Personality Testing

1. Personality Testing

2. Definitions: J.P. Guilford (1959) • “An individual’s personality, then, is his unique pattern of traits.” • A trait is “any distinguishable, relatively enduring way in which one individual differs from others.”

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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”

6. 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

7. 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

8. History • 1930’s and 1940’s—Allport and Murray began writing about personality and theories of personality • Then came two camps: • Objective –empirically derived tests • Projective—produced items and interpretations based on the theory of personality. This method was more unstructured and less defined (e.g., TAT)

9. 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

10. 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

11. “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

12. Value of Personality Questionnaires • Value to the individual (face validity) • Self-insight • Points of discussion • Norms provide comparison info

13. 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

14. Disadvantage of Personality Tests • Social Desirability • Faking “Good” • Faking “Bad” • Random Responding

15. 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

16. The Big Five • OCEAN • Openness to Experience • Conscientiousness • Extraversion • Agreeableness • Neuroticism

17. 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

18. The NEO PI-R (cont.) • Examples of Items: Neuroticism - Frightening thoughts sometimes come into my head. Extroversion - I don’t 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.

19. 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.

20. 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)

21. List of Domain and Facet Scores NeuroticismExtraversion Openness Anxiety Warmth Fantasy Angry Hostility Gregariousness Aesthetics Depression Assertiveness Feelings Self-Consciousness Activity Actions 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

22. 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)

23. Personality Tests – Using Traits • California Psychological Inventory (CPI) • Gough (1957) • “sane person’s MMPI” • revised in 1987 • based on 20 concepts • to predict behavior in social/interpersonal situations • 13 special purpose scales (e.g., leadership, managerial potential)

24. California Psychological Inventory • CPI - one of the most popular personality inventory • Measures: various facets of normal personality; helps to make predictions about behaviours • Gough’s 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

25. CPI • 462 true-false items covers 20 scales: • Dominance, Social Presence, Sociability, Self-Acceptance, 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

26. 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

27. CPI (cont.) • interpretation of profiles: (p.383) 1. profile “validity” 2. height of scales 3. high and low scores 4. analyze patterns (examples)

28. 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

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

30. 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

31. 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.

32. 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

33. 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

34. 16PF Applications • Research and Clinical Settings • Vocational Psychology • Personnel selection and placement • With adults or adolescents (16-year-olds) and 5th grade reading level

35. 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

36. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator • Myers-Briggs: based on Jungian theory of personality • Classifies individuals along 4 theoretically independent dimensions.

37. 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?

38. Extroversion-Introversion Scale E: Oriented primarily toward the outer world; focus on people and objects I: Oriented primarily toward the inner world; focus on concepts and ideas Sensing-Intuition Scale S:Individual reports 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

39. Thinking-Feeling Scale T: Judgment is impersonally based on logical consequences F: Judgment is primarily based on personal or social values Perception-Judging Scale P: Preference for using a perceptive process for dealing with the outer world J: Preference for using a judgment process for dealing with the outer world MBTI Scales

40. 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

41. 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

42. MMPI • Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory • MMPI-II – most widely used psychological test • 10 clinical scales and several Auxiliary

43. MMPI Table 4-6

45. 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.

46. 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.

47. 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

48. 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

49. Projective Personality Tests

50. 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.