PERSONALITY
LECTURE OPENER SUGGESTIONS:
Opening quotes:
“Being entirely honest with oneself is good exercise.” Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
“The only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well.” Alfred Adler (1870-1937)
Opening artwork:
Seiji Togo, Surrealistic Stroll, 1929
Mosaic, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
OPENING THEMES
Like motivation, emotion, and intelligence, personality is characterized by a variety of
theoretical approaches and there is no one, accepted definition. In this unit, students will learn
about personality as viewed by the major perspectives. Tying these lectures back to the opening
unit on psychology’s major perspectives will help students understand the roots of these theories,
each of which is derived from one of those perspectives. In addition, application of the theories
to the area of personality assessment gives students concrete ways to understand how these
theoretical perspectives influence the ways that psychologists attempt to describe and explain
individual differences.
KEY CONCEPTS
 Basic principles of psychodynamic theory
 Structures of personality: id, ego, superego
 Stages of psychosexual development
 Defense mechanisms
 Neo-Freudians
 Trait theories
 Social cognitive theory
 Biological theories
 Humanistic theory
 Comparison of theories
 Personality assessment
Prologue: The Dapper Don
Looking Ahead
MODULE 31: PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACHES TO PERSONALITY
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
Structuring Personality: Id, Ego, and Superego
Developing Personality: A Stage Approach
Defense Mechanisms
Evaluating Freud’s Legacy
The Neo-Freudian Psychoanalysts
Jung’s Collective Unconscious
Adler and the Other Neo-Freudians
How do psychologists define and use the concept of personality?
What do the theories of Freud and his successors tell us about the structure and
development of personality?
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Learning Objectives:
31-1 Define personality and describe the basic structure of personality according to Sigmund
Freud.
31-2 Outline the five stages of personality development according to Freud.
31-3 Define and describe the defense mechanisms and their role in psychoanalytic theory.
31-4 Discuss the contribution made by Freud, the criticisms of the psychoanalytic theory of
personality, and the contributions made by the neo-Freudians.
Student Assignments:
Interactivity 54: Defense Mechanisms
Video vignettes are used to illustrate each of the defense mechanisms. Following these segments,
students complete a drag and drop activity in which they match statements with defense
mechanisms.
Defense Mechanisms in Everyday Life
Have students complete Handout 10-1 on defense mechanisms.
Defense Mechanisms
Choose one of the Freudian defense mechanisms and answer the following questions:
1. Define the defense mechanism in your own words.
2. Describe a situation that happened to you in which you used this defense mechanism.
3. Provide a brief analysis regarding why you think you used this defense mechanism.
Comparing Neo-Freudian Psychoanalysts
Ask students the following questions:
1. List one idea of each of the three neo-Freudians (Jung, Adler, and Horney) that you find
particularly useful.
2. Why do you find this idea to be useful?
3. Give an example from a popular movie in which this idea is represented.
PowerWeb: Sigmund Freud’s Legacy
“Psychoanalyst: Sigmund Freud,” Peter Gay, Time, March 29, 1999.
Sigmund Freud “invented” psychoanalysis, and the world has not been the same since. Author
Peter Gay reviews the development of Freud’s now famous theory as well as criticisms of
Freud’s work. Gay also shows us how we “speak” Freudian in our everyday language and
explains Freud’s impact on a myriad of other psychologists.
Lecture Ideas:
Opening Considerations
As was true with intelligence, this topic covers a theoretical construct that cannot be directly
observed. The wealth of theories can frustrate some students, who seek clear-cut definitions and
answers. By pointing out that each theory has something worthwhile to offer, you can address
these concerns. Students can use these theories as a way to understand their own beliefs and
assumptions about human nature. Another feature of this topic that is important to emphasize is
that what is covered in personality theories will be fundamental to understanding abnormal
behavior and treatment, topics in which most students are very interested.
Freudian Theory
Ideas regarding Freud’s theory are most easily understood as falling into these categories:
1. Structures of the mind (id, ego, superego)
2. Defense mechanisms.
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3. Stages of personality development.
