Personality Psychology - Humanistic Approach PDF

PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Unit 3 | Humanistic Approach to Personality - Session 3 Dr. Shruti Soudi Department of Psychology PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Session 3: Agenda “The study of crippled, stunted, immature, and unhealthy sp...

PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Unit 3 | Humanistic Approach to Personality - Session 3 Dr. Shruti Soudi Department of Psychology PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Session 3: Agenda “The study of crippled, stunted, immature, and unhealthy specimens can yield only a cripple ✔ Maslow Psychology”- Maslow ✔ Carl Rogers PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Humanistic Perspective What Determines Behavior: View of Human Nature: The influence of self-concept, Emphasizes human growth, perceptions, and interpersonal potential and free will relationships, and need for personal growth A perspective that focuses the individuals self awareness & freedom to choose Believe people are free to choose what to do with their lives are responsible for the choices they make PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Humanistic Perspective ✔ It was developed in 1950’s from the work of Abraham Maslow & Carl Rogers. ✔ Cohen (1958) coined the term “Third Force”, but it really took off in America during 1950’s. Behaviorism & Psychodynamic model were the other two Forces ✔ Humanistic Psychology was popularized during 50’s & 60’s following WW2 ✔ It presents an optimistic view of people ✔ Influence came from early Greek Philosophers who believed that human beings are unique ✔ Maslow & Rogers regarded Freud's view as the “Sick half” of Psychology, whilst Humanism was the “Healthy half” PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Humanistic Perspective Humanistic Psychology is a holistic approach in psychology that focuses on the whole person. Humanists believe that a person is “in the process of becoming,” which places the conscious human experience as the nucleus of psychological establishment Humanistic Psychology was developed to address the deficiencies of psychoanalysis & behaviourism. The foundation for this movement is understanding behaviour by means of human experience This entity of Psychology takes a phenomenological stance, where personality is studied from an individual’s subjective point of view The original theorists of humanistic theories included Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Rollo May, who postulated that behaviourism and psychoanalysis were inadequate in explaining human nature  PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Key assumptions of Humanistic Perspective It assumes that a healthy psychological attitude is dependent on taking personal responsibility, recognizing the existence of free will & striving towards personal growth & fulfillment ✔ UNIQUENESS of human beings (concerned with one individual) ✔ SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE- Human behavior is best understood from the perspective of the individual ✔ FREE WILL- we have the ability to make our own choices & these are driven by the need to Self actualize ✔ A proper understanding of human behavior can only be achieved by studying humans & not animals ✔ Psychology should study individual case (Idiographic) rather than the average performance of the groups (Nomothetic) PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Humanistic Perspective: Maslow's Theory The theory of self-actualization emerged out of this humanistic perspective Humanistic psychologists claimed that people are driven by higher needs, particularly the need to actualize the self Psychologist Abraham Maslow's theory of self-actualization contends that individuals are motivated to fulfil their potential in life Self-actualization is typically discussed in conjunction with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which posits that self-actualization sits at the top of a hierarchy above four "lower" needs PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Personality Development: The Hierarchy of Needs Maslow (1968, 1970b) proposed a hierarchy of five innate needs that activate and direct human behaviour They are the physiological, safety, belongingness and love, esteem, and self-actualization needs Maslow described these needs as instinctoid, by which he meant that they have a hereditary component However, these needs can be affected or overridden by learning, social expectations, and fear of disapproval Although we come equipped with these needs at birth, the behaviours we use to satisfy them are learned and, therefore, subject to variation from one person to another Thus, we are not driven by all the needs at the same time. In general, only one need will dominate our personality People who are successful in their careers are no longer driven by, or even aware of, their physiological and safety needs Successful people are more likely to be motivated by the needs for esteem or self-actualization However, Maslow suggested that the order of the needs can be changed. If an economic recession causes some people to lose their jobs, the safety and physiological needs may reassume priority  PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Maslow contextualized his theory of self-actualization within a hierarchy of needs The hierarchy represents five needs arranged from lowest to highest, as follows: 1.Physiological needs: These include needs that keep us alive, such as food, water, shelter, warmth, and sleep 2.Safety needs: The need to feel secure, stable, and unafraid 3.Love and belongingness needs: The need to belong socially by developing relationships with friends and family 4.Esteem needs: The need to feel both (a) self-esteem based on one’s achievements and abilities and (b) recognition and respect from others 5.Self-actualization needs: The need to pursue and fulfil one’s unique potentials PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Changes to the original five-stage model are highlighted and include a seven-stage model and an eight-stage model; both developed during the 1960s and 1970s 1.Biological and physiological needs – air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc 2.Safety needs – protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, freedom from fear 3.Love and belongingness needs – friendship, intimacy, trust, and acceptance, receiving and giving affection and love. Affiliating, being part of a group (family, friends, work) 4.Esteem needs – which Maslow classified into two categories: (i) esteem for oneself (dignity, achievement, mastery, independence) and (ii) the need to be accepted and valued by others (e.g., status, prestige) 5.Cognitive needs – knowledge and understanding, curiosity, exploration, need for meaning and predictability 6.Aesthetic needs – appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc 7.Self-actualization needs – realizing personal potential, self-fulfilment, seeking personal growth, and peak experiences. 8.Transcendence needs – A person is motivated by values that transcend beyond the personal self  PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Characteristics of Needs Maslow described several characteristics of needs ✔The lower the need is in the hierarchy, the greater are its strength, potency, and priority. The higher needs are weaker needs ✔Higher needs appear later in life. Physiological and safety needs arise in infancy. Belongingness and esteem needs arise in adolescence. The need for self-actualization does not arise until midlife ✔Because higher needs are less necessary for actual survival, their gratification can be postponed. Failure to satisfy a higher need does not produce a crisis. Failure to satisfy a lower need does produce a crisis. For this reason, Maslow called lower needs deficit, or deficiency, needs; failure to satisfy them produces a deficit or lack in the individual ✔Although higher needs are less necessary for survival, they contribute to survival and growth. Satisfaction of higher needs leads to improved health and longevity. For this reason, Maslow called higher needs growth, or being, needs ✔Satisfaction of higher needs is also beneficial psychologically. Satisfaction of higher needs leads to contentment, happiness, and fulfilment PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Physiological Need ✔ If you have ever been swimming and had to struggle for air while under water, or if you have gone too long without eating, you may have realized how trivial the needs for love or esteem or anything else can be when your body is experiencing a physiological deficiency ✔ As we noted, a starving person craves only food. But once that need is satisfied, the person is no longer driven by it. The need ceases to direct or control behaviour  PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Safety Need ✔ Maslow believed that the needs for safety and security typically are important drives for infants and neurotic adults ✔ Emotionally healthy adults have usually satisfied their safety needs, a condition that requires stability, security, and freedom from fear and anxiety ✔ For infants and children, the safety needs can be seen clearly in their behaviour because youngsters react visibly and immediately to any threat to their security ✔ Adults have learned ways to inhibit their reactions to dangerous situations ✔ Another visible indication of children’s safety needs is their preference for a structure or routine, for an orderly and predictable world ✔ Too much freedom and permissiveness leads to an absence of structure and order ✔ This situation is likely to produce anxiety and insecurity in children because it threatens their security ✔ Neurotic and insecure adults also need structure and order because their safety needs still dominate their personality. Neurotics compulsively avoid new experiences ✔ They arrange their world to make it predictable, budgeting their time and organizing their possessions PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Belongingness & Love Need ✔ Once our physiological and safety needs have been reasonably well satisfied, we attend to the needs for belongingness and love ✔ These needs can be expressed through a close relationship with a friend, lover, or mate, or through social relationships formed within a group ✔ The need to give and receive love can be satisfied in an intimate relationship with another person ✔ Maslow did not equate love with sex, which is a physiological need, but he recognized that sex is one way of expressing the love need ✔ He suggested that the failure to satisfy the need for love is a fundamental cause of emotional maladjustment PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Esteem Need ✔ Once we feel loved and have a sense of belonging, we may find ourselves driven by two forms of the need for esteem ✔ We require esteem and respect from ourselves, in the form of feelings