CHAPTER 11: PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT: AN OVERVIEW

Question 1

It is an individual’s unique constellation of psychological traits that is relatively stable over time.

Answer 1

Personality

Question 2

It may be defined as the measurement and evaluation of psychological traits, states, values, interests, attitudes, worldview, acculturation, sense of humor, cognitive and behavioral styles, and/or related individual characteristics.

Answer 2

Personality Assessment

Question 3

According to Guilford (1959, p. 6), it refers to “Any distinguishable, relatively enduring way in which one individual varies from another.”

Answer 3

Personality Trait

Question 4

It refers to a constellation of traits that is similar in pattern to one identified category of personality within a taxonomy of personalities.

Answer 4

Personality Type

Question 5

It is characterized by competitiveness, haste, restlessness, impatience, feelings of being time-pressured, and strong needs for achievement and dominance.

Answer 5

Type A Personality

Question 6

It has the opposite of Type A’s traits: mellow or laid-back.

Answer 6

Type B Personality

Question 7

It is a narrative description, graph, table, or other representation of the extent to which a person has demonstrated certain targeted characteristics as a result of the administration or application of tools of assessment.

Answer 7

Profile

Question 8

It is a way of organizing and interpreting test data to understand a person’s personality characteristics and behavioral tendencies.

Answer 8

Personality Profile

Question 9

It is a temporary and situation-dependent psychological condition that reflects either a transitory expression of a personality trait or an inferred psychodynamic disposition arising from the ongoing interaction of internal forces such as the id, ego, and superego. Unlike traits, which are stable and enduring, ____ are fluid and changeable, influenced by internal conflicts or external circumstances, and may be assessed through behavioral observations or psychoanalytic techniques.

Answer 9

Personality State

Question 10

It is a process wherein information about assessees is supplied by the assessees themselves.

Answer 10

Self-report

Question 11

It may be defined as one’s attitudes, beliefs, opinions, and related thoughts about oneself.

Answer 11

Self-concept

Question 12

It is an instrument designed to yield information relevant to how an individual sees themselves with regard to selected psychological variables.

Answer 12

Self-concept Measure

Question 13

It is a rating bias in which the rater consistently gives higher ratings than what is actually deserved. This may occur due to a desire to avoid conflict, to be liked, or due to a generally positive impression of the individual being rated.

Answer 13

Leniency Error

Question 14

A bias where the rater avoids extreme judgments and tends to rate most individuals as average or in the middle of the scale, regardless of their actual performance or traits. This reduces the accuracy and usefulness of the ratings.

Answer 14

Central Tendency Error

Question 15

The opposite of leniency error, this occurs when a rater is consistently harsh, giving lower ratings than warranted. It may reflect a strict personal standard or negative bias.

Answer 15

Severity Error

Question 16

A cognitive bias where the rater’s overall impression of a person (often based on one positive trait) influences ratings on other unrelated traits, leading to uniformly high or low evaluations that may not reflect actual performance across all areas.

Answer 16

Halo Effect

Question 17

It refers to a tendency to respond to a test item or interview question in some characteristic manner, regardless of the content of the item or question.

Answer 17

Response Style

Question 18

It is a term used to describe the attempt to manipulate others’ impressions through “the selective exposure of some information (it may be false information) coupled with suppression of [other] information”.

Answer 18

Impression Management

Question 19

It is a subscale of a test designed to assist in judgments regarding how honestly the test taker responded and whether observed responses were products of response style, carelessness, deliberate efforts to deceive, or unintentional misunderstanding.

Answer 19

Validity Scale

Question 20

It is a person’s perception about the source of things that happen to him or her.

Answer 20

Locus (meaning “place” or “site”) of Control

Question 21

It is a standardized interview format where the examiner asks a pre-determined set of questions in a fixed order. The questions are usually specific, focused, and designed to assess particular personality traits, symptoms, or behaviors.

Answer 21

Structured Interview

Question 22

It may be defined as aspects of the focus of exploration, such as the time frame (the past, the present, or the future,) as well as other contextual issues that involve people, places, and events.

Answer 22

Frame of Reference

Question 23

It is a personality assessment method in which an individual is asked to sort a set of statements—typically about thoughts, feelings, or behaviors—into categories that reflect how well each statement describes them, usually in rank order from most to least descriptive. It is a flexible and structured technique that can be applied to explore various frames of reference, such as self-perception, ideal self, or perceptions of others, making it useful in both clinical and research settings.

Answer 23

Q-sort Technique

Question 24

It is characterized by efforts to identify general laws or traits that apply to all individuals. It assumes that certain personality traits are universal, but vary in degree or intensity from person to person. This approach focuses on measuring and comparing these common traits across large groups to understand patterns of personality.