Emphasize that Freud developed his theory within the context of his clinical practice. However,
he had the lofty ambition of creating a “science of the mind.” Therefore, he used his patients as a
way to test the components of his theory. This was both a strength and a limitation. As he was
creating new ideas about personality, he was also gathering data from sources that were limited
in time and place within the historical context of late 19th and early 20th century Vienna.
Regardless of what students may think about the validity of his theory, Freud’s ideas had a major
impact on 20th century (and beyond) culture.
Biography of Jung (from Pettijohn’s Connectext)
Carl Jung was born in Kesswil, Switzerland, on July 26, 1875. His father and eight uncles were
pastors, leading to a very religious upbringing.
Jung earned his M.D. in 1900 in psychiatry. He then worked at the Burghölzi Mental
Hospital in Zurich. He became interested in Freud’s work and became a close friend of Freud’s
until Jung realized that he did not want to place as much emphasis on sex as Freud did in this
theory.
Jung became a lecturer at the University of Zurich in 1905. However, his private practice
grew so large that he had to quit to devote all of his energy to his practice.
Jung had many interests outside of psychology, and he wrote on such topics as religion,
astrology, telepathy, art, and even flying saucers. His numerous books include Two Essays on
Analytical Psychology (1953), Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1961), and Collected Works. He
died at the age of 85 on June 6, 1961.
Biography of Horney (from Pettijohn’s Connectext)
Karen Horney was born in Hamburg, Germany, on September 16, 1885. She was a bright student
and decided to attend medical school, even though, as a female, she was strongly discouraged.
She earned her M.D. in 1913 from the University of Berlin. Horney continued her education by
studying psychiatry at Berlin-Lankwitz. She taught at the Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute from
1918 to 1932.
Horney moved to the United States in 1932 and taught at The Psychoanalytic Institute in
Chicago and The New York Psychoanalytic Institute. In 1941 she was one of the founding
members of the Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis.
She wrote a number of books, including Neurosis and Human Growth, New Ways in
Psychoanalysis, and Self-Analysis. Horney died on December 4, 1952.
Neo-Freudian Theory
Each of the three neo-Freudians described in the chapter began their work as traditional
psychoanalysts, but each found the theory too limiting. Jung was interested in the spiritual roots
of personality; Adler in the relationship between the individual and society; and Horney rejected
Freud’s ideas about women but also felt that his theory did not place enough weight on social
factors in development.
Here are specific bullet points for each theorist:
Jung:
• Collective unconscious at the center of personality
• Made up of archetypes
• Healthy personality strives for balance
Adler:
• Humans strive for self-improvement
• Inferiority complex the basis for neurosis
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Horney:
• Women not motivated by penis envy; instead, envy men’s higher social status
• Emphasized discrepancy between real and ideal self
Demonstration: Defense Mechanisms
Have students create improvisational skits in which they act out the Freudian defense
mechanisms. Make sure they understand the defense mechanisms, however, before they take the
stage. This activity can be enhanced by having a panel of students (or the entire class, if it is not
too large) try to guess what defense mechanisms are being portrayed.
Media Presentation Ideas:
Media Resources DVD: Freudian Interpretation of Dreams (3:03)
This segment presents an excellent brief summary of the Freudian theory of dreaming and how
free association is used to analyze dream content in the Freudian tradition.
Media Resources DVD: REM Sleep (3:57)
Also emphasizing Freudian theory, the segment also relates new evidence on dreaming to
psychoanalytic theory.
Documentary: The Young Dr. Freud
This PBS documentary is available for purchase (http://www.pbs.org/youngdrfreud/); it
chronicles Freud’s life and theory. The web site provides useful resources.
Popular Movies: Defense Mechanisms
There are many popular movies involving defense mechanisms, some of which can be
humorous. A character from old “Saturday Night Live” skits, the “Church Lady,” is a good
example of reaction formation (this can be purchased in the “Best of Dana Carvey” collection).
