Applications in

Clinical and
Counseling Settings

OUTLINE
Strategies of Structured Personality-Test Construction
The Logical-Content Strategy
The Criterion-Group Strategy
The Factor Analytic Strategy
The Theoretical Strategy
Combination Strategies
Frequently Used Measures of Positive Personality Traits

Personality
relatively stable and distinctive patterns of behavior that characterize an individual
and his or her reactions to the environment

Structured personality tests attempt to evaluate personality traits, personality types,

personality states, and other aspects of personality, such as self-concept

Personality traits
refer to relatively enduring dispositionstendencies to act, think, or feel in a
certain manner in any given circumstance and that distinguish one person from
another.

Personality types
refer to general descriptions of people; for example, avoiding types have low social
interest and low activity and cope by avoiding social situations

Personality states
refer to emotional reactions that vary from one situation to another.

Self-concept
refers to a persons self-definition or, according to C. R. Rogers (1959a), an
organized and relatively consistent set of assumptions that a person has about
himself or herself.

World War I
self-report questionnaires
provided a list of statements and required subjects to respond in some way to each,
such as marking True or False to indicate whether the statement applied to them.

structured
The general procedure in which the subject is asked to respond to a written statement.

objective

characterized by structure and lack of ambiguity.

A clear and definite stimulus is provided, and the requirements of the subject are
evident and specific.

Strategies of Structured
Personality-Test
Constructio

Deductive Strategies
Deductive strategies use reason and deductive logic to determine the meaning of
a test response.

A. Logical-Content Strategy
- as its name implies, uses reason and deductive logic in the development
personality measures.

of

- In the most general use of this strategy, the test designer tries to logically
deduce the type of content that should measure the characteristic to be assessed.

B.Theoretical Strategy

begins with a theory about the nature of the particular characteristic to be

measured

items must be consistent with the theory

If the theory hypothesizes that personality can be broken down into six major
areas, then developers strive to create items that tap each of these six areas.
theoretical strategies demand that every item in a scale be related to the
characteristic being measured.
the theoretical approach attempts to create a homogeneous scale and, toward this
end, may use statistical procedures such as item analysis.

Empirical Strategies
rely on data collection and statistical analyses to determine the meaning of a test
response or the nature of personality and psychopathology.

empirical strategies attempt to use experimental research to determine

empirically the meaning of a test response, the major dimensions of personality,
or both.

A. Criterion-Group Strategy
- begins with a criterion group, or a collection of individuals who share a
characteristic such as leadership or schizophrenia.
- Constructors then attempt to locate items that distinguish the criterion and
control groups, or how the two groups contrast.
- cross-validate
- the criterion approach is to conduct additional research to ascertain
empirically what it means when subjects endorse a large number of items
particular scale.

on a

B. Factor Analytic Strategy

-The factor analytic strategy uses factor analysis to derive empirically the basic
dimensions of personality
- factor analysis boils down or reduces data to a small number of
descriptive units or dimensions
- Factor analysts begin with an empirical database consisting of the
intercorrelation of a large number of items or tests.

The Logical-Content
Strategy

Woodworth Personal Data Sheet

The first personality inventory ever, the Woodworth Personal Data Sheet, was
developed during World War I and published in its final form after the war
(Woodworth, 1920).
Its purpose was to identify military recruits who would be likely to break down
in combat.
The final form of the Woodworth contained 116 questions to which the
individual responded Yes or No.

Early Multidimensional Logical-Content Scales

Bell Adjustment Inventory

- evaluate the subjects adjustment in a variety of areas such as home life,

social life, and emotional functioning.
Bernreuter Personality Inventory
- could be used for subjects as young as age 13 and included items related
six personality traits such as introversion, confidence, and sociability.

to

Mooney Problem Checklist

contains a list of problems that recurred in clinical case history data and in the
written statements of problems submitted by approximately 4000 high-school
students

The Criterion-Group
Strategy

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI and MMPI-2) is a true
false self-report questionnaire.
The heart of the test consists of its validity, clinical, and content scales.

The clinical scales were designed to identify psychological disorders such as

depression and schizophrenia.

