Introduction to Personality,

Types and Traits UNIT 4 ASSESSMENT OF PERSONALITY

Structure
4.0 Introduction
4.1 Objectives
4.2 Personality Assessment
4.3 Personality Inventories
4.3.1 Cattell’s Sixteen PF Scale
4.3.2 Bell Adjustment Inventory
4.3.3 California Psychological Inventory
4.3.4 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
4.3.5 Merits and Demerits of Inventories
4.4 Projective Methods
4.4.1 History of Projective Methods
4.4.2 Types of Projective Tests
4.4.3 Evaluation of Projective Tests
4.5 Observational Methods
4.5.1 Rating Scales
4.5.2 Interview
4.6 Let Us Sum Up
4.7 Unit End Questions
4.8 Suggested Readings

4.0 INTRODUCTION
In the preceding units we studied the origin of personality (unit 1) factors influencing
personality (unit 2) and different theoretical approaches to personality. In this unit
we will study assessment of personality. Now the question is what is assessment?
Let us tell you by assessment we mean quantification of different traits present in the
personality of a person. This enables us to know to what extent a particular trait is
present and further it affords us to make comparative study of individuals on that
trait. Besides personality assessment also enables us to determine the extent to which
different traits of his personality are organised or are in harmony with each other.
For example, person residing in neighbourhood is, let us say, a philanthrophist. Let
us say he also has spiritual bent of mind and is known for his human welfare activities
in the locality. Can you expect this person to engage in cruelty against animals, or
can you imagine him taking stance against women’s education? Answer is a big no.
Why because all the activities in question are just the contrary of the attributes ascribed
to him and do not reflect organisation and harmony. When a trait is a natural corollary
to another trait present, the two traits are said to be in harmony with each other.
Internal harmony or organisation between the traits signifies a balanced personality,
But if the traits present in one’s personality are disorganised or contradicting each
other it is indicative of some abnormality and maladjustment.
34
In this unit we are going to study about personality assessment, what it involves and Assessment of Personality

what kind of tests area available and how do the psychologists select them etc.

4.1 OBJECTIVES
After reading of this unit, you should be able to:
l discuss the meaning of personality assessment;
l aim of personality assessment;
l personality inventories;
l describe projective techniques;
l be able to describe in your own words the principle of projection; and
l understand and discuss the nature of observational methods.

4.2 PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT

Assessment of personality refers to the measurement of personal characteristics of
an individual. It involves information gathering through interviews etc. and
administering of psychological test to understand the typical characteristics.
Assessment is an end result of gathering information. It contributes to furthering of
research in the area and also helps in making appropriate decisions in regard to
which type of test to be applied and in what manner.
Assessment is based on the assumption that each individual differs from another in
regard to the personality traits. Even if they possess the same traits their behaviour
will vary in terms of their experiences to different situations and thus a personality
assessment will make this very clear as to what actually contributes to this difference
and what are typical of a particular person’s personality.
A distinctive feature of personality assessment is the scientific approach to personality
measurement . That is how the human characteristics are described quantitatively
and qualitatively. The assessment also throws light on how many traits are present
and which of these is dominant and which one acts negatively creating problems to
the adjustment of the individual.
The sophisticated assessment and measurement of personality of an individual
depends on the use of a variety of concepts to provide trait definitions and entails
the application of various methods of observation and evaluation.
Personality assessment serves two purposes – theoretical and practical. Theoretically
personality assessment provides knowledge about different dimensions and aspects
of personality development and provides information about its nature. It provides
impetus to research on personality and help develop new theories about personality.
Practical purposes of personality assessment is to know the strength and weaknesses
of a person. It tells which traits in a person are lacking and what are its implications
for his adjustment with the environment? It provides help in developing intervention
program for persons who need help to overcome some of their personality based
difficulties. For example, if a person is extremely shy and refuses to move with
others even though in all other aspects the person behaves well, it would be worth
the while to know what is it in the person that makes the person so shy that the
individual avoids all relationships. For this a personality assessment will be helpful
to understand the fact as to where the problem lies and through which kind of
35
Introduction to Personality, counseling one can help the person overcome the problem. Methods of personality
Types and Traits
assessment can be categorised under three headings:
1) Personality Inventories,
2) Projective Techniques, and
3) Observational methods.