of self-worth, and from other people, in the form of status, recognition, or social success ✔ Satisfaction of the need for self-esteem allows us to feel confident of our strength, worth, and adequacy, which will help us become more competent and productive in all aspects of our life ✔ When we lack self-esteem, we feel inferior, helpless, and discouraged with little confidence in our ability to cope PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Self Actualization Need ✔ The highest need in Maslow’s hierarchy, self-actualization, depends on the maximum realization and fulfilment of our potentials, talents, and abilities ✔ Although a person may satisfy all the other needs in the hierarchy, if that person is not self-actualizing, he or she will be restless, frustrated, and discontent ✔ Maslow wrote, “A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write... to be ultimately at peace” (1970) ✔ The self-actualizing process may take many forms, but each person, regardless of occupation or interests, is capable of maximizing personal abilities and reaching the fullest personality development ✔ Self-actualization is not limited to creative and intellectual  PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Cognitive Need Maslow also proposed a second set of innate needs, the cognitive needs—to know and to understand, which exist outside the hierarchy The need to know is stronger than the need to understand Thus, the need to know must be at least partially satisfied before the need to understand can emerge Several points of evidence support the existence of cognitive needs (Maslow, 1970) ✔Laboratory studies show that animals explore and manipulate their environment for no apparent reason other than curiosity, that is, a desire to know and to understand ✔Historical evidence shows that people often have sought knowledge at the risk of their lives, thus placing the needs to know and to understand above the safety needs ✔Studies suggest that emotionally healthy adults are attracted to mysterious and unexplained events and are motivated to improve their knowledge about them ✔Emotionally healthy adults in Maslow’s own clinical practice complained of boredom and a lack of zest and excitement in life. He described them as “intelligent people leading stupid lives in stupid jobs” and found that they improved when they took steps to fulfil the needs to know and to understand by becoming involved in more challenging activities  PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Self Actualizers ✔ According to Maslow’s theory, self-actualizing persons differ from others in terms of their basic motivation ✔ Maslow proposed a distinct type of motivation for self-actualizers called meta motivation (sometimes called B-motivation or Being). The prefix meta- means after or beyond ✔ Meta motivation: The motivation of self- actualizers, which involves maximizing personal potential rather than striving for a particular goal object ✔ Meta motivation implies a condition in which motivation, as we know it, plays no role ✔ Self-actualizing persons are not motivated to strive for a particular goal. Instead, they are said to be developing from within ✔ Maslow described the motivation of people who are not self-actualizers as a condition of D-motivation or Deficiency  PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Self Actualizers ✔ In contrast, self-actualizing persons are concerned with fulfilling their potential and with knowing and understanding their environment ✔ In their state of meta motivation, they are not seeking to reduce tension, satisfy a deficiency, or strive for a specific object ✔ Their goal is to enrich their lives by acting to increase tension to experience a variety of stimulating and challenging events ✔ Because their lower-order deficiency needs have been met, self-actualizers function at a level beyond striving for specific goal objects to satisfy a deficit ✔ Thus, they are in a state of “being,” spontaneously, naturally, and joyfully expressing their full humanity ✔ Maslow proposed a list of meta needs toward which self-actualizers evolve ✔ Meta needs are states of being—such as goodness, uniqueness, and perfection—rather than specific goal objects ✔ Failure to satisfy meta needs is harmful and produces a kind of meta pathology, which thwarts the full development of the personality ✔ Meta pathology prevents self-actualizers from expressing, using, and fulfilling their potential. They may come to feel helpless and depressed, unable to pinpoint a source for these feelings or identify a goal that might alleviate the distress PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Characteristics of Self Actualizers 1. They perceive reality efficiently and can 9. Concerned for the welfare of humanity tolerate uncertainty 10. Capable of deep appreciation of basic 2. Accept themselves and others for what they life-experience are 11. Establish deep satisfying interpersonal 3. Spontaneous in thought and action relationships with a few people 4. Problem-centered (not self-centred) 12. Peak experiences 5. Unusual sense of humor 13. Need for privacy 6. Able to look at life objectively 14. Democratic attitudes 7. Highly creative 15. Strong moral/ethical standards 8. Resistant to enculturation, but not purposely unconventional PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Carl Rogers Carl Rogers is best known for his humanistic approach to psychology and his theory of personality development, which emphasizes self-actualization, personal growth, and the importance of the therapeutic relationship Self-Concept: Rogers proposed that the self-concept, or how individuals perceive themselves, plays a central role in personality development. It consists of all the beliefs, perceptions, and feelings individuals have about themselves Self-Actualization: Similar to Maslow’s concept, Rogers viewed self-actualization as the innate tendency of individuals to grow, develop, and fulfil their potential. It involves becoming the most one can be and aligning one’s behaviour with one’s true self PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Carl Rogers Conditions of Worth: Rogers introduced the concept of conditions of worth, which are the conditions under which individuals believe they are worthy of positive regard from others. These conditions can shape the self-concept and lead to incongruence between the real self and the ideal self Unconditional Positive Regard: Rogers emphasized the importance of unconditional positive regard in fostering psychological growth and well-being. This involves accepting and valuing individuals unconditionally, regardless of their behaviour or choices Congruence and Incongruence: Rogers proposed that psychological health and personality integration depend on congruence between the self-concept and actual experience. Incongruence occurs when there is a discrepancy between the real self and the ideal self, leading to psychological distress  PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Development of Self Concept ✔ As infants gradually develop a more complex experiential field from widening social encounters, one part of their experience becomes differentiated from the rest ✔ This separate part, defined by the words I, me, and myself, is the self or self-concept ✔ Self- concept is the image of what we are, what we should be, and what we would like to be ✔ Ideally, the self is a consistent pattern, an organized whole ✔ All aspects of the self strive for consistency ✔ For example, people who are disturbed about having aggressive feelings and choose to deny them dare not express any obvious aggressive behaviours. To do so would mean taking responsibility for actions that are inconsistent with their self-concept, because they believe they should not be aggressive  PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Self Actualization Fully functioning person: Rogers’s term for self-actualization, for developing all facets of the self Characteristics of Fully Functioning Persons ✔Fully functioning persons are aware of all experiences (No experience is distorted or denied; all of it filters through to the self) ✔Fully functioning persons live fully and richly in every moment (All experiences are potentially fresh and new) ✔Fully functioning persons trust in their own organism (By this phrase Rogers meant that fully functioning persons trust their own reactions rather than being guided by the opinions of others, by a social code, or by their intellectual judgments) ✔ Fully functioning persons feel free to make choices without constraints or inhibitions (This brings a sense of power because they know their future depends on their own actions and not present circumstances, past events, or other people) ✔Fully functioning persons are creative and live constructively and adaptively as environmental conditions change. (Fully functioning persons are flexible and seek new experiences and challenges) ✔Fully functioning persons may face difficulties (The condition involves continually testing, growing, striving, and using all of one’s potential, a way of life that brings complexity and challenge PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Conditions of Worth ✔ Conditions of worth: Conditions of worth evolve from this developmental sequence of positive regard leading to positive self-regard ✔ Positive self-regard is Rogers’s version of the Freudian superego, and it derives from conditional positive regard ✔ We noted that unconditional positive regard involves the parents’ love and acceptance of the infant without conditions, independent of the child’s behaviour. ✔ Conditional positive regard is the opposite ✔ Some behaviours annoy, frighten, or bore them and for those behaviours they may not provide affection or approval. Thus, infants learn that parental affection has a price; it depends on behaving in certain acceptable ways. They come to understand that sometimes they are prized, and sometimes they are not ✔ Children believe they are worthy only under certain conditions, the ones that brought parental positive regard and then personal positive self-regard. Having internalized their parents’ norms and standards, they view themselves as worthy or unworthy, good or bad, according to the terms their parents defined  PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Positive Regard ✔ Positive Regard: As the self emerges, infants develop a need for what Rogers called positive regard. This need is probably learned ✔ The need for positive regard is universal and persistent ✔ It includes acceptance, love, and approval from other people, most notably from the mother during infancy ✔ Positive regard is crucial to personality development, infant behaviour is guided by the amount of affection and love bestowed ✔ If the mother does not offer positive regard, then the infant’s innate tendency toward actualization and development of the self-concept will be hampered ✔ Infants perceive parental disapproval