PERSONALITY TESTS

&
MEASUREMENT OF
PERSONALITY
(Non-Projective and projective)

BY:-Mitesh Kumar
 Personality Tests

A selection procedure measure the personality

characteristics of applicants that are related
to future job performance. Personality tests
typically measure one or more of five
personality dimensions: extroversion,
emotional stability, agreeableness,
conscientiousness, and openness to
experience.
 Advantages
can result in lower turnover due if applicants
are selected for traits that are highly
correlated with employees who have high
longevity within the organization
can reveal more information about applicant's
abilities and interests
can identify interpersonal traits that may be
needed for certain jobs
 Disadvantages
difficult to measure personality traits that may not be well
defined
applicant's training and experience may have greater
impact on job performance than applicant's personality
responses by applicant may may be altered by applicant's
desire to respond in a way they feel would result in their
selection
lack of diversity if all selected applicants have same
personality traits
cost may be prohibitive for both the test and interpretation
of results
lack of evidence to support validity of use of personality
tests
 Tips
Select traits carefully An employer that selects
applicants with high degree of 'assertiveness',
'independence', and 'self-confidence' may end up
excluding females significantly more than males which
would result in adverse impact.
Select tests carefully Any tests should have been
analyzed for (high) reliability and (low) adverse impact.
Not used exclusively Personality tests should not be
the sole instrument used for selecting applicants.
Rather, they should be used in conjunction with other
procedures as one element of the selection process.
Applicants should not be selected on the basis of
personality tests alone.
 Summary of Personality Tests
Since there is not a correct answer to personality tests, the
scoring of the procedure could be questioned.
Recent litigation has suggested that some items for these
types of tests may be too intrusive (Soroka v. Dayton Hudson,
1991).
This technique lacks face validity. In other words, it would be
difficult to show how individual questions on certain
personality measures are job related even if the overall
personality scale is a valid predictor of job performance.
Hooke and Krauss (1971) administered three (3) tests to
sergeant candidates; the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory, the Allport-Vemon-Lindzey Study of Values, and the
Gough Adjective Check List. These tests did not differentiate
candidates rated as good sergeant material from those rates
as poorer candidates. The researchers concluded that the
groups may have been so similar that these tests were not
sensitive enough to differentiate them.
 Types of Personality Tests
Personal Attribute Inventory. An interpersonal assessment
instrument which consists of 50 positive and 50 negative adjectives
from Gough's Adjective Check List. The subject is to select 30 which
are most descriptive of the target group or person in question. This
instrument was specifically designed to tap affective reactions and
may be used in either assessing attitudes toward others or as a self-
concept scale.
Personality Adjective Checklist A comprehensive, objective measure
of eight personality styles (which are closely aligned with DSM-III-R
Axis II constructs). These eight personality styles are: introversive,
inhibited, cooperative, sociable, confident, forceful, respectful, and
sensitive. This instrument is designed for use with nonpsychiatric
patients and normal adults who read minimally at the eighth grade
level. Test reports are computer-generated and are intended for use
by qualified professionals only. Interpretive statements are based
on empirical data and theoretical inference. They are considered
probabilistic in nature and cannot be considered definitive. (2K )
 Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory Self-scoring six-point rating
scale is a training instrument designed to provide feedback to
individuals about their potential for cross-cultural effectiveness. It is
most effective when used as part of a training program. It can also
be used as a team-building tool for culturally diverse work groups
and as a counseling tool for people in the process of cross-cultural
adjustment. The inventory contains 50 items, distributed among 4
subscales: emotional resilience, flexibility/openness, perceptual
acuity, personal autonomy. Materials:
California Psychological Inventory Multipurpose questionnaire
designed to assess normal personality characteristics important in
everyday life that individuals make use of to understand, classify,
and predict their own behaviors and that of others. In this revision,
two new scales, empathy and independence, have been added;
semantic changes were made in 29 items; and 18 items were
eliminated. The inventory is applicable for use in a variety of
settings, including business and industry, schools and colleges,
clinics and counseling agencies, and for cross cultural and other
research. May be used to advise employees/applicants about their
vocational plans.
Sample Questions of Personality Tests
 Measurement of personality

Measurement of personality serves both

theoretical and practical purposes, many
problems concerning the nature and
development of personality could be solved
satisfactorily if we have precise methods of
measuring traits when an individual who has
difficulties of personality adjustment come for
help to a psychological clinic it is necessary to
assess his personality.
 The measurement of personality is also useful
in the selection of leaders and stable persons
for responsible jobs.

The different methods of measuring

personality can be broadly divided into two
categories namely:-
1) Non - Projective
2) Projective.
 Non - Projective
Interview Method : In interview there is a
direct face to face contact between the
interviewer and the interviewee. The
interviewer is the psychologist or the
psychiatrist and the interviewee may be the
patient or a subject. In this method the
psychologists listens to the subjects own story
and he seldom interferes while the subject is
talking. He is sympathetic in listening breaks
the subjects restraints and he begins to talk in
more intimate manners.
 This draws out the subjects true personality.
Sometimes the subject is questioned about his
attitude and interests. The interview has got two
forms namely guided and un guided. In the
guided form the psychologist has the pre
arranged questions where as in the unguided
form the questions are not pre - arranged.
A highly skilled interview can gain a great deal of
useful information about his subject from the
interview. The subjects manner of speaking his
hesitation averted glanus (escape) provide
important clues to his personality. But the
interview method has serious limitations people
bearing greatly in their skill as interviewers. The
results of the interview though clear to the
interviewer can not be expressed in precise
terms.
 Projective Test
Projection is said to be present when we attribute our own
motives,defects and desires to others. Projective tests are so
named because they induce the individual to project that is
put himself into the test situation, to reveal his own motives,
attributes, attitudes and aspirations.
There are many projective tests such as T.A.T, C.A.T, S.C.T, V.P.T
and Ink blot test. All of them have two common features.
They present the person with a relatively non - structured
situation or stimulus.

All projective tests catch the subject off guard that is they are
designed to make the subject reveal himself without being
aware of the fact that he is doing so.
THANK YOU