4.3 PERSONALITY INVENTORIES

This is the most popular method of personality assessment. In this method statements
about certain traits of personality are constructed and the testee is required to answer
them as “ right/wrong” or “yes/no”. For example,
1) Do you have problem in sleeping? Yes/No
2) Does your parent give you adequate protection? Yes/No
3) Are you worried without reason? Yes/No
Persons may differ over the responses they give for each of the above questions as
it depends on their experiences and life situations. One person may not get sleep
because iof excitement, another person may not get sleep because of feelings of
rejection by the parents and yet another person may not feel sleepy because of
some constant worries about his own future.
In personality inventories there is no right or wrong answers. Because the person
himself reports about his problems and based on what the individual provides as
information the responses are interpreted. These inventories are called self report
inventories as then person himself or herself responds to these questions. These are
constructed according to certain norms, scientific techniques and are put through
many steps of validation and standardisation. Hence, these tests are also called as
psychometric tests.
Personality theorists and researchers seek to define and to understand the diversity
of human traits, the many ways people have of thinking and perceiving and learning
and emoting. Such nonmaterial human dimensions, types, and attributes are called
constructs from which inferences are drawn from observed behaviours. The
personality constructs which have been researched considerably include the construct
of anxiety, hostility, emotionality, motivation, and introversion-extroversion.
Efforts to measure personality constructs stem from a variety of sources. These
generally originate from theories of personality. For instance anxiety and repression
(the forgetting of unpleasant experiences), for example, are among the central concepts
of the theory of psychoanalysis. It is understandable that efforts would be made to
quantify one’s degree of anxiety, for example, and to use the score thus obtained in
the assessment of and in the prediction of future behaviour.
Among the major issues in the study of personality assessment and measurement
are the following questions:
i) Which of the many personality constructs that have been quantified are basic
or fundamental in the particular problem an individual is facing.
ii) Which constructs can be expected to involve wasted effort in their measurement
because they represent poorly defined combinations of more elemental
constructs.

36
iii) Which measurement techniques are most effective and convenient for the Assessment of Personality

purpose of assessment.
iv) Whether it is better to interview people in measuring personality, or to ask
them to respond to a personality inventory with questions given as samples
above.
Efforts to measure any given personality construct can fail as a result of inadequacies
in formulating or defining the trait to be measured and weaknesses in the assessment
methods employed. For instance a psychologist who is trying to test an individual’s
personality, may like to quantify what has been measured and interpret the same
qualitatively. For example, he may try to see what is the degree of depression in the
individual through a personality test and then interpret the same. This would involve
the theoretical system which he susbscribes to and thus if it is psychoanalytical he
might say the depression is due to repressed wishes that have not been fulfilled and
depression is a way of manifesting those unfulfilled desires and wishes. To give
another example, a psychologist may like to specify quantitatively the degree to
which individuals are submissive in social and competitive situations. The effectiveness
will depend on the particular theory of submissiveness the individual brings to bear
on the problem. As for the actual procedures, the psychologist will select a test that
would measure submissiveness or the psychologist may devise a test by herself to
measure the submissiveness. Once a test has been devised it is put under many
rigorous testing so as to standardize the same and the psychologist would try to
demonstrate how the test exactly measures the submissiveness construct. Each of
these tasks must be considered carefully in evaluating efforts to measure personality
attributes.
The methods used in personality description and measurement fall into several
categories that differ with regard to the type of information gathered and the methods
by which it is obtained. While all should rely on data that come from direct
observations of human behaviour if they are to have at least the semblance of scientific
value, all may vary with regard to underlying assumptions, validity, and reliability
(consistency, in this case).
Now let us go a little bit back in time and trace the history of self-report inventories.

