Measuring Personality Flashcards
Self-Report Scales are typically…?
List 4 points
- Introspective
- Subjective
- Structured
- Contain more than one item per construct
What do self-report scales measure?
Measures one dimension of personality
Measures one dimension of personality
This is known as…?
Self-report scales
What are inventories and what do they measure?
Several scales that, together, measure multiple dimensions of personality
Several scales that, together, measure multiple dimensions of personality
This is known as…?
Inventories
What is the equation for the score on a scale?
True score = Random error + Systematic error
What 2 types of error are part of measurement error?
- Random error
- Systematic error
- Random error
- Systematic error
These are known as…?
Measurement error
What is random error?
Non-systematic variation in the test score
Non-systematic variation in the test score
This is known as…?
Random error
What is systematic error (bias)?
Test score always slightly higher or lower than true score
Test score always slightly higher or lower than true score
This is known as…?
Systematic error (bias)
Equally likely to score slightly higher vs. lower than true score
This is known as…?
Random error
In random error, we are equally likely to score slightly higher vs. lower than true score
How can we fix this?
Increase the number of items that measure the construct of interest
Increase the number of items that measure the construct of interest
This can help reduce…?
a. Systematic error
b. None
c. Random error
d. Both
c. Random error
True or False?
Increasing the number of items can help reduce systematic error
False
Increasing the number of items does not help reduce systematic error
What are the 3 common sources of systematic error in self-report scales?
- ‘Response set bias’
- Socially-desirable responding
- Faking
- ‘Response set bias’
- Socially-desirable responding
- Faking
These are …?
Common sources of systematic error in self-report scales
Give an example of response set bias
Straightlining
Define Straightlining
A type of ‘Insufficient Effort Responding’
Simply = You end up with all of your responses lining up with each other in a straight line
A type of ‘Insufficient Effort Responding’
This is known as…?
Straightlining
Simply = You end up with all of your responses lining up with each other in a straight line
What 3 things contribute to straightlining?
- Acquiescence bias
- ‘Nay saying’
- Midpoint responding
What do these contribute to?
- Acquiescence bias
- ‘Nay saying’
- Midpoint responding
Straightlining (response set bias)
Define Acquiescence bias
The tendency to agree (‘Strongly Agree’, ‘YES’)
The tendency to agree (‘Strongly Agree’, ‘YES’)
This is known as…?
Acquiescence bias
Define ‘Nay saying’
The tendency to disagree
Define Midpoint responding
The tendency to choose the middle option (e.g. ‘neither agree nor disagree’)
The tendency to disagree
This is known as…?
‘Nay saying’
The tendency to choose the middle option (e.g. ‘neither agree nor disagree’)
This is known as…?
Midpoint responding
How can we eliminate response set biases?
List 2 ways
- Remove mid-point option
- Include Reverse-Scored Items
True or False?
Removing mid-point option is always appropriate
False
Removing mid-point option is not always appropriate
How can researchers do reverse-scored items well?
Researchers need to come up with ways to describe the other end of the trait that doesn’t involve relying on negative or asking about the absence of something
e.g. “I do not have a good imagination” can instead be “I have a core imagination”
What is Socially-Desirable Response Bias?
Respondents give answers to questions that they believe will make them look good to others, concealing their true opinions or experiences
Respondents give answers to questions that they believe will make them look good to others, concealing their true opinions or experiences
This is known as…?
Socially-Desirable Response Bias
What does Socially-Desirable Response Bias often affect?
Studies that focus on sensitive or personal topics, such as politics, drug use, or sexual behaviour
What type of bias includes faking?
Socially-Desirable Response Bias
Which bias has a deceptive intent?
Socially-Desirable Response Bias
Socially-Desirable Response Bias is a particular concern in _______ settings
Occupational/forensic
What did Ion & Iliescu (2017) find in their study on Socially-Desirable Response Bias?
Lack of equivalence of NEO-PI-R in high vs low stakes settings (job applicants vs non-applicants)
How can we eliminate socially-desirable response bias?
