Abstract
Personality assessments are designed to identify relatively stable patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving, which differentiate one individual from another. Results from personality assessments are used by psychologists and other professionals to help facilitate diagnosis and treatment of mental-health problems, help enhance an individual’s self-understanding and awareness, identify emotional and behavioral disorders that interfere with an individual’s ability to learn, identify job candidates who are best matched for a particular job, answer questions relevant to legal proceedings, and measure constructs that are important in a wide range of psychological research. This chapter describes two broad categories of personality measures: objective self-report measures and projective techniques. A review of major personality tests is provided, highlighting different approaches used in their development.
Once studied solely by introspection, assessment of personality is now an objective science.
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Recommended Reading
Dawes, R. M., Faust, D., & Meehl, P. E. (1989). Clinical versus actuarial judgments. Science, 243, 1168–1674. An interesting article that compares clinical versus actuarial approaches to decision-making (e.g., diagnosis, treatment planning), with the actuarial approach coming out on top!
McCord, D. M. (2018). Assessment using the MMPI–2–RF. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. A great resource for learning about how to use the MMPI-2-RF.
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Reynolds, C.R., Altmann, R.A., Allen, D.N. (2021). Assessment of Personality. In: Mastering Modern Psychological Testing. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59455-8_10
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