History of Personality Assessment

One of the oldest evidence for personality assessment is found in the personality
typing system called the Enneagram. Sometime in 460 BC, Hippocrates described
the four temperaments as ‘humors’ that is, moods. Each of these humours or moods
was based on the four elements of nature, that is the fire, air, water and earth. Based
on these the four personality types were also evolved which were termed as sanguine,
choleric, melancholic and phlegmatic. While sanguine type personality was considered
to be calm and collected and balanced, the choleric personality was considered to
be irritable with melancholic being depressed and inactive with the last one of
phlegmatic being lazy idle and not doing anything. Even though these types were
not much in use over a period of time, they paved the way for further research and
dev elopement of many traits of personality the credit for which goes to psychologists
like Allport, Cattell and others.
In 1926, William Moulton Marston, a psychologist at Harvard University, devised a
DISC system which could tap four traits of personalioty, viz., dominance (D),
Influencing (I), Steadiness (S), and Compliance (C). These he called the normal
emotions of people and this system became popular before World War II and 37
Introduction to Personality, became later a popular tool in the commercial sector. Based on Jung’s typology oin
Types and Traits
personality development, the test called Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) became
the most used tool, and it is used in the industrial set ups even today.
Organisation Development professionals, marriage and family counselors,
psychologists, management experts, and individuals continue to work on personality
typing methods to improve work or personal environments. The most recent
temperament type was by Keirsey, called as the Keirsey Temperament Sorter
(Keirsey, 1987).

Self Assessment Questions

1) What do you understand by the term personality Assessment?
................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................
2) What are the pre requisites for personality assessment?
................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................

The need for personality inventories was first felt during the First World War, when
the scrutiny of emotionally unstable soldiers had to be done. Today the number of
personality inventories is countless. However, we will discuss a few important and
widely used personality inventories which are as follows.

4.3.1 Cattell’s 16 PF scale

Cattell developed this inventory using the technique of factor analysis. Cattell included
in it three types of traits namely – temperamental traits, ability traits, dynamic traits.
The inventory measures 16 bipolar traits which are presented in the table below:

Sr.No. High Score Letter Symbol Low Score

1 Outgoing A Reserved
2 More Intelligent B Less Intelligent
3 Stable C Emotional
4 Assertive E Humble
5 Happy-Go-Lucky F Sober
6 Conspicuous G Expedient
7 Tenderminded H Shy
8 Suspecious I Toughminded
9 Bold L Trusting
10 Imaginative M Practical
11 Shrewed N Forthright
12 Apprehensive O Placid
13 Experimenting Q1 Traditional
14 Self-sufficient Q2 Grouptied
15 Cotrolled Q3 Casual
16 Tense Q4 Relaxed
38
(Source: Adapted From Conn & Rieke, 1994 The 16PF Fifth Edition technical manual )
These 16 factors are called first-order-factors on the basis of median of these factors. Assessment of Personality

In addition to these 16 factors Cattell also identified 11 second order factors which
were equally important as personality traits. These included anxiety, extroversion,
independence, neuroticism, leadership, marital adjustment, subjectivity, altruism,
self discipline, deliberation and conscientiousness.
From Cattell’s personality inventory and the identification of factors, the Big 5
personality traits called as the global traits have been delineated which are
Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Openness to Experience and
Conscientiousness. In the present day the Big 5 inventory is used widely in almost all
settings especially in the corporate sectors.

4.3.2 Bell Adjustment Inventory

This test was developed by Bell in 1934 aim to diagnose adjustment problems of
the individual. A test of personality that assesses the individual’s adjustment in a
variety of situations – for example, home, health, school, self etc. For instance the
“home adjustment is expressed in terms of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with home
life, while ‘health adjustment’ is measured in terms of shyness, submissiveness,
introversion, etc. The emotional adjustment is assessed in terms of depression,
nervousness, and so on. It has two forms – student form and occupational form.
It contains 140 items which are answered in “Yes” or “ No” form. It is highly reliable
and valid and it has been adapted in various Indian languages.