of their behaviour as disapproval of their newly developing self. If this occurs frequently, infants will cease to strive for actualization and development ✔ Instead, they will act in ways that will bring positive regard from others, even if these actions are inconsistent with their self-concept PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Unconditional Positive Regard ✔ Unconditional positive regard: Even though infants may receive sufficient acceptance, love, and approval, some specific behaviours may bring punishment. However, if positive regard for the infant persists despite the infant’s undesirable behaviours, the condition is called unconditional positive regard ✔ By this, Rogers meant that the mother’s love for the child is granted freely and fully; it is not conditional or dependent on the child’s behaviour PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Congruence and Incongruence ✔ Incongruence: A discrepancy between a person’s self-concept and aspects of his or her experience ✔ Experiences that are incongruent or incompatible with our self-concept become threatening and are manifested as anxiety ✔ For example, if our self-concept includes the belief that we love all humanity, once we meet someone toward whom we feel hatred, we are likely to develop anxiety ✔ Hating is not congruent with our image of us as loving persons. To maintain our self-concept, we must deny the hatred. We defend ourselves against the anxiety that accompanies the threat by distorting it, thus closing off a portion of our experiential field. The result is a rigidity of some of our perceptions PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Carl Rogers Self Theory: Two kinds of Self: Important components of Self Concept IDEAL SELF REAL SELF Based in our hopes Based on actual & wishes : experiences : How we would like to How we really see see ourselves ourselves PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Carl Rogers PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY ✔ Advantages of Humanistic Perspective Focus on the Whole Person: Humanistic Psychology considers individuals as holistic beings, taking into account their emotions, thoughts, values, and experiences. This approach allows for a more comprehensive understanding of human behaviour and motivation Positive Outlook: The theory promotes a positive view of human nature. It emphasizes the potential for personal growth, self-actualization, and the pursuit of fulfilling one's unique potential Individuality and Subjectivity: Humanistic theory acknowledges the importance of individual experiences and perspectives. It values the subjective reality of each person, which can be particularly relevant in understanding cultural and individual differences Client-Centered Therapy: Carl Rogers' person-centered therapy, based on humanistic principles, has been effective in psychotherapy. It emphasizes empathy, unconditional positive regard, and active listening to facilitate personal growth and self-acceptance in clients Real-Life Application: Humanistic principles have been applied in various fields, including education, counselling, and organizational development. The focus on fostering autonomy and intrinsic motivation can contribute to more effective learning and personal development Promotion of Self-Discovery: Humanistic theory encourages individuals to explore and understand themselves, leading to increased self-awareness, self-esteem, and a sense of purpose  PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Limitations of Humanistic Perspective Lack of Empirical Evidence: Some critics argue that the humanistic theory lacks strong empirical evidence and scientific validation, especially when compared to more empirical approaches like behaviourism or cognitive Psychology Cultural Bias: The emphasis on individualism and self-actualization may not fully consider cultural variations in definitions of well-being and personal fulfilment. It could be more relevant to Western societies than collectivist cultures Limited Application to Severe Disorders: While humanistic principles can be effective in promoting personal growth and self-awareness, they may be less suitable for treating severe psychological disorders that require more structured and specialized interventions Overemphasis on Positivity: The overly optimistic view of human nature may overlook the darker aspects of human experience, such as negative emotions, conflicts, and instances where people act in ways that are not aligned with self-actualization Difficulty in Measurement: Concepts like self-actualization and personal growth are challenging to measure objectively, making it difficult to assess the effectiveness of interventions based on humanistic principles Inadequate Explanation of Motivation: Critics argue that humanistic theory does not provide a comprehensive explanation for complex human motivations and behaviours. It may not fully address factors like unconscious processes, external influences, or the role of biological determinants  PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Core Principles of Client-Centered Therapy Client-centered therapy, also known as person-centered therapy, is a humanistic approach to psychotherapy developed by Carl Rogers in the mid-20th century. It emphasizes the client’s innate capacity for self-healing and personal growth within a supportive therapeutic relationship ✔Unconditional Positive Regard: In client-centered therapy, Rogers emphasized the importance of therapists providing unconditional positive regard to clients. This means accepting and respecting clients without judgment, regardless of their thoughts, feelings, or behaviours. Unconditional positive regard fosters a supportive therapeutic environment where clients feel safe to explore their experiences openly ✔Empathy: Empathy is another essential component of client-centered therapy. Rogers believed that therapists should strive to deeply understand and empathize with clients’ subjective experiences, feelings, and perspectives. Through empathic listening and reflection, therapists help clients gain clarity and insight into their emotions and thoughts  PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Core Principles of Client-Centered Therapy ✔ Genuineness (Congruence): Rogers emphasized the therapist’s genuineness or authenticity in client-centered therapy. Therapists are encouraged to be transparent and sincere in their interactions with clients, expressing their true thoughts and feelings. Genuineness helps build trust and rapport between therapist and client, facilitating a more effective therapeutic relationship ✔ Client as Expert: Client-centered therapy operates on the principle that clients are the experts of their own experiences and internal processes. Therapists do not impose interpretations or solutions but instead facilitate clients’ self-exploration and self-discovery. Clients are empowered to identify their own goals, insights, and solutions to personal challenges THANK YOU Dr. Shruti Soudi Department of Psychology [email protected] Reference: Schultz, D. P & Schultz, S. E, (2016) Theories of Personality, Cengage Learning THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Unit 3 | Rotter, Zuckerman, Seligman - Session 2 Dr. Shruti Soudi Department of Psychology THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Session 2: Agenda ✔ Julian Rotter: Locus of Control ✔ Marvin Zuckerman: Sensation Seeking ✔ Martin E. P. Seligman: Learned Helplessness Explanatory Style : Optimistic/Pessimistic THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Julian Rotter: Locus of Control “Your only limits are the ones you created yourself” - Julian Rotter  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Julian Rotter: Locus of Control ✔ The concept was created by Julian B. Rotter in 1954, and it quickly became a central concept in the field of personality psychology ✔ The term ‘Locus of control’ refers to how much control a person feels they have in their own behaviour. A person can either have an internal or external locus of control (Rotter, 1954) ✔ People with a high internal locus of control perceive themselves as having much personal control over their behaviour and are, therefore, more likely to take responsibility for their behaviour. For example, I did well on the exams because I revised extremely hard ✔ In contrast, a person with a high external locus of control perceives their behaviours as a result of external influences or luck – e.g., I did well on the test because it was easy  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Julian Rotter: Locus of Control ✔ An individual’s “locus” (plural “loci”) is conceptualized as internal (a conviction that one can handle one’s own life) ✔ External (a conviction that life is constrained by outside factors which the individual can’t impact or that possibility or destiny controls their lives) ✔ There is a continuum, with most people lying in between ✔ A high internal perceive themselves as having a great deal of personal control and therefore are more inclined to take personal responsibility for their behaviour, which they see are being a product of their own effect ✔ High external perceive their behaviour as being caused more by external forces or luck THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Julian Rotter: Locus of Control THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Julian Rotter: Locus of Control Locus of Control - Are You in Charge of Your Destiny? THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Marvin Zuckerman: Sensation Seeking ✔ Marvin Zuckerman represents the current approach taken by many psychologists who study traits ✔ He developed an interest in one particular trait, and he has studied that trait in great detail. He called it sensation seeking, and in order to study it carefully he also developed the Sensation Seeking Scale ✔ Sensation seeking is a trait defined by the need for varied, novel, and complex sensations and experiences and the willingness to take physical and social risks for the sake of such experience. The THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Marvin Zuckerman: Sensation Seeking ✔ To measure sensation seeking, Zuckerman constructed the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS), a 40-item paper-and-pencil questionnaire. When developing this test, he administered it to many people whose behaviour corresponded to his definition of sensation seeking Using the method of factor analysis, Zuckerman (1983) identified four components of sensation seeking ✔ Thrill and adventure seeking: A desire to engage in physical activities involving speed, danger, novelty, and defiance of gravity such as parachuting, scuba diving, or bungee jumping ✔ Experience seeking: The search for novel experiences through travel, music, art, or a nonconformist lifestyle with similarly inclined persons ✔ Disinhibition: The need to seek release in uninhibited social