What is Personality?
Personality is a prime defining quality that distinguishes one person from the other. It is our unique traits that make us stand out. Therefore, personality is often intertwined with our sense of identity.
Personality denotes our unique pattern of reacting to situations, behaviours, thoughts and feelings. An individual’s personality is very unique to them and therefore it can vary from person to person.
Personality plays a crucial role in influencing the different ways in which we meet the needs of various situations in our lives. It defines how a person interacts with the world around them and its various challenges and situations.
Since it plays a crucial role in defining the responses of an individual, it also plays an important role in academics and career. Personality of a person has the power to change the course of things and also inadvertently influence their career choices, academic interests, their responses to both career related as well as academic challenges and tasks.
What is Personality Assessment?
Personality assessment is a form of qualitative testing tool for evaluating and measuring various aspects of an individual’s personality ranging from their thoughts, emotions, behaviors , interpersonal tendencies to how they would perceive and react to various emotionally evoking situations.
Personality assessment and its related tools are governed by certain foundational psychological theories that underpin personality assessment, including psychoanalytic, trait, behavioral and cognitive theories. Some of the key theories are:
Trait theory
It suggests that personality consists of a set of relatively stable traits or characteristics that differentiate individuals from one another. Assessments such as the Big Five originate from this theory.Psychodynamic theory
This theory, first given by Freud, emphasizes the role of unconscious processes and childhood experiences in shaping one’s personality. Assessments such as the inkblot test, thematic apperception are influenced by psychodynamic principles.Behavioural theory
Behavioural theory approaches focus on observable behaviours and environmental factors that influence those behaviours. Personality assessments in this segment may involve external behavioural observations or self-reporting tools.Cognitive theory
This theory focuses on individual differences in cognitive processes such as perception, memory, reasoning and how they influence behavior.Interactionist perspective
It integrates multiple theories and emphasizes on the dynamic interpersonal interactions between individuals, environmental factors and situational contexts over extended periods of time, in influencing the personality of an individual
Each of these theories provides roots to a certain metric, or tool of personality assessment.
Where each has its own scientific basis and accuracy.
The tools can range from self reporting inventories such as questionnaires where the scientific basis can be determined by the kind of questions that are being asked to the individual, with a varying degree of accuracy determined by the bias of the respondents to more standardized methods of assessment such as behavioral and biological observation tests whose scientific viability and accuracy can be determined by the generalizations being made before the respective tests by the professionals conducting the test.
Psychologists and professionals in the field have always strived to develop assessment tools that can balance accuracy pertaining to individuals rather than a grouped generalization and have high scientific validity.
Combining multiple methods of assessment and considering external factors in reporting can largely enhance the accuracy and scientific practicality of the assessment results.
Why is Personality Assessment Important?
Personality assessment is important for various reasons. It is first and foremost a crucial tool for understanding the intricacies of interpersonal human behavior and individual differences. Its significance spans across various aspects of life, offering several insights and understanding into our own life as well as that of others.
Let us look at why personality development is important from a deeper perspective:
Helps in understanding our Individual differences and unique traits
As stated before, personality assessment is a lens through which individuals can understand their own unique characteristics, why they feel a certain way, why they react a certain way to different situations and how they form connections. By exploring aspects of temperament, behavior patterns and emotional responses, individuals can develop a deeper understanding of what makes them distinct from others.
This awareness is in fact not just limited to the understanding of the self, but also promotes understanding and reciprocation of others around you. By recognising and respecting individual differences, we can navigate through social interactions more effectively and forge stronger connections with the people around us.
Helps in personalizing our academic organization and learning patterns
Personality assessment is also an emerging powerful tool in the realm of education as contemporary educational systems now lean more towards the direction of learning modules prepared according to the needs of the individuals. Imparting knowledge such as morality and emotional education requires personality assessment to play a pivotal role in the process, so that educators can gain valuable insights into students’ learning styles, preferences and strengths.
Using the insights gained, educators can create diverse content with instructional strategies, assignments and an inclusive environment for all temperaments of students. Educators can also incorporate visual aids, interactive activities and foster collaborative learning with online tools to promote an even more holistic learning approach.
Helps in understanding our interests
The point of personality assessments is to understand and assess our own individuality, and this can even extend into our various interests. Personality assessment offers individuals a window into their unique interests, hobbies, passions etc. and helps guide individuals towards activities and pursuits that align with their intrinsic motivations. Some people may develop a diverse genre of interests and some people may have only a single or two which they develop to the fullest.
Some people may also develop their interests as future careers while some like to keep their interests such as hobbies separate from means of livelihood. It is these factors of how we as individuals treat our interests and hobbies, how we culminate a sense of fulfillment and think about our overall well-being attached to them, is what one of the core purposes of personality assessment is.
Helps in getting a better understanding of our inner self, our needs and wants
Self-awareness is a key cornerstone of personal growth and self-fulfillment, and personality assessment is the mirror one can hold to reflect their innermost thoughts, feelings and motivations and understand their own selves better, hence gaining self awareness. And it is through this self awareness that the individual can understand their personality traits,values and aspirations, which shape their needs, desires, short term and long term goals.
