PERSONALITY (Notes)

Q1. Define personality by Allport.

Ans. According to Allport, Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those
psychological systems that determine his unique adjustments to the environment.
Q2. Define the following terms :
Ans.
 Temperament : Biologically based characteristic way of reacting.
 Trait : Stable, persistent and specific way of behaving.
 Disposition : Tendency of a person to react to a given situation in a particular way.
 Character : The overall pattern of regularly occurring behaviour.
 Habit : Over learned modes of behaving.
 Values : Goals and ideals that are considered important and worthwhile to achieve.
Q3. Explain the theory given by Erik Erikson.
or
explain the psycho-social stages of development.
Ans. According to Erikson, we move through eight stages of psychosocial development during our
lives. each stage centres around a specific crisis or conflict between competing tendencies.
If individuals negotiate each of these hurdles successfully then only they can continue to develop
in a normal, healthy manner.
(learn the table 9.1 given in your textbook in the chapter "Human development".)
Conclusion :
According to Erik Erickson, during Adolescence it is crucial that these questions must be answered
effectively. if not then individuals may become uncertain of where they want to go or what they
want to accomplish.
Q4. Explain the theory given by Maslow.
Ans.
 Maslow’s theory of needs hierarchy suggests that human needs exist in a hierarchy,
ranging from physiological needs on the bottom, through safety needs, social needs,
esteem needs, and finally self-actualization need at the top.
 According to Maslow, lower order needs must be satisfied before we can turn to more
complex, higher-order needs.
 Maslow believes that psychologically heathy individuals are those who have attained high
levels of self-actualization – a state in which they have reached their fullest true potential.
 Self-actualized people accept themselves for what they are, they recognise their
shortcomings as well their strengths. They are well aware of the rules imposed by the
society, but feel greater freedom to ignore them than most persons.
 Self-actualized persons sometimes have peak experiences – instances in which they have
powerful feelings of unity with the universe and feel tremendous waves of power and
wonder. Such experiences appear to be linked with personal growth.
Q 5. Explain the five-factor model of Costa and McCrae.
Ans.
 Paul Costa and Robert McCrae have done extensive research on all the possible
personality traits, they found that all the findings indicate a set of five – factors.
They are often called ‘Big Five Factors’. They are as follows :

1. Openness to experience : those who score high on this factor are imaginative,
curious, open to new ideas and interested in cultural pursuits. In contrast, low
scoring persons are rigid.
2. Extroversion : it characterises people who are socially active, assertive, outgoing,
talkative and fun loving. Low scoring persons are shy, timid and socially withdrawn.
3. Agreeableness : it represents the traits of people who are helpful, cooperative,
friendly, caring and nurturing. Low scoring people are hostile and self-centred.
4. Neuroticism : people scoring high on this factor are emotionally unstable,
anxious, worried and fearful. Low scoring people are emotionally stable and well
adjusted.
5. Conscientiousness : High scoring people are achievement oriented, dependable,
responsible and hardworking. Low scoring people are impulsive.
 It has been found in many researches that these factors are indeed very basic ones
and are found to be used in many different cultures to describe one’s personality.
Q6. Explain the Social Cognitive theory of Bandura.
Ans.
 In his Social Cognitive Theory, Bandura places great emphasis on the concept of
self-system – the cognitive processes by which a person perceives, evaluates and
regulates his or her own behaviour so that it is appropriate in a given situation.
 Bandura also believes that people engage in self- reinforcement, patting
themselves when they attain their goals. They have self-set goals and meeting
these goals allows them to engage in self- reinforcement.
 Bandura’s theory emphasises on Observational learning – a form of learning in
which individuals acquire both information and new forms of behaviour from
observing others. Such learnings paly a key role in a wide range of human activities.
 Bandura states that people have beliefs about themselves that they can perform
some behaviours or task successfully which is called Self efficacy. It plays a key role
in success on many tasks like health, personal happiness and life satisfaction.
 Research findings also indicate that people form general expectations about their
abilities to succeed at many tasks or to exert control over the events in their lives.
Such generalized beliefs are stable overtime, and these can be viewed as an
important aspect of personality.
Q7. What are self-report inventories/questionnaires ? state their uses.
Ans. Self-report inventories/ questionnaires are such measures which contain questions or
statements to which individuals respond in various ways. Persons taking the test simply indicate
the extent to which they agree or disagree with each item. They are also known as, Objective
tests. They use a procedure known as empirical keying.
They are easy techniques of assessing personality of an individual and can be used to collect data
for a large number of people.
Q8. What are projective techniques?
Ans. Projective techniques are based on the projective hypothesis, derived from Freud’s
personality theory. They intend to provide access to unconscious impulses and other aspects of
personality of which the test takers themselves may not be aware. These tests use stimuli such as
inkblots or pictures.
PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT

1. MINNESOTA MULTIPHASIC PERSONALITY INVENTORY (MMPI)

Purpose : The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory is a clinical test which was designed to
identify people with tendencies toward certain psychological disorders such as depression,
paranoia, etc.

History : It was developed in 1937 by Hathaway and McKinley. The test items were originally
developed by selecting questions that have been taken by the people diagnosed with different
mental health conditions.

