolize greedy tendencies.
*Foxes symbolize devious tendencies.
*Spiders, witches, and octopi symbolize dominating mothers.
*Gorillas and giants symbolize dominating fathers.
*Ostriches symbolize hiding from conflict.
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9. The Rorschach Inkblots:
*All figures, such as hostile animals, nurturing animals, and
authority figures have certain symbols in the scoring.
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11. The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT):
*The most widely utilized projective test to assess person needs and
motive.
*It consists a series of pictures that illustrate individuals facing
important life situations.
*The scenes in the pictures are normally very ambiguous and leave
much room for interpretation and projection.
*Based on the picture showed, respondents were requested to
describe or tell stories about each life scene. The stories explain
what is going on, the thoughts and feelings of people in the scene,
what led up to the scene, and what the likely outcome will be.
*The purpose of this test is also to tab and disclose individual
underlying needs and motives. This is because, when interpreting
ambiguous situations, individuals will expose (project) their own
goals, needs, worries, & concerns onto the story characters
*People are not aware they are talking about themselves and,
thus, defenses are by-passed.
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12. The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT):
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13. Why do some clinicians continue to use Rorschach?
*It was designed to measure idiosyncratic, unusual responses,
which tend to be unstable and erratic.
*Compared to other projective methods, Rorschach can
explore at a unique and deeper levels of analysis into the
human personality than other tests.
*Rorschach is sometimes used as a supplementary or
additional information from other, more valid tests.
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14. *Structured, i.e. limited response options, and can either be
disguised or non-disguised.
*Appraise more conscious and comprehensible aspects of
personality functioning.
*Ensure a higher reliability and validity on the results
obtained.
*They normally entail self-report statements that inquire about
specific preferences or behavior.
*Response options are usually limited to numerical scales (e.g. 1-
7 scales).
*Individuals select answers that are most descriptive of or true of
them.
*Example:
*Jackson’s Personality Research Form
*The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
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Jackson’s Personality Research Form:
*Developed to measure Murray’s (1983) major needs and
motives in normal people.
*It consists of 440 true/false items that assess 22 trait scales
or dimensions, such as
*Anxiety,
*Energy level,
*Conformity,
*Risk-taking,
*Need for achievement,
*Need for power,
*Need for intimacy.

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The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI):
*Used as a screening tools for psychiatric patients.
*It consists of a large pool of randomly chosen self-report
items.
*Respondents (patients) were requested to respond to the
statements given – in a “true/false/cannot say” format.
*Able to identify criterion groups, e.g. normal people versus
psychopaths, schizophrenics, depressives, hypochondriacs,
etc.
*Example: Likert scale
*Respondents were asked to response to a list of answers that
befits them.
*Respondents must specify their level of agreement to a given
statement when responding to a Likert questionnaire item.

17. *
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EXAMPLE
OF
LIKERT
SCALES
To measure a person Agreement
on a particular issue
• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Undecided
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree
To measure Frequency • Often
• Sometimes
• Seldom
• Never
To measure Importance • Very important
• Important
• Moderately important
• Of little important
• Unimportant
To measure Quality • Very good
• Good
• Barely acceptable
• Poor
• Very poor
To measure Likelihood • Very likely
• Likely
• Unlikely
• Very unlikely

18. *
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EXAMPLE
OF
PSYCHOMETRIC
SCALES
Personal • Self-esteem rating scale
• Personal Behavior
Inventory
• The ‘Why-worry’ Scale
Interpersonal • The friendliness scale
• Fear of intimacy scale
• Adult-self expression scale
Self Development • The self-efficacy scale
• Hardiness scale
• Empathy scale

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*Coopersmith’s Self-Esteem Inventory
(1989)
*Michigan State Self-Concept of Ability
Scale (Brookover et al., 1965)
*Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (Fitts, 1965)