Answer 24

Nomothetic Approach

Question 25

It focuses on understanding the unique personality traits and experiences of an individual, rather than comparing them to universal traits or norms. It emphasizes each person's distinctive psychological makeup, aiming to capture what makes them singular and different. This approach avoids using standardized trait lists and instead allows for flexible, personalized descriptions, even introducing new trait terms if needed. The goal is to gain a deep, individualized understanding rather than to place the person on a common trait continuum.

Answer 25

Idiographic Approach

Question 26

It is a measure of five major dimensions (or “domains”) of personality and a total of 30 elements or facets that define each domain. NEO was an acronym for the first three domains measured: Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness. The NEO PI-R provides for the measurement of two additional domains: Agreeableness and Conscientiousness.

Answer 26

NEO PI-R

Question 27

__________ domain (now referred to as the Emotional Stability factor) taps aspects of adjustment and emotional stability, including how people cope in times of emotional turmoil.

Answer 27

Neuroticism

Question 28

__________ domain taps aspects of sociability, how proactive people are in seeking out others, as well as assertiveness.

Answer 28

Extraversion

Question 29

__________ (also referred to as the Intellect factor) refers to openness to experience as well as active imagination, aesthetic sensitivity, attentiveness to inner feelings, preference for variety, intellectual curiosity, and independence of judgment.

Answer 29

Openness

Question 30

_____________ is primarily a dimension of interpersonal tendencies that include altruism, sympathy toward others, friendliness, and the belief that others are similarly inclined.

Answer 30

Agreeableness

Question 31

_________________ is a dimension of personality that has to do with the active processes of planning, organizing, and following through.

Answer 31

Conscientiousness

Question 32

It may be defined as a standard on which a judgment or decision can be made.

Answer 32

Criterion

Question 33

It is a reference group of test takers who share specific characteristics and whose responses to test items serve as a standard according to which items will be included in or discarded from the final version of a scale.

Answer 33

Criterion Group

Question 34

It is a test development method where items are selected based on their ability to empirically distinguish between specific groups, known as criterion groups (e.g., people with depression vs. those without). Instead of relying on theory or logic to choose items, this method uses actual data to identify which items best separate the groups. Items are "keyed" or scored in favor of the group they most accurately identify. This approach was famously used in developing the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory).

Answer 34

Empirical Criterion Keying

Question 35

It was developed by psychologist Starke R. Hathaway and psychiatrist John Charnley McKinley to aid in psychiatric diagnosis for individuals aged 14 and up. It originally consisted of 566 true–false items. The initial item selection involved reviewing textbooks, psychiatric records, and prior personality tests, indicating that its development began with a logic and reason-based approach.

Answer 35

MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory)

Question 36

It is a scoring system developed by George S. Welsh for interpreting the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory), particularly to provide insight into personality structure based on patterns of elevation across the clinical scales

Answer 36

Welsh Code

Question 37

It is an updated version of the original MMPI, and is a widely used standardized psychological test designed to assess personality structure and psychopathology in adults aged 18 and older. It is a revised and updated version of the original MMPI, created to improve the quality of the test through better standardization, clearer language, and more culturally relevant items.

Answer 37

MMPI-2

Question 38

It is a revised and shortened version of the MMPI-2, consisting of 338 true–false items. It was developed to improve the psychometric quality of the original test by reducing item overlap and isolating a general distress factor called demoralization. The _____ features 50 scales, including Restructured Clinical (RC) scales and higher-order scales, designed to provide a clearer, more precise assessment of personality traits and psychological problems in adults.

Answer 38

MMPI-2-RF (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 Restructured Form)

Question 39

It is a 478-item true–false psychological assessment designed specifically for adolescents aged 14 to 18. It is used in clinical, counseling, and educational settings to evaluate psychopathology and identify emotional, behavioral, and social problems. Adapted from the MMPI-2, it includes age-appropriate content and norms, providing a reliable measure of mental health functioning in adolescents.

Answer 39

MMPI-A (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–Adolescent)

Question 40

These are guiding principles to help one attain some objective. Honesty, imagination, ambition, and cheerfulness are examples of it.

Answer 40

Instrumental Values

Question 41

These are guiding principles and a mode of behavior that is an endpoint objective. A comfortable life, an exciting life, a sense of accomplishment, and self-respect are some examples of it.

Answer 41

Terminal Values

Question 42

It is defined as a set of cognitive and behavioral characteristics by which individuals define themselves as members of a particular group.

Answer 42

Identity

Question 43

It is a process by which an individual assumes a pattern of behavior characteristic of other people, and refers to it as one of the “central issues that ethnic minority groups must deal with”.

Answer 43

Identification

Question 44

It is the unique way people interpret and make sense of their perceptions as a consequence of their learning experiences, cultural background, and related variables.

Answer 44

Worldview