Chapter 13

Personality Assessment Methods

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2013 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.

 Objective Methods
• Objective methods of personality assessment
are typically administered by paper-and-pencil
or computer and contain short-answer items
for which the assessee’s task is to select one
response from those provided
• The term “objective” in relation to personality
measures must be considered cautiously, as
personality tests rarely contain no one correct
answer as well on its reliance on self-report
measures 13-2
 Projective Measures
• Projective hypothesis: the idea that an
individual supplies structure to unstructured
stimuli in a manner consistent with the
individual’s own unique pattern of conscious
and unconscious needs, fears, desires,
impulses, conflicts, and ways of perceiving
and responding
• Projective techniques are indirect methods of
personality assessment
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 Projective Measures
• Inkblots as projective stimuli
– Rorschach inkblots
• Hermann Rorschach
• There is debate about precisely how to classify the
Rorschach inkblots
• Consists of 10 bilaterally symmetrical
inkblots on separate cards, half of which are
achromatic
• Inkblot cards are initially presented in order
from 1 to 10 and asked to interpret the
inkblot with a great deal of freedom
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 Projective Measures
• Inkblots as projective stimuli
– Rorschach inkblots
• After the entire set of inkblots has been administered, an
inquiry is conducted and the assessor attempts to
determine what features of the inkblot played a role in
formulating the testtaker’s precept
• A third component, testing the limits, may also be
included to enable the examiner to
restructure the situation by asking
specific questions concerning
personality functioning, as well as
clarifying any misunderstanding or
anxiety
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 Projective Measures
• Inkblots as projective stimuli
– Rorschach inkblots
• Hypotheses concerning personality functioning are
formed on the basis of variables such as response
content and time, as well as the location of the response
• Rorschach protocols are scored according to several
categories, including location, determinants, content,
popularity, and form
• Patterns of response, recurring themes, and
interrelationships among the different
categories are all considered in the final
description
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 Projective Measures
• Inkblots as projective stimuli
– Rorschach inkblots
• John E. Exner, Jr. developed comprehensive system for
the Rorschach test’s administration, scoring, and
interpretation
• Exner’s system brought uniformity to Rorschach use,
but despite such improvements the psychometric
properties of the tool are still debated
• Test-retest reliability is of little value to the Rorschach
test because of the very nature of the measurement;
inter-scorer reliability may be more appropriate
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 Projective Measures
• Pictures as projective stimuli
– Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
• Christiana Morgan and Henry Murray, 1935
• 30 picture cards contain a variety of scenes that present
the testtaker with “certain
classical human situations”
• The administering clinician
selects the cards that are
believed to elicit responses
pertinent to testing

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 Projective Measures
• Pictures as projective stimuli
– Thematic Apperception Test
• The material used in deriving conclusions
includes:
– The stories as they were told
– The clinician’s notes about the way or the
manner in which the examinee responded
– The clinician’s notes about extra-test
behavior and verbalizations

13-9