Personality Psychology - Personality Tests

Personality Tests

There are two major types of personality tests. Projective tests assume personality is primarily unconscious and assess an individual by how he or she responds to an ambiguous stimulus, like an ink blot. The idea is unconscious needs will come out in the person's response, e.g. an aggressive person may see images of destruction. Objective tests assume personality is consciously accessible and measure it by self-report questionnaires. Research on psychological assessment has generally found objective tests are more valid and reliable than projective tests. Critics have pointed to the Forer effect to suggest some of these appear to be more accurate and discriminating than they really are.

Read more about this topic:  Personality Psychology

Famous quotes containing the words personality and/or tests:

    Western man represents himself, on the political or psychological stage, in a spectacular world-theater. Our personality is innately cinematic, light-charged projections flickering on the screen of Western consciousness.
    Camille Paglia (b. 1947)

    Letters have to pass two tests before they can be classed as good: they must express the personality both of the writer and of the recipient.
    —E.M. (Edward Morgan)