328EL19

Personality Assessment MODULE-IV
Self and Personality
Notes
19
PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT
In the previous lesson, you learnt about different theories of personality. These
were the psychoanalytic, trait, social-cognitive, humanistic and the Indian approach
to personality, based on gunas. If we wish to determine aspects of a person’s
personality based on a particular theory, there are specific techniques for assessing
those. For example, if you wish to know about the dominant traits in a person,
e.g., whether he is an extrovert or introvert, there are specific ways developed by
psychologists, to get this information. Similarly, if we wish to know about the
unconscious aspects of a person’s personality, we will have to use psychoanalytic
ways of assessing the same. In this lesson you will learn about the different ways of
personality assessment.
OBJECTIVES
After studying this lesson, you will be able to:
• assess personality based on different theoretical approaches.
19.1 ASSESSING PERSONALITY TRAITS

There are two ways of assessing personality traits. One method consists of asking
a set of questions which a person has to answer about his/her opinions, feelings
and actions. For this purpose, a personality inventory is used. In the second
approach, some other person makes assessments about a person’s traits, based
on prior knowledge about that person, or by direct observation of the person.
This is called the rating-scale approach.
PSYCHOLOGY 107
MODULE -IV Personality Assessment
Personality inventories are questionnaires where a person has to answer many

questions about the way she/he reacts to different situations. A personality inventory
may be designed to assess a single trait like extroversion-introversion, or it may
assess a number of traits. For example, if a person answers “Yes” to the question
Notes “Do you stay in the background in social situations?” this is an indication of
introversion. Of course, the assessment will be based on a number of questions
relating to different types of situations, not just one question. The Sixteen Factor
Personality Questionnaire (16 PF) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory (MMPI) are two very well known inventories which are useful for
obtaining information about a person’s traits.
Inventories are very useful, but when a person has to report about his/her reactions,
sometimes we can be biased about our own characteristics. To overcome this
problem, another way of assessing personality traits has been developed based
on rating scales. For example a person may be asked to describe the self-confidence
level of another person, using of 7 point scale ranging from very low ”(1) to very
high ”(7).
There are certain conditions which the raters must fulfil, for the rating to be useful
and valid. The raters must (a) be able to understand the scale, (b) know the
person well about whom the rating has to be made, and, (c) not get biased in his/
her judgment, about the person, and rate in favourable or unfavourable way.
19.2 ASSESSMENT IN PSYCHOANALYIC APPROACH

As you will recall from the previous lesson, the psychoanalytic approach focuses
on a person’s unconscious conflicts and motives. But the unconscious part of
person’s personality, (the major part in this view), is hidden from one’s self-
awareness. Psychoanalysts, therefore, have to use indirect symbolic information
and interpret this to uncover the unconscious conflicts and motives. This approach
is called projective technique.
In this approach, if the psychoanalyst wants to obtain knowledge of unconscious

processes in a person’s psyche, she/he presents certain ambiguous material and
asks the person to describe what she/he sees. This ambiguous material may be on
ink-blot, or a picture which leads to the person “reading” or projecting some
meaning into it from personal experience or fantasy. In this way, the person’s
unconscious mind is tapped and something is revealed about it. The ‘Rorschach
Test’ and the ‘Thematic Apperception Test’ (TAT) are two well known projective
tests. The former is based on ink-blots and the latter consists of pictures containing
human characters. For example, a TAT picture may have an outline of boy from
the back, looking at the sun. On being asked what she/he sees, a person may
108 PSYCHOLOGY
respond that “The boy is thinking that she/he will achieve great things in life”. In
this way the person may have projected his/her own dream of achieving great
things in life.
Notes
INTEXT QUESTIONS 19.1
Fill in the blanks with appropriate words
1. In ____________________ a person has to answer many questions about

the way she/he reacts to different situations.
2. A description of a person’s traits, based on prior knowledge, is called the
__________ approach.
3. __________ __________ uses indirect symbolic meaning which is interpreted
by the psychoanalyst to uncover unconscious conflicts.
4. __________ _________ test consists of pictures containing human figures
about which a person is required to tell a brief story.
19.3 ASSESSMENT IN HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE

As you have learnt, the humanistic approach to personality focuses on how a
person experiences her/his world. Therefore, assessment here is concerned with
understanding the perception of a person about his/her life situation and experience.
A number of methods have been developed to measure a person’s self-concept.
One approach is based on the person selecting, from a number of descriptive
sentences, those which describe him/her in an accurate way. (e.g., “I am a confident
person”, “I am often nervous”, “I am a sincere and hard working student, etc.).
Another approach focuses on a persons willingness to express his/her inner nature
or self to others. This approach is based on the understanding that the tendency
for very high or very low level of self-disclosure are both an indication of emotional
immaturity.
19.4 ASSESSMENT OF GUNAS

In the last lesson you also studied about the Indian approach to personality which
emphasises the three Gunas: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. In order to assess a person’s
nature based on this conception, we need to have an understanding of which Guna
is predominant in a person’s life, in thought, speech and action, and then which is
PSYCHOLOGY 109
MODULE -IV Personality Assessment
less dominant, and finally which is the least. For example, a person who is extremely
truthful, detached, and helpful is likely to be high on Sattva. In order to assess
which Guna is predominant in an individual’s personality, we have to obtain combined
information using questionnaires, observation etc. Some inventories have been
Notes developed which gives us some information about the way the Gunas are active in
an individual’s personality.
INTEXT QUESTIONS 19.2

Fill in the blanks:
1. In the ____________ approach, assessment focuses on how a person perceive

his/her world.
2. A person’s willingness to expose his/her inner nature or self to other’s is referred
to as the tendency for __________________.
3. Assessment in the Indian Guna approach attempts to find out, which Guna is
___________ in an individual’s personality.
4. _____________ method which is used in the trait approach is also used for
the Guna perspective.
WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT

• Personality assessment is related to the theory of personality through which
we want to understand a person.
• The trait approach to assessment uses personality inventories, and rating scales.
• The psychoanalytic approach to assessment uses the projective technique
where a person describes ambiguous material like inkblots.
• The humanistic approach to personality assessment attempts to find out how
a person perceives his/her world.
• The Guna approach to assessment relies on multiple ways, including inventories.
TERMINAL EXERCISE
Briefly write how personality assessment is done in each of the following
approaches:
110 PSYCHOLOGY
1. Trait approach
2. Psychoanalytic approach
3. Humanistic approach
Notes
4. Guna approach.
PSYCHOLOGY 111

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Personality Assessment MODULE-IV

Self and Personality

• assess personality based on different theoretical approaches.

19.1 ASSESSING PERSONALITY TRAITS

Personality inventories are questionnaires where a person has to answer many

19.2 ASSESSMENT IN PSYCHOANALYIC APPROACH

In this approach, if the psychoanalyst wants to obtain knowledge of unconscious

Fill in the blanks with appropriate words

1. In ____________________ a person has to answer many questions about

19.3 ASSESSMENT IN HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE

19.4 ASSESSMENT OF GUNAS

INTEXT QUESTIONS 19.2

1. In the ____________ approach, assessment focuses on how a person perceive

WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT

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