4.3.3 California Psychological Inventory

This was originally developed in 1957. However it was revised by Gough in 1987.
It measures normal traits of personality. It describes individuals in the way others
see them. The California Psychological Inventory provide a range of personal and
work related characteristics, motivations and thinking styles of the individuals who
take the test. It also tells how people manage themselves and deal with others. It
consists of 18 scales, each of which is designed to forecast what a person will say
or do under defined conditions. It identifies individuals who will be described in
characteristic ways by others who know them well or who observe their behaviour
in particular contexts.

4.3.4 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

(MMPI)
It was originally developed by Hathaway and Mckinley in 1940. It contains 550
itmes answered “Yes”, “No” and “Can’t say”. It has two forms – individual card
form and group card form. It was basically developed to measure pathological traits
of personality. It has 10 clinical scales and 3 validity scales. Clinical scales are:
l Hypochodriasis – it measures a person’s tendency for excessive anxiety about
physical health and functioning.
l Depression – It measures affective disorders like sadness, decrease in
proficiency, interest, and energy etc.
l Conversion hysteria – measures a person’s tendency to develop symptoms
of physical ailments in order to get rid of mental struggle and conflict and anxiety.
l Psychopathic deviates – measures a person’s tendency for violation of social
and moral norms.
39
Introduction to Personality, l Masculinity-Faminity – it detects a person’s tendency to perform extreme
Types and Traits
sex roles.
l Paranoia – delusional and persecutional tendency is diagnosed.
l Psychesthenia – measures a person’s tendency for obsession and compulsion
and phobia.
l Schizophrenia – measures a person’s tendency for abnormal behavior and
anxiety.
l Hypomania – measures emotional excitability, over activity and flight of ideas.
l Social Introversion – it measures characteristics like shyness, avoidance of
other people and feelings of insecurity.
Validity Scales are as:
l Lie scale – it measures a person’s tendency to lie or project himself in a
wrong manner.
l Frequency or Infrequency – measures person’s tendency to exaggerate
symptoms.
l K(correction) – it detects a person’s defensive outlook or his tendency to
exaggerate things about himself.

4.3.5 Merits and Demerits of Inventories

All these scales though are considered extremely useful and are more ore less accurate
in describing and identiofying the different personality traits, they do suffer from
many defects. Let us see some of the merits and demerits of these inventories.

Merits
l The foremost characteristic of an inventory is that it is a quick measure of
personality. It affords assessment of personality of several persons at one time.
l Personality inventories are used both in clinical situations and normal situation.\

Demerits
l Since inventories measure personality in terms of discrete traits they become
unscientific. Personality can not be explained in terms of discrete traits but it is
a totality so it should be measured as a whole.
l Due to lack of acceptable criterion personality inventories are not highly reliable
tools of personality measurement and the data gathered can not be interpreted
correctly.
l Since most of the items in inventories are vague and unclear, a person attempting
them is able to fake the response and hide his originality.
l It can be used only by literate people.

Self Assessment Questions

1) What are the merits and demerits of the personality Inventories?
................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................
40
 Assessment of Personality
2) Match the following
a) Sixteen P.F. Questionnaire a) Bell
b) Bell Adjustment Inventory b) Gough
c) California Psychological Inventory c) Hathaway &
Mckinley
d) Minnesota Multiphasic Psychological Inventory d) Cattell