Popular Movies: Jungian Archetypes
Show a scene from a movie illustrating archetypes. Some examples are “Star Wars,” “Lord of
the Rings,” or another movie with archetypal themes. The Broadway musical “Into the Woods”
is an excellent example of Jungian theory, as the characters are all archetypes. In addition, they
seek greater balance within their personalities. Each looks in the “woods” (i.e., the unconscious)
to find happiness but instead almost each of the main characters is eaten by the Giant!
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Overheads
Show this overhead, which compares the structures of the mind in Freud’s theory with an
iceberg:
MODULE 32: OTHER MAJOR APPROACHES TO PERSONALITY: IN SEARCH OF
HUMAN UNIQUENESS
Trait Approaches: Placing Labels on Personality
Allport’s Trait Theory: Identifying the Basics
Cattell, Eysenck, and the Big Five: Factoring Out Personality
Evaluating Trait Approaches to Personality
Learning Approaches: We Are What We’ve Learned
Social Cognitive Approaches to Personality
Evaluating Learning Approaches to Personality
Biological and Evolutionary Approaches: Are We Born with Personality?
Humanistic Approaches: The Uniqueness of You
Evaluating Humanistic Approaches
Comparing Approaches to Personality
What are the major aspects of trait, learning, biological and evolutionary, and
humanistic approaches to personality?
Applying Psychology in the 21st Century The A-Team: What Personality Does It Take to Travel
into Space?
Learning Objectives:
32-1 Describe and evaluate the trait theory approaches to personality development.
32-2 Describe and evaluate the learning theory approaches to personality development.
32-3 Describe and evaluate the biological and evolutionary approaches to personality
development.
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32-4
Describe and evaluate the humanistic approaches to personality development.
Student Assignments:
Interactivity 55: Your Ideal Self
Students rate the extent to which they fit a series of personality descriptions according to their
current and ideal selves.
Comparison of Personality Theories
Ask students these questions:
Select the personality theory that you think is the best at explaining individual differences.
1. State which theory this is and describe why you like it.
2. Use examples from your experience to support your choice of this as “best.”
3. Describe any limitations or problems with the theory.
Comparison of Personality Theories (with regard to Defense Mechanisms)
Ask students these questions:
Think of a recent instance in your life in which you used a particular defense mechanism.
1. Describe what happened and which defense mechanism you used.
2. Why do you think you used this defense mechanism?
3. Would your behavior be better explained by another personality theory?
Textbook Web Site: Styles of Responses
Have students complete this activity, in which they state how they would respond in a particular
scenario; assesses personality styles.
Textbook Web Site: Shyness Inventory
By completing this shyness questionnaire, students will have exposure to a self-report
personality measure of shyness, a personality attribute studied in the context of biological
theories of personality.
Self-Testing of Traits
A Big Five mini-test is available online: http://www.ship.edu/%7Ecgboeree/bigfiveminitest.html.
If this link is not active, this link has another “shareware” version of a Five Factor test:
http://www.personalitytest.net/ipip/ipipneo300.htm. After students complete the test, have them
answer these questions:
1. Did you feel that the test accurately reflected your personality? Why or why not?
2. Do you think that the five factors of the Big Five are a good way to evaluate personality
differences?
Self-Efficacy Scale
Have students complete the items in Handout 10-2, Self-Efficacy Scale. However, indicate that
self-efficacy is also established for specific areas of abilities and is usually not measured as a
general trait or quality.
Survey on Locus of Control
Handout 10-3 contains a form of the Locus of Control measure which assesses an individual’s
tendency to seek reinforcement from internal or external sources.
PowerWeb: Self-Esteem
“Making Sense of Self-Esteem,” Mark R. Leary, Current Directions in Psychological Science,
February 1999
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According to some psychologists, self-esteem is the crux of personality. Self-esteem may not be
the exclusive measure of self-evaluation but rather may result from social acceptance. Mark
Leary reports that a redefinition of self-esteem that includes evaluations from others helps
explain the antecedents of self-esteem as well as the relationship between low self-esteem and
psychological problems.
