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Block 4 Unit 2 Approaches to Personality Assessment - Self-Report, Problems of Response in Projective and behavioural Assessment

1. What do you mean by the term personality inventory?

A personality inventory is a self-report questionnaire where individuals describe their own feelings, environment, and reactions of others towards themselves. It aims to measure personality traits, values, attitudes, motives, feelings, interests, and abilities.

2. Describe self-report personality tests.

Self-report tests are questionnaires where individuals report about themselves in response to specific questions or items. They involve a standardized set of response alternatives. They can be classified based on the aspects they measure, such as social traits, adjustment, pathological traits, screening, and attitudes, interests and values.

3. What are single-trait and multidimensional tests?

Single-trait tests are designed to measure a specific aspect of personality, allowing researchers to examine how individuals scoring high or low on that trait differ in behaviour. Multidimensional tests assess several aspects of personality simultaneously, providing a comprehensive overview of the individual.

4. What is meant by faking in self-report tests? How do we detect it?

Faking refers to when respondents deliberately distort their answers to create a specific impression. It can involve either ‘faking good’ (presenting oneself in a positive light) or ‘faking bad’ (presenting oneself negatively). Detection of faking is done by including validity scales in tests.

5. What are the weaknesses in self-report inventories? How are these overcome?

Weaknesses include the possibility of faking, social desirability bias, and response sets. These can be overcome by establishing rapport, ensuring anonymity, using verification keys, and counteracting response sets.

6. Discuss the factors that affect the reliability and validity of self-report inventories.

Reliability can be affected by the clarity of items, consistency in scoring, and the respondent's mental state. Validity can be impacted by factors such as faking, social desirability bias, response sets, and whether the content is representative of the construct.

7. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of self-report measures.

Advantages: They are objective, easy to administer and score, and provide systematic information.

Disadvantages: They are prone to faking, response sets, and social desirability bias.

8. What do you mean by a projective test? Describe the same.

A projective test is a type of personality assessment using ambiguous or unstructured stimuli to elicit responses that reveal the test taker’s unconscious thoughts, feelings and conflicts. The test taker is never told the purpose of the test or how the responses will be scored, and are free to respond in any manner they wish.

9. How are projective tests classified?

Projective tests are classified into five categories:

• Association techniques: Where examinees give associations to stimuli (e.g., word association test).
• Construction techniques: Where examinees create a structure upon an unstructured stimulus (e.g., the Rorschach Inkblot test).
• Completion techniques: Where examinees complete incomplete sentences or stories.
• Expressive techniques: Where examinees manipulate or interact with materials (e.g., drawing, play).
• Choice techniques: Where the examinee makes a choice or selects a response from a range of stimuli.

10. What are the strengths and weaknesses of projective techniques?

• Strengths: Can uncover latent aspects of personality, useful in clinical settings, can reveal psychodynamic issues.
• Weaknesses: Lack of standardisation, scoring is subjective, low reliability and validity, interpretation depends on the clinician’s intuition.

11. Name some of the projective tests that are commonly used.

Commonly used projective tests include: Rorschach Inkblot test, Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), word association tests, sentence completion tests, and drawing tests.

12. What are the different behavioural assessment methods in assessing personality

Behavioural assessments methods involve direct observation, situational tests, frequency counts, and rating scales.

13. Self-report measures are commonly used in personality assessment. Discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses accompanying self-report measures. Is it possible to overcome the weaknesses?

Self-report measures are objective, easy to administer and score, and provide systematic information. Weaknesses include the possibility of faking, social desirability bias, and response sets. These weaknesses can be partly overcome by establishing rapport, using validity scales, and carefully wording test items.

14. How do projective techniques differ from self-report tests in the assessment of personality? Do projective tests have any advantage or disadvantage in comparison to self-report measures?

Projective techniques use ambiguous stimuli to reveal unconscious aspects of personality, and are based on subjective clinical interpretation. Self-report tests use structured questionnaires with standardized responses. Projective tests are useful in exploring hidden issues, but suffer from poor reliability and validity. Self-report tests are objective, but are susceptible to faking and biases.

15. How can behavioural assessments be used in measuring personality?

Behavioural assessments use direct observation of behaviour, rating scales, frequency counts, and situational tests. These methods focus on what a person does, rather than on what a person has or is. They allow for the measurement of behaviour in specific situations.