List 2 ways
- Include ‘Lie Detector’ items
- Make all options socially undesirable
Remove mid-point option
With this method, we can eliminate…?
a. Response Set Biases
b. Socially-Desirable Response Bias
a. Response Set Biases
Include ‘Lie Detector’ items
With this method, we can eliminate…?
a. Response Set Biases
b. Socially-Desirable Response Bias
b. Socially-Desirable Response Bias
Make all options socially undesirable
With this method, we can eliminate…?
a. Response Set Biases
b. Socially-Desirable Response Bias
b. Socially-Desirable Response Bias
Include Reverse-Scored Items
With this method, we can eliminate…?
a. Response Set Biases
b. Socially-Desirable Response Bias
a. Response Set Biases
Describe Christie & Geis’s (1970) study on making all options socially undesirable for the Mach V scale
List 2 points
- Participants were asked:
- Which item is MOST like your views (M)?
- Which item is LEAST like your views (L)?
- They were given 3 options:
- Socially Desirable ‘Buffer’
e.g. It would be a good thing if people were kinder to others less fortunate than themselves
Mean Social Desirability Rating = 4.35
- MACH item
e.g. The best way to handle people is to tell them what they want to hear
Mean Social Desirability Rating = 2.80
- Non-MACH item
e.g. People are getting so lazy and self-indulgent that it is bad for our country
Mean Social Desirability Rating = 2.80
Describe the results Christie & Geis’s (1970) study on making all options socially undesirable for the Mach V scale
List 3 points
- Ps picked the first option (Socially Desirable ‘Buffer’) as being most like their views
Because this was a buffer, the response to this was ignored
- The option that is not selected as LEAST like their views is taken as being MORE like their views
- e.g. If participants picked the last option (Non-MACH item) as being least like their views, the MACH item is more like their views, meaning they are high in Machiavellianism
- If people don’t select the Machiavellianism item as being least like their views, it suggests they are higher in Machiavellianism
What are the 2 limitations of making all options socially undesirable?
- Takes longer to complete, not ideal
- Requires more items
Describe Steffans and Schulze König’s (2006) study on behavioural measures of personality
List 2 points
- Used behavioural measures as part of a broader validation study
- Argued that self-reported personality and controlled, deliberate behaviour does not always represent who we truly are
- Developed measures of trait-relevant ‘spontaneous behaviours’
What did Steffans and Schulze König (2006) argue about self-reported personality and controlled, deliberate behaviour?
Self-reported personality and controlled, deliberate behaviour does not always represent who we truly are
What behavioural measure of personality did Steffans and Schulze König (2006) develop?
Measures of trait-relevant ‘spontaneous behaviours’
Participants turning up to take part in the study (for course credit) were (falsely) told that their name wasn’t on the list, and they might not be able to take part. Their responses were rated as an indicator of…?
a. Extraversion
b. Agreeableness
c. Conscientiousness
d. Neuroticism
b. Agreeableness
Participants did a ‘horrendously demanding’ working memory task. When they made mistakes, they received ‘scolding’ messages. Stress-related reactions that they made were rated as a measure of…?
a. Extraversion
b. Agreeableness
c. Conscientiousness
d. Neuroticism
d. Neuroticism
Participants were given an untimed computer task that required accuracy. Speed of completion was taken as a measure of…?
a. Extraversion
b. Agreeableness
c. Conscientiousness
d. Neuroticism
c. Conscientiousness
Participants were asked about their experiences of the study by a researcher. The time spent with the researcher, answering the questions, was taken as a measure of…?
a. Extraversion
b. Agreeableness
c. Conscientiousness
d. Neuroticism
a. Extraversion
Which personality factor was found have a significant correlation between behavioural measure(s) and self-report (NEO) score?
Select all that apply
a. Neuroticism
b. Extraversion
c. Openness (self-report theatre/museum)
d. Agreeableness
e. Conscientiousness
b. Extraversion
c. Openness (self-report theatre/museum)
True or False?
Extraversion and Openness NEO scores are not correlated with behavioural measures
False
Extraversion and Openness NEO scores are significantly correlated with behavioural measures
What are the 3 main problems with behavioural measures of personality?
- Low concurrent validity
- Inadequacy of behavioural OR self-report measure?
- Maybe implicit measures are better than explicit (self-report) measures
- Low concurrent validity
- Inadequacy of behavioural OR self-report measure?