Lecture Ideas:
Biography of Cattell (from Pettijohn’s Connectext)
Raymond Cattell was born in Staffordshire, England, on March 20, 1905. He earned his
undergraduate degree in chemistry and his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of London in
1929. He taught college and worked in a psychological clinic in London until 1937.
In 1937, Cattell moved to the United States. He taught at Clark University and Harvard
University before becoming, in 1944, the director of the Laboratory of Personality and Group
Analysis at the University of Illinois.
Cattell was a prolific writer, having written more than 500 articles and 50 books. His
important works include Description and Measurement of Personality (1946), Personality and
Motivation: Structure and Measurement (1957), and Personality and Mood by Questionnaire
(1973). Cattell developed the popular personality inventory, the Sixteen Personality Factor
Questionnaire (16PF).
In 1978, when he was in his 70s, he accepted a part-time position at the University of
Hawaii. Cattell died on February 4, 1998, at the age of 92.
Biography of Carl Rogers (from Pettijohn’s Connectext)
Carl R. Rogers, the son of prosperous businesspeople, was born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1902.
He was reared in a strict religious environment that placed great emphasis on the value of hard
work and the sharing of responsibility. Rogers enrolled in the University of Wisconsin with the
intention of studying agriculture. However, he soon decided to prepare for the ministry.
Leaving Wisconsin in 1924, he entered the Union Theological Seminary in New York.
He became deeply involved in clinical work with disturbed children, and his interests shifted to
clinical psychology. He received his doctorate from Columbia University in 1931 and went to
work at a guidance clinic in Rochester, New York. He later taught at Ohio State University, the
University of Chicago, and the University of Wisconsin, before settling at the Center for Studies
of the Person in La Jolla, California.
Throughout his career, Rogers continued to work extensively with delinquent and
underprivileged children, gathering the experience that led to his theory of nondirective, or
person-centered, therapy. He wrote many influential books, including Client-Centered Therapy
(1951), On Becoming a Person (1961), and A Way of Being (1980). He was a leader of the
humanistic psychology movement until his death in 1987.
Biography of Abraham Maslow (from Pettijohn’s Connectext)
Abraham H. Maslow was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1908. He studied primate
behavior at the University of Wisconsin, where he received his doctorate in psychology in 1932.
Early in his career, Maslow was drawn to the study of human motivation and personality.
His work in this area upset strict behaviorists, whose explanations of motivation and personality
failed to account for what Maslow called the whole person. His theory of the hierarchy of needs,
which leads to the “self-actualized” individual, was a strong catalyst for the founding of
humanistic psychology. Maslow successfully bridged motivation and personality in his theories
of needs, self-actualizing persons, and peak experiences.
Maslow is considered an important figure in contemporary psychology. His career was a
formidable one. For 14 years he taught at Brooklyn College, and then went to Brandeis
University as chairman of the Psychology Department. In 1968 he was elected president of the
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American Psychological Association. In 1969 he went to the Laughlin Foundation in Menlo
Park, California. He wrote two important books: Toward a Psychology of Being (1968) and
Motivation and Personality (1970). Abraham Maslow died of a heart attack in 1970.
