7.10 Measuring Personality
3 min read•december 22, 2022
Mary Valdez
John Mohl
Dalia Savy
Haseung Jun
Mary Valdez
John Mohl
Dalia Savy
Haseung Jun
A psychologist’s methods of measuring people’s personalities differ depending on the theory they believe the most strongly in 💭
Direct Observation
This is the classic sit-on-a-park-bench-and-watch-people-interact type assessment. It's basically people-watching. Behaviorists prefer this assessment technique. Behavioral assessments then record the frequency of a specific behavior during an observation. This is usually criticized of being highly subjective, but it does lend a good hand in making inferences about behavior. However, during lab studies, this method can prove to be not so great because of the Hawthorn effect. The Hawthorn effect states that when people know they are being watched, they tend to change their behavior to what they think the observer is expecting. So when using this assessment technique, it's important to use controls.
Projective Tests
Projective tests include asking people to interpret vague, ambiguous stimuli that have more than one meaning. Test-takers reveal inner thoughts that wouldn't have been revealed simply through their interpretation of the stimuli. There are two different types that you should be familiar with:
Rorschach inkblot test is where a psychologist shows people a series of inkblots and asks them to describe what they see. It is the most commonly used projective test, and they aren't really reliable.
Image Courtesy of Wikipedia.
The thematic apperception test (TAT) consists of a number of cards that each contain a picture of a person or people in a situation. These are also open to more than one interpretation and participants are asked to tell a story of what is happening in the picture, what led up to it, what people are feeling, etc. to reveal their inner thoughts.
Personality Inventories
Self-report inventories, or personality inventories, are questionnaires that ask people to provide information about themselves. There are so many different traits that could be gathered from these questionnaires, and psychologists created different versions of them.
One main personality inventory test you should know is the minnesota multiphasic personality inventory(MMPI). It is the most widely used self-report instrument that has lie detector questions built into the inventory to prevent deception and social desirability. It is used in just about any realm of personality and our everyday lives that you could think of.
Overview of Research Methods
| Research Method | Description | Perspectives that use this method | Benefits | Weaknesses |
| Case study | In-depth study of one individual. | Psychoanalytic, humanistic | Less expensive than other methods. | May not generalize to the larger population. |
| Survey | Systematic questioning of a random sample of the population. | Trait, social-cognitive, positive psychology | Results tend to be reliable and can be generalized to the larger population. | May be expensive; correlational findings. |
| Projective tests | Ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of inner dynamics. | Psychodynamic | Designed to get beneath the conscious surface of a person's self-understanding; may be a good ice-breaker. | Results have weak validity and reliability. |
| Personality inventories | Objectively scored groups of questions designed to identify personality dispositions | Trait | Generally reliable and empirically validated. | Explore limited number of traits. |
| Observation | Studying how individuals react in different situations. | Social-cognitive | Allows researchers to study the effects of environmental factors on the way an individual's personality is expressed. | Results may not apply to the larger population. |
| Experimentation | Manipulate variables, with random assignment to conditions. | Social-cognitive | Discerns cause and effect. | Some variables cannot feasibly or ethically be manipulated. |
Table Courtesy of Christiana Cobb. All credit to Myers' AP Psychology
🎥 Watch: AP Psychology—Personality Theories
🏆 Trivia—Personality, Motivation, and Emotion
Key Terms to Review (19)
Behavioral Assessments
: Behavioral assessments involve evaluating observable actions or reactions of an individual in given situations. These assessments aim at understanding and predicting future behavior based on current observations.Behaviorists
: Behaviorists are psychologists who believe that human behavior can be explained in terms of conditioning, without appeal to thoughts or feelings. They consider observable behaviors rather than internal mental states.Case Study
: A case study is an in-depth analysis of an individual or group to understand their behavior or circumstances over time.Direct Observation
: Direct observation is a method of collecting evaluative information in which the evaluator watches the subject in his or her usual environment without altering that environment.Experimentation Method
: The experimentation method is a research method in psychology where the researcher manipulates one variable to measure its effect on another variable. This allows for cause-and-effect relationships to be established.Hawthorne Effect
: The Hawthorne Effect refers to the alteration of behavior by the subjects of a study due to their awareness of being observed.Humanistic Theory