Raw scores are then converted to T scores, with a mean of 50 and a standard
deviation of 10

Purpose
the purpose of the MMPI and MMPI-2 is to assist in distinguishing normal from
abnormal groups.

Specifically, the test was designed to aid in the diagnosis or assessment of the
major psychiatric or psychological disorders.

The MMPI requires at least a sixth-grade reading ability; the MMPI-2 requires
an eighth-grade reading ability.

Original Development of the Scales

Beginning with a pool of 1000 items selected from a wide variety of sources,
including case histories, psychological reports, textbooks, and existing tests, the
original authors of the MMPI, S. R. Hathaway, a psychologist, and J. C. McKinley,
a physician, selected 504 items judged to be relatively independent of one another.
The final eight criterion groups each consisted of approximately 50 patients:
hypochondriacsindividuals preoccupied with the body and fears of illness;
depressed patients;
hystericsprimarily individuals who showed a physical problem with no
physical cause, such as physical pain without cause;

psychopathic deviatesdelinquent, criminal, or antisocial individuals;

paranoidsindividuals who showed symptoms such as poor reality testing (e.g.,
delusions in which they falsely believed that people were plotting against them);
psychasthenicsindividuals with a disorder characterized by excessive doubts
and unreasonable fears;
schizophrenicsindividuals with a psychotic disorder involving dramatic
symptoms (such as hallucinations) and thinking problems (such as illogical
reasoning); and
hypomanicsindividuals with a disorder characterized by hyperactivity and
irritability

Addition to the eight scales just described, two content scales were added: the
masculinity-femininity (MF) scale, which contained items differentially endorsed
by men and women, and the social-introversion (Si) scale, which measures
introversion and extroversion (L. C. Ward & Perry, 1998).
validity scales
- to measure test-taking attitude and to assess whether the subject took a
normal, honest approach to the test.
- The L, or lie, scale was designed to detect individuals who attempted to
present themselves in an overly favorable way.
- The K scale served the same purpose but was empirically constructed

- In deriving the K scale, Hathaway and McKinley compared the MMPI scores
of nondisturbed individuals showing normal patterns with the MMPI scores of
disturbed individuals who produced normal MMPI patternsthat is, they showed
no scales that deviated significantly from the mean.

- The K scale thus attempts to locate those items that distinguished normal
from abnormal groups when both groups produced a normal test pattern.

- The F or infrequency scale, which is designed to detect individuals who

attempt to fake bad, consists of those items endorsed by less than 10% of the control
group.

- Of the 64 items on the F scale, most of which contain pathological content

such as Odd odors come to me at times, the average number of items endorsed in
the scored direction is four.

California Psychological Inventory (CPI)Third

Edition
The CPI (Gough, 1987) is a second example of a structured personality test
constructed primarily by the criterion-group strategy.
For three of the 36 CPI scales in the most recent revision, criterion groups (e.g.,
men versus women; homosexual men versus heterosexual men) were contrasted
to produce measures of personality categorized as (1) introversionextroversion,
(2) conventional versus unconventional in following norms, and (3) selfrealization and sense of integration
the CPI attempts to evaluate personality in normally adjusted individuals and
thus finds more use in counseling settings.

The test contains 20 scales, each of which is

grouped into one of four classes.
Class I scales measure poise, self-assurance, and interpersonal effectiveness.
Individuals who score high on these scales tend to be active, resourceful,
competitive, outgoing, spontaneous, and self-confident.
Class II scales, which evaluate socialization, maturity, and responsibility, tend to
be conscientious, honest, dependable, calm, practical, cooperative, and alert to
ethical and moral issues.
Class III scales measure achievement potential and intellectual efficiency. High
scores in this class tend to indicate organized, efficient, sincere, mature, forceful,
capable, and well-informed people.

Class IV scales examine interest modes. High scorers tend to respond well to the
inner needs of others and adapt well socially.