activities ✔ Boredom susceptibility: An aversion to repetitive experiences, routine work, and predictable people, and a reaction of restless THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Marvin Zuckerman: Sensation Seeking Sensation Seeking Test THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Marvin Zuckerman: Sensation Seeking ✔ Zuckerman later proposed good and bad kinds of sensation seeking ✔ The so-called good type, or non-impulsive socialized sensation seeking, involves the thrill and adventure seeking component ✔ The bad kind, impulsive unsocialized sensation seeking, consists of high scores on the disinhibition, experience seeking, and boredom susceptibility components as well as high  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Martin E. P. Seligman: Learned Helplessness ✔ Learned helplessness is a psychological phenomenon in which a person learns that they cannot avoid bad things happening in the future ✔ Learned Helplessness is a phenomenon that occurs when a series of negative outcomes or stressors cause someone to believe that the outcomes of life are out of one’s control ✔ If a person learns that their behaviour makes no difference to their aversive environment, they may stop trying to escape from aversive stimuli even when escape is possible ✔ Martin Seligman and Steven F. Maier first identified learned helplessness as a phenomenon in the 1960s. These psychologists conducted experiments on dogs, finding that, when exposed to repeated shocks that they could not control, the animals refrained from taking action when they could prevent the shocks THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Martin E. P. Seligman: Learned Helplessness THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Martin E. P. Seligman: Explanatory Style ✔ Seligman later expanded his theory to encompass the factor of optimism versus pessimism ✔ He argued that it is not only the lack of control under conditions of learned helplessness that affects our health ✔ Also important is how we explain this lack of control to ourselves ✔ He proposed the concept of explanatory style to account for this factor ✔ An optimistic explanatory style prevents helplessness; a pessimistic explanatory style spreads helplessness to all facets of life ✔ “Optimists are people who expect good things to happen to them; pessimists are people who expect bad things to happen to them” (Carver & Scheier, 2002, p. 231). THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Martin E. P. Seligman: Explanatory Style ✔ According to Seligman, people with an optimistic explanatory style tend to be healthier than are people with a pessimistic explanatory style ✔ Pessimists tend to believe that their actions are of little consequence ✔ For this reason, they are unlikely to try to prevent illness by changing their behaviour with regard to smoking, diet and exercise, or timely medical attention THANK YOU Dr. Shruti Soudi Department of Psychology Reference: Schultz, D. P & Schultz, S. E, (2016) Theories of Personality, Cengage Learning THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Unit 4 | Methods of Personality Assessment – Session 1 Dr. SHRUTI SOUDI Department of Psychology THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Session 1: Agenda Methods of Personality Assessment ✔ Objective/Self-report Inventories: MMPI, 16 PF, BIG Five ✔ Advantages & Limitations THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Personality Assessment ✔ Personality assessment is the measurement of personal characteristic. (Philip S. Holzman, Irwin G.Sarason, 1999) ✔ Assessment is the cultivating stage of gathering information intended to advance psychological theory and research and to increase the probability that wise decisions will be made in applied settings. (Philip S. Holzman, Irwin G.Sarason, 1999) ✔ Personality Assessment is a proficiency in professional psychology that involves the administration, scoring, and interpretation of empirically supported measures of personality traits and styles in order to ✔ Refine clinical diagnoses ✔ Structure and inform psychological interventions ✔ Increase the accuracy of behavioural prediction in a variety of contexts and settings (e.g., clinical, forensic, organizational, educational) THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Benefits of Personality Assessment ✔ Personality tests are techniques designed to measure one’s personality ✔ Understand the behaviour of a particular individual ✔ They are used to diagnose psychological problems as well as to screen candidates for college and employment ✔ Helps to conclude a conclusion about a possible future course of action ✔ Helps make predications about a person’s unique future behaviour ✔ Predicts behaviour of people ✔ Adequately diagnose the presence and nature of psychological problem in a person THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Purpose of Personality Assessment ✔ In decision making in clinical, healthcare, forensic, educational and organizational settings ✔ To aids in differential diagnosis and treatment planning ✔ Identification of the strengths and weaknesses of individuals and their adaptive capacities ✔ To help in formulating treatment goals and interventions ✔ Decision making about personality pathologies, insanity assessments and competency to stand trial in forensic setting ✔ In educational settings, the results of personality assessments can identify the need to provide counselling or special educational services for students with conduct or learning problems ✔ In organizational settings, personality assessment can prove useful in evaluating candidates for employment or promotion, and test findings can help determine the fitness for-duty of persons who have become THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Types of Personality Assessment ✔ Interview ✔ Behavioural Observation ✔ Objective Personality Test/Self report Inventories ✔ Projective Tests  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Interview An interview is a conversation between two or more people where questions are asked by the interviewer to elicit facts or statements from the interviewee Examples: ✔“Can you tell me about yourself?” ✔“What are your greatest professional strengths?” ✔“What do you consider to be your weaknesses?” ✔“What is your greatest professional achievement?” ✔“Where do you see yourself in five years?” THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Behavioral Observation ✔ Behaviourists do not want to “look into the mind” of an individual ✔ They assume that personality is merely habitually learned responses to stimuli in the environment ✔ Preferred method for a behaviourist is to watch that behaviour unfold in the real world ✔ Behavioural observation is drawing conclusions about an individual's personality based on observations of his or her behaviours ✔ Example: the psychologist observes the client engaging in ordinary, everyday behaviour, preferably in the natural setting of home, school, or workplace ✔ A therapist who goes to the classroom and observes that tantrum behaviour only happens when a child is asked to do something involving fine motor abilities (like drawing or THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/ Self Report Inventory Self rating questionnaires, where the individual describes own feelings, environment, and reactions of others towards self The term “self-report” refers to information the person reveals directly about himself/herself by responding to specific questions or items with a limited number of prescribed choices (e.g. "Yes”, “No”, “Always”, “Don’t know”) Self-report inventories are based on the principle that behaviour is the manifestation of trait and one can find out the presence or absence of a trait by means of assessing the behaviour Self-report inventories are most widely used form of personality assessment These are paper-and-pencil test that ask people to respond to questions concerning their traits, values, attitudes, motives,  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/ Self Report Inventory General features ✔Standardisation of response alternatives ✔Subjects must select either true or false, agree or disagree, an alternative that varies from 1 (very characteristic of me) to 6, and so on ✔Objectivity is hence achieved by restricting the degree of freedom in responding to test items ✔Standardisation of scoring procedures minimises the risk of personal bias of the persons scoring the tests ✔Objective Personality Tests present statements rather than ambiguous stimuli characteristics of projective tests ✔Test is used by trained professionals to assist in identifying  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- MMPI ✔ Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2 (MMPI) is one of the most common self-report inventories ✔ Developed in 1937 by clinical psychologist Starke R. Hathaway and neuropsychiatrist J. Charnley McKinley at the University of Minnesota ✔ It is the most widely used personality inventory for both clinical and non-clinical population and commonly used to help with the diagnosis of personality disorder ✔ It was first published in 1943 with 504 true/false questions, An updated version including 567 questions was released in 1989,and is known as MMPI-2 ✔ A version for adolescents MMPI-A was published in 1992, An alternative version of the test, the MMPI-2 restructured form MMPI-2-RF, published in 2008  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- MMPI ✔ It takes approximately 60 to 90 minute to complete ✔ This test is useful in measuring the anxiety, hostility, hallucinations, phobias and suicidal impulses. It has 10 clinical scales and 8 validity scales in addition to numerous subscales ✔ Responses are scored to produce a clinical profile composed of 10 scales: Hypochondriasis, Depression, Hysteria, Psychopathic Deviance, Masculinity versus femininity, Paranoia, Psychasthenia, Schizophrenia, Hypomania and social Introversion ✔ It is used for occupational screening for career like law enforcement, college and marital counselling ✔ The behaviour patterns include relatively mild personality problems such as excessive worrying and shyness as well as more serious disorders such as schizophrenia and depression  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- MMPI ✔ Validity scales, which are built into any well designed psychological inventory, are intended to indicate whether or not a person taking the inventory is responding honestly ✔ Ex: certain items are repeated throughout the test in a slightly different form, so that anyone trying to “fake” the test will have difficulty in responding to those items consistently(Butcher etal.,2001) ✔ There are similar inventories in India. Ex:, Bengalee (1964) developed Multiphasic Personality Inventory, known as Youth Adjustment Analyser (YAA).The purpose of the inventory was to screen out maladjusted students from the college going students. Mohsin & Hussain (1981) adapted