- Maybe implicit measures are better than explicit (self-report) measures
These are the 3 main problems with…?
Behavioural measures of personality
Steffans and Schulze König (2006) modified the Implicit Association Test (‘IAT’) to measure…?
Implicit Personality
Used to measure people’s automatic associations to stimuli
This is known as…?
Modification of the Implicit Association Test (‘IAT’) = Implicit Personality Assessment
Describe Steffans and Schulze König’s (2006) study on Implicit Personality Assessment
List 3 points
- Categorised words into:
- SELF (conscientious)
- Half of the trials were paired congruently with trait
vs
- OTHERS (unconscientious) - Categorised words into:
- SELF (unconscientious)
- Half of the trials were paired incongruently with trait
vs
- OTHERS (conscientious) - Calculate reaction times for congruent and incongruent trials
The greater the difference, the more extreme the value
i.e. Either being more conscientious or more unconscientious depending on which of the response times was greatest
Describe the findings of Steffans and Schulze König’s (2006) study on Implicit Personality Assessment
List 2 points
- People are fastest in trials where responses to self words were paired with the trait words that are most like them
- e.g. If you are a conscientious person, you’ll be fastest in the congruence trials, where the responses to the self words are the same as a response to the conscientious words
People are fastest in trials where responses to self words were paired with the trait words that are …?
Most like them
Describe Steffans and Schulze König’s (2006) study on the IAT measure and the Big 5 trait
For each BIG 5 trait:
- Looked at the reaction time difference on IAT task
- Looked at NEO-FFI scores (self-report)
- looked at behavioural measure(s)
Describe the findings of Steffans and Schulze König’s (2006) study on the IAT measure and the Big 5 trait
- IAT measure of Neuroticism was significantly correlated with NEO score (0.28) and Behavioural measures (0.22)
- IAT measure of Agreeableness was significantly correlated with Behavioural measures (0.25*)
- IAT measure of Conscientiousness was significantly correlated with NEO score (0.22) and Behavioural measures (0.36)
Which IAT measure had a significant correlation with NEO score?
Select all that apply
a. Neuroticism
b. Agreeableness
c. Extraversion
d. Conscientiousness
e. Openness
a. Neuroticism
d. Conscientiousness
Which IAT measure had a significant correlation with behavioural measures?
Select all that apply
a. Neuroticism
b. Agreeableness
c. Extraversion
d. Conscientiousness
e. Openness
a. Neuroticism
b. Agreeableness
d. Conscientiousness
True or False?
For some traits, IAT score correlated more strongly with self-report scores than with behavioural measures
False
For some traits, IAT score correlated more strongly with behavioural measures than self-report scores
What is one limitation of the IAT measure of personality?
Fairly low convergent validity
Simply = Seem to measure different things
Some measures may be better suited to certain traits
Fairly low convergent validity
Simply = Seem to measure different things
Some measures may be better suited to certain traits
This is a limitation of which type or personality measure
IAT personality assessment
Define other report measure of personality
Someone else rating your personality (or vice versa)
Someone else rating your personality (or vice versa)
This is known as…?
Other report
What is other report measure of personality dependent on?
List 2 points
- External manifestations of feelings, thoughts etc.
- The proportion of situations that the observer has access to
e.g. consider the item, ‘They are the life and soul of the party’
How do other people rate our personalities, according to Funder (1995)?
List 6 steps involved in this process
- Target’s Personality Attribute
- Relevance
- Availability
- Detection
- Utilisation
- Perceiver’s judgement
According to Funder’s (1995) other report model, what is relevance?
You produce trait-relevant behaviour
According to Funder’s (1995) other report model, what is availability?
Behaviour is available to the rater
According to Funder’s (1995) other report model, what is detection?
The rate detects behaviour
According to Funder’s (1995) other report model, what is utilisation?
The rater correctly interprets behaviour
The rate detects behaviour
a. Relevance
b. Availability
c. Detection
d. Utilisation
c. Detection
You produce trait-relevant behaviour
a. Relevance
b. Availability
c. Detection
d. Utilisation
a. Relevance
The rater correctly interprets behaviour
a. Relevance
b. Availability
c. Detection
d. Utilisation
d. Utilisation
Behaviour is available to the rater
a. Relevance
b. Availability
c. Detection
d. Utilisation
b. Availability
Both Self and Other ratings can be valid predictors of behaviour, but…?
