Objective Personality Tests

Examples of uni-dimensional traits Surveys Locus of Control Need for Cognition Tolerance of Ambiguity Type A/B

Locus of Control Julian Rotter 1966 Internal vs External Control of reinforcement Internal = own action determines rewards External = rewards determined by luck, fate, chance

Need for Cognition Cacioppo and Petty 1982 “tendency for an individual to engage in and enjoy thinking”

Tolerance for Ambiguity MSTAT - Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance David McLain 1993 “ability to tolerate contradictory and incalculable information” Trait or state?

Type A/B Friedman and Jordan 1950s Type A = ambitious, rigidly organized, highly status conscious, sensitive, truthful, impatient, try to help others, meet deadlines, multi-task Type B = apathetic, patient, relaxed, easy-going, no sense of time schedule, poor organizational skills

Examples of uni-dimensional traits Behavioral Impulsive/Reflective (Kagan - Matching familiar figures) Field Dependent/Independent (Witkin - embedded figures)

Impulsive/Reflective Matching Familiar Figures – (MFF) Jerome Kagan – 1965 Based on time to react Slower, more accurate = reflective Faster, less accurate = impulsive

Field Dependent/Independent Embedded Figures Test – (EFT) Herman Witkin – 1950’s

Field Dependent – has trouble finding geometric shape embedded in background = very interpersonal, reads social cues well, openly convey own feelings. Women more likely field dependent

Field independent – readily finds geometric shape regardless of background = has internal frame of reference, imposes own sense of order on situation lacking structure, impersonal and task oriented, separate own self identity from field. Men frequently field independent.

Personality assessment Do a class activity using the 4 pictures on Elmo that come out to the same MBTI dimensions – compare later

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Isabel Briggs Myers and Katherine Briggs 1940s Based on Jung’s personality dimensions 126 forced choice questions 20-30 minutes

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Heavily used in research lots of validity studies used in academic and counseling settings vocational preferences interpersonal interactions

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (example of MBTI types) Measures 4 dimensions of personality extroversion-introversion (EI) sensing-intuition (SN) thinking-feeling (TF) judgement-perception (JP) combine into 16 personality types e.g. ESTJ

Keirsey Temperament Sorter – II KTS-II Similar to MBTI test profile - high validity – computerized - shorter 4 Scales (E)=Expressive vs. (I)=Attentive (S)=Observant vs. (N)=Introspective (T)=Tough-minded vs. (F)=Friendly (J)=Scheduling vs. (P)=Probing

MBTI/KRT/images Scores???? ESFJ – (MBTI) ISFJ – (KRT) ENTP – ABAB Reliability???? Validity????? Standardization???? Compare scores and figure out which reliability, validity and standardization to use.

Survey data

16 Personality Factors - 16 PF Cattell - 1956 - last revised 2000 data reduction by factor analysis Started with 18,000 adjectives describing personality = 16 factors 185 items (true, ?, false) 30-60 minutes 5th grade reading level (16 years and over) computer or hand score

16 Personality Factors - 16 PF Measures 16 primary personality traits good reliability - test/retest, internal good validity - construct and criterion lots of norms and profiles Heavily used in research Counseling (couples) Career and vocational guidance

16 factor scales 16 bipolar dimensions of personality 5 global factors Extraversion Anxiety Tough-mindedness Independence Self-control IM (impression management)

16 factors – additional scales Vocational themes Validity scales Leadership scores Degree of compatibility

Revised NEO Personality Inventory NEO – PI-R Costa & McCrae - 1985/1995 Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Agreeableness Conscientiousness

16 PF and NEO Are they the same dimensions????? How would we tell?????

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) Original development 1940 –Hathaway & McKinley (MMPI-2 1989) MMPI-2-RF 2008 Over 18 years MMPI -A – 1992 (adolescent) 14 – 18 yrs Clinical populations paper-pencil, computer or audio 35-50 minutes About 338 questions

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2-RF) Criterion based (or data reduction) large pool of questions select appropriate criterion groups factor analysis

MMPI – 2-RF scales 50 scales 8 Validity scales addiction scales supplemental scales

Problems with MMPI-2 norms inter-item consistency is low high inter correlations between scores validity reading at 6th grade self-report

California Psychological Inventory-260 (CPI) Developed 1956 -- revised 2005 assess normal adult personality 260 true/false questions (1/2 from MMPI) 30-45 minutes paper-pencil normed on college students

California Psychological Inventory (CPI) 29 socially desirable behavioral tendencies Interpersonal styles self acceptance self control flexibility more positive than MMPI used for educational, vocational, counseling