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. There are two types of personality tests: self-report inventories and projective tests. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is one of the most common self-report inventories. It asks a series of true/false questions that are designed to provide a clinical profile of an individual. Projective tests use ambiguous images or other ambiguous stimuli to assess an individual’s unconscious fears, desires, and challenges. The Rorschach Inkblot Test, the TAT, the RISB, and the C-TCB are all forms of projective tests. Show
Self-Report InventoriesSelf-report inventories are a kind of objective test used to assess personality. They are standardized questions with fixed response categories that the test-taker completes independently. They typically use multiple-choice items or numbered scales, which represent a range from one (strongly disagree) to five (strongly agree). They often are called Likert scales after their developer, Rensis Likert (1932). Self-report inventories are generally easy to administer and cost-effective. There is also an increased likelihood of test-takers being inclined to answer in ways that are intentionally or unintentionally more socially desirable, exaggerated, biased, or misleading.  Figure 1. If you’ve ever taken a survey, you are probably familiar with Likert-type scale questions. Most personality inventories employ these types of response scales. One of the most widely used personality inventories is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), first published in 1943, with 504 true/false questions, and updated to the MMPI-II in 1989, with 567 questions. The original Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was based on a small, limited sample, comprised mostly of Minnesota farmers and psychiatric patients; the revised inventory was based on a more representative, national sample to allow for better standardization. The MMPI-II takes one to two hours to complete. Responses are scored to produce a clinical profile composed of 10 scales: hypochondriasis, depression, hysteria, psychopathic deviance (social deviance), masculinity versus femininity, paranoia, psychasthenia (obsessive/compulsive qualities), schizophrenia, hypomania, and social introversion. Considering that some of the characteristics of the MMPI may include tendencies of mental illness, such as depression, hysteria, social deviance, paranoia, obsessive/compulsive behaviors, schizophrenia, and some risk for alcohol abuse, the inventory test may help clinicians in assessment and diagnosis. In 2008, the test was again revised, using more advanced methods, to the MMPI-II-RF. Despite the new test’s advantages, the MMPI-II is more established and is still more widely used. Typically, the tests are administered by computer. Although the MMPI was originally developed to assist in the clinical diagnosis of psychological disorders, it is now also used for occupational screening, such as in law enforcement, and in college, career, and marital counseling (Ben-Porath & Tellegen, 2008). Figure 2. These true/false questions resemble the kinds of questions you would find on the MMPI. Big Five Personality TraitsIn psychological trait theory, the Big Five personality traits, also know as the OCEAN model, is a suggested taxonomy, or grouping, for personality traits, developed from the 1980s onwards. When factor analysis (a statistical technique) is applied to personality survey data, it reveals semantic associations: some words used to describe aspects of personality are often applied to the same person. For example, someone described as conscientious is more likely to be described as “always prepared” rather than “messy.” These associations suggest five broad dimensions used in common language to describe the human personality and psyche. The theory identifies these five factors:
As related to mental illness, the Big Five personality traits focus on the trait of neuroticism. Neuroticism is the tendency to experience negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety, or depression. It is sometimes called emotional instability, or is reversed and referred to as emotional stability. According to Hans Eysenck’s (1967) theory of personality, neuroticism is interlinked with low tolerance for stress or aversive stimuli. Neuroticism is a classic temperament trait that has been studied in temperament research for decades, before it was adapted by the FFM. Those who score high in neuroticism are emotionally reactive and vulnerable to stress. They are more likely to interpret ordinary situations as threatening. They can perceive minor frustrations as hopelessly difficult. They also tend to be flippant in the way they express emotions. Their negative emotional reactions tend to persist for unusually long periods of time, which means they are often in a bad mood. For instance, neuroticism is connected to a pessimistic approach toward work, to the certainty that work impedes personal relationships, and to higher levels of anxiety from the pressures at work. Furthermore, those who score high on neuroticism may display more skin-conductance reactivity than those who score low on neuroticism. These problems in emotional regulation can diminish the ability of a person scoring high on neuroticism to think clearly, make decisions, and cope effectively with stress. Lacking contentment in one’s life achievements can correlate with high neuroticism scores and increase one’s likelihood of falling into clinical depression. Moreover, individuals high in neuroticism tend to experience more negative life events, but neuroticism also changes in response to positive and negative life experiences. Also, individuals with higher levels of neuroticism tend to have worse psychological well-being. At the other end of the scale, individuals who score low in neuroticism are less easily upset and are less emotionally reactive. They tend to be calm, emotionally stable, and free from persistent negative feelings. Freedom from negative feelings does not mean that low-scorers experience a lot of positive feelings, however. Neuroticism is similar but not identical to being neurotic in the Freudian sense (i.e., neurosis.) Some psychologists prefer to call neuroticism by the term emotional instability to differentiate it from the term neurotic in a career test. NEuroticismBelow are sample self-assessment statements designed to measure neuroticism.