16. What are the various types of faking possible? Discuss the measures to overcome the same

Types of Faking in Personality Inventories

Faking in personality inventories can occur in a few ways:

• Faking good: Intentionally responding to items in a way that creates a positive impression, making oneself seem more psychologically healthy or socially desirable than is actually the case. For example, a job applicant might answer questions to appear more agreeable and conscientious.
• Faking bad: Intentionally responding to items to appear more psychologically disturbed, perhaps to avoid responsibilities or gain sympathy.
• Social desirability: Responding in a way that is perceived as socially acceptable or desirable, often unintentionally presenting oneself in a favourable light.

Measures to Overcome Faking

Several measures can be employed to detect or reduce faking:

• Validity scales: Including scales within the inventory that identify inconsistent or dishonest responses. For instance, the MMPI has validity scales that detect if respondents are lying, defensive, or evasive.
• Filler items: Adding questions that are not directly related to the measured construct to make the test's true purpose less obvious.
• Careful item evaluation: Assessing the social desirability of each item before including it in a test.
• Forced-choice technique: Using items where the test-taker must choose between equally desirable or undesirable options, making it harder to fake good or bad.
• Concealing the test's purpose: Either by stating a plausible but incorrect purpose or by mixing true and false information within the test.
• Verification and correction keys: Using keys that indicate whether a person is giving a true picture of themselves.
• Establishing rapport: Creating a warm and co-operative relationship with the test-taker to reduce discomfort and encourage honest responses.

17. What are the different kinds of personality inventories used to measure personality?

Different Kinds of Personality Inventories

Personality inventories can be categorized based on their purpose and content:

• Single-trait tests: Measure specific aspects of personality, such as self-confidence or extraversion. Examples include the Locus of Control Scale and the Sensation Seeking Scale.
• Adjustment inventories: Assess an individual's adjustment to various aspects of life, such as self, health, home, and school. The Bell Adjustment Inventory is an example of this.
• Multidimensional tests: Evaluate numerous traits, including pathological traits, as well as normal traits. Examples include the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) and the 16PF (Sixteen Personality Factors Questionnaire).
• Screening inventories: Classify individuals into groups based on certain characteristics. The Cornell Index is an example of an inventory that screens for psychosomatic difficulties.
• Attitude, interest, and value inventories: Assess a person’s attitudes, interests, and values. The Bogardus Social Distance Scale is an example of an attitude inventory.
• NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI): Measures the "Big Five" personality traits: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness.
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI): Based on Jung's theory, this inventory categorizes personality into 16 types based on four dimensions: Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling, Introversion/Extraversion, and Perceiving/Judging.

18. Briefly discuss some of the weaknesses of behavioural assessments techniques.

Weaknesses of Behavioural Assessment Techniques

Behavioural assessments have several limitations:

• Observer bias: The observer's subjective views or expectations can influence how they perceive and record behaviours.
• Observer effect: The presence of an observer can alter the behaviour of the person being observed.
• Lack of control: There is no control over external environmental factors that may influence the observed behaviours.
• Time-consuming and costly: Situational tests, especially, can be very time-consuming, expensive, and require trained observers.
• Subjectivity: Some subjectivity and bias may be present in observing and interpreting situational tests.
• Difficulty in generalization: Focusing on isolated behaviours can make it difficult to generalise the findings to real-life situations.
• Defining what to observe: Selecting which specific behaviours to observe can be problematic.
• Observer visibility: Whether the observer is visible or invisible can change the observed behaviours, particularly in small groups.
• Lack of standardisation: Much of the methodology used in behavioural assessments is not standardised, leading to potential inconsistencies.
• Inconsistent data: Differing levels of specificity in defining the behaviours of interest may result in inconsistent data and less consistency in observation.

19. Discuss the observational tests and the situational tests.

Observational Tests

Observational tests involve watching and recording behaviours as they naturally occur.

Naturalistic observation: Observing and recording behaviour in real-life settings without direct intervention. This method provides insights into how people behave in their typical environments.

Situational Tests

Situational tests involve observing behaviour in a controlled setting that simulates real-life situations. These tests measure personality traits by assessing how a person acts and thinks in a specific context.

20. What are the advantages and disadvantages of observation and situation tests.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Observational and Situational Tests

• Observational Tests

  • Advantages: Provide rich information about what people do in their natural environment, and capture day-to-day behavior.
  • Disadvantages: Do not explain why certain behaviours occur. They are prone to observer bias and the observer effect. They also lack control over external environmental factors.

• Situational Tests

  • Advantages: The ability to measure traits in real-life situations and produce findings that can be easily generalized to natural settings.
  • Disadvantages: Time-consuming, costly and laborious as they require trained observers. They are also prone to subjectivity and bias. It can be difficult to determine what behaviours to observe and whether the observer should be visible.