The Personality Assessment

Last Updated on May 18, 2021 by

Personality assessments among the psychological tests available are one of the most preferred by clinicians, employers and researchers. These tests can help determine an individual’s specific traits and characteristics to understand them better. Better communication, discussions and long-lasting relationships are possible when an individual has an insight into others’ personality. Personality assessments can create a better treatment plan to understand the individual’s personality.

Comorbidity refers to two or more disorders co-occurring in the same personality assessments. For instance, if an individual is diagnosed with both major depressive disorder (MDD) and Social anxiety disorder (SAD), they are said to have comorbidity. Psychological disorders can also co-occur with medical illnesses when it comes to personality assessments.

Personality assessments and testing can be defined as techniques designed to measure traits people exhibit across various situations. These tests can guide therapeutic interventions and help predict how individuals may respond in some instances, and aid clinical diagnosis. 

The use of personality assessments and evaluations is employed in treatment plans. This helps therapists and psychologist give a proper review of an individual’s personality. 

There Are Many Types of Personality Assessments

The American Psychological Association stated that Personality assessments involve the scoring, administration, and interpretation of “empirically supported measures of personality traits and styles” to inform and structure interventions, increase the accuracy of behavioral prediction in various context and settings, and refine the clinical diagnosis. These Personality assessments are specifically designed to identify specific characteristics of one’s personality and an overall picture of the person. Well, known tests like the Rorschach Inkblot test and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) are two such personality assessments that can benefit the psychologist and the individual.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

This is a personality assessments that tests psychopathology and personality traits. MMPI-2 is primarily intended to test individuals suspected of having mental health disorders or other clinical issues. There are different forms of MMPI-2. The MMPI-2 contains 567true/false questions. MMPI-2-RF contains 338 true/incorrect personality assessments. However, MMPI-2 is still the more widely used form because of its familiarity among psychologists and extensive research.

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory is a protected psychological instrument, which can only be given and interpreted by a psychologist.

MMPI-2 contains ten clinical subscales that assess four validity scales (which assess whether the test is taken seriously and whether the answers are accurate) and ten major categories of abnormal human behavior personality assessments. Ten medical subscales comprise social introversion, major depression, megalomania, neurosis, psychopathy, panic attacks, gender, hallucinosis, and psychasthenic personality assessments.

The Four Validity Scales of MMPI Are :

• F: This scale is intended to detect unusual ways of answering the test items. If a person answers too many F and Fb scale items wrongly, it will invalidate the whole test.
• Lie: This scale identifies individuals who purposely try to avoid answering the MMPI truthfully. The Lie scale measures attitudes and practices that are culturally commendable; this is rarely found in most individuals. The makers of these items often attempt to make themselves appear more like good people than personality assessments. This scale contains fifteen items.
• K: This scale is designed to identify psychopathology in individuals who otherwise would have profiles within the normal range. It measures family, interpersonal relationships and self-control. Those who score highly on this scale are frequently perceived as defensive personality assessments. The scale contains thirty items.
• Back F: This scale measures the same issues as the F scale, except only during the last half of the test. The scale contains forty items.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

This is a type of projective personality assessments often utilized to assess emotional and personality functioning. Inkblot test is the second most used forensic test after MMPI-2.

How the Rorschach Inkblot Test Works:

• It is essential to understand what the test consists of and how it is administered.
• This test consists of ten inkblot images. Some of which are white, grey, black or colored.
• A psychiatrist or psychologist who has been trained adequately in the use of scoring and interpretation of the test shows each of the test cards to the participant. 
• The subject is then asked to depict what they think the card looks like.
• The subject is permitted to hold the cards in any position of their choice, whether sideways or upside down.
• The participants are free to interpret the ambiguous image; however, they like.
• The subjects may also respond in any way they want. They may say that they see several things, one thing or nothing at all.
• Participants can focus on the image as a whole, on specific aspects of the image, or even the white space that surrounds the image.
• Once the participant has responded, the psychologist will then ask additional questions to get the individual to explain their initial impressions further.
• The psychologist also records the reactions on a large number of variables, such as whether the participant looked at the entire image. These reactions are then interpreted and compiled into a profile of the subject.

