PERSONALITY

Introduction :
Personality tests are techniques designed to measure one’s personality. They are used to
diagnose psychological problems as well as to screen candidates for college and employment.
Physiologist Wilhelm Wundt in 1879 becomes the first person to draw a clear distinction
between the human body and one’s personality.The term ‘ personality ’is derived from the
word persona or the mask. Personality is something that enables a person to stand out as
distinct from others.

Definition:
 Personality is the integration of those system of habits that represents an individual’s
characterstics adjustment to his environment. J.P. Guilford

 The aggregrate of the physical and mental qualities of an individual which will
interact and function in characterstic fashion with the environment. Taylor

 Personality means once inner or outer circumstance suitable with his environment.
Duun
Personality ══ Inner ┼ Outer Circumstances
Environment
 Personality is defined as the characterstic sets of behaviors, cognitions, and emotional
patterns that evolve from biological and environmental factors.

Purpose of Personality Test:

 Psychologist and Psychiatrist uses personality test.
 Assesses personality characteristics and identifies problems.
 Can predict future behavior.
 Identify psychological disorders.

Techniques of Personality Test: Various techniques of personality measurement can

be classified under three most common categories-

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1. Subjective Techniques of Personality Assessment :
 Autobiography
 Case history
 Questionnaire
 Interview

2. Objective Techniques of Personality Assessment :

 Observation
 Checklist
 Rating scale
 Anecdotal record
 Critical incident
 Personality inventories

3. Projective Techniques of Personality Assessment :

 Rorschach Ink-Blot-test
 Thematic appreciation test
 Word association test
 Story completion test

1. Subjective techniques
 In this method individual is asked to evaluate himself.
 Data may be gathered from friends , relatives and other associates.

a) Autobiography-
o It is the story of life of the individual narrated or written by himself.
o It is an actual record of past and true picture his present life. It is very useful to
explore the personality of person.

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b) Case History-
o This is description of the past development of the individual.
o It concern with the all type of data of heredity or environment which has directly or
indirectly or influence the personality of the person.

c) Questionnaire –
o A questionnaire is a useful tool of evaluation.
o The information collected with the help of a questionnaire may be used for evaluating
personality traits, interest opinion , likes and dislikes.

d) Interview-
o Face to face method of collecting information.

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 o The aim of the interview is to gather information, and the adequacy of the data
gathered depends in large part on the questions asked by the interviewer.
o Interviews have both verbal and nonverbal (e.g. gestural ) components.
o Informtion which the interviewer recieve from the interviewee helps him to form
some judgement regarding his personality.

2. Objective Techniques of Personality Assessment

a) Observation :-
o In this method the individual is asked to performed some activity and his behavior is
observed by the psychologist.
o Observation method provides either a structure or unstructured situation.
o Persons whose personality trait are to be observed are put in either of these two
situations and careful, impartial and accurate observation are made by the observer.

b) Checklist :-
o A checklist is device which can be used for evaluation of child behavior.
o Teacher or observer place a tick mark according to presence of behavioral trait.

c) Rating Scale :-
o The rating scale is one of the oldest and most versatile of assessment techniques.
o Rating scales present users with an item and ask them to select from a number of
choices.
o It represent degrees of a particular characterstic.
o The individual is given a place on the scale or a score which indicate the degree to
which a person possesses a given trait.

d) Anecdotal Record :-
o Anecdotal Record is somewhat informal device used by the teacher to record behavior
of student as observed him from time to time.
o It is written description of specific incident which teacher has observed.
o Record maintained will reveal personality of individual students.

e) Personality Inventories :-
A personality inventory is a self-assessment tool that career counselors and other career
development professionals use to help people learn about their personality types. It reveals
information about individuals' social traits, motivations, strengths and weaknesses, and
attitudes.

Some important personality inventories examples are:

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  The bells Adjustment inventory (1934)
 Minnesota multiple personality inventory(MMPI-A). is the most widely used and
researched clinical assessment tool used by mental health professionals to help
diagnose mental health disorders.

The bells Adjustment inventory (1934)...............