Maslow’s Theory: Characteristics of Self-Actualized People
In addition to discussing the hierarchy of needs, as presented in Module 29, summarize this list
of the characteristics of self-actualized people. Be sure to indicate that self-actualization is not a
state of perfection or of “completion,” but is a process and is highly individualized. Given these
qualifications, this is the list:
1. Realistic
2. Accept self, others, world
3. Spontaneous
4. Problem (not self) centered
5. Can be detached and private
6. Autonomous
7. Fresh, not stereotyped perceptions
8. Capable of “peak” experiences
9. Identify with humankind
10. Profound, deep relationships
11. “Democratic” values
12. Don’t confuse means with ends
13. Philosophical sense of humor
14. Fund of creativeness
15. Resist conformity
16. Transcend the environment, don’t just cope
Major Points about Personality Theories
For the personality theories covered in this section, include the following:
Trait theory:
Major theorists are Allport, Cattell, and Eysenck. They agreed that personality is made up of
stable dispositions or dimensions along which people differ. Big Five or Five Factor theory
incorporates other trait theories into a set of 5. These traits are Openness to Experience,
Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. To remember these names,
think of “OCEAN” or “CANOE” (or a canoe on the ocean!). Here are brief descriptions of each
trait:
Openness to experience
Toleration for and exploration of the unfamiliar
Conscientiousness
Degree of organization, persistence, and motivation in goal-directed behavior
Extraversion
Capacity for joy, need for stimulation
Agreeableness
One’s orientation along a continuum from compassion to antagonism in thoughts, feelings, and
actions
Neuroticism
Proneness to psychological distress, excessive cravings or urges, unrealistic ideas
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Below is a table of the Five Factor Model showing each of the five facets:
Five-Factor Personality Model
EXTRAVERSION (or SURGENCY)
I. sociable, talkative, active, bold, fun-loving, spontaneous, adventurous,
II.
III.
IV.
V.
enthusiastic, person-oriented, assertive
AGREEABLENESS (or FRIENDLINESS)
warm, generous, trustful, courteous, agreeable, cooperative, flexible, forgiving,
cheerful, humble
CONSCIENTIOUSNESS (or DEPENDABILITY)
conscientious, practical, cautious, serious, reliable, organized, careful,
dependable, hardworking, ambitious
EMOTIONAL STABILITY (vs. NEUROTICISM)
relaxed, peaceful, objective, calm, unemotional, even-tempered, secure, patient,
uninhibited
OPENNESS (or CULTURE, INTELLECT)
original, imaginative, creative, perceptive, sophisticated, knowledgeable,
cultured, artistic, curious, analytical, liberal
Social Cognitive (Learning) Theory:
People acquire new behaviors by watching the consequences of behavior reinforced by others.
Self-efficacy is the belief you have in your ability to succeed at a given task. It is acquired on the
basis of observing the results of your own actions.
Biological Theories:
Temperament reflects genetic inheritance and is manifested early in life.
Humanistic Theories:
Major points of Rogers:
• People are basically good
• Self-actualization requires unconditional positive regard
Self-Efficacy
In conjunction with Handout 10-2, indicate that self-efficacy is usually measured with regard to
specific situations. You can have students choose one area of their lives for which they feel that
performance is important and rate their self-efficacy for that area. This would take into account:
 Expectations for success or failure
 Self-assessments of abilities
 Evaluation of the challenges faced
 Past record of success or failure.
Self-efficacy is applied to a variety of situations such as fears or phobias, stress, addictive
behavior, achievement in school, career choice, and ability to recover from illness such as
coronary heart disease.
Comparison of Personality Theories
Use Table 14-4 as a teaching tool to illustrate the main features of each theory and how they
differ.
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Review of Theories: Personality “Jeopardy”
Use these questions to create your own “Jeopardy” game that reviews the concepts associated
with the major personality theories (you can create slides or put these on overheads):
Well-Known
Tests
General Facts
and Knowledge
$100
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$100
$200
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$300
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$300
$300
$400
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$500
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Defense
Mechanisms
Famous
People
Definitions
$100
$100
$200
Defense mechanisms:
$100: This defense mechanism is also known as the “kick the dog syndrome.”
Q: What is displacement?
$200: In this defense mechanism, people “forget” important but difficult past events.
Q: What is repression?
$300: When displaying this defense mechanism, people unconsciously pretend they like
someone whom they secretly hate.
Q: What is reaction formation?
$400: Denial is part of this defense mechanism, which causes people to blame others for
something foolish they’ve done.
Q: What is projection?
$500: In this defense mechanism, anal impulses convert to creating a pottery vase.