CPI also includes 13 scales that are designed for special purposes such as
managerial potential, tough-mindedness, and creativity as well as several
experimental scales evaluating dimensions of operating style

The Factor Analytic

Strategy

Recall that factor analysis is a statistical procedure for reducing the redundancy
in a set of intercorrelated scores

Guilfords Pioneer Efforts

One usual strategy in validating a new test is to correlate the scores on the new
test with the scores on other tests that purport to measure the same entity.
The result of the initial attempt to apply this strategy was a series of inventories
that Guilford and his associates published in the 1940s and which were
ultimately collapsed into a single scalethe Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament
Survey (Guilford & Zimmerman, 1956).
This survey reduces personality to 10 dimensions, each of which is measured by
30 different items.
The 10 dimensions are general activity, restraint, ascendance (leadership),
sociability, emotional stability, objectivity, friendliness, thoughtfulness, personal
relations, and masculinity.

Cattells Contribution
Rather than attempting to uncover the major dimensions of personality by
intercorrelating personality tests, R. B. Cattell began with all the adjectives
applicable to human beings so he could empirically determine and measure the
essence of personality.
The 171 terms were reduced to 36 dimensions, called surface traits. Subsequent
investigation by factor analysis finally produced 16 distinct factors that accounted
for all the variables.
Thus, Cattell had reduced personality to 16 basic dimensions, which he called
source traits

Problems with the Factor Analytic Strateg

Common variance is the amount of variance a particular variable holds in

common with other variables.
Unique variance refers to factors uniquely measured by the variable.

Error variance is variance attributable to error.

The factor analyst must determine which factors these groupings measure, but
no definite criteria or rules exist for naming factors.

The Theoretical
Strategy

The Theoretical Strategy

To avoid the potential disagreement and biases that stem from factor analytic
approaches, developers have proposed using theory as a way to guide the
construction of structured personality tests.
items are selected to measure the variables or constructs specified by a major
theory of personality.
After the items have been selected and grouped into scales, construct-related
evidence for validity is sought.
In other words, predictions are made about the nature of the scale; if the
predictions hold up, then the scale is supported

Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS)

According to Edwards, the EPPS is not actually a test in the strictest sense of the
word because there are no right or wrong answers.
the EPPS elucidates some interesting concepts in personality-test construction, such
as the concept of ipsative scores.
Ipsative scores present results in relative terms rather than as absolute totals.
The theoretical basis for the EPPS is the need system proposed by Murray (1938),
probably the most influential theory in personality-test construction to date.
The human needs proposed by Murray include the need to accomplish (achievement),
the need to conform (deference), and the need for attention (exhibition).
In developing the EPPS, Edwards selected 15 needs from Murrays list and
constructed items with content validity for each.

Norms for the EPPS were based on more than 1500 college men and women and
approximately 9000 adults from the general population selected from urban and
rural areas in 48 states.

Personality Research Form, Third Edition (PRF-III)

and Jackson Personality Inventory Revised (JPI-R)
Like the EPPS, the original PRF and JPI were based on Murrays (1938) theory of
needs.

However, unlike Edwards, the constructors of these tests developed specific

definitions of each need

Biserial correlational analysis then located the items that correlated highest with
the proposed scale while showing relatively low correlations with other scales,
particularly social desirability.

In other words, strict definitional standards and statistical procedures were used
in conjunction with the theoretical approach.
This use of a combination of procedures is the latest trend in personality-test
construction.

Items for the PRF and JPI are balanced in true-false keying. Unlike the scales of
the MMPI, the PRF and JPI scales have no item overlap. Furthermore, the scales
are relatively independent

Self-Concept
the set of assumptions a person has about himself or herself.
what you believe to be true about yourself will strongly affect your behavior.
If you believe you are honest, then you will tend to act in conformity with this
belief.

Goughs Adjective Checklist, for instance, contains 300 adjectives in alphabetical

order

The Piers-Harris Childrens Self-Concept ScaleSecond Edition contains 80 selfstatements (e.g., I like my looks ) and requires a Yes or No response (Piers,
Harris, & Herzberg, 1999).

the Tennessee Self-Concept ScaleSecond Edition is a formal paper-and-pencil test

that is designed to measure self-concept data

A novel approach to the assessment of self-concept is based on Carl Rogerss

theory of the self.