the Bell Adjustment Inventory in Hindi  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- MMPI ✔ MMPI-2 : The revised edition of the test was released in 1989 as the MMPI-2. The test received revision again in 2001 and updates in 2003 and 2009, and it's still in use today as the most frequently used clinical assessment test for adults ✔ MMPI-2-RF : Another edition of the test, published in 2008, is known as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF), an alternative to the MMPI-2 ✔ MMPI-A : There is also an MMPI, published in 1992, that's geared toward adolescents aged 14 to 18 years old called the MMPI- A With 478 questions, it takes about an hour to complete ✔ MMPI-A-RF : In 2016, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent-Restructured Form (MMPI-A- RF) was published. Like the MMPI-2-RF, it's shorter, with just 241 questions that take 25 to 45 minutes to answer ✔ MMPI-3 : The latest version of the instrument, MMPI-3, was released in THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- MMPI MMPI- 2 (Online Test) THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- MMPI THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- MMPI MMPI-2 and MMPI-A have 10 clinical scales that are used to indicate different psychological conditions ✔Scale 1—Hypochondriasis (32 Items) Measures neurotic concern over bodily functioning The items on this scale concern physical symptoms and well-being. It was originally developed to identify people displaying the symptoms of hypochondria, or a tendency to believe that one has an undiagnosed medical condition ✔Scale 2—Depression (57 Items) Measures satisfaction with your own life This scale was originally designed to identify depression characterized by poor morale, lack of hope in the future, and THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- MMPI ✔ Scale 3—Hysteria (60 Items) Evaluates stress Reponses The third scale was originally designed to identify those who display hysteria or physical complaints in stressful situations ✔ Scale 4—Psychopathic Deviate (50 Items) Measure antisocial behaviour and attitudes, in addition to compliance or resistance to authority Originally developed to identify psychopathic individuals, this scale measures social deviation, lack of acceptance of authority, and amorality (a disregard for morality). This scale can be thought of as a measure of disobedience and antisocial behaviour  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- MMPI ✔ Scale 5—Masculinity-Femininity (56 Items) Elicit information about people’s sexuality This scale was designed by the original authors to identify what they referred to as "homosexual tendencies," for which it was largely ineffective. Today, it is used to assess how much or how little a person identifies how rigidly an individual identifies with stereotypical male and female gender roles ✔ Scale 6—Paranoia (40 Items) Evaluates symptoms associated with psychosis This scale was originally developed to identify individuals with paranoid symptoms such as suspiciousness, feelings of persecution, grandiose self-concepts, excessive sensitivity, and rigid attitudes. Those who score high on this scale tend to have paranoid or psychotic symptoms  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- MMPI ✔ Scale 8—Schizophrenia (78 Items) Identify individuals with schizophrenia It reflects a wide variety of areas including bizarre thought processes and peculiar perceptions, social alienation, poor familial relationships, difficulties in concentration and impulse control, lack of deep interests, disturbing questions of self-worth and self-identity, and sexual difficulties. The scale can also show potential substance abuse, emotional or social alienation, eccentricities, and a limited interest in other people ✔ Scale 9—Hypomania (46 Items) Evaluate the symptoms associated with hypomania This scale was developed to identify characteristics of hypomania such as elevated mood, hallucinations, delusions of grandeur, accelerated speech and motor activity, irritability, flight of ideas and brief periods of depression  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- MMPI The 10 Clinical Subscales of the MMPI-2, require answering certain questions on the test in a specific manner: ✔1. Hypochondriasis – Looks at a wide variety of vague and nonspecific complaints about bodily functioning ✔2. Depression – Measures clinical depression, which is characterised by poor morale, lack of hope in the future, and a general dissatisfaction with one’s life ✔3. Hysteria – Primarily measures five components — poor physical health, shyness, cynicism, headaches and neuroticism ✔4. Psychopathic Deviate – Measures general social maladjustment and the absence of strongly pleasant experiences  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- MMPI ✔ 6. Paranoia – Primarily measures interpersonal sensitivity, moral self-righteousness and suspiciousness ✔ 7. Psychasthenia – Is intended to measure a person’s inability to resist specific actions or thoughts, regardless of their maladaptive nature ✔ 8. Schizophrenia – Measures bizarre thoughts, peculiar perceptions, social alienation, poor familial relationships, difficulties in concentration and impulse control, lack of deep interests, disturbing question of self-worth and self-identity, and sexual difficulties ✔ 9. Hypomania – Is intended to measure milder degrees of excitement, characterized by an elated but unstable mood, psychomotor excitement (e.g., shaky hands) and flight of ideas (e.g., an unstoppable string of ideas)  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- MMPI The MMPI is not a valid measure of a person’s psychopathology or behaviour if the person taking the test does so in a way that is not honest or frank. A person may decide, for whatever reasons, to overreport (exaggerate) or underreport (deny) the behaviour being assessed by the test The four validity scales are designed to measure a persons test-taking attitude and approach to the test: ✔ Lie – The Lie scale is intended to identify individuals who are deliberately trying to avoid answering the MMPI honestly and in a frank manner ✔ F – The F scale (the “F” does not stand for anything, although it is mistakenly sometimes referred to as the Infrequency or Frequency scale) is intended to detect unusual or atypical ways of answering the test items, like if a person were to randomly fill out the test ✔ Back F – The Back F scale measures the same issues as the F scale, except only during the latter half of the test ✔ K – The K scale is designed to identify psychopathology in people who otherwise would have profiles within the normal range. It measures self-control, and family and interpersonal relationships, and people who score highly on this scale are often seen as being defensive  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Applications of MMPI ✔ MMPI is commonly used in clinical psychology to aid in the diagnosis of various psychological disorders, including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, personality disorders, and other mental health conditions ✔ Clinicians use MMPI results to inform treatment planning, helping tailor interventions to address the specific needs and issues of each patient ✔ Some organizations use the MMPI as part of pre-employment assessments, particularly for positions requiring a high level of emotional stability or specific psychological characteristics ✔ Some school psychologists may use the MMPI to assess students' psychological well-being and to identify issues that may be impacting their educational performance ✔ Some individuals may take the MMPI for self-assessment and THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Merits & Demerits of MMPI Merits Demerits 1. Reliability : The MMPI is known for 1. Length and Time-Consuming : The its high test-retest reliability, MMPI-2, for example, consists of 567 meaning that if an individual items, which can be time-consuming takes the test on multiple for both the test-taker and the occasions, their scores should be clinician consistent 2. Limited Cultural Sensitivity : The 2. Standardization : The MMPI has MMPI was developed primarily using standardized administration and a North American population, which scoring procedures, making it can limit its cross-cultural easier for professionals to applicability. The items and their administer and interpret the interpretation may not be culturally results consistently relevant for individuals from different backgrounds 3. Objective Assessment : The MMPI is less susceptible to the biases 3. Potential for Faking : While efforts of the examiner, as it relies on have been made to identify and self-report questionnaires. This control for deception, the MMPI can reduces the potential for still be vulnerable to individuals THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Merits & Demerits of MMPI Merits Demerits 4. Comprehensive Assessment : It 4. Over pathologizing : Some critics assesses a wide range of argue that the MMPI may over psychological traits and disorders, pathologize normal behaviour, leading making it useful for clinical to false positive identifications of diagnosis, treatment planning, and psychological disorders research 5. Complex Interpretation : 5. Norms and Comparisons : The Interpreting MMPI results can be test provides norms, allowing challenging and requires specialized clinicians to compare an training. Misinterpretation of scores individual's scores to a larger could have significant consequences in population, aiding in diagnostic and clinical settings treatment decisions 6. Diagnostic Tool, Not a Standalone 6. Research Validity : Over time, Assessment : The MMPI should not be the MMPI has demonstrated its used as a sole means of diagnosis. It validity in research, contributing to is typically used in conjunction with our understanding of personality other assessment methods, such as and psychopathology clinical interviews and observation THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- 16 PF ✔ Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (or 16PF), is a multiple-choice personality questionnaire which was developed over several decades of research by Raymond B. Cattell, Maurice Tatsuoka and Herbert Eber ✔ Beginning in the 1940s, Cattell used the new techniques of factor analysis (based on the correlation coefficient) in an attempt to try to discover and measure the fundamental traits of human personality (Cattell, 1946) ✔ Using a statistical technique, called factor analysis that looks for groupings and commonalities in numerical data, Cattell discovered 16 source traits ✔ Cattell (1995) devised a personality inventory based on these 16 source traits ✔ These 16 source traits are seen as trait dimensions or continuums, in which there are two opposite traits at each end with many possible degrees of the traits possible along the dimension ✔ Ex: someone scoring near the reserved end of the reserved