1. Assessment of Personality
PSY 614
Instructor: Emily E. Bullock, Ph.D.

2. Measuring Personality
History of Personality Measurement
Is it traits or situations (states)?
Are you assessing personality to promote healthy development or diagnose pathology?
Taxonomies

3. Defining Personality
Merriam-Webster online: the complex of characteristics that distinguishes an individual or a nation or group; especially : the totality of an individual's behavioral and emotional characteristics b : a set of distinctive traits and characteristics
Text Definition pg 43: “…set of characteristics of a person or of people that account for consistent patterns of response to situations.”

4. Measuring Personality
Objective vs Projective
The Interview, Their Portfolio, Case history Data, Behavioral observation, Informants
How do we know we are measuring the personality trait we are interested in?
Characteristics of a Good Personality Measure
Interpretability
Stability

5. Objective Testing The Theory of the Big Five Personality Factors
The NEO-PI-R
Other Objective Measures

6. The Theory of the “Big Five”
Known as the Five Factor Model or the Big Five Theory
Tupes and Christal (1961) first identified five recurrent, strong personality factors through an analysis of 35 researched personality factors
Various names for the 5 factors have emerged
Most commonly used names were coined by Costa & McCrae (1980). They refer to the five factors as Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience.
OCEAN

7. Criticisms of the Five Factor Model
Criticized for having too few AND too many factors
Only represents how we see ourselves, not how others see us
Represents our projection of cognitive biases
Failure to provide compelling casual explanations for human behavior and experience
Disregard of the contextual and conditional nature of human experience
Failure to offer an attractive program for studying personality organization and integration
Reliance on simple, noncontingent, and implicitly comparative statements about persons.
McCrae & John (1992); McAdams (1992)

8. The NEO-PI-R
Costa and McCrae (1992) noted that “by describing the individual’s standing on each of the five factors, we can provide a comprehensive sketch that summarizes his or her emotional, interpersonal, experiential, attitudinal, and motivational styles”
Item examples
“I often enjoy playing with theories or abstract ideas”-Openness
“I like to be where the action is” - Extroversion

9. NEO-PI-R
Designed to “measure five major dimensions or domains of normal adult personality”
For ages 17 and over with norms for 10 and up under development (NEO-PI-3)
Latest version released in 1992 (1st version 1985)
240 items on the NEO-PI-R
Takes minutes to complete
Norms based on 1,000 people and stratified based on the 1995 US Census

10. NEO-PI-R
Reliability
Internal consistency estimates range from in self-reports and in observer ratings.
Test-retest reliability for the facet scales range from

11. NEO-PI-R
Construct validity has been demonstrated between many of the NEO-PI-R scales and a variety of external criteria such as
psychological well-being
coping and defenses
needs and motivation
Jungian types
interpersonal traits
creativity and divergent thinking
vocational interests

12. Uses of the NEO-PI-R Basic research
Assessing Employee variables (i.e., Consciousness scale)
Vocational Counseling
General developmental counseling
Within a battery used to assess psychopathology

13. The Big 5: Neuroticism (N)
Represents the contrast between adjustment or emotional stability and maladjustment or neuroticism.
High Scorers- prone to have irrational ideas, less able to control impulses, and poor when coping with stress.
Low Scorers- typically calm, relaxed, and able to face stressful situations without becoming upset
Note that the definitions presented for the Big Five are by Costa & McCrea (1992) rather than any other Big 5 theorists

14. The Big 5: Extraversion (E)
Measures the extrovert/introversion tendency in people
High Scorers- the prototypical assertive, active, and talkative salesperson
Low Scorers- are those that lack extraversion in their personalities

15. The Big 5: Openness to Experience (O)
Includes such elements as active imagination, aesthetic sensitivity, attentiveness to inner feelings, preference for variety, intellectual curiosity, and independence of judgment.
High scorers- lead experientially richer lives, entertain unconventional ideas, and experience emotions stronger than do “closed” individuals
Low scorers- have a narrower scope and less intense interests