There are asymmetries in the validity of self vs other knowledge
Define observability
Traits characterised by external behaviours and expressions, which tend to be more accurately judged across raters
Traits characterised by external behaviours and expressions, which tend to be more accurately judged across raters
This is known as…?
Observability
Define evaluativeness
The degree to which it is especially socially desired and disdained at either pole, as opposed to more neutral judgements of a trait
The degree to which it is especially socially desired and disdained at either pole, as opposed to more neutral judgements of a trait
This is known as…?
Evaluativeness
Who is more accurate when rating traits high in evaluativeness?
e.g. intellect
a. Self
b. Others
c. None
b. Others
Who is more accurate when rating low observability traits
e.g. neuroticism
a. Self
b. Others
c. None
a. Self
True or False?
Self is more accurate than others when rating traits high in evaluativeness
e.g. intellect
False
Others are more accurate than self when rating traits high in evaluativeness
e.g. intellect
True or False?
Self is more accurate than others when rating high observability traits
e.g. neuroticism
False
Self more accurate than others when rating low observability traits
e.g. neuroticism
Others are more accurate than self when rating traits high in evaluativeness e.g. intellect
When does this effect become stronger?
With ‘others’ who are less close to us
Define Projective Tests of Personality
Describe/tell a story about e.g. ambiguous/ meaningless stimuli
Describe/tell a story about e.g. ambiguous/ meaningless stimuli
This is known as…?
Projective Tests of Personality
‘Projection’ of personality
Which type of personality measure does this apply to?
Projective Tests of Personality
Which measure of personality uses inkblot?
Projective Tests of Personality
How is the Projective Tests of Personality scored?
List 2 ways
- Content
- Focus
What are the 2 advantages of Projective Tests of Personality?
- Less dependent on introspection
- Less prone to bias and faking
What are the 2 disadvantages of Projective Tests of Personality?
- Subjective, complex, unreliable scoring
- Not based on mainstream personality theory
- Not based on trait models, derive more from the psychodynamic tradition, hence, their reliance on projection
- Less dependent on introspection
- Less prone to bias and faking
These are advantages of…?
Projective Tests of Personality
- Subjective, complex, unreliable scoring
- Not based on mainstream personality theory
These are disadvantages of…?
Projective Tests of Personality
Who proposed the Self-Other Knowledge Asymmetry (SOKA) Model?
Vazire (2010)
Define the Self-Other Knowledge Asymmetry (SOKA) Model
Both Self and Other ratings can be valid predictors of behaviour, but there are asymmetries in the validity of self vs other knowledge
Both Self and Other ratings can be valid predictors of behaviour, but there are asymmetries in the validity of self vs other knowledge
This is known as…?
Self-Other Knowledge Asymmetry (SOKA) Model
Who proposed the Apperceptive Personality Test?
Holmstrom, Silber & Karp (1990)
Describe the Apperceptive Personality Test
List 2 points
- Make up a story about each picture
- Complete a structured questionnaire
“Rate how …. the character appears”
- Make up a story about each picture
- Complete a structured questionnaire
“Rate how …. the character appears”
This is known as…?
Apperceptive Personality Test
True or False?
Personality has no influence on the interpretation of pictures
False
Personality has some influence on the interpretation of pictures
Personality has some influence on the interpretation of …?
Pictures
What personality traits are significantly correlated with E score?
a. Smart
b. Capable
c. Caring
d. Happy
e. Much of a leader
f. Successful
g. Trustworthy
h. Kind
d. Happy
e. Much of a leader
What personality traits are significantly correlated with N score?
a. Smart
b. Capable
c. Caring
d. Happy
e. Much of a leader
f. Successful
g. Trustworthy
h. Kind
d. Happy
f. Successful
h. Kind
What personality traits are significantly correlated with P score?
a. Smart
b. Capable
c. Caring
d. Happy
e. Much of a leader
f. Successful
g. Trustworthy
h. Kind
None
