Applications in Clinical
& Counseling Settings:
Structured Personality
Tests
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Each of the statements below describes a different way a person can be. Please indicate
for each statement is extremely uncharacteristic (1) of you, somewhat uncharacteristic
(2), neither uncharacteristic nor characteristic (3), somewhat characteristic (4), or
extremely characteristic (5), using the numbers as indicated.
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
I form opinions about everything.
I prefer to avoid taking extreme positions. (R)
It is very important to me to hold strong opinions.
I want to know exactly what is good and bad about everything.
I often prefer to remain neutral about complex issues. (R)
If something does not affect me, I do not usually determine if it is
good or bad. (R)
I enjoy strongly liking and disliking new things.
There are many things for which I do not have a preference. (R)
It bothers me to remain neutral.
I like to have strong opinions even when I am not personally involved.
I have many more opinions than the average person.
I would rather have a strong opinion than no opinion at all.
I pay a lot of attention to whether things are good or bad.
I only form strong opinions when I have to. (R)
I like to decide that new things are really good or really bad.
I am pretty much indifferent to many important issues. (R)
Jarvis & Petty (1996)
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reasoned that some people might be more prone
to evaluate (i.e., form attitudes, opinions) than
others
developed a scale to measure people’s need to
evaluate (NES: need to evaluate scale)
Scale Norms
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Mean -- 52 (3.27)
Standard Deviation -- 10 (.63)
Upper third -- > 56
Lower third -- < 47
Study 1
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students completed NES and answered a 29 item
questionnaire that asked for their attitudes towards
various national issues (e.g., environmental protection,
mandatory national service, legalized abortion, capital
punishment, preferential hiring of minority groups)
asked if they agreed, disagreed, or had “no opinion”
participants low in NES endorsed “no opinion”
significantly more often than those medium or high
Study 2
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presented student participants with 24 paintings from
various styles and periods
instructed to list their thoughts regarding each painting
thoughts were coded as evaluative (e.g., I would not
hang this in my home, pretty colours, I really like the
colours, very gross and disturbing) or non-evaluative
(two men working, lots of colour)
results indicated that high NES participants
spontaneously came up with more evaluative statements
than low or moderate NES participants
Study 3
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student participants completed NES, and then were
asked to describe the day they had yesterday. Thoughts
were coded for
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evaluative thoughts
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non-evaluative thoughts
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I was both relieved and upset by my grade, the moon was beautiful on
the way home, some of the songs at the concert were really good, I
did quite well
Woke up at 8 am and took my dog for a walk, a friend of mine from
back home called and so I talked to him for a minute
high NES participants showed an avg. of nearly 3 times
as many evaluative thoughts as low, moderate NES
participants; also, fewer non-evaluative thoughts
Personality
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the relatively stable and distinctive patterns
of behaviour that characterize an individual
and his or her reactions to the environment
Personality Traits
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relatively enduring tendencies to act, think,
or feel in a certain manner in any given
circumstance that distinguish one person
from another
Importance of Measuring
Personality Traits
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still enough nuclear & biological weapons in the world
to destroy the world’s population several times over
about 120,000 U.S. servicemen & women engaged in
nuclear duties, maintaining, guarding, transporting,
training & using the weapons
these individuals are screened through something called
a Personnel Reliability Program; about 5,000 people a
year are removed from nuclear duties because of a
concern about the stability of their personalities
Types of Personality Tests
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Structured
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Fixed alternatives as responses
Unstructured
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Open-ended responses
Strategies for Structured Personality
Test Construction
Deductive
Logical Content
Theoretical
Empirical
Criterion Group
Factor Analysis
Logical Content Strategy
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items are selected from a process of logical
deduction of what kinds of items would
represent the kinds of personality we’re
interested in
Woodworth Personal Data Sheet
(1920)
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First personality inventory ever developed
Developed in WWI to identify military recruits
likely to break down in combat
Sample Test Items
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Have you failed to get a square deal in life?