outgoing dimension would be more introverted than someone scoring in the middle or at the opposite end THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- 16 PF 16 PF-Online Test THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- 16 PF THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Applications of 16 PF ✔ The 16PF questionnaire is mainly used by professionals who aim to evaluate a person’s character, for various purposes ✔ For instance, when used by psychologists and other mental health scientists, the 16PF serves as a clinical instrument for diagnosis, prognosis and, of course, therapy for mental health issues ✔ In addition, the 16PF Questionnaire is a valuable tool for HR professionals who make the most of its insights to assess and filter candidates; in an effort to find the ideal matches for specific job roles ✔ The 16PF is also commonly used by counsellors and consultants ✔ They may provide vocational guidance and help predict THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Merits & Demerits of 16 PF Merits Demerits 1. Comprehensive Assessment : 1. Complexity and Length : The 16PF The 16PF assesses a wide range consists of 185 questions, which can of personality traits and be time-consuming for both the characteristics, providing a more test-taker and the clinician detailed and nuanced picture of an individual's personality compared to simpler tests 2. Limited Cultural Sensitivity : The test may not be equally valid or 2. High Reliability : The test has reliable across different cultural demonstrated good internal groups because it was initially consistency and test-retest developed using a North American reliability, which means that sample scores tend to be consistent over time 3. Standardization : The 16PF is 3. Interpretation Complexity : standardized, with clear Interpreting 16PF results can be administration and scoring challenging and requires specialized procedures. This makes it easier training. Misinterpretation of THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Merits & Demerits of 16 PF Merits Demerits 4. Objective Assessment : Since it 4. Potential for Social Desirability relies on self-report Bias : Test-takers may answer questionnaires, it is less prone to questions in a way that reflects the biases of the examiner, socially desirable traits rather than reducing the potential for their true personality, potentially subjective interpretation biasing results 5. Applicability : The 16PF is 5. Cost and Resources : applicable in various settings, Administering, scoring, and including clinical psychology, interpreting the 16PF may require counselling, employee selection, resources that are not always and career assessment available, limiting its accessibility in some settings 6. Scientific Validity : Over time, the 16PF has demonstrated its 6. Limited for Psychopathology : The validity in research, contributing 16PF primarily assesses normal THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- BIF 5 ✔ It is psychological personality inventory with 240 items used to measure the big 5 personality traits: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to experience, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness ✔ NEO-PI Stands for Neuroticism/Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory ✔ This inventory is based on the five- factor model of personality traits developed by Costa & McCrae (1987) THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- BIF 5 Openness (also referred to as openness to experience) emphasizes imagination and insight the most out of all five personality traits Low ✔Dislikes change ✔Does not enjoy new things ✔Resists new ideas ✔Not very imaginative High ✔Dislikes abstract or theoretical ✔Open to trying new things concepts ✔Very creative ✔Focused on tackling new challenges ✔Happy to think about abstract THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- BIF 5 Conscientiousness is one defined by high levels of thoughtfulness, good impulse control, and goal-directed behaviours Low ✔Dislikes structure and schedules ✔Makes messes and doesn't take care of things ✔Fails to return things or put them High back where they belong ✔Procrastinates important tasks ✔Spends time preparing ✔Fails to complete necessary or ✔Finishes important tasks right assigned tasks away ✔Pays attention to detail ✔Enjoys having a set schedule  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- BIF 5 Extraversion (or extroversion) is a personality trait characterized by excitability, sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness, and high amounts of emotional expressiveness High Low ✔Enjoys being the center of attention ✔Prefers solitude ✔Likes to start conversations ✔Feels exhausted when having to ✔Enjoys meeting new people socialize a lot ✔Has a wide social circle of friends ✔Finds it difficult to start and acquaintances conversations ✔Finds it easy to make new friends ✔Dislikes making small talk ✔Feels energized when around other ✔Carefully thinks things through people before speaking ✔Say things before thinking about ✔Dislikes being the center of THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- BIF 5 Agreeableness personality trait includes attributes such as trust, altruism, kindness, affection, and other prosocial behaviour High ✔Has a great deal of interest in other people ✔Cares about others ✔Feels empathy and concern for Low other people ✔Enjoys helping and contributing to ✔Takes little interest in others the happiness of other people ✔Doesn't care about how other people ✔Assists others who are in need of feel help ✔Has little interest in other people's problems ✔Insults and belittles others THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- BIF 5 Neuroticism is a personality trait characterized by sadness, moodiness, and emotional instability High ✔Experiences a lot of stress ✔Worries about many different things ✔Gets upset easily Low ✔Experiences dramatic shifts in mood ✔Emotionally stable ✔Feels anxious ✔Deals well with stress ✔Struggles to bounce back after ✔Rarely feels sad or depressed stressful events ✔Doesn't worry much ✔Is very relaxed THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Objective Tests/Self Report Inventory- BIF 5 Big- Five-Online Test THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Merits & Demerits of Big Five Merits Demerits 1. Universality : The Big Five model 1. Simplicity : While the simplicity of is widely accepted and used the model can be an advantage, it across different cultures and is also a limitation. It may not languages, making it one of the capture the full complexity and most universal models of richness of an individual's personality traits personality, leading to a somewhat reductionist view 2. Simplicity : The Big Five framework simplifies personality 2. Lack of Nuance : The Big Five traits assessment by focusing on five may not fully account for individual broad dimensions, which are differences within each trait. easier to understand and People may have unique sub traits interpret compared to more or nuances that aren't captured by complex personality models this model 3. High Test-Retest Reliability : The 3. Inconsistent Labelling : The labels Big Five traits have for each factor (e.g., Extraversion, demonstrated good test-retest Neuroticism) may be subject to reliability, meaning that misinterpretation or mislabelling, THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Merits & Demerits of Big Five Merits Demerits 4. Predictive Validity : Research 4. Social Desirability Bias : has shown that the Big Five traits Test-takers may answer questions in are associated with a wide range a way that reflects socially desirable of life outcomes, including job traits rather than their true performance, academic personality, potentially biasing achievement, and relationship results satisfaction 5. Cultural Variability : Although the 5. Practical Applications : The Big Big Five model is widely used, the Five traits are often used in interpretation of these traits can practical contexts, such as vary across different cultural employee selection, career contexts, which may limit its counselling, and relationship cross-cultural applicability counselling, as they provide 5. Overemphasis on Traits : The Big valuable insights into an Five model focuses on traits but individual's personality doesn't delve into the underlying 6. Comparative Analysis : The Big causes or dynamics of personality, Five model allows for easy which can be important for  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Merits & Demerits of Objective Tests/Self Reports Strengths ✔Provide more thorough, precise, and systematic information about an individual’s personality than casual information ✔The objectivity of scoring minimizes personal or theoretical bias ✔They can be administered easily by someone with relatively little formal training ✔They have greater reliability than other assessment techniques ✔Multi-dimensional inventories allow for measurement of several different personality traits at once Weaknesses ✔They are susceptible to deliberate deception. Deliberate deception is most likely to occur when the person believes there is something to be gained from fraudulent responding (Furnham, 1990) ✔There is considerable influence of social desirability ✔There is the influence of the response set (Kleinmuntz, 1982) THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Merits & Demerits of Personality Assessment Merits Demerits 1. Self-Insight : Personality tests 1. Simplicity and Reductionism : Many can provide individuals with personality tests simplify the valuable insights into their own complexity of human personality, potentially missing nuances and behaviour, preferences, and individual differences tendencies, helping them better understand themselves 2. Social Desirability Bias : Respondents may answer questions in a way that 2. Clinical Use : In clinical makes them appear more socially psychology, personality tests desirable, rather than reflecting their can assist in the diagnosis of true personality, leading to inaccurate psychological disorders and results provide valuable information for 3. Cultural Bias : Many tests were treatment planning developed in specific cultural contexts and may not be equally valid or reliable 3. Research and Theory : These across different cultural groups tests have contributed to the development and refinement of 4. Lack of Free Will Consideration : Some psychological theories and have personality tests emphasize traits and been useful tools for may not fully account for the role of THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Merits & Demerits of Personality Assessment Merits Demerits 4. Predictive Validity : In some 5. Potential Misuse : In employment cases, personality tests have settings, personality tests may be demonstrated the ability to used for hiring or promotion predict certain outcomes. For decisions, which can lead to biases