Objective Personality Tests
Examples of uni-dimensional traits
Surveys
Locus of Control
 Need for Cognition
 Tolerance of Ambiguity
 Type A/B
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Locus of Control
Julian Rotter
 1966
 Internal vs External
 Control of reinforcement
 Internal = own action determines rewards
 External = rewards determined by luck, fate,
chance
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Need for Cognition
Cacioppo and Petty
 1982
 “tendency for an individual to engage in and
enjoy thinking”
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Tolerance for Ambiguity
MSTAT - Multiple Stimulus Types
Ambiguity Tolerance
 David McLain 1993
 “ability to tolerate contradictory and
incalculable information”
 Trait or state?
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Type A/B
Friedman and Jordan
 1950s
 Type A = ambitious, rigidly organized,
highly status conscious, sensitive, truthful,
impatient, try to help others, meet deadlines,
multi-task
 Type B = apathetic, patient, relaxed, easygoing, no sense of time schedule, poor
organizational skills
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Examples of uni-dimensional traits
Behavioral
Impulsive/Reflective (Kagan - Matching
familiar figures)
 Field Dependent/Independent (Witkin embedded figures)
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Impulsive/Reflective
Matching Familiar Figures – (MFF)
 Jerome Kagan – 1965
 Based on time to react
 Slower, more accurate = reflective
 Faster, less accurate = impulsive
Field Dependent/Independent
Embedded Figures Test – (EFT)
Herman Witkin – 1950’s
Field Dependent
– has trouble finding geometric shape
embedded in background = very interpersonal,
reads social cues well, openly convey own
feelings. Women more likely field dependent
Field independent
– readily finds geometric shape regardless of
background = has internal frame of
reference, imposes own sense of order on
situation lacking structure, impersonal and
task oriented, separate own self identity
from field. Men frequently field
independent.
Personality assessment
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI)
Isabel Briggs Myers and Katherine Briggs
 1940s
 Based on Jung’s personality dimensions
 126 forced choice questions
 20-30 minutes
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Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI)
Heavily used in research
 lots of validity studies
 used in academic and counseling settings
 vocational preferences
 interpersonal interactions
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Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
(example of MBTI types)
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Measures 4 dimensions of personality
extroversion-introversion (EI)
sensing-intuition (SN)
thinking-feeling (TF)
judgement-perception (JP)
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combine into 16 personality types e.g. ESTJ
Keirsey Temperament Sorter – II
KTS-II
Similar to MBTI test profile - high validity –
computerized - shorter
 4 Scales
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(E)=Expressive vs. (I)=Attentive
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(S)=Observant vs. (N)=Introspective
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(T)=Tough-minded vs. (F)=Friendly
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(J)=Scheduling vs. (P)=Probing
MBTI/KRT/images
Scores????
 ESFJ – (MBTI)
 ISFJ – (KRT)
 ENTP – ABAB
 Reliability????
 Validity?????
 Standardization????
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Survey data
16 Personality Factors - 16 PF
Cattell - 1956 - last revised 2000
 data reduction by factor analysis
 Started with 18,000 adjectives describing
personality = 16 factors
 185 items (true, ?, false)
 30-60 minutes
 5th grade reading level (16 years and over)
 computer or hand score
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16 Personality Factors - 16 PF
Measures 16 primary personality traits
 good reliability - test/retest, internal
 good validity - construct and criterion
 lots of norms and profiles
 Heavily used in research
 Counseling (couples)
 Career and vocational guidance
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16 factor scales
16 bipolar dimensions of personality
 5 global factors
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 Extraversion
 Anxiety
 Tough-mindedness
 Independence
 Self-control
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IM (impression management)
16 factors – additional scales
Vocational themes
 Validity scales
 Leadership scores
 Degree of compatibility
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Revised NEO Personality Inventory
NEO – PI-R
Costa & McCrae - 1985/1995
 Neuroticism
 Extraversion
 Openness
 Agreeableness
 Conscientiousness
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16 PF and NEO
Are they the same dimensions?????
How would we tell?????
Minnesota Multiphasic
Personality Inventory (MMPI)
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Original development 1940 –Hathaway &
McKinley
(MMPI-2 1989) MMPI-2-RF 2008
Over 18 years
MMPI -A – 1992 (adolescent) 14 – 18 yrs
Clinical populations
paper-pencil, computer or audio
35-50 minutes
About 338 questions
Minnesota Multiphasic
Personality Inventory
(MMPI-2-RF)
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Criterion based (or data reduction)
large pool of questions
select appropriate criterion groups
factor analysis
MMPI – 2-RF scales
50 scales
 8 Validity scales
 addiction scales
 supplemental scales
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Problems with MMPI-2
norms
 inter-item consistency is low
 high inter correlations between scores
 validity
 reading at 6th grade
 self-report
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California Psychological
Inventory-260 (CPI)
Developed 1956 -- revised 2005
 assess normal adult personality
 260 true/false questions (1/2 from MMPI)
 30-45 minutes
 paper-pencil
 normed on college students
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California Psychological
Inventory (CPI)
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29 socially desirable behavioral tendencies
Interpersonal styles
self acceptance
self control
flexibility
more positive than MMPI
 used for educational, vocational, counseling
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