Hans Eysenck’s Theory of PersonalityThe two personality dimensions extraversion and neuroticism were described in his 1947 book Dimensions of Personality. It is common practice in personality psychology to refer to the dimension extraversion as E and to the dimension neuroticism as N. The combination of extraversion and neuroticism may help explain maladaptive behavior and tie into early Greek theories. E and N provided a two-dimensional space to describe individual differences in behavior. Eysenck noted how these two dimensions were similar to the four personality types first proposed by the Greek physician Galen.
The third dimension, psychoticism, was added to the model in the late 1970s, based upon collaborations between Eysenck and his wife, Sybil B. G. Eysenck. Psychoticism may be divided into narrower traits such as impulsivity and sensation-seeking; these may, in turn, be further subdivided into even more specific traits—for example, impulsivity may be divided into narrow impulsivity (unthinking responsivity), risk-taking, non-planning, and liveliness. Sensation seeking has also been analyzed into a number of separate facets. Psychoticism ties into mental illness as well as neuroticism to aid in understanding specific characteristics of diagnosis. For example, impulsivity could be consistent with Bipolar I and II diagnosis, as well as borderline personality disorder. Projective TestsAnother method for assessment of personality is projective testing, sometimes called performance-based testing. This kind of test relies on one of the defense mechanisms proposed by Freud—projection—as a way to assess unconscious processes. During this type of testing, a series of ambiguous cards is shown to the person being tested, who then is encouraged to project his feelings, impulses, and desires onto the cards—by telling a story, interpreting an image, or completing a sentence. Some examples of projective tests are the Rorschach Inkblot Test, the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): projective test in which people are presented with ambiguous images, and they then make up stories to go with the images in an effort to uncover their unconscious desires, fears, and struggles In what personality tests a person is shown an ambiguous stimulus and asked to describe it or tell a story about it?The Rorschach test is based on the human tendency to project interpretations and feelings onto ambiguous stimuli—in this case, inkblots. From these cues, trained observers are supposed to be able to pinpoint deeper personality traits and impulses in the person taking the test.
Which theorist believed that personality is based on a person's collection of learned behavior patterns?Freud believed that personality develops during early childhood and that childhood experiences shape our personalities as well as our behavior as adults. He asserted that we develop via a series of stages during childhood.
Which theorist most strongly suggested that unconscious processes influence personality?Originating in the work of Sigmund Freud, the psychodynamic perspective emphasizes unconscious psychological processes (for example, wishes and fears of which we're not fully aware), and contends that childhood experiences are crucial in shaping adult personality.
What are the two parts of the unconscious according to Jung?The term "collective unconscious" first appeared in Jung's 1916 essay, "The Structure of the Unconscious". This essay distinguishes between the "personal", Freudian unconscious, filled with sexual fantasies and repressed images, and the "collective" unconscious encompassing the soul of humanity at large.
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