: The humanistic theory in psychology emphasizes the inherent goodness of people and their self-actualization tendencies. It focuses on individuals' free will and their potential for personal growth.Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
: The MMPI is a standardized psychometric test of adult personality and psychopathology, often used to identify mental disorders.Observation Method
: The observation method involves studying people’s behavior as they go about their everyday lives. It can be structured with specific guidelines or unstructured allowing for naturalistic observations without interference.Personality Inventories
: Personality inventories are questionnaires designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors assessing several personality traits at once.Positive Psychology
: Positive psychology is a branch within psychology that focuses on studying positive emotions, strengths-based character traits, and healthy institutions with an aim towards improving quality life and preventing the pathologies that arise when life is barren and meaningless.Projective Tests
: Projective tests are personality assessments that present ambiguous stimuli with the aim of revealing hidden emotions and internal conflicts projected by an individual.Psychoanalytic Theory
: Psychoanalytic theory is a framework for understanding human behavior that emphasizes unconscious thoughts, conflicts between biological drives such as sex drive and societal norms, and early childhood experiences.Rorschach Inkblot Test
: The Rorschach Inkblot Test is a projective psychological test consisting of 10 inkblots printed on cards (five in black and white, five in color) designed to measure thought disorder for the purpose of identifying mental disorders.Self-Report Inventories
: Self-report inventories are a type of psychological test often used in personality assessment. This type of test involves a person responding to specific questions about their own behavior and feelings.Social-Cognitive Theory
: This is a theory of psychology that emphasizes the role of cognitive processes, such as thinking and memory, in the development of personality. It suggests that we learn by observing others within the context of social interactions, experiences, and outside media influences.Survey Method
: The survey method is a research technique that involves asking many participants a fixed set of questions about their attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, or characteristics.Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
: The Thematic Apperception Test is a projective psychological test where individuals are shown ambiguous pictures and asked to create a story about them. This test aims to reveal underlying motives, concerns, and the way they see the social world through the stories they tell.Trait Theory
: Trait theory suggests that personality is made up of broad traits or dispositions that tend to lead to characteristic responses - meaning people act in certain ways based on these traits.7.10 Measuring Personality
3 min read•december 22, 2022
Mary Valdez
John Mohl
Dalia Savy
Haseung Jun
Mary Valdez
John Mohl
Dalia Savy
Haseung Jun
A psychologist’s methods of measuring people’s personalities differ depending on the theory they believe the most strongly in 💭
Direct Observation
This is the classic sit-on-a-park-bench-and-watch-people-interact type assessment. It's basically people-watching. Behaviorists prefer this assessment technique. Behavioral assessments then record the frequency of a specific behavior during an observation. This is usually criticized of being highly subjective, but it does lend a good hand in making inferences about behavior. However, during lab studies, this method can prove to be not so great because of the Hawthorn effect. The Hawthorn effect states that when people know they are being watched, they tend to change their behavior to what they think the observer is expecting. So when using this assessment technique, it's important to use controls.
Projective Tests
Projective tests include asking people to interpret vague, ambiguous stimuli that have more than one meaning. Test-takers reveal inner thoughts that wouldn't have been revealed simply through their interpretation of the stimuli. There are two different types that you should be familiar with:
Rorschach inkblot test is where a psychologist shows people a series of inkblots and asks them to describe what they see. It is the most commonly used projective test, and they aren't really reliable.
Image Courtesy of Wikipedia.
The thematic apperception test (TAT) consists of a number of cards that each contain a picture of a person or people in a situation. These are also open to more than one interpretation and participants are asked to tell a story of what is happening in the picture, what led up to it, what people are feeling, etc. to reveal their inner thoughts.
Personality Inventories
Self-report inventories, or personality inventories, are questionnaires that ask people to provide information about themselves. There are so many different traits that could be gathered from these questionnaires, and psychologists created different versions of them.
One main personality inventory test you should know is the minnesota multiphasic personality inventory(MMPI). It is the most widely used self-report instrument that has lie detector questions built into the inventory to prevent deception and social desirability. It is used in just about any realm of personality and our everyday lives that you could think of.
