Personality assessment
...in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make
Dr Niko Tiliopoulos
Room 448, Brennan McCallum building
Email: nikot@psych.usyd.edu.au
The final summary
Approach
Level
Coverage
Cause
Bias
Focus
1st
force
Psychodynamic
IdiographicNomothetic
Partial
Determined
Subjective
(observer)
Negative
2nd
force
BehaviouralCognitive
Nomothetic
MinimalPartial
Determined
Objective
PositiveNegative
3rd
force
Humanistic
Idiographic
Partial
Subjective
Nondetermined (individual)
Positive
Existential
Idiographic
Holistic
NonSubjective
determined (individual)
PositiveNegative
Traits
IdiographicNomothetic
Nearly
holistic
Subjective
-Objective
PositiveNegative
Probable
General types of personality assessment

Tests of performance

Attempt to reveal the intent or internal mental state of a participant
• E.g. Mental abilities tests, IQ tests, Psychomotor tests


The problem of ecological validity
Behaviour observations

Assessment of typical manifestations of an attribute within a specific content
• E.g. (Semi- unstructured) Interviews, Participant-observations (ethnography)


The problem of replicability
Self (peer)-reports

Participants are asked to report elements of their (or their peers) feelings,
attitudes, beliefs, values, etc.
• E.g. Personality tests, Standardised (clinical) interviews, surveys


The problem of dishonesty
Psychophysiological assessment

Measuring biological functions that relate to personality
• E.g. fMRI scans, EEG data, GSR data, PET scans, blood tests, gene sequencing

The problems of reductionism and practicality
Scoring (quantifying) your personality

Established rules for scoring & obtaining
quantitative information from behaviour samples
 Objective scoring
 E.g. Standardised (Clinical) Questionnaires
 Subjective
scoring
(psychologist’s judgement)

E.g. Vignette, Projective, and role-playing tests
Concerns regarding the interpretation of test results

Are the observed attributes real?





Are the observed attributes important?


(Cultural) test biases
Procedural /administrative biases
Faking
Framing and observer biases
The difference between statistical and practical
(psychological) importance
Do tests help or hurt?


The person as a number
The issue of labelling
Psychometric properties of personality tests I:
Validity
 The
degree to which a test measures what
it claims to measure
 The
appropriateness or meaningfulness of
test scores or interpretations
 The
degree to which measurements or
observations are a true representation of
reality
Psychometric properties of personality tests II:
Reliability

The degree of consistency or stability of
measurement scores across time or context
 The
absence of measurement fluctuations
that are unaccounted by the
measurement’s scope

An individual should consistently produce
similar responses to any test that measures
the same personality elements
Reliability vs. Validity

A valid measure always hits the target; a reliable measure
always hits the same place on the target

Reliability is a necessary but not sufficient condition for validity

At the conceptual level, a valid measure is always reliable
Looking ahead

2nd year

PSYC2014: Personality & Intelligence I
• In-depth presentation of specific theories, e.g. Freud, Jung, Maslow,
Bandura, Allport, etc.

3rd year

PSYC3015: Personality & Intelligence II
• Cross-cultural theories, evolutionary theories, genomic theories

PSYC3018: Abnormal Psychology
• Personality disorders and other fantastic cuckoo stuff 

4th year

Psychometric Assessment

Religion & Spirituality

Personality Dynamics & Philosophy
Exam information!