According to Rogers, the self is organized to remain consistent.

New experiences that are consistent with a persons self-concept are easily
integrated; experiences that are inconsistent with the self-concept tend to be
denied or distorted.

Q-sort technique

Combination Strategies

Positive Personality Measurement and the NEO

Personality InventoryThree (NEO-PI-3)
hardiness and self-efficacy

Currently, several such measures of positive characteristics exist that evaluate

traits such as conscientiousness, hope, optimism, and self-efficacy

The NEO Personality InventoryThree (NEO PIR)

The developers of this test used both factor analysis and theory in item
development and scale construction.
Quite ambitious, the NEO-PI-3 attempts to provide a multipurpose inventory for
predicting interests, health and illness behavior, psychological well-being, and
characteristic coping styles.
Based on their review of extensive factor analytic studies and personality theory,
the authors of the NEO-PI-3 identified three broad domains: neuroticism (N),
extroversion (E), and openness (O)thus the name NEO
Neuroticism (N) is defined primarily by anxiety and depression. The six facets of
this domain are anxiety, hostility, depression, self-consciousness, impulsiveness,
and vulnerability (describing people who do not feel safe).

Extraversion (E) refers to the degree of sociability or withdrawal a person tends

to exhibit. Its six facets are warmth, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity,
excitement seeking, and positive emotions.

Finally, openness (O) refers to the breadth of experience to which a person is

amenable. Its six facets are fantasy, aesthetics, feelings (openness to feelings of
self and others), actions (willingness to try new activities), ideas (intellectual
curiosity), and values
The NEO-PI-R has supported what is perhaps becoming one of the most accepted
notions in personality and personality assessmentthe five-factor model of
personality (Costa et al., 2002; Sutin & Costa, 2011

Research with the NEO has supported the notion of

the following five dimensions (after Wiggins, 1994):
1. Extroversion is the degree to which a person is sociable, leader-like, and assertive
as opposed to withdrawn, quiet, and reserved.
2. Neuroticism is the degree to which a person is anxious and insecure as opposed
to calm and self-confident.
3. Conscientiousness is the degree to which a person is persevering, responsible,
and organized as opposed to lazy, irresponsible, and impulsive.
4. Agreeableness is the degree to which a person is warm and cooperative as
opposed to unpleasant and disagreeable.
5. Openness to experience is the degree to which a person is imaginative and
curious as opposed to concrete-minded and narrow in thinking.

Among positive characteristics, conscientiousness as identified on the NEO has

been of particular interest.
Conscientiousness has been found to be valid as a positive predictor of
performance in all occupations studied and to be positively correlated with
effective styles of coping with stressful situations (Bartley & Roesch, 2011; Haren
& Mitchell, 2003; Hu et al., 2002) and with the Satisfaction with Life Scale.
The trait openness correlated significantly with crystallized intelligence (Bates &
Sheiles, 2003), and the traits of openness, agreeableness, and extraversion were
found to be beneficial in predicting success in specific job settings.
In addition, Judge and Bono (2000) found that extraversion and agreeableness
were effective in predicting transformational leadership.

Frequently Used
Measures of Positive
Personality Traits

Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965) is widely used today in the
United States (Heatherton & Wyland, 2003) and in various countries worldwide
such as Hungary (Bdecs, Horvth, & Szilgyi, 2011), Germany (Gudjonsson &
Sigurdsson, 2003), the United Kingdom (Huang & Dong, 2011; Schaefer, Koeter,
Wouters, Emmelkamp, & Schene, 2003), and Turkey (Kugu, Akyuez, Dogan,
Ersan, & Izgic, 2002).
This scale measures global feelings of self-worth using 10 simple and
straightforward statements that examinees rate on a 4-point Likert scale.

General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE)

The GSE (Jerusalem & Schwarzer, 1992) was developed to measure an
individuals belief in his or her ability to organize resources and manage
situations, to persist in the face of barriers, and to recover from setbacks.

The scale consists of 10 items and takes only 4 minutes to complete.

The GSE has been found to be positively correlated with favorable emotions,
dispositional optimism, self-esteem, and work satisfaction.
Negative correlations have been found with depression, anxiety, stress, burnout
and health complaints.