Overview of Research Methods
| Research Method | Description | Perspectives that use this method | Benefits | Weaknesses |
| Case study | In-depth study of one individual. | Psychoanalytic, humanistic | Less expensive than other methods. | May not generalize to the larger population. |
| Survey | Systematic questioning of a random sample of the population. | Trait, social-cognitive, positive psychology | Results tend to be reliable and can be generalized to the larger population. | May be expensive; correlational findings. |
| Projective tests | Ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of inner dynamics. | Psychodynamic | Designed to get beneath the conscious surface of a person's self-understanding; may be a good ice-breaker. | Results have weak validity and reliability. |
| Personality inventories | Objectively scored groups of questions designed to identify personality dispositions | Trait | Generally reliable and empirically validated. | Explore limited number of traits. |
| Observation | Studying how individuals react in different situations. | Social-cognitive | Allows researchers to study the effects of environmental factors on the way an individual's personality is expressed. | Results may not apply to the larger population. |
| Experimentation | Manipulate variables, with random assignment to conditions. | Social-cognitive | Discerns cause and effect. | Some variables cannot feasibly or ethically be manipulated. |
Table Courtesy of Christiana Cobb. All credit to Myers' AP Psychology
🎥 Watch: AP Psychology—Personality Theories
🏆 Trivia—Personality, Motivation, and Emotion
Key Terms to Review (19)
Behavioral Assessments
: Behavioral assessments involve evaluating observable actions or reactions of an individual in given situations. These assessments aim at understanding and predicting future behavior based on current observations.Behaviorists
: Behaviorists are psychologists who believe that human behavior can be explained in terms of conditioning, without appeal to thoughts or feelings. They consider observable behaviors rather than internal mental states.Case Study
: A case study is an in-depth analysis of an individual or group to understand their behavior or circumstances over time.Direct Observation
: Direct observation is a method of collecting evaluative information in which the evaluator watches the subject in his or her usual environment without altering that environment.Experimentation Method
: The experimentation method is a research method in psychology where the researcher manipulates one variable to measure its effect on another variable. This allows for cause-and-effect relationships to be established.Hawthorne Effect
: The Hawthorne Effect refers to the alteration of behavior by the subjects of a study due to their awareness of being observed.Humanistic Theory
: The humanistic theory in psychology emphasizes the inherent goodness of people and their self-actualization tendencies. It focuses on individuals' free will and their potential for personal growth.Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
: The MMPI is a standardized psychometric test of adult personality and psychopathology, often used to identify mental disorders.Observation Method
: The observation method involves studying people’s behavior as they go about their everyday lives. It can be structured with specific guidelines or unstructured allowing for naturalistic observations without interference.Personality Inventories
: Personality inventories are questionnaires designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors assessing several personality traits at once.Positive Psychology
: Positive psychology is a branch within psychology that focuses on studying positive emotions, strengths-based character traits, and healthy institutions with an aim towards improving quality life and preventing the pathologies that arise when life is barren and meaningless.Projective Tests
: Projective tests are personality assessments that present ambiguous stimuli with the aim of revealing hidden emotions and internal conflicts projected by an individual.Psychoanalytic Theory
: Psychoanalytic theory is a framework for understanding human behavior that emphasizes unconscious thoughts, conflicts between biological drives such as sex drive and societal norms, and early childhood experiences.Rorschach Inkblot Test
: The Rorschach Inkblot Test is a projective psychological test consisting of 10 inkblots printed on cards (five in black and white, five in color) designed to measure thought disorder for the purpose of identifying mental disorders.Self-Report Inventories
: Self-report inventories are a type of psychological test often used in personality assessment. This type of test involves a person responding to specific questions about their own behavior and feelings.Social-Cognitive Theory
: This is a theory of psychology that emphasizes the role of cognitive processes, such as thinking and memory, in the development of personality. It suggests that we learn by observing others within the context of social interactions, experiences, and outside media influences.Survey Method
: The survey method is a research technique that involves asking many participants a fixed set of questions about their attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, or characteristics.Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
: The Thematic Apperception Test is a projective psychological test where individuals are shown ambiguous pictures and asked to create a story about them. This test aims to reveal underlying motives, concerns, and the way they see the social world through the stories they tell.Trait Theory
: Trait theory suggests that personality is made up of broad traits or dispositions that tend to lead to characteristic responses - meaning people act in certain ways based on these traits.
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