Q: What is sublimation?
Famous people:
$100: This psychoanalyst challenged Freud’s ideas about women.
Q: Who was Karen Horney?
$200: This personality researcher discovered 18,000 words in the dictionary that refer to
personality traits.
Q: Who was Gordon Allport?
$300: Observational learning plays an important role in personality according to this researcher
and theorist.
Q: Who is Alfred Bandura?
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$400: The study of identical twins formed the basis for this researcher’s ideas about personality
genetics.
Q: Who is Auke Tellegen?
$500: For this personality theorist, psychoticism was one of three basic personality traits.
Q: Who was Hans Eysenck?
Definitions:
$100: In Freud’s theory, the concept that women view themselves as castrated males.
Q: What is penis envy?
$200: In Adler’s theory, a person’s feelings of low self-esteem.
Q: What is inferiority complex?
$300: For Jung, the universal symbolic representations of people, objects, and experiences.
Q: What is archetype?
$400: The basic, innate dispositions that infants are born with, according to biological theories.
Q: What is temperament?
$500: According to Rogers, when parents show consistent love and acceptance of their children.
Q: What is unconditional positive regard?
Well-known tests:
$100: This “true-false” personality test is named after a state.
Q: What is the MMPI?
$200: Inkblots form the basis of this test.
Q: What is the Rorschach?
$300: You would tell a story about people in a picture in this test.
Q: What is the TAT?
$400: A psychologist watches you and records what you do.
Q: What is behavioral assessment?
$500: Use of racial norming on this test was discontinued in the 1990s.
Q: What is the General Aptitude Test Battery?
General facts and knowledge (or swap for “trivia” about your college or department)
$100: This theory regards human behavior as shaped by external forces.
Q: What is behaviorism?
$200: According to this theory, personality consists of five major traits.
Q: What is the “Big Five”?
$300: This tragic Greek figure formed the basis for a Freudian personality stage.
Q: Who was Oedipus?
$400: A Jungian would regard this sci-fi movie as illustrating archetypes of good and evil.
Q: What is “Star Wars”?
$500: By improving our faith in ourselves, social learning theorists say we can increase this
personality quality.
Q: What is self-efficacy?
Comparison of Personality Theories and Terms: “Family Feud” (or could call it “Family
F(r)eud”)
Survey students in the class on the following categories:
Favorite psychological term
Most Freudian food item
Best psychological song
Other (could be trivia from the psychology department)
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Here are ideas generated by previous classes:
Favorite psychological term:
Anal retentive (19%)
Humanistic (19%)
Libido (9%)
Id (7%)
Oedipus complex (7%)
Penis envy (7%)
Self-efficacy (7%)
Most Freudian food item:
Banana (68%)
Hotdog (20%)
Pickle (4%)
Cucumber (4%)
Popsicle (2%)
Sausage (2%)
Most psychological song:
“Isn’t it Ironic” (27%)
“I’m a Loser” (19%)
“You Oughta Know” (11%)
“They’re Coming to Take Me Away” (7%)
“Comfortably Numb” (7%)
Media Presentation Ideas:
Media Resources DVD: Nature vs. Nurture: The Study of Twins (4:05)
This segment explores genetic and environmental contributions to personality (and intelligence)
as examined in twin studies.
Media Resources DVD: Self-Actualization (6:40)
If not shown with Maslow’s theory of motivation in Module 29, show here.
This segment illustrates competitors in the “Eco-Challenge” who risk their lives to become selfactualized in competing in this event. Use this segment to point out that it is consistent with
Maslow’s theory to risk lower-order needs for the purposes of becoming self-actualized. Lowerorder needs must be satisfied, but they may be set to one side for the purpose of achieving a
higher goal.
Popular Movie: Aggression
As was the case for Chapter 6 (Learning), a movie illustrating the learning of aggression through
imitating violent models would be appropriate in the context of social cognitive personality
theory.