Ego Resiliency Scale Revised

This measure of ego resiliency or emotional intelligence was developed by Block
and Kremen in 1996 (see Alessandri, Vecchione, Caprara1, & Letzring, 2011).
The Ego Resiliency Scale (ER89-R) consists of 14 items, each answered using a 4point Likert scale to rate statements such as I am regarded as a very energetic
person,I get over my anger at someone reasonably quickly, and Most of the
people I meet are likeable.
ER89-R scores correlated highly with ratings for being sympathetic, considerate,
dependable, responsible, cheerful, warm, assertive, socially adaptive, and not
hostile.
widely used in psychological research.

Dispositional Resilience Scale (DRS)

The DRS was developed by Bartone, Wright, Ingraham, and Ursano (1989) to
measure hardiness, which is defined as the ability to view stressful situations
as meaningful, changeable, and challenging.
Furthermore, research has indicated that those who measure high in hardiness
have lower levels of worry (Hanton, Evans, & Neil, 2003); others have suggested
that hardiness, as measured by the DRS, can function as an index of mental
health (Taylor, Pietrobon, Taverniers, Leon, & Fern, 2011).

Hope Scale
Snyder et al. (1991) proposed a cognitive model that characterizes hope as
goaldriven energy (agency) in combination with the capacity to construct systems
to meet goals (pathways) (Tennen, Affleck, & Tennen, 2002).

Life Orientation TestRevised (LOT-R)

The LOT-R is the most widely used self-report measure of dispositional
optimism, which is defined as an individuals tendency to view the world and the
future in positive ways.
The LOT-R consists of 10 items developed to assess individual differences in
generalized optimism versus pessimism.
Items are answered on a 5point response scale ranging from strongly disagree
to strongly agree.
The LOT-R and its predecessor, the LOT, have been used extensively in studies of
stress and coping.

Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS

The five-item SWLS (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) was developed as
a multi-item scale for the overall assessment of life satisfaction as a
cognitivejudgmental process, rather than for the measurement of specific
satisfaction domains.

Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)

The PANAS was developed by Watson, Clark, and Tellegen (1988) to measure
two orthogonal dimensions of affect.

One of the most widely used measures of affect (Schmukle, Egloff, & Burns,
2002), the instrument has two scalesone for positive affect (PA) and one for
negative affect (NA).

Coping Intervention for Stressful Situations (CISS)

Active behavioral and cognitive coping strategies have been shown to be
associated with measures of positive affect, and the strategy of coping by
avoidance has been shown to be associated with high levels of negative affect
(Pernas et al., 2001).
Using a 5-point Likert scale with choices ranging from not at all to very
much, this inventory assesses individuals according to three basic coping styles:
task-oriented coping, emotion-oriented coping, and avoidance-oriented coping.

Core Self-Evaluations

It has been suggested that measures of personality, to some extent, are all
tapping into a single core construct (Judge, Erez, Bono, & Thoresen, 2002).

Core Self-Evaluations is a framework for understanding and evaluating this core.

This broad-based personality construct is composed of four specific traits:
selfesteem, generalized self-efficacy, neuroticism, and locus of control.
The construct is not simply a descriptive system but explanatory of the
dispositional source of life satisfaction and performance.
In other words, the system not only describes the positive traits of individuals
but also suggests ways in which these positive traits affect emotions and
behaviors.

Projective Personality
Tests

Outline
Projective Personality Tests
The Rorschach Inkblot Test
An Alternative Inkblot Test: The Holtzman
The Thematic Apperception Test
Alternative Apperception Procedures
Nonpictorial Projective Procedures

The Projective
Hypothesis

Simply stated, this hypothesis proposes that when people attempt to understand
an ambiguous or vague stimulus, their interpretation of that stimulus reflects
their needs, feelings, experiences, prior conditioning, thought processes, and so
forth.
The concept of projection is also reflected in Shakespeares Nothing is either
good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
Although what the subject finally sees in a stimulus is assumed to be a reflection
of personal qualities or characteristics, some responses may be more revealing
than others.

