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PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT.

Defines personality, major differences in personality tests, validity & reliability, advantages & disadvantages of different approaches.

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PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to present a brief overview of personality assessment. To this end, the paper discusses the definition of personality: some of the major differences in the tests use to assess personality; validity and reliability concerns associated with different categories of assessment; and the advantages and disadvantages associated with assessment differences.
Definitions
Although, generally, personality refers to certain stable patterns of behavioral and psychoemotional traits (Samuel, 1992), there is a lack of consensus in terms of establishing a precise definition of the construct. This is because theorists differ

Psychometricissues associated with each category of personality tests were addressedand it was noted that the psychometric tests are generally considered tohave the highest levels of validity and reliability. (1976). Definitions Although, generally, personality refers to certain stable patterns ofbehavioral and psychoemotional traits (Samuel, 1992), there is a lack ofconsensus in terms of establishing a precise definition of the construct.This is because theorists differ regarding several elements associated withthe structure and/or processes of personality. Further, by knowing that there is this problem, thetest administrator can take steps to detect invalid results. (3rd ed.) NY: McGraw-Hill.----------------------- 6 & Brannigan, G.G. For example, the SRP has a problem in that its validity can becompromised due to response sets, a fact discovered through psychometrictesting. One of the valuable features of the psychometrically-orientedpersonality assessment instrument such as the SRP is that the strengths andweaknesses of the test regarding valid and reliable data can be relativelyeasily discovered through ongoing psychometric research. & Urbina, S. Experiences in personality:Research, assessment and change. Summary and Conclusion This paper presented a general overview of personality assessment. Anastasi, A. On the other hand, unlike the psychometric tests, thebehavioral/objective tests are free of self-report problems. References Allport, G.W. To this end, the paper discusses the definition ofpersonality: some of the major differences in the tests use to assesspersonality; validity and reliability concerns associated with differentcategories of assessment; and the advantages and disadvantages associatedwith assessment differences. PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT Introduction The purpose of this paper is to present a brief overview ofpersonality assessment. That is, some types of personality tests have more validity andreliability than others. Specifically, they areexplicit, easy to administer, easy to score, and amenable to quantitativeanalysis. Another example of a psychometric test is the Self-Report ofPersonality Test (SRP) designed to measure personality in children ages 8to 18 years. This means that the instrument can be restructured and correctedin future development. However, different theoretical notions as to preciselywhat constitutes "personality" lead to quite different assessmenttechniques. (1996). & Newman, I. (1976). Pervin, L. Personality: Searching for the sources of humanbehavior. Patters and growth in personality. However, as noted by Anastasi and Urbina (1997), theunderlying theoretical assumptions of the test regarding the nature ofpersonality, as well as how to construct, score and interpret thepersonality test are associated with differences in their psychometricsoundness. Samuel, W. Itwas noted that different theoretical perspectives of personality haveproduced four major categories of personality tests: projective tests,objective tests, psychometric tests, and subjective tests. Thepoint was made that perhaps no one category of test should be preferredover the other; this because all categories had some advantages over theothers and some disadvantages in comparison with the others. Marth, J.R. (1994). Another criticism of the psychometric tests is that the factors theyare base don are not stable from study to study (marth & Newman, 1994).Nonetheless, such tests do explore many dimensions of personality; andresearch has related the responses to these tests to many other variables---something that is almost impossible to do with the objective, behavioralassessment measures. For example, theprojective personality tests can provide far more comprehensive ad in-depthinformation about individuals than other categories of tests. (1997). (Paper presented at the Annual Meeting ofthe Midwestern Educational Research Association Conference (Chicago, IL,October)) ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. (2nd ed.) NY: Holt. Testing Differences A central assumption of all theories of personality is that there areindividual differences in personality and these can be measured (Merrens &Brannigan, 1997). Psychological testing (7th ed.)Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Handbook of psychological assessment. Pervin and Oliver (1996) also point out that structured, self-reportinventories (psychometric tests) such as Cattell's 16PF have a number ofadministrative advantages over projective tests. Indeed, according to Pervin and Oliver (1996), differences intheoretical constructions of personality are associated with differences inhow personality tests are constructed, how they are administered, the typesof responses required by the test takers, and how the responses are scored,analyzed and interpreted. For example, Allport (1961) characterized personality as havingdynamic organization and both physiological and goal-striving features.Mischel (1976, p. Moreover, they arenot based on the difficult to prove assumption of most projective tests,namely that there is a parallel between the way test stimuli are handledand the handling of personal relationships. Mischel, W. These differences are discussed in thenext section of this overview. If a strong in-depth look at a given individual is needed, aprojective test might be used; whereas if the interest is in a group, apsychometric test might be preferred. Introduction to personality. Psychometric Issues Despite the differences in categories of personality tests, all typesof instruments and techniques attempting to assess personality share twobasic goals, which are that all developed tests attempt to deliver reliableand valid data. Unfortunately,the objective instruments have the disadvantage of usually measuring only asingle dimension of personality without any assessment of the relationshipof this dimension to the person's functioning. (3rded.) NY: Wiley. NY: Holt. These are: (1) projective assessments (e.g.,Rorschach, TAT) associated with psychodynamic theories of personality; (2)subjective tests (e.g., Q-Sort) associated with phenomenologicalpersonality theories; (3) objective behavioral measures associated withlearning theories; and (4) psychometric tests (16PF, MMPI) associated withTrait-Type and Factor Analytic theories. In addition,these tests are very difficult to fake. ED 379 349. On the other hand, the objective tests have far less questionablevalidity and reliability issues than projective tests. NY: Wiley. Personality: Theory and research(7th ed.) NY: Wiley. (1997). (1961). Merrens, M.R. Advantages and Disadvantages According to Pervin and Oliver (1996), the various types ofpersonality tests have both advantages and disadvantages. Groth-Marnat, G. (1992). An example of such a test would be Cattell's 16PF whichhas been used in literally hundreds of studies of personality and whichincludes, as part of its assessment, almost every dimension of personalityconsidered to be of major theoretical importance including structure,process, growth and development, psychopathology, and change (Marth &Newman, 1994). Still, they do rely on self-report and are therefore subject toerror on the basis of fabrication and/or response set. The final section of the presented overview discussed the advantagesand disadvantages associated with each category of personality tests. In this regard, Pervin and Oliver (1996) report that there are fourbasic types of personality assessments, each associated with a differenttheoretical approach. Thus, it isreasonable to conclude that the selection of a personality assessmentinstrument should probably be based on the specific goals of the researcheror clinician. & Oliver, J.P. With respect to the foregoing, Groth-Marnat (1996) reports that thepsychometric instruments developed using factor analytic strategies aregenerally considered to be the most valid and reliable personalityassessment methods. 2), on the other hand, defined personalityas:"distinctive patterns of behavior (including thoughts and emotions thatcharacterize each individual's life." As might be expected, differences inpersonality theory are strongly associated with differences in howpersonality is assessed or tested. The second-order factor structure ofthe 16PF: A four factor solution.

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