4.4 PROJECTIVE METHODS

These methods are based on the principal of projection ( a defense mechanism) in
which a person projects his her own desires, needs and feelings onto other person
or object. To give an example, Suppose you hate a person but you can not say this
to that person as he is powerful and has the capacity to punish you. Now what will
you do. You will go away from that person or you will dare express your feelings for
him in his face. But what if both the options are not available to you or you simply
are unable to choose one of the two options. In such circumstances there is also an
option of taking recourse to projection. You can pronounce or declare that it is not
you who hates the person but actually that person hates you. Thus instead of
expressing or giving vent to your feeling in direct manner you simply project them
onto that person. Thus you avoid the possibility of punishment and are still able to
rid of those feelings.
In projective tests personality is measured in indirect manner by presenting the person
with an unstructured, vague stimulus or situation. It is believed that when a person
reacts to such vague or unstructured stimulus or situation, he projects his unconscious
desires, mental conflicts and unethical wants without knowing that he is doing so.

4.4.1 History of Projective Methods

Use of projective techniques began with Leonardo da Vinci. Vinci in 1400 AD
selected some children and tested them for creativity. He asked them to identify
patterns in ambiguous form and shapes. This was followed by Binet in 1800 AD
when he tried to measure passive imagination among children using a game called
Blotto. In it children were shown ink blots and asked to report what they saw in the
blots. In1879 Galton prepared the Word association test. Jung made extensive use
of Galton’s test for testing purposes. Ebbinghaus used sentence completion test for
measurement of intelligence but soon it was realised that projective tests can be
used for personality measurement and thus the projective tests for personality
measurement were developed.

4.4.2 Types of Projective Tests

Projective tests are categorised under five headings:
i) Association tests.
ii) Construction tests.
iii) Completion tests.
iv) Choice or ordering tests and
v) Expressive tests.
41
Introduction to Personality, i) Association tests involve presentation of vague and unstructured stimulus and
Types and Traits
the person is required to respond what he sees and with what he associates
that stimulus. Word association test and Rorschach test are the two main types
of this type.
l Word association tests: In this, test some predecided stimuli are presented
one by one to the subject and the subject is required to say the first word
that comes to mind after hearing the stimulus word. For example, when
the word “chair” is pronounced the subject is supposed to say the first
word coming into his mind on hearing this. Freud and Jung are credited
with the use of this technique for personality assessment. Response given
by the person are analysed in terms of the symbolic meaning of the response
and the time taken to respond. Such tests were successfully used by Jung
to study emotional conflict of the individuals.
l Rorschach test: This test was developed by Swiss psychiatrist Herman
Rorschach. It contains 10 cards bearing inkblots of varied shapes on
them. Five of the ten cards are in black and white, while the remaining five
are coloured. All the cards are presented to the subject one by one. Subject
is free to hold, move and twist the card in the manner he likes. Subject is
asked to tell what he sees in the card, whether it is part of the card or
whole of the card. All the responses are recorded and analysed according
to letter symbols which are as given below:
a) Location: It tells if the response of the subject is determined by the
part or whole of the blot, W is used to denote the whole of card, D is
used to denote if the response is determined by half of the blot and
more, and Dd is used for response determined by some small details
and out of the small portion of the card. S is used to denote for
response determined responding to certain spaces in between the
figures etc.
b) Determinants: It tells which feature of the card is responsible for
response. For example, the subject responds “butterfly”. Now it has
to be decided which feature of the card i.e. form, color, or movement
is responsible for the response. 24 letter symbols are used for this
purpose. F for instance is used for form, C for color, M for human
movement and FM animal movement.
c) Content: It tells about the content of the response. If the content is
human then H is used and A is used for animal content.
d) Original response and organisation: Original response means a
response frequently given by people to that card and is called popular
response denoted by the letter P.
Once this process of letter assigning is complete, the symbols are
analysed and interpreted. For example, prominence of W responses
indicates that the person has high intelligence and power for abstract
reasoning. D is indicative of ability to see and understand things in a
clear manner. Dd should not be more than five percent of the total
responses. A Dd higher than this is indicative of symptoms of
schizophrenia (a psychological disease).
ii) Construction test: These are tests which involve presentation of stimulus upon
which the subject is required to construct some story or construct some other
42 thing. TAT ( Thematic Apperception Test ) developed by Murray is the best
 example of this category. The test has 31 cards out of which one card is blank Assessment of Personality