Popular Television Show: Unconditional Positive Regard
Show a clip from the PBS children’s show “Mr. Rogers” to illustrate the theory of Carl Rogers
(interesting coincidence!) in which the main character discusses the importance of children
feeling good about themselves.
Documentary: “42 Up”
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This British documentary (which can be rented from a video store) describes the lives of British
adults at 42 who have been studied since they were 7 years old. It provides a fascinating view of
personality stability over time.
MODULE 33: ASSESSING PERSONALITY: DETERMINING WHAT MAKES US
SPECIAL
Self-Report Measures of Personality
Projective Methods
Behavioral Assessment
How can we most accurately assess personality?
What are the major types of personality measures?
Exploring Diversity Should Race and Ethnicity Be Used to Establish Norms?
Becoming an Informed Consumer of Psychology Assessing Personality Assessments
Learning Objectives:
33-1 Discuss personality assessment and define the concepts of validity, reliability, and norm
33-2 Differentiate between and cite examples of the following methods of personality
assessment: self-report, projective, and behavioral assessment.
33-3 Evaluate the various personality assessment methods.
Student Assignments:
Interactivity 56: Rorschach
Students type in their responses to a simulated Rorschach inkblot and then answer a series of
questions about their responses to learn both about standardized scoring of the Rorschach and the
problems of low validity presented by projective methods.
Interactivity 57: Self-Validation and Personality Assessment
In this interactivity, students learn about the “Barnum effect” by providing answers to a series of
bogus personality questions and then rating how closely a generic personality feedback
description applies to them. Through this activity, they learn to be more critical of such
“diagnostic” descriptions as horoscopes and handwriting analysis.
Textbook Web Site: How Anxious Are You
Have students complete this anxiety questionnaire that will give them an opportunity to take a
self-report test of anxiety.
Textbook Web Site: Shyness Inventory
By completing this shyness questionnaire, students will have exposure to a self-report
personality measure.
Personnel Assessment
Give students the following assignment:
You are the personnel manager of a large corporation and decide that you want to change the
company’s test procedures for new employees, which include some outdated instruments that are
no longer being used. Answer the following questions about designing a new test procedure:
1. Which tests would you want to use to screen new employees? Why?
2. Do you think it is fair to use psychological tests in evaluating new employees? Why or
Why not?
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Lecture Ideas:
Class Demonstration: The “Barnum Effect” or Problems with Self-Report Inventories (do
not use this if you are assigning Interactivity 57, which will demonstrate the same concept).
The “Barnum Effect” refers to the tendency to place faith in generic feedback. The term is
derived from circus producer P.T. Barnum’s expression, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
For this demonstration, you will give students a generic personality inventory, such as the
Marlow-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (excerpted in Handout 10-4). Alternatively, you can
make up an innocuous personality questionnaire with items that sound like those on the MMPI or
the online Big Five questionnaire. For this demonstration to work, you must present the
questionnaire as though it is known to have great validity and provides an accurate picture of an
individual’s personality. Give the questionnaire 2 weeks before the lecture so that students will
not associate the questionnaire with the feedback. The guise for this is that it will take 2 weeks
for the data to be analyzed. Have students complete the questionnaire on a machine scoring
format (an Opscan sheet), with an ID number that they give to themselves but that you do not
have access to. They should write this ID number down so that they’ll be able to retrieve it later.
On the day that you are giving feedback, copy the feedback in Handout 10-4 onto a sheet of
paper and insert it into an envelope with the ID number on it. Hand this back to the students
along with the rating sheet. Do not allow them to talk or share comments. (Ensure this by stating
that the feedback is highly individualized and may contain very revealing facts. To protect
themselves, they should keep it private.) Then collect their ratings. You should be able to scan
them quickly to determine that the majority rate the applicability of the feedback as very high
(you can calculate this later and report the actual number during the next class). In class testings
of this demonstration, the percentages with ratings of 4 or 5 ranged from 70% to 80%. Then
point out that the name of the questionnaire, the “SUCR,” actually stands for “sucker,” and that
they have been victims of the Barnum Effect!