example, in employment settings, and discrimination if not used they may predict job performance carefully to some extent 6. Limited Applicability : Personality 5. Objective Assessment : They can tests may not be suitable for provide a more objective and assessing certain aspects of standardized way to assess personality or for individuals with personality compared to atypical presentations (e.g., severe subjective interviews or mental illness) observations 7. Interpretation Complexity : Proper interpretation of personality test THANK YOU Reference: Schultz, D. P & Schultz, S. E, (2016) Theories of Personality, Cengage Learning THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Unit 4 | Methods of Personality Assessment – Session 2 Dr. SHRUTI SOUDI Department of Psychology THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Session 2: Agenda ✔ Projective Techniques ✔ Rorschach Inkblot Technique ✔ Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) ✔ Sentence Completion Test ✔ Advantages & Limitations  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Projective Test ✔ A projective test is a type of personality test in which you offer responses to ambiguous scenes, words, or images designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics ✔ 10 inkblots designed by Herman Rorschach, now the most widely used projective test ✔ This type of test emerged from the psychoanalytic school of thought, which suggested that people have unconscious thoughts or urges. Projective tests are intended to uncover feelings, desires, and conflicts that are hidden from conscious awareness ✔ Some types of projective tests: ✔ Rorschach Inkblot Test ✔ Thematic Apperception Test ✔ Children Apperception Test (Developed by Dr. Leopold Bellack. Children between 3 to 10 years attend this test. It has 10 cards in which pictures of animals instead of human characters) THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Projective Test ✔ Designed to assist the clinical psychologist in diagnosing the nature and severity of a particular person’s emotional disturbance ✔ The rationale for these tests is based on Freud’s theory that unconscious processes are important for understanding psychopathology ✔ The purpose of projective personality assessment is to uncover the person’s unconscious conflicts, fears, and concerns ✔ Frank (1939) coined the term projective technique to describe assessment methods that present people with ambiguous stimuli for which there is no obvious culturally defined to personality assessment, allow people to “project” upon ambiguous material their feelings, needs, attitudes, and ways of viewing life  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Projective Test Features of Projective Techniques ✔ They use ambiguous or unstructured test stimuli ✔ The test taker is never told the purpose of the test or how responses will be scored or interpreted ✔ Instructions emphasize that there is no correct or incorrect answers and that the test taker is free to respond in any manner he/she sees fit ✔ Scoring and interpretation rely heavily on subjective clinical judgments THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Projective Test- Rorschach Inkblot Technique ✔ Hermann Rorschach's favourite games as a child was Klecksography, which involves creating inkblots and making up stories or poems about them ✔ He enjoyed the game so much that his school friends nicknamed him "Klecks," the German word for "inkblot." ✔ His interest in inkblots continued into adulthood. While working in a psychiatric hospital, Rorschach noticed that patients with schizophrenia responded to the blots differently from patients with other diagnoses ✔ He began wondering if inkblots could be used to create profiles for different mental disorders ✔ So, inspired perhaps by both his favourite childhood game and his studies of Sigmund Freuds dream symbolism, Rorschach developed a systematic approach to using inkblots as an assessment tool ✔ Rorschach inkblot test is a type of projective assessment in which subjects look at 10 ambiguous inkblot images and describe what they see in each one ✔ In the Rorschach inkblot test, the person is asked to describe what they THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Projective Test- Rorschach Inkblot Technique There are 10 official inkblots, each printed on separate white cards. Five inkblots are black and grey; two are black, Grey, and red; and three are multi-coloured without any black During administration, the examiner will sit next to you. This helps them see what you see The test involves certain steps: 1. Present : The examiner will give you one card at a time and ask you, “What might this be?” 2. Respond : You’re free to interpret the ambiguous image however you want. You can take however long you like to interpret each card and can give as many responses as you want. You can also hold the cards in any position, whether it is upside down or sideways 3. Record : Your examiner records everything you say, no matter how trivial. They’ll note the time taken for each response, the position the card is being held, your emotional expressions, etc. during the test 4. Confirm : Once you go through all the inkblots, your examiner will take you  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Projective Test- Rorschach Inkblot Technique Administration ✔ Free-association Phase test taker is instructed to tell what is on each of the cards “What might this be?” In the free association phase the subject has to give his responses only ✔ Inquiry Phase Examiner attempts to determine what feature of the inkblot played a role in formulating the test taker’s percept (perception of an image) In the enquiry phase, each of the response is revised to clarify three points WHAT, WHERE & WHY 1. WHAT precisely was intended (Content) 2. WHERE in the blot it was seen (Location) 3. WHY it was seen means what stimulated to give a particular THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Projective Test- Rorschach Inkblot Technique Rorschach Ink Blot Test  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Merits & Demerits of Rorschach Inkblot Technique Popular Responses in the Comprehensive System Card I Bat or butterfly; always involves the whole blot Card II Animal forms, usually heads of dogs, bears, elephants, or lambs Card III Two human figures, or representations thereof, such as dolls and caricatures Card IV Human or human-like figure such as a giant, monster, science fiction creature, etc Card V Butterfly or bat, including the whole blot; the apex of the card upright or inverted Card VI Animal skin, hide, rug, or pelt Card VII Human head or face, specifically identified as female, child, Indian, or with gender not identified Card VIII Whole animal figure. The content varies considerably, such as a bear, dog, rodent, fox, wolf Card IX Human or human-like figures such as witches, giants, science fiction  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Merits & Demerits of Rorschach Inkblot Technique Merits Demerits 1. Low Reliability and Validity : The test's 1. Rich Qualitative Data : The reliability and validity have been Rorschach test can provide questioned, with studies suggesting that detailed, open-ended responses different examiners may interpret the that allow psychologists to gain same responses differently, and its insight into a person's thought ability to measure what it purports to processes, perceptions, and measure is debated cognitive functioning 2. Lack of Standardization : The Rorschach test lacks strict standardization in administration and interpretation, which 2. Non-directive Nature : The can lead to inconsistencies and open-ended nature of the test subjectivity in scoring and analysis allows respondents to project 3. Inaccuracy : Respondents may not be their own thoughts and feelings entirely truthful or accurate in their onto the ambiguous stimuli, responses, and there may be a tendency potentially revealing aspects of for individuals to perceive what they their personality that might not believe is expected of them rather than be captured through structured what they genuinely see questionnaires 4. Limited Cross-Cultural Applicability : THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Merits & Demerits of Rorschach Inkblot Technique Merits Demerits 4. Assessment of Perception and 5. Complex Interpretation : Thought Disorder : The test is Interpreting the results of the useful in assessing how a person Rorschach test is highly complex and perceives and processes requires specialized training. information, which can be valuable Misinterpretation can lead to in the evaluation of thought inaccurate assessments disorders or psychotic conditions 6. Ethical Concerns : There have been ethical concerns regarding the test's use, particularly its potential to 5. Useful in Clinical Settings : It is stigmatize individuals with mental often used as a complementary health issues based on their tool in clinical assessments to responses help diagnose psychological conditions, especially when other 7. Lack of Empirical Support : The assessment methods have not Rorschach test has less empirical yielded clear results support compared to more widely accepted personality assessment tools like the MMPI or the Big Five,  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Applications of Rorschach Inkblot Technique ✔Personality Assessment : Psychologists and mental health professionals may use the Rorschach test to gain a deeper understanding of a person's personality, including their emotional functioning, coping mechanisms, and interpersonal relationships ✔Diagnosis of Psychological Disorders : The Rorschach test can be used as a supplementary tool in diagnosing various psychological disorders, such as schizophrenia, depression, anxiety disorders, and personality disorders ✔Assessment of Thought Disorders : It is particularly useful in assessing thought disorders and the presence of delusions or hallucinations ✔Treatment Planning : The results of the Rorschach test can inform treatment planning and help mental health professionals tailor interventions to the individual's specific needs ✔Psychological Research : Researchers use the Rorschach test to study various aspects of personality, cognition, and emotional responses. It can be valuable for exploring topics related to perception, imagination, and cognitive processing ✔Forensic and Legal Contexts : In legal cases, the Rorschach test may be used to assess the mental state or competency of an individual involved in criminal or civil proceedings ✔Personnel Selection and Career Counselling : Some organizations and career counselors use the Rorschach test in employee selection or career counselling to gain insights into an  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Projective Test - TAT Tests that provide ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics People express their inner feelings and interests through stories they make up about ambiguous scenes/pictures Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) Developed by Murray & Morgan It has 30 cards total in which 10 for male 10 for female 10 for both male and female. Normally one person meets 20 cards Sequential Numbering System (SNS) B/M- Boys/Males; G/F- Girls/Females a)1, 2, 3BM, 4, 6BM, 7GF, 8BM, 9GF, 10, 13MF : 1, 2, 3BM, 4, 6BM, 7BM, 11, 12M, 13MF : 1, 2, 3, 3BM, 4, 6GF, 7GF, 9GF, 11, 13GF ✔ Purpose is to reveal patients’ basic personality characteristics through the interpretation of their imaginative productions in response to a series of pictures  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Projective Test - TAT The examiner will show some pictures one at a time , and the subject will be making up as dramatic a story as he/she can for each picture card. 50 minutes for 10 pictures. The following story structure must be obtained Instructions of the test: ✔ current situation What is happening at the moment? ✔ Thoughts and feelings of the character (s) What the characters are feeling and thinking? ✔ Preceding events What has led up to the event shown in the picture? ✔ Outcome What was the outcome?  