Methods of Personality Assessment

Document Type:Coursework

Subject Area:Psychology

Document 1

They can also be for educational, research and employment/job purposes. The technique used by the specialist/psychiatrist in this type of assessment mainly depends on the presumption that most of the observable alternation and unpredictability of behavior from one individual to another, is usually because of the differences in the intensity to which a person possesses certain personal traits (Butcher, 2009). For the behavioral observation things such as interviews are used, an assessor makes use of standardized or structured and unstructured questions, which can be used to reveal a person’s behavior. It’s from the answers to these questions that an assessor basically forms opinions about a person’s behavior or personality. A number of techniques or methods are used in conducting this assessment so as to arrive at a correct conclusion and offer appropriate recommendations.

Sign up to view the full document!

Self-Report Measure involves personality details directly given by the subject based on their own beliefs. There are quite a number of self-report measures but they all depend on the willingness of the participant to provide right information. It is also known as the paper and pencil test where questions are provided and the participant is required to rate the possibility of it being true or false based on how he/she knows himself. Examples of self-report measures include; Myers-Briggs type indicator, Neo Pi-R and MMPI. The other measure used is interviews, where an examiner can either use structured or unstructured interviews to get fast hand information from the subject. Some of the measures in this technique include: the Rorschach Inkblot test, the draw a person test and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) (Aiken, 2011).

Sign up to view the full document!

Projective method is based on various assumptions such as, it assumes that an individual usually has a primary and fixed personality structure. The validity of this method is quite impressive based on a number of outcomes. For example the Rorschach Inkblot test have been used in determining academic performance and in medical diagnoses. It is also highly reliable but it also depends on a number of factors. Some of the advantages of Rorschach Inkblot test measure, is that some psychological reports and evidences show that it can be used to identify psychosis in a patient. It can also be used to provide a lot of helpful information that unveils any internal and emotional conflict of a client/patient. The disadvantage of this measure, is that the answers provided can vary and it can become very challenging when attempting to interpret them.

Sign up to view the full document!

From $10 to earn access

Only on Studyloop

Original template

Downloadable