while the other 30 cards bear some picture on it. However, in any case not
more than 20 cards are shown to a person. The test is administered in two
sessions. In the first session 10 cards are shown and in the second session
another 10 cards are shown including the blank one. Blank card is shown at
the last. The subject is asked to write a story on each card. As for the blank
card the subject is at liberty to imagine a picture on it and write a story on it. In
the end respondent is subjected to an interview to ascertain whether the source
of the story lies in the picture shown or somewhere else. After this process is
complete the analysis and interpretation starts. Analysis and interpretation is
done on the following basis:
l Hero: It is believed that the central character of the story is hero or heroine.
Further that the respondent identifies him or herself with the central character
and projects his or her personality traits onto the central character.
l Needs: Each storey reflects certain needs of the central character. Murray
identified 28 human needs like need for affiliation, approval, achievement
etc.
l Press: This means environmental forces operating on the hero by rejecting
his need fulfillment or by helping the needs to be fulfilled.
l Thema: This represents the interaction between the needs and the
environmental forces. Thema tells about the continuity in the personality of
the individual.
l Outcome: This tells how the story has been ended whether the end of the
story is decisive or undecisive, positive or negative etc. Decisive end is
indicative of maturity and realistic attitude of the person.
iii) Completion tests: In this type of test the subject is usually shown a part of the
stimulus (usually a sentence) and other part of the stimulus is blank which is to
be completed by the subject as he thinks fit. The underlying assumption is that
the way subject completes the sentence will reflect his personality. It was first
developed by Rohde & Hidreth in 1940. For example,
1) I often think that…………………
2) I wish that………………………..
3) Very often my parents……………
The above sentences have to be completed by the subject with whatever comes
to his mind first on reading the incomplete sentence. There are a large number
of incomplete sentences blank , of which the more porpular one is of Rotter’s
Incomplete Sentences Blank. Based on the matter used by the subject to
complete the sentence, the analysis is carried out and the responses interpreted.
iv) Choice or ordering test: This type of test requires the subject to arrange
stimuli in a particular order or he is asked to select stimulus form amongst the
given stimuli on the basis of some dimension or according to his likes and
dislikes. The underlying assumption in it is that the choice made or order of
arrangement will reflect the individual’s personality traits. Szondi test is the
most widely used test of this type. It requires the subject to choose two
photographs that he likes the most and two photographs that he dislikes the
most out of six packs of photographs. Thus photos selected reveal the personality
of the person.
43
Introduction to Personality, v) Expressive tests: Such tests allow the person to express himself through some
Types and Traits
drawing. Machover, 1949 is credited with the construction of this test. It has
two formats – Draw-a- person test and House-Tree-Person test. From the
drawings made by the person the drawings are analysed and the personality
traits are delineated. A slightly different version of this test is the Kinetic Drawing
Test in which the subject is asked to draw what is going on in the family and
later on the subject is asked to tell in imagination or otherwise what exactly is
happening in the drawing or the picture. For instance, if the subject has drawn
a dining hall scenario, the subject is asked to tell who is saying what and what
is happening at the dining table, who is interacting with whom and how the
subject himself is being treated there etc. From the responses the psychologist
is able to interpret what is going on and in turn the personality of the individual
and the conflicts that the person is facing within the family.

4.4.3 Evaluation of Projective Tests

Although projective tests are widely used in personality assessment, they are criticized
for the following reasons:
l Projective tests are not based on some meaningful and testable criteria hence
the conclusion about the personality of the subject are not tenable.
l Scoring and interpretation of projective tests are laced with subjectivity this is
particularly true RT and TAT. Consequently different people reach different
conclusions about the personality of the same individual.
l These tests lack in validity and are often used in preparing the case history.
Therefore the results of these tests can’t be relied upon. Most of the psychiatrists
believe that there is lack of scientific evidence over the expected relationship
between the indicators of personality and the traits measured.

