Lecture 12- Self-Report Inventories (Peters) Flashcards
What is personality?
A complex construct that integrates all domains of psychological study
What are the two major theoretical approaches?
General process theories
Structural/descriptive theories
What are general process theories
- Focus is on the general process through which personality develops
- e.g., Freud, Bandura, Maslow
- Little on measurement or differences between individuals
What is the structural/descriptive theories?
.Emphasise individual differences
• e.g., Cattell, Eysenck, Guilford, Five Factor Model
• Trait theories
What is a trait?
A predisposition to respond to situations in a consistentway
Is unobservable
Predicts behaviours
What is the nomothetic view?
• Trait theories assume there is a set of dimensions of personality on which all
people can be placed
• Responses from the individual are understood in the context of responses
from a large group of people
• The uniqueness of individuals is captured by scores on a set of traits – a
Profile (e.g., 16PF)
What is the idiographic view?
• A standard set of traits cannot describe the richness of an individual’s
personality
• An individual’s behaviour may not be organised according to a particular trait
• A single set of traits cannot be relevant to all individuals
• Traits are ok – but a different set may be required for each person
What are the two ways to measure personality?
1- Self Report-
2- Observe the person (rely on people close to them or observe them under standard conditions
What psychometric properties does questionnaires possess?
Measure
Standardised norms
reliability and validity of test scores is assessed
What formats can SRI take?
absolute- each item judged independently (yes/no)
Comparative/forced choice (2 or more items)
Advantages of SRI?
- SRIs are easy to construct (relatively) and to establish norms
- Can be administered to groups as well as individuals
- Require little training for administration and scoring
- Time (and therefore cost) effective
- Can be used in variety of applied settings
Disadvantages of SRI?
- Self-report assumes that the respondent:
- can be accurate (self deception)
- will be accurate (fake good/bad)
What are the five different response tendencies?
Acquiescence – agree with what’s presented
• Non-acquiescence – disagree with what’s presented
• Socially desirable responding – tendency to see oneself in a favourable light
• Overcautious approach – choosing middle options on response scales
• Extremes in responding – endorse items in an unusual/uncommon way
What are the three approaches to constructing self-report inventories?
External (aka empirical; criterion group)
• Inductive (aka factor analytic; internal)
• Deductive (aka rational; intuitive; theoretical)
What is the external self-report measure?
• Scale membership of items is determined by criteria external to questionnaire domain
• assumes that people come in “batches” (happy-unhappy; depressed-manic)
• administer items to 2 groups, one known to have the trait (criterion group) and the other
known not to have the trait (reference group)
• keep the items that discriminate between the two groups
• Problem: Unreliability of criterion
What is the inductive self-report measure?
attempts to identify the universals of personality by inferring from specific cases to the generalities
• inductive because the number and nature of the scales on a questionnaire follow from the data analysis
• generate a large number of items
• administer to as many people as possible (thousands)
• factor analyse results to group the items into scales
• devise labels
What is the deductive report measure?
Choice and definition of construct(s) precedes item formulation
• formulate the construct or use an existing well formulated construct
• deduce basic descriptors from construct
• write items
What are the selected inventories?
- External: MMPI-2
- Inductive: 16PF, NEO PI-3
- Deductive: MCMI-III, Myers-Briggs Typological Indicator
What is the MMPI-2?
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
Criterion groups were psych patients with a diganosis and patients without diagnosis.
Items were retained that distringuished between the two groups.
567 items and rated true/false
Has both 10 clinical scales and 3 validity scales
Whats is the 16pf?
Designed as measure of normal personality traits
185 items, 170 phrased as self statement and rated true/false or forced choice.
What is NEO PI-3
Based on 5 factor model of personality traits
Based on the Five Factor Model of personality traits
• Items derived from previous questionnaires and rationally
derived items from domain descriptions
• Factor analysis yielded 5 factors each made up of 6 facets
• Revision allows use in adolescents as young as 12
• 240 items phrased as self-statements rated on a 5-point scale:
Self-report and observer-rating versions available
• Designed as a test of normal personality but increasing evidence for its usefulness
in clinical settings
• Separate norms for adults and college-aged people
• No validity (response style) indices
What is Millon clinical multaxial inventory?
Test of personality disorders and symptoms associated with them.
Scales reflect the classificatory system of DSM-IV – Axis II Personality Disorders
• 175 items phrased as self-statements and rated as true/false
• I’m too unsure of myself to risk trying something new
• I guess I’m a fearful and inhibited person
What is the myers briggs type indicator?
Assesses personality using Jung’s classification
• People have definite preferences in how they approach the world, receive
information about the world and make conclusions about the world
• Four bipolar dimensions
• Extraverted – Introverted (attitude)
• Sensation – Intuition (way of perceiving)
• Thinking – Feeling (judgement)
• Judgement – Perception (orientation to world)
Scores on four dimensions give 16 possible types
• Ipsative (vs normative) approach
• Forced choice format
• Which of these words appeals to you more: scheduled OR unplanned
• When you go somewhere for the day, would you rather: Plan what you will do
and when OR Just go
• Several forms; Form G has 126 items
• Much used in occupational settings