Projective Measures
Show this card from the TAT that is reproduced in Module 29:
Have students write a brief story using the TAT instructions—who are the figures, what are they
thinking and feeling, what is happening? Then ask the students to indicate whether they saw the
figures as two men, two women, or one man and one woman (and which was which); whether a
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theme of their story was aging, death, or family relationships, and whether the characters were
both real or whether one character was “thinking” about the other. These are common themes of
stories based on this card of the TAT.
Show these pictures from the text’s illustration of the Rorschach:
The instructions for the Rorschach are to ask “What might this be?” Ask this question and then
have students write down 3 brief answers for each stimulus (separately). Note that scoring of
these responses would occur along the following dimensions: (a) whether or not color is
mentioned; (b) whether the answer takes into account the whole figure or a part of it; (c) if the
figures are seen as two halves of a single figure, or as mirror images; (d) whether the images
look like cartoon, comic, or animal-like figures. Although the Rorschach’s validity is often
questioned, these are the types of considerations given in assessments using standardized
procedures.
Cattell’s 16PF
Present this table of the scales on Cattell’s 16PF test:
The Primary Source Traits Covered by the 16PF Test
Factor Low Sten Score Description (1–3)
Cool, Reserved, impersonal,
detached, formal, aloof
Sizothymia
B
C
E
F
G
H
Concrete thinking, less intelligent
Lower scholastic mental capacity
Affected by feelings, emotionally less
stable, easily annoyed
Lower ego strength
Submissive, humble, mild, easily led,
accommodating
Submissiveness
Sober, restrained, prudent taciturn,
serious
Desurgency
Expedient, disregards rules, selfindulgent
weaker superego strength
Shy, threat sensitive, timid, hesitant,
High Sten Score Description (8–10)
Warm, Outgoing, kindly, easygoing,
participating, likes people
Affectothymia
Abstract thinking, more intelligent,
bright
Higher scholastic mental capacity
Emotionally stable, mature, faces
reality, calm
Higher ego strength
Dominant, assertive, aggressive,
stubborn, competitive, bossy
Dominance
Enthusiastic, spontaneous, heedless,
expressive, cheerful
Surgency
Conscientious, conforming,
moralistic, staid, rulebound
Stronger superego strength
Bold, venturesome, uninhibited, can
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I
L
M
N
O
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
intimidated
Threctia
Tough-minded, self-reliant, nononsense, rough, realistic
Harria
Trusting, accepting conditions, easy to
get on with
Alaxia
Practical, concerned with ‘down to
earth’ issues, steady
Praxernia
Forthright, unpretentious, open,
genuine, artless
Artlessness
Self-assured, secure, feels free of guilt,
untroubled, selfsatisfied
Untroubled adequacy
Conservative, respecting traditional
ideas
Conservatism of temperament
Group-oriented, a ‘joiner’ and sound
follower, listens to others
Group adherence
Undisciplined self-conflict, lax,
careless of social rules
Low integration
Relaxed, tranquil, composed, has low
drive, unfrustrated
Low ergic tension
take stress
Parmia
Tender-minded, sensitive,
overprotected, intuitive, refined
Premsia
Suspicious, hard to fool, distrustful,
skeptical
Protension
Imaginative, absentminded, absorbed
in thought, impractical
Autia
Shrewd, polished, socially aware,
diplomatic, calculating
Shrewdness
Apprehensive, self-blaming, guiltprone, insecure, worrying
Guilt proneness
Experimenting, liberal, critical, open
to change
Radicalism
Self-sufficient, resourceful, prefers
own decisions
Self-sufficiency
Following self-image, socially precise,
compulsive
High self-concept control
Tense, frustrated, overwrought, has
high drive
High ergic tension
Media Presentation Ideas:
Popular Movie: “Armageddon”
In this movie, trainees take a battery of psychological tests, including the Rorschach.
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