Some of The Things Interpreters Are Looking at Include:

1. How Participants Describe the Image: There are specific responses common on each card, so interpreters include a code that identifies such responses.
2. How Long They Take to Respond: When a respondent takes a long time to answer, it often means they are shocked by what they see.
3. Factors are Known as Determinants: These factors include form, color, shading and location, that generate a response. 
4. Unrelated or Extra comments: These refers to any extra comment made that is not part of the primary response.
5. The Originality or Popularity of The Responses Given: Highly atypical Responses are notable since they might indicate disturbances in thought patterns. Some reactions are pretty standard, while others may be more unique.

Inkblot tests can diagnose schizophrenia, schizotypal personality disorder, and bipolar disorder personality assessments. It has been shown in various studies that reactions to the inkblot do not appear to be related to anxiety disorders, major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, narcissistic personality disorders, antisocial personality disorders, conduct disorders, or dependent personality disorders from personality tests.

Inblok tests are primarily used in counselling and psychotherapy. Users usually use it to obtain qualitative information regarding how they function and feel, and that helps them formulate personality assessments. The client and therapist can then explore some of these issues during therapy.

Other Personality Assessments Types Include:

• Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This Personality assessments method may perhaps be the most remarkable and widely used instrument for personality testing. Employers often perform this for matching employees to specific teams or departments. According to the Myers & Briggs Foundation, this test helps in understanding and applying C. F. Jung’s theories. G. Jung. This step divides people into sixteen distinct personality assessments types established on eight traits. 

1. Extraversion or Introversion (E or I): Behavioral responses to personality assessments describe how individuals interact with them. Extroverts are referred to as out-ward turning and tend to enjoy more frequent social interaction, feel energized after spending time with other people and are action-oriented. Introverts are referred to as inward-turning, and they tend to feel recharged after spending time alone, enjoy deep and meaningful social interactions and are thought-oriented. At one point or the other, we all exhibit introversion and extraversion to some extent. However, most of us tend to favor one personality assessments over the other.
2. Sensing or Intuition (S or I): These scales define how individuals gather information from the world around them. Depending on personality assessments, every individual spends time sensing and intuiting. Individuals who prefer sensing tend to pay a great deal of attention to the real world, especially to learn with their senses. Individuals who prefer intuition pay more attention to things like impressions and patterns. Their love of the future, abstract theories, and possibilities brings them into personality tests.
3. Thinking or Feeling (T or F): This scales focuses on how individuals make decisions based on the information they have gathered from their sensing or intuition functions. People who prefer thinking place a greater emphasis on objective data and facts in their personality assessments. They are consistent, impersonal and logical when making decisions. People who like feelings are more likely to consider individuals and emotions when making decisions.
4. Judging or Perceiving (J or P): This scale involves how people deal with the outside world. Judging personality assessments tends to be a preference of those who value structure and firm decisions. Individuals who lean towards perceiving are more flexible, adaptable and open.

• Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). One of the most widely used personality assessments is the Thematic Apperception Test. TAT is a type of assessment that involves describing vague scenes. This evaluation method is known as the picture interpretation technique. A TAT is used to learn about a person, analyze psychological conditions, help screen job candidates, determine if an individual matches a crime suspect’s profile, and help people express their feelings in personality assessments.

These are only a few of the personality tests available. Particularly if you are affected by a mental illness, substance abuse problem or both, these personality assessments can prove beneficial to your well-being. Trained and experienced practitioners can help determine if any underlying mental health concerns are cause for specific actions and, by doing so, can develop a recovery plan that is suitable for you.

Using the experts at FRN, you can find out if your actions are caused by any underlying mental health concerns and develop a plan that’s best suited for you. Get in touch with us today by calling 615-490-9376 to find out more about our options on personality assessments.