16. The Big 5: Agreeableness (A)
Associated with interpersonal tendencies
High scorers- altruistic, sympathetic, and eager to help.
Low scorers- antagonistic, egocentric, skeptical of others, and competitive

17. The Big 5: Conscientiousness (C)
Attempts to assess one’s tendency toward planning, organizing, and carrying out tasks. Associated with the common descriptor, character.
High scorers- indicative of a person that is scrupulous, punctual, and reliable.
Low scorers- typical of those that are not as reliable in how they apply their moral standards and are less exact in goal seeking

18. NEO Facet Scales Neuroticism Extraversion N1: Anxiety
N2: Angry Hostility
N3: Depression
N4: Self-Conscientiousness
N5: Impulsiveness
N6: Vulnerability
Extraversion
E1: Warmth
E2: Gregariousness
E3: Assertiveness
E4: Activity
E5: Excitement Seeking
E6: Positive Emotions

19. NEO Facet Scales Openness Agreeableness O1: Fantasy O2: Aesthetics
O3: Feelings
O4: Actions
O5: Ideas
O6: Values
Agreeableness
A1: Trust
A2: Straightforwardness
A3: Altruism
A4: Compliance
A5: Modesty
A6: Tender-Mindedness

20. NEO Facet Scales Conscientiousness C1: Competence C2: Order
C3: Dutifulness
C4: Achievement Striving
C5: Self-Discipline
C6: Deliberation

21. Interpreting Profiles
Most extensively researched profiles
Affective Plane: (defined by N & E); represents the individual’s basic emotional styles
Interpersonal plane: (defined by E & A)
Vocational Interests (Costa, McCrae, & Holland, 1984) and selection of optimal forms of therapy (Miller, 1991): (most strongly linked to E & O)

22. Interpreting Profiles
Other possible scale combinations
Pattern of Activity: (defined by E & C)
Relevant to attitudes: (defined by O & A)
Academic performance: (defined by O & C)
Related to character: (defined by A & C)

23. Interpreting Profiles
Other Scale Combinations found in the interpretive report
Style of Defense: (defined by N & O)
Style of Anger Control: (defined by N & A)
Style of Impulse Control: (defined by N & C)

25. NEO-PI-R Weakness: Strengths: Lack of sophisticated validity scales
Reviewers identify some item construction and reading-level inconsistencies
Strengths:
Based on over 50 years of reputable research
Ratings are given in likert-type language rather than the extremes

26. Other NEO Measures
NEO-PI-R observer version
NEO-FFI
NEO-4
NEO-PI-3

27. Other Objective Personality Tests
16PF Adolescent Personality Questionnaire
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescents (MMPI-A)
Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III)

28. Projective Testing
Rationale: Ambiguous stimuli will elicit projections of one’s personality
Common Characteristics
Relatively unstructured task
Brief, general instructions that often can not be repeated
Ambiguous stimuli
Low Face Validity
Results consist of a composite picture of personality
Thought to reveal unconscious aspects

29. The Rorschach
Projective test with the overall goal to assess the structure of personality
Consists of 10 symmetrical inkblots on cards
Administration time: minutes
Provides information on variables such as motivation, response tendencies, cognitive operations, affectivity, and personal and interpersonal perceptions
Age 5 and up (Exner 5-69)

30. Rorschach Administration
Introduce respondent to technique
Giving the Test Instructions
“What might this be?”; “People see all sorts of things in the inkblots.”
Response Phase
Get at least 15 responses for Exner system
Allow test-taker to free associate for each card
Inquiry
Test User attempts to see what the test taker saw in the inkblots

31. Rorschach Selected Assets and Limitations
Bypasses a person’s conscious resistance and assesses a person's underlying unconscious structure of personality
Limitations
Variable reliability and validity estimates
Time required for scoring and interpretation
Extensive time required for training

32. Other Projective Techniques
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
Sentence completion tasks
Rotter’s Incomplete Sentence Blank
House-Tree-Person
Roberts Apperception Test for Children
Kinetic Family Drawing Test