Self awareness is also a very paramount component of personality development and therapy. An individual can only reform themselves and their way of life if they fully understand what leads them to take certain actions. Hence personality assessment helps nurture our inner self, honor our true desires and develop a purpose in life.
Helps in evolving our responses to various challenges and adversities
We all know, Life is full of challenges and adversities that test our patience and resilience at all times, whether it be problems related to our personal sphere or interpersonal sphere. Personality assessment equips us with valuable tools for navigating these obstacles effectively. By identifying our own strengths and weaknesses, we understand our own coping mechanisms, how one would respond to stress and strategies to solve problems.
It is all rooted in self awareness, and with this, we can develop proactive approaches to managing our stress, anxiety, adverse emotions etc. which allow us to come to amicable terms with difficult situations. Personality assessment helps us navigate life challenges with confidence and resilience.
-
Personal development
Personal development consists of self-discovery, growth and self improvement. It is a compass that guides the individuals on their own transformative journey. The role of personality assessment is to identify the traits of the individual which could serve as areas for growth and development. Mentors can then set meaningful and achievable goals, cultivate new skills, and expand horizons. Whether it’s enhancing emotional intelligence, developing leadership skills or fostering a growth mindset, personality assessment provides individuals with various insights into their own strengths and weaknesses for improvement.
This all happens through continuous self-reflection and learning along the way. Hence Personality assessment is an instrumental part of individuals unlocking the best versions of themselves.
Personnel selection in job settings
Modern workplaces have more to do than just traditional running-on-the-mill jobs. Selecting the right talent with the right level of soft skills apart from technical skills is paramount to organizational success. Almost all major companies as well as jobs carrying high threat and responsibilities such as in the military and aviation sector require individuals to go through rigorous personality assessment and development sessions, to identify and recruit the right employees whose traits align with the demands of the job, the culture of the organization and have the right amount of soft skills and emotional maturity to deal with difficult situations.
Personality assessment helps recruiters root out “red flags” which have personality clashes or behavioral tendencies which may impact individual performance or the work environment in the future. Personality assessment helps not just individuals grow, but also recruiters to hire the right candidates for their organization to build high-performing teams which foster innovation, collaboration and success.
Career choices
Choosing the right career path is a significant decision for any individual as one of their long term goals. Personality assessment serves as the right tool in this matter for career exploration and guidance, providing individuals with insights on careers that fit their strengths, interests and values.
By aligning our career choices with our personality traits and aspirations, individuals are able to pursue careers that truly resonate with their intrinsic motivations and feel a sense of self fulfillment in their lives. Whether you are seeking opportunities for advancement, transitioning to a new industry, wanting to improve your work ethic or make an informed future career/educational choice, personality assessment is paramount in helping you make a guided decision in all these subjects.
Helps in dealing with mental health issues
Mental health is a critical aspect of overall well-being, yet many individuals still struggle to understand and address their psychological needs on a daily basis. Personality assessment provides valuable insights into the same, helping individuals understand how their personal traits and behaviors impact mental health outcomes. It further enables mental health professionals to tailor interventions for individuals to address and understand their underlying psychological dynamics effectively.
Treating mental health issues such as mood disorders, anxiety attacks, personality disorders, sleep disorders etc. require professionals to understand the nuances of an individual’s personality and what sort of therapeutic approach to take for the individual. Personality assessment further helps individuals to understand their coping mechanisms, triggers, vulnerabilities and other unhealthy traits and adopt strategies for self care. It is an integral part of mental health improvement because it helps professionals provide personalized care solutions that address the needs of each individual.
Enhancing interpersonal relationships
Our social circle is an important cornerstone of our own well being. These interpersonal relationships and the experiences attached to them shape our quality of life, connections and our outlook of other individuals for a very long term. Personality assessment enhances interpersonal relationships by fostering empathy, communication, and mutual understanding amongst individuals. When individuals understand the intricacies of their own personality, they are able to recognise and appreciate the differences in other’s personalities as well.
Choosing the right social circle such as friendships with people consisting of matching aspirations, mindsets and level of understanding is important criterias of assessment for individuals looking to make meaningful long term connections. Personality assessment helps individuals identify compatible partners, friends and collaborators whose personality traits complement their own rather than clash, the latter in which case can degrade the experience the individuals have connecting with each other.
Types of Personality Assessment Tests
Personality assessment tests are varied in their approaches and their methods. However, every personality assessment test is effective and useful in assessing one’s personality based on their cognitive functions, introversion or extroversion, agreeableness and other factors.
A. Self Report
These are questionnaires designed to be answered by the respondents to measure aspects of their own personality and perceptions.
Self-reports provide information from the individual himself. These reports are best at understanding the first hand perspective of the individual and getting factual information that is personal and closest to one’s own understanding of themselves.
In the discipline of psychology, personality assessment tests can be divided into type based and trait based approaches based on self report. Here are two popular examples of each
Type based
Under type-based self reports, we have
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
MBTI is a widely popular personality assessment test that can be used by people of all ages. It is based on Carl Jung’s theory of Psychological types. It categorises individuals into one out of 16 personality types that are represented by a four letter code, each letter representing one part of the four dichotomies based on which side of the spectrum they lean more towards. Here’s the breakdown,
Extraversion( E )vs Introversion (I)
Denotes how individuals direct their social energy and interact with their social atmosphere. It distinguishes between those who get energized by socializing and those who require isolated time to recharge themselves.