Is your speech free from stutter & stammer?
Does the sight of blood make you sick & dizzy?
Do you sometimes wish that you had never been
born?
Do people find fault with you much?
Do you drink a fifth of whisky a day?
Do you wet the bed at night?
Mooney Problem Checklist (1950)
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items gleaned from case records, counselling
interviews, & a list of problems elicited from
4000 high school students
available in jr. high, high school, college & adult
forms
problems include morals & religion, finances &
living conditions, adjustment to school work,
social relations
no score is computed
Sample Items
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Read the list slowly and as you come to a
problem which is troubling you, draw a line
under it:
Often have headaches
 Too crowded at home
 Unpopular
 Drinking
 Getting low grades
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Problems with Logical Content Tests
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Assumes respondents are honest, motivated to
cooperate, careful in answering
Assumes respondents are capable of evaluating
own behaviour
Theoretical Strategy
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another type of deductive strategy involves
working from a theory of personality, and
deriving items from the theory
one of the most popular theories of personality
was Murray’s (1938) theory of needs
proposed that human behaviour was enacted to
fulfill several basic needs:
Examples of Needs
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Achievement
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Affiliation
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To accomplish something difficulty. To master, manipulate, or
organize physical objects, human beings, or ideas.
To form friendships & associations. To greet, join, & live
with others.
Aggression
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To overcome opposition forcefully. To fight. To revenge an
injury. To attack, injure or kill another.
Jackson Personality Inventory (1976)
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very popular current measure of personality is the Jackson Personality
Inventory
items are roughly based on Murray’s theory
Latest version (JPI-R) consists of 300 true-false items that produce 15 scale
scores
These 15 scales have been organized into five higher-order dimensions
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Analytical
Extroverted
Emotional
Opportunistic
Dependable
used rigorous statistical techniques to identify items – generated more than
100 items for each scale, administered them to over 1000 university students
item analysis identified items that correlated highly with total scale, but
minimally with other scales
Example Items of the JPI
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I was a very active child.
I would enjoy bluffing my way into an exclusive
club or private party.
I have sometimes hesitated before making a
decision.
I dislike eating alone.
I usually have several projects going at once.
Empirical Strategies:
The Criterion-Group Strategy
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begins with a criterion group; items selected that
differentiate criterion group from a control group
e.g. measure of aggression in children; have teachers
nominate aggressive children and give a whole bunch
of items to these children and to a group of control
children; items that discriminate between the two
groups are selected for the final scale, regardless of
what the items say
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory (MMPI)
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most widely used & thoroughly researched
personality test for half a century
conceived in 1930's; by 1960's was the leading
personality test & used not only with psychiatric
patients for whom it was originally developed,
but also with normal subjects in counselling,
employment, military, forensic settings
by 1980's, several thousand references using
MMPI
Original Scale Development
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8 of the scales developed by criterion keying; chose
items that differentiated small sample (50) of patients &
control group of 724 visitors & relatives of patients
male-female scale, originally designed to distinguish
between homosexual heterosexual males, developed
from differences between male soldiers & female airline
employees
social introversion scale (added later), derived from
responses of 2 contrasted groups of college students
selected on basis of extreme scores on a test of
introversion-extraversion
Clinical Scales
Validity Scales
MMPI-2
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became evident in the 1980’s that norms were outdated
committee charged with restandardizing MMPI had to redesign
instrument without losing all information from past research
decided to retain most of items, all the original clinical & validity
scales, & many of the supplementary scales
major changes were:
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development of uniform T scores for 8 original clinical scales & all the
content scales
revision & deletion of outdated or otherwise objectionable items &
addition of new items
creation of new validity, supplementary & content scales
separation into 2 versions for different age groups
MMPI-2 Items
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567 affirmative statement (True-False)
first 370 are virtually identical to those in MMPI except for
editorial changes & reordering -- provide all responses needed to
score original 10 clinical & three validity scales
remaining 197 items (107 of which are new) are needed to score
a wide range of new & revised scales & subscales
items vary widely in content, covering such areas as general
health; affective, neurological & motor symptoms; sexual,
political & social attitudes; educational, occupational, family &
marital questions; many well-known neurotic or psychotic
behaviour manifestations (eg. Obsessive compulsive,
hallucinations, phobias, etc)
Sample Items
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My sleep is fitful and disturbed. (39)
I believe I am being plotted against. (138)
I am worried about sex. (166)
When I get bored I like to stir up some
excitement. (169)
Most people inwardly dislike putting themselves
out to help other people (286).