The Rorschach Inkblot

Test

Historical Antecedents
More than 25 years before the birth of Herman Rorschach, the originator of the
test that bears his name, J. Kerner (1857) noted that individuals frequently report
idiosyncratic or unique personal meanings when viewing inkblot stimuli.
first set of standardized inkblots by Whipple (1910)
Rorschach, however, receives credit for finding an original and important use for
inkblots: identifying psychological disorders.

Stimuli, Administration, and Interpretation

Rorschach constructed each stimulus card by dropping ink onto a piece of paper
and folding it.
Of the 10 finally selected, five were black and gray; two contained black, gray, and
red; and three contained pastel colors of various shades.
Each card is administered twice.
In the second phase.

Responses are scored according to at least five dimensions, including location

(where the perception was seen), determinant (what determined the response), form
quality (to what extent the response matched the stimulus properties of the inkblot),
content (what the perception was), and frequency of occurrence (to what extent the
response was popular or original; popular responses occur once in every three
protocols on average).

In scoring for location, the examiner notes whether the subject used the whole
blot (W), a common detail (D), or an unusual detail (Dd).

One or more of at least four properties of an inkblot may determine or lead to a

response: its form or shape, its perceived movement, its color, and its shading.

Form quality is the extent to which the percept (what the subject says the inkblot
is) matches the stimulus properties of the inkblot. Scoring form quality is
difficult.
Confabulatory responses

An Alternative Inkblot
Test: The Holtzman

The Holtzman Inkblot Test was created to meet these difficulties while
maintaining the advantages of the inkblot methodology (Holtzman, Thorpe,
Swartz, & Herron, 1961; also see Wong & Jamadi, 2010).
In this test, the subject is permitted to give only one response per card.
Administration and scoring procedures are standardized and carefully described.
An alternate form is available that correlates well with the original test stimuli.
Interscorer as well as split-half reliabilities are comparable to those found for
objective personality tests.
Both forms, A and B, of the Holtzman contain 45 cards.
Each response may be scored on 22 dimensions.

The Thematic
Apperception Test

The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) was introduced in 1935 by Christina

Morgan and Henry Murray of Harvard University.
the TAT is based on Murrays (1938) theory, which distinguishes 28 human needs,
including the needs for sex, affiliation, and dominance.

Stimuli, Administration, and Interpretation

The TAT is more structured and less ambiguous than the Rorschach. TAT stimuli
consist of pictures that depict a variety of scenes
There are 30 pictures and one blank card. Specific cards are designed for male
subjects, others for female. Some of the cards are appropriate for older people,
others for young ones.
Almost all methods of TAT interpretation take into account the hero, needs,
press, themes, andoutcomes

Nonpictorial Projective
Procedures

Word Association Test

Imagine yourself comfortably seated in a psychologists examining office.
Your task is simple, or at least it seems so.
The psychologist says a word and you say the first word that comes to mind. The
test begins.
The purpose of word association tests is to infer possible disturbances and areas
of conflict from an individuals response to specific words.

Sentence Completion Tasks

As with all projective techniques, the individuals response is believed to reflect
that persons needs, conflicts, values, and thought processes.
Clinicians look for recurring themes of conflict and pathological content.

Figure Drawing Tests

In the Draw-a-Person Test
(Machover, 1949), the subject, most often a child, is asked to draw the picture of a
person. Later the child is asked to tell a story about the person.
A similar technique is the House-Tree-Person Test (Buck, 1948), in which the
subject draws a picture of a house, tree, and person and then makes up a story
about it.
In the Kinetic Family Drawing Test (Burns & Kaufman, 1970, 1972), the subject
draws a picture of his or her family.

Projective drawing tests are scored on several dimensions, including absolute

size, relative size, omissions, and disproportions.
For example, in drawing her family, a young child may omit herself. Interpreters
might then assume that the child feels alienated from her family.
In drawing a house-tree-person, the child might draw himself in the house
looking out, perhaps reflecting a feeling of being isolated or trapped.

One projective drawing test that has been proven valid and useful in clinical
settings is the Goodenough Draw-a-Man Test (Wood et al., 2003),