The revised edition of the test was released in 1989 as the MMPI-2.

Description/Administration :

 The MMPI originally contained 566 statements but the revised edition MMPI-2 contains
576 items and takes approximately 60 to 90 minutes to complete. The subject has to judge
each statement as 'true' or 'false' for her/him.
 The test was constructed with an empirical approach.
 The test is divided into 10 sub-scales - Hypochondriasis, Depression, Hysteria, Psychopathic
deviate, Masculinity-femineity, Paranoia, Psychasthenia, Schizophrenia, Mania and Social
introversion. (page no. 414)
 It also has several validity scales, designed to measure whether and to what extent people
are trying to fake their answers.

Scoring :

 Grades on each scale are obtained in a range of T-score from 0 - 120.

 50 is considered as the mean score and people falling between 30 and 70 are considered
normal.
 A t-score greater than 70 indicates psychopathy in that category/scale.
 To interpret the test, the psychologists look at the total profile. The information from the
validity scales is considered as well.

Uses :

 It is used to assess personality traits and psychopathology in individuals.

 It can be used to assess psychological stability in workers in 'high risk' professions such as
airline pilots, police or workers in nuclear power industry.
2. RORSCHACH INKBLOT TEST

Purpose : This projective test was developed by Hermann Rorschach. It was used as research tool
to reveal unconscious aspects of personality.

History : Rorschach was interested in Klecksography which involves creating inkblots and making
up stories and poems about them. while working in a psychiatric hospital, Rorschach noticed that
patients with Schizophrenia responded to the inkblots differently from normal patients. So,
inspired by this, Rorschach developed a systematic approach to using inkblots as an assessment
tool.

Description/ Administration :

 The test consists of 10 cards with inkblots. 5 of them are in black and white, 2 with some
red ink and the remaining 3 in some pastel colours.
 Subjects are presented cards one at a time and asked questions such as, “what might this
be?” or “what does this remind you of?”.
 The first phase of the test is called the “free-association phase’ and the second phase is
called the ‘inquiry phase’.
 A detailed report on the responses is prepared. On an average it takes 1.5 hours to
administer and score the test.

Scoring :

 Several methods for scoring Rorschach have been proposed. Most combine objective and
subjective procedures.
 One example of an objective approach might be counting the number of times the subject
responded to only a part of the blot as compared to integrating all the parts of the blot in
one response.
 In the subjective approach, the ‘content’ and ‘style of response’ becomes the basis for the
interpreter.
 If one or more themes emerge on several blots, the tester might take a note and judge that
theme to be of special significance and meaning for the subject.

Uses : It is used as a tool to ensure accuracy and consistency when making a psychological
diagnosis.

it can also be used to examine a person's personality characteristics and emotional functioning.

3. THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST (TAT)

Purpose : It was developed to identify people’s basic needs by having them tell stories.

History : The test was developed by Morgan and Murray in 1938. It is based on Murray’s theory of
needs.

Description/ Procedure :
  The tester presents a series of pictures and asks the subject to make up a story about -
what is happening, what went before, what is going to happen, what the people involved
are thinking and feeling.
 It includes a standard set of 30 pictures but, the tester selects pictures involving themes of
special significance to the test taker.
 The test is built on the assumption that people’s stories reveal important aspects of their
needs and self -perceptions as well as their views about “significant others” in their lives.

Scoring :

 The popular scoring systems include : Defense Mechanism Manual (DMM), Social
Cognition and Object Relation (SCOR), Personal Problem Solving System (PPSS).
 All the scoring systems try to look for the themes that surface several times in response
to several different pictures.

Uses :

 It is used to identify the needs and personality of an individual as a whole.

 It is also used to reveal individual’s perception of interpersonal relationships.

Q12. Discuss the method of Behavioural Analysis for assessing personality.

Ans: A person’s behaviour in a variety of situations can provide us with meaningful information
about her/his personality. Following methods can be used to analyse behaviour:
1. Interview : it involves talking to the person being assessed and asking specific questions.
Interviews may be structured or unstructured depending on the purpose or goals of
assessment.
2. Observation : this method requires careful training of the observer and a fairly detailed
guideline about analysis of behaviour in order to assess personality of a given person.
These observations are carefully designed and give considerable insights into an
individual’s personality.
3. Behavioural ratings : they are frequently used to assess personality in educational and
industrial settings. They are generally taken from the individuals who know the person
being assessed and have interacted with him/her over a period of time. They attempt to
put the person in certain categories in terms of their behavioural characteristics.
This method has major limitations like – hallo effect, middle category bias, extreme
response bias).
4. Nomination : it is used in obtaining peer assessment. Each person is asked to choose one
or more persons of the group with whom s/he would like to work, study, play or
participate in any activity. The person may also be asked to specify the reason for his/her
choices.
5. Situational tests : the most commonly used test of this kind is the Situational Stress Test. It
provides us with information about how a person behaves under stressful situations. The
test requires a person to perform a given task with other persons who are instructed to be
non-cooperative and interfering. It involves a kind of role playing.