Self Assessment Questions

1) What is a projective test?
................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................
2) What are the different types of projective tests?
................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................
3) What are the demerits of the projective tests?
................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................
44
 Assessment of Personality
4.5 OBSERVATIONAL METHODS
It involves the observation and recording of the activities of a person by the observer
in a controlled or natural situation. These recordings are then analysed and an inference
about the personality of the individual is drawn. Observational methods are
categorised under two headings: (i) Rating scales and (ii) Interview. These are being
elaborated below.

4.5.1 Rating Scales

Rating scales involve recording judgement about the personality traits in some
categories. These categories may be numerical or graphic. Each category has a
specific meaning and the rater expresses his reaction about the traits of the person
being assessed through these categories. These ratings are then statistically analysed
and a conclusion about the personality of the person is reached. However, assessment
of personality through rating scales depends on the following factors:
a) Rating scale being used should be sound and each category included in it should
be defined clearly besides the rater should have exact knowledge of it.
b) Rater should know the person being assessed or rated.
c) Rater should have the ability to avoid halo effect and other sorts of biases
which sway the judgement in one direction (positive or negative).

4.5.2 Interview
Of all the techniques of personality assessment interview is the most widely used
techniques. Interview involves recording of reactions to the questions asked by the
interviewee in a face to face situation. Interviews are usually of two types:
a) structured interview, and
b) unstructured interview.
In structured interview the questions asked by the interviewer are predecided.
Even the order of presentation of questions, their language and the manner in which
they are to be put to the subject are decided a priori. Thus structured interviews
follow a standardised pattern. Biggest advantage of structured interview is that it
allows comparative study of personality of different individuals since all of them are
asked the same questions and in the same order. However this merit of structured
interview turns into demerit when intensive drilling and analysis of personality is
required. Since the language, order and number of questions are predecided it does
not allow interviewer to ask supplementary questions aimed at deeper probing.
Unstructured interview allows interviewer to ask questions as he thinks fit
depending on how the interview progresses. Language of questions, their number
and the manner of asking questions all depend on the understanding of the interviewer.
Unstructured interviews are mostly used for clinical purposes to diagnose the
problems or abnormality in the personality of the individual as these are free of the
constraints of structured interviews.

4.6 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we tried to make you understand the meaning of assessment. We discussed
theoretical and practical purpose and significance of personality assessment. I tried
45
Introduction to Personality, to make you understand all this through example. Then we discussed personality
Types and Traits
inventories, their meaning, origin of personality inventories. This was followed by
brief details of different types of inventories like Cattell’s Sixteen P.F. Questionnaire,
Bell adjustment inventory etc. We also discussed the merits and demerits of personality
inventories. Discussion of inventories led us to discuss another technique of personality
assessment i.e. projective technique. In projective techniques we acquainted you
with the principle of projection. We tried to understand projection through example.
We discussed various types of projective techniques in detail along with example of
each type. An evaluative discussion on projective technique also took place. In the
last we studied observational method of personality assessment. In it we discussed
rating scales and interview as tool of personality assessment. We also discussed
types of interview along with their merit and demerit.

4.7 UNIT END QUESTIONS

1) What do you understand by the term personality assessment? Discuss with
example.
2) What are personality inventories? Discuss their merits and demerits.
3) What do you understand by the principle of projection? Discuss how it works.
4) Discuss in detail different types of projective techniques.
5) Do you think observational method of personality assessment is sufficient?
Comment

4.8 SUGGESTED READINGS

Anastasi, Anne and Urbina, Subana (1997) . Psychological Testing (7th edition).
Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
Freeman, Frank, S.(1953). Theory and Practice of Psychological Testing. Pitman,
London.

46