By,SREEJA GANGADHARAN P

Topics under discussion

• Interview technique

– merits

– Demerits

• Self-report Assessment

– Merits

– Demerits

• Projective Techniques

– Merits

– Demerits

Personality Assessment technique

• For systematic quantification of personalityvariables.

• All personality assessment falls into three distinctcategories: subjective, objective, and projective.

• For any assessment technique to be acceptedscientifically, should possess the following features:• Standardization• Norms• Reliability• Validity

Interview• Oldest and most widely used method.

• The way in which it is conducted depends on the particular objective or goal in question.

• Structured format tends to be favored in the research setting .

• Unstructured format tends to be favored by clinical psychologists in therapeutic setting.

Merits

• Sense of trust.

• Degree of freedom.

• Can be used in hypothesis testing.

• Produce valuable information about

personality and life situation.

• Communicate effectively.

Demerits

• Issue of reliability and validity

• Needs highly skilled interviewer.

• Highly subjective

• Poor inter rater reliability

• Theoretical and personal biases of interviewer.

• Withholding or distorting of information vital

to the purpose of an interview.

Self report Assessment technique• Reveals information directly by responding to

specific questions with a limited number of prescribed choices.

• It is the most widely used technique.

• Differ by the number of dimensions they measure.

• Single-trait test used by academic research measure some specific aspect of personality.

• Multidimensional personality test have the advantage of measuring more than one dimensions simultaneously.

Merits• High objectivity • Standardization of scoring minimizes the

risk of personal bias.• Reliable• Valid• Greater scene of privacy and autonomy

by using computerized self report inventories

• Can measure several different personality traits.

• Large group of subjects can be assessed.

Demerits• Acquiesce response set: Tendency of some people

to respond in a particular way regardless of the content of the item.

• Social desirability: tendency to respond to items in such a way that makes them feel good.

• Deliberate deception: The test takers deliberately withhold the information about themselves if they believe that they stands to gain something from the fraudulent responds.

• Highly personal characteristics of questionsmay consider as an invasion of privacy.

• Restricting the degree of freedom.

• Lengthy

• It takes time to respond diligently.

• Is not good among children or elderly people.

• Minor changes in the words can lead to majorchanges in the results.

Projective techniques

• Assess personality by presenting ambiguousstimuli and requiring a subject to respond,projecting his or her personality into theresponses.

• To uncover the person’s unconscious

conflicts, fear and concern.

• The tests can be very helpful in

identifying personality problems.

Merits

• Reduces intentional deception.

• Doesn't depend on verbal abilities

• Taps both conscious & unconscious traits and its influence on behavior.

• Can be used to assess achievement motivation and drives, adoption of innovations and to study cultural meaning.

• Developed for emotionally disturbed person.

Demerits• Less objectivity

• High Subjectivity in interpreting the response and the final score.

• Inter scorer reliability is very low.

• Every aspect does not necessarily relate to a personality attribute.

• Poorly standardized, no established method of administration, scoring and interpretation.

• Extensive training in specific scoring system is required for inter judgmental agreement.

CONCLUSION

• Measurement of individual difference can be done using interview techniques, self report personality test and projective techniques. Each of these techniques has its own merits and demerits. To have a better understanding of the human personality a combination of techniques can be used.

KEY WORDS

• Personality

• Interview

• Self-report

• Projective technique

• Reliability

•Validity•Deception•Social desirability•Acquiescence Bias

REFERENCE• Friedman, H.S. & Schustaccks, M.W. (2003).

Personality-Classic Theories and Modern Research. (2nd Edition). USA: Pearson Education.

• Hjelle, L.A.& Ziegler, D.J.(1992). Personality Theories-Basic Assumptions, Research and Applications. (3rd edition). NY:McGraw-Hill.

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By,SREEJA GANGADHARAN P