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Projective Test - TAT ✔ Time: time measured should begin when the picture is first presented and end when the subject begins his or her story ✔ Recording: a subject’s complete responses should be recorded, along with any noteworthy behavioural observations: exclamation, pauses, blushing, degree of involvement , and change in voice inflection ✔ Questioning and Inquiry: to produce an unhampered and free-flow of the subject’s fantasy material ✔ Order Of Presentation: usually, the cards should be administered according to their sequential numbering system THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Projective Test - TAT THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Projective Test - TAT  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Projective Test - TAT Scoring & interpretation 1. Hero of the story (What Type of personality he has) 2. Theme of the story (What is the nature of themes) 3. The style of the story (Length of story used, language, contents originality, creativity) 4. The content of the story (What interest, sentiments, attitudes they show) 5. Test situation as a whole ( subjects reaction to be listed as a whole) 6. Particular emphasis or omissions (The omission, addition, distortion, and attention to particular details.) 7. Subject’s attitude towards authority and sex 8. Outcome (Conclusion of the story – Happy, un happy, comedy, etc.)  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Applications of TAT ✔ Psychological Assessment : The TAT is commonly used as a supplementary tool in clinical assessments to gain insights into an individual's inner world, emotions, and conflicts. It can help clinicians better understand the patient's personality, psychological well-being, and potential areas of concern ✔ Diagnosis and Treatment Planning : It can be useful in assessing and diagnosing psychological disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and personality disorders. The information obtained from the TAT can inform treatment planning and therapy ✔ Exploration of Unconscious Processes : The TAT is often employed in psychotherapy to explore unconscious or unresolved psychological issues, allowing patients to gain insight into their emotions and thought patterns ✔ Career Counselling and Personnel Selection: Some career counselors use the TAT as a tool to assess an individual's personality traits and gain insights into their career preferences, strengths, and potential challenges ✔ In some employment settings, the TAT is used to assess job applicants or employees to gain insights into their personality and motivation, particularly in leadership or management roles ✔ Education and School Counselling: School psychologists and counselors may use the  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Merits & Demerits of TAT Merits Demerits 1. Rich Qualitative Data : The TAT 1. Subjectivity : The interpretation of provides in-depth, narrative TAT responses can be highly responses that can offer valuable subjective and may vary between insights into an individual's different examiners, making it less thoughts, emotions, and personal reliable than more structured and experiences objective assessments 2. Lack of Standardization : The TAT lacks strict standardization in 2. Exploration of Unconscious administration and scoring, which Processes : It is based on the can lead to inconsistencies and psychoanalytic theory and aims to subjectivity in interpretation access an individual's unconscious thoughts and feelings, allowing for 3. Limited Empirical Support : The TAT the exploration of deeper has been criticized for a lack of psychological processes empirical support for its validity and reliability, which can affect its credibility as a psychological assessment tool THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Merits & Demerits of TAT Merits Demerits 3. Flexibility : The TAT is flexible 5. Time-Consuming : The and can be adapted for different administration and interpretation of age groups, clinical purposes, and the TAT can be time-consuming and research studies may not be practical in certain settings 4. Useful in Clinical Practice: It is often used in clinical psychology to help assess and understand an 6. Ethical Concerns : There are individual's inner conflicts, ethical concerns related to the use motivations, and psychological of projective tests like the TAT, well-being including potential invasions of 5. Supplementary Tool : It can be a privacy and the potential for valuable supplementary tool when misinterpretation used alongside other assessment methods, enhancing the understanding of an individual's 7. Limited Use for Diagnosis : The TAT personality and psychological is not a diagnostic tool and may not state provide concrete or specific THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Projective Test – Sentence Completion Test ✔ A class of semi-structured projective techniques ✔ Sentence completion tests typically provide respondents with beginnings of sentences, referred to as "stems", and respondents then complete the sentences in ways that are meaningful to them ✔ The responses are believed to provide indications of attitudes, beliefs, motivations, or other mental state ✔ Hermann Ebbinghaus is generally credited with developing the first sentence completion test in 1897 ✔ Ebbinghaus's sentence completion test was used as part of an intelligence test THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Projective Test – Sentence Completion Test THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Application of Sentence Completion Test ✔ Psychological Assessment : The SCT is used in clinical assessments to understand a person's internal world, thoughts, emotions, and conflicts. It can be valuable for assessing emotional well-being, self-esteem, and coping strategies ✔ Diagnosis and Treatment Planning : It can help clinicians diagnose psychological disorders and develop individualized treatment plans by providing insight into the patient's concerns, symptoms, and underlying issues ✔ Exploration of Unconscious Processes : Similar to projective tests like the Rorschach and TAT, the SCT can be used to explore unconscious or unresolved psychological issues ✔ Therapy and Counselling : Some therapists and counsellors use sentence completion exercises as part of therapy  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Merits & Demerits of Projective Test Merits Demerits 1. Rich Qualitative Data : The SCT 1. Subjectivity : The interpretation of SCT provides open-ended, narrative responses can be highly subjective, and responses that can offer valuable different examiners may analyse the insights into an individual's same responses differently, making it thoughts, emotions, and less reliable than more structured and experiences. It allows for in-depth objective assessments exploration 2. Lack of Standardization : The SCT lacks strict standardization in administration and scoring, leading to 2. Exploration of Unconscious inconsistencies and subjectivity in Processes : Similar to other interpretation projective tests, the SCT aims to access an individual's unconscious 3. Limited Empirical Support : The SCT has thoughts and emotions, potentially faced criticism for a lack of empirical revealing underlying conflicts and support for its validity and reliability, motivations which can affect its credibility as a psychological assessment tool  THEORIES OF PERSONALITY Merits & Demerits of Projective Test Merits Demerits 4. Useful in Clinical Practice : It is 5. Time-Consuming : The often used in clinical psychology to administration and interpretation of assess and understand an the SCT can be time-consuming, which individual's internal world, emotions, may not be practical in certain self-perception, and conflicts settings 5. Supplementary Tool : The SCT can 6. Ethical Concerns : There are ethical complement other assessment concerns related to the use of methods, providing a more projective tests like the SCT, including comprehensive understanding of an potential invasions of privacy and the individual's psychological state or potential for misinterpretation personality 7. Limited Use for Diagnosis : The SCT is not a diagnostic tool and may not provide concrete or specific diagnostic information about psychological  THANK YOU Reference: Schultz, D. P & Schultz, S. E, (2016) Theories of Personality, Cengage Learning Personality: Theories and Assessment UNIT 3 ASSESSMENT OF PERSONALITY Structure 3.0 Introduction 3.1 Objectives 3.2 Needs and Aims of Assessment 3.3 Methods of Personality Assessment 3.3.1 Interviews 3.3.2 Projective Techniques 3.3.3 Classification of Projective Techniques 3.3.4 Association Technique 3.4 Ink Blot Technique 3.4.1 Construction Technique 3.4.2 Completion Technique 3.4.3 Expressive Techniques 3.4.4 The Rorschach Inkblot Technique 3.4.5 The Holtzman Inkblot Test 3.4.6 The TAT 3.4.7 The Sentence Completion Tests 3.4.8 Limitations of the Projective Tests 3.5 Behavioural Assessment 3.5.1 Limitations of Behavioural Assessment 3.6 Personality Inventories 3.6.1 The Mmpi – 2 3.6.2 Limitations of Personality Inventories 3.7 Let Us Sum Up 3.8 Unit End Questions 3.9 Glossary 3.10 Suggested Readings and References 3.0 INTRODUCTION Personality assessment refers to the estimation of one’s personality make up, that is the person’s characteristic behaviour patterns and salient and stable characteristics. As there are different theoretical accounts of personality, and the question is how do people find out what kind of personality they have? The methods of estimating or measuring or assessing personality vary according to the theory of personality used to develop those methods. However, most of the psychological professionals doing personality assessment