In 1934, Bell published the first version of a test of student adjustment known as the
Adjustment Inventory (later the Bell Adjustment Inventory). It included a series
of questions designed to measure home adjustment, health adjustment, social adjustment,
and emotional adjustment.

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)..........

 It is the most widely used and researched clinical assessment tool used by mental
health professionals to help diagnose mental health disorders.Originally developed in
the late 1930s, the test has been revised and updated several times to improve
accuracy and validity. The MMPI-2 consists of 567 true-false questions and takes
approximately 60 to 90 minutes to complete, while the MMPI-2-RF has 338 true-false
questions, taking 35 to 50 minutes to finish.

 The MMPI is most commonly used by mental health professionals to assess and
diagnose mental illness, but it has been utilized in other fields outside of clinical
psychology. The MMPI-2 is often used in legal cases, including criminal defense and
custody disputes.

3. Projective Techniques
Projective techniques are a subset of personality testing in which the examinee is given a
simple unstructured task, with a goal of uncovering personality characteristics. Projective
techniques are often the most recognizable yet the most psychometrically controversial
psychological testing technique.It is used to find out more about a person’s feelings ,
unconscious desire and inner thoughts.Rorschash ink blot test was the first projective test and
is still widely used.

 RORSCHASH INK BLOT TEST.

Swiss Psychhologist –Herman Rorschash (1920)

 Test uses ten different kinds of ink blots which must be described by the person
taking the test.
 It consists of 10 STANDARDIZED INK BLOTS.
 10 different kinds of ink blot which must be described by the person taking the test.
 Consists of 10 different standardized ink blots
 It vary in color, shading, from and complexity
 Those test make use of peoples tendencies to make up stories.

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e.g. – peoples see butter flees, dancing girls etc.

 RIBT- response and differ from person to person based on individuals personal
experience.

 WORD ASSOCIATION TEST (WAT).

 The list of projective approaches to personality assessment is long, one of the most
venerable being the so called word-association test.
 Emotional words like theft, suicide, crime, love , marriage etc. are mixed with the
neutral words. These words are selected from various areas of conflict, for example,
family school, friends, etc.
 Administring a word-association test is relatively uncomplicated; a list of words is
presented one at a time to the subject who is asked to respond with the first word or
idea tht comes to mind.

 STORY COMPLETION TEST.

 In this the subject complete the incomplete sentence or comlete a story.
 In administering a sentence-completion test, the evaluator presents the subject with a
series of partial sentencesthat he is asked to finish in his own words, e.g. “I feel....”
My greastest......

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  THEMATIC APPRECIATION TEST (TAT).
 Thematic Appreciation Test was devised by Morgan and Murray in 1938.
 There are other personality assessent devices,which ,like the Rorschach, are based on
the idea that an individul will project something of himself into the description of an
ambiguous stimulus.
 The principal data of the test is a particular topic or thema which the subject projects
in to a vagus picture. The test consists of 30 black and white pictures and one blank
card ( to test imagination under very limited stimulation). The subject looks at the
picture or a story round it from his own subjective imagination. Thus he indiectly , in
deliberately and unwillingly projects his mind and his own mind an his own feelings
in to thema of the picture.
 In TAT a candidate will be asked to write a story from his own based on the images
shown. A candidate shouldn’t just use his memory blocks and start preparing a story,
he/she needs to see that every third or fourth line there is different meanings are
coming, try interpretation and analyze those meaning as third person because that
meaning shows candidate’s state of mind.

Advantages of Personality Test :

i. It facilitates identification of people with the interpersonal traits required for jobs.
ii. It can aid discovery of the intrinsic abilities of applicants.
iii. It is a vital tool for overall assessment of a person, when combined with other
assessment tools
iv. Understand Candidates Better.

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 v. Faster Recruitment Process.
vi. Eliminates Bias.
vii. Gain Deep Insight into A Candidate’s Potential.

 
Disadvantages of Personality Test:
(i) The cost of test administration may be very high.

(ii) The result of the test may not reflect reality, due to the tendency of applicants to behave
as if they have certain traits that are needed for job performance.

(iii) There could be difficulty in measuring some personality traits.

(iv) If all the applicants have the same personality traits, it can lead to lack of diversity.