Sensing (S) vs. intuition (N)
Differentiates Between those who focus on small details and sensory perceptions such as factual and concrete details(S) more and those who are better at the bigger picture, reading through the lines, abstract ideas, interpretations and free flowing concepts (N).
Thinking (T) vs Feeling (F)
The head vs the heart us a dilemma as old as time. This dichotomy categorises people based on whether they are leaning towards a more logical and rational approach to things, such as based on logical reasoning or facts (T) or a more emotional and sentimental approach to things, based on personal values. Basically, whether they listen to their brain or their heart more.
Judging (J) vs. perceiving (P)
Indicates whether a person is more structured and organized in their approach to life, schedules, activities or routines (J) or whether they follow a more spontaneous and flexible approach to their life (P)
Trait based
The Five factor model or Big Five
The Big Five is a very popular and widely used psychological framework to assess personality. It aims to measure personality based on five broad factors. These dimensions are often abbreviated as O.C.E.A.N.
- Openness to Experience
This dimension measures the extent to which an individual is open and welcoming towards new experiences, ideas, thoughts , beliefs and activities. This indicates the open-mindedness of an individual. People with high scores tend to be more creative and curious individuals, while low scorers tend to be more rigid and leaning towards familiarity. - Conscientiousness
People who score higher on conscientiousness are more organized, responsible, diligent and structured in their approach to life while people with low conscientiousness may be more spontaneous and less focused when it comes to goals and structure. - Extraversion
People who score high on extraversion are more sociable and energetic, they love tending to social events and activities and are more outgoing. They also enjoy being around people while those who score low on extraversion are more likely to prefer being alone or in smaller group interactions and are more reserved and quiet.
- Agreeableness
This dimension measures the level of cooperation, compassion, kindness, friendliness, empathetic understanding and generosity in individuals. Those who score high on agreeableness possess these skills, while those who score low on agreeableness are more likely to be perceived as ‘difficult’ or as emotionally unavailable. - Neuroticism
Neuroticism measures emotional stability and an individual’s resilience to stress and negative emotions. Individuals with high neuroticism are frequently anxious, worried , sad or stressed, while those low on neuroticism are more stable emotionally and do not experience as much of mood swings.
B. Projective Tests and Techniques
These tests involve presenting to the respondents ambiguous stimuli inducing objects such as inkblots or pictures and asking the respondents to evaluate their feelings and perceptions regarding what is presented to them.
Their scientific viability has been debated, as they lack consistent results and viability across different populations. Interpretations are largely based on subjective perspective and hence cannot be accounted for accuracy. An important example is the Rorschach Inkblot test.
Rorschach Inkblot Test
Rorschach Inkblot test is a projective psychological test developed by Hermann Rorschach that presents ambiguous images to interpret an individual’s emotional functioning and personality test based on their appraisal of the image that is created by spreading inkblots on a paper and then folding it.
C. Behavioural Assessment.
Analyzing individual behaviour of participants can also help in getting a better idea of their personality. This can be done based on
Direct observation
Direct observation of individual mannerisms, speech content, actions and other behavioral traits can help in understanding a person’s personality. This can be either practiced in the form of self observation or social observation.
Behaviour rating scales
These are tools that are used to gather information about an individual’s behaviour, traits and characteristics based on observation by other people. These scales measure behaviour traits with the use of and ranking and ratings made by observers who are familiar with the individual. Some of the popular ones are BASIS-32 ( Behaviour and Symptom Identification Scale), CBCL ( Child Behaviour Checklist), BASC (Behaviour Assessment system for Children) amongst others.
D. Interviews
Structured or semi structured interviews are another tool to assess the perceptions and emotions of individuals by engaging in conversation with the respondent.
Examples of the same are clinical interview, structured diagnostic interview and personal interviews.
Their scientific viability depends on standardization, adherence to interview protocols and reliability.
Accuracy in this case can be influenced by several factors such as interviewer bias, response style, rapport etc.
E. Personality Inventories
Personality Inventories are structured and organized assessments that measure the various aspects and dimensions of personality. Here are the examples of the two most popular personality inventories in the field of psychology
Cattel’s 16PF inventory
Developed by Raymon ld B. Cattell, The 16 Personality Factors inventory is an extensive test that helps in measuring different aspects of personality. It is a comprehensive test that delves into the 16 primary factors such as warmth, reasoning, emotional stability, dominance, and other aspects that contribute and influence an individual’s personality. This then provides an accurate and in depth understanding of individuals and their personality traits.
Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory (mmpi)
The MMPI is an extremely popular and trusted personality inventory that is used to assess the personality of individuals. It was originally designed for clinical purposes and assessment. The results are often expressed in terms of clinical scales, thus, there are versions of mmpi for adults and adolescents separately. It also provides insights into areas like anxiety, paranoia, depression and others.