Scoring & Interpretation
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McCall’s T (mean – 50, standard deviation – 10)
used for all scales, based on control group
With original scale, T scores of 70 (2 s.d.’s above
the mean) were considered significantly elevated
With MMPI-2, T scores of 65 considered
significant
Pattern analysis
Earlier forms, e.g., “paranoid valley”
 Meehl’s two-point codes
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“ Paranoid Valley”
Psychometric Properties
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Split-half reliabilities for most scales in the 70’s,
with a few much higher
Test-retest reliabilities are adequate (median in
the .80’s)
Validity studies suggest that MMPI is related to:
Alcoholism & substance abuse (elevated F, 4 & 9)
 PTSD
 Criminality & delinquency
 Neurological disorders
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NNPI:
No Nonsense
Personality Inventory
Factor Analytic Strategy
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uses factor analysis to derive the basic dimensions of personality
most famous test developed by R.B. Cattell
started with a list of 4504 personality “traits” applicable to
human beings
reduced the list to 171 that represented the entire range
Had college students rate their friends on these 171 traits
initial factor analysis identified 36 dimensions (surface traits)
did a second factor analysis that produced 16 factors (source
traits)
used this as the basis of the Sixteen Personality Factor
Questionnaire (16PF)
16PF
Combination Strategies: the NEO
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Modern trend is to mix strategies
NEO based on review of factor analytic studies of personality
and personality theory, which suggests that there are five factors
underlying most of the domains in personality -- have been
referred to as the big five
Three of these five (from which NEO is named):
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Neuroticism
Extraversion
Openness
Remaining two dimensions are:
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Conscientiousness
Agreeableness
The Big Five
Domain
Extroversion
Characteristics
Sociable, leader-like & assertive vs.
withdrawn, quiet & reserved
Neuroticism
Anxious & insecure vs. calm & selfconfident
Conscientiousness Persevering, responsible, organized vs.
lazy, irresponsible, impulsive
Agreeableness
Warm & cooperative vs. unpleasant,
disagreeable
Openness to
Imaginative & curious vs. concreteexperience
minded & narrow in thinking
Structure of NEO PI-R
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Each domain or dimension has 6 “facets” (e.g., 6
facets of neuroticism are anxiety, hostility,
depression, self-consciousness, impulsiveness,
vulnerability)
18 facets in total
14 items in each facet; 7 positively worded, 7
negatively worded
Respondents indicate answer on a five-point
Likert scale (“strongly agree” to “strongly
disagree”
Sample Items
Domain
Sample Item
Extroversion
I really enjoy talking to people.
Neuroticism
It takes a lot to get me mad. (R)
Conscientiousness I strive to achieve all I can.
Agreeableness
I try to be humble.
Openness to
experience
I’m pretty set in my ways. (R)
Scoring
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Raw scores are converted to T-scores for each
facet
Score interpretations:
Below 35 – very low
 35 to 45 – low
 45 to 55 – average
 55 to 65 – high
 Above 65 – very high
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Psychometric Properties of NEO PI-R
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Coefficient alphas for the domains range from .86
(agreeableness) to .92 (neuroticism)
Coefficient alphas for facets range from .56 to .81
Test-retest reliabilities for domains range from .75 to
.83 (for a 3-month interval)
Validity evidence:
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Psychotherapy patients score higher on neuroticism
Drug abusers score low on agreeableness &
conscientiousness