Assessing Personality: Projective Methods Elena Čėsnaitė, PSbd8-01

Contents Personality Personality tests Projective personality tests Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) Rorschach test Conclusion

Personality Personality can be defined as a dynamic and organized set of characteristics possessed by a person. Personality arises from within the individual and remains fairly consistent throughout life.

Personality tests There are two major types of personality tests. Projective tests assume personality as primarily unconscious and assess an individual by how he or she responds to an ambiguous stimulus. Objective tests assume personality as consciously accessible and measured by self-report questionnaires.

Projective personality tests The projective personality tests claim to measure your underlying personality traits, fears, anxieties and attitudes. They are the most ambiguous in their structure, interpretations and philosophy. Many employers use them to apply suitability or even reject for some particular job.

Obscure series of cartoons, pictures, ink blots and incomplete sentences are used as projective techniques. The proponents of projective personality tests believe that you ‘project’ to these ambiguous stimuli from your sub-consciousness.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) TAT has been among the most widely used, researched, and taught projective psychological tests. The TAT is popularly known as the picture interpretation technique. The subject is asked to tell as dramatic a story as he can. Sometimes it is used in a psychiatric or psychological context to assess personality disorders, thought disorders.

The large number of research studies that have used the TAT have indicated that cultural, gender, and class issues must be taken into account.

Rorschach test Hermann Rorschach created Rorschach inkblot test in 1921. Psychologists use this test to examine a person's personality characteristics and emotional functioning. It has been employed to detect an underlying thought disorder, especially in cases where patients are reluctant to describe their thinking processes openly.

Method Ten official inkblots, each printed on a separate white card. Five inkblots are of black ink, two are of black and red ink and three are multicolored, on a white background. The subject is asked to note where he sees what he originally saw and what makes it look like that. As the subject is examining the inkblots, the psychologist writes down everything the subject says or does, no matter how trivial.

What do you see?

What is a bad response? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76UXSdUVuLk

Conclusion Projective personality tests are widely used in assessing personality. It shouldn’t be forgotten that there are also many differences between cultures and genders. It is hard to determine abnormalities.

Thank you

References *http://beethecracker.deviantart.com/art/be-my-eyes-140923240 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_psychology#Personality_tests http://psychology.about.com/od/overviewofpersonality/a/persondef.htm http://www.personality-and-aptitude-career-tests.com/projective-personality-tests.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorschach_test http://www.minddisorders.com/Py-Z/Thematic-Apperception-Test.html

Picture references http://redpublic.deviantart.com/art/The-Mask-65867925 http://gilad.deviantart.com/art/Meeting-New-Faces-55529876 http://mehmeturgut.deviantart.com/art/sahiler-dus-dusler-sahi-II-136658031 http://2.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kq8fs9AjTW1qzabnwo1_500.jpg http://eclipsy.deviantart.com/art/Surreal-Paradise-82532856