Personality Assessment Techniques
By Robbyn Raquel Wallace / RRW
Before personality is assessed, it should be understood. Personality could be viewed as patterns of implicit cognitions and explicit behaviors that are unique to each individual at any given time, yet can be manipulated and/or changed by internal processes and/or external variables—i.e. realization or having a baby. Personality is impacted by the dynamics of—and between such factors as—life-experiences, biological make-up and cultural identity; thus, the formation of coping strategies or lack there of. From many perspectives, personality is viewed as being manipulated by concepts such as self-esteem, self-concept, or self-image. From a Rogarian perspective, individuals are governed by an organismic valuing process throughout the lifespan defining the evaluation process of the individual by their subjective perception. Therefore, essentially if an individual has a low self-esteem it may cause that individual's perception of any given experience to have a more negative tone, which—when chronic—can lead to such problems as anti-social behavior or oppositional defiance disorder among others. On the other hand, the higher one's level of positive self-regard, it is more likely that individual received more positive regard from their parents or caregivers. Conceptually, these concepts can be intense manipulating forces throughout a lifespan, which would cause fluctuations with the individual's personality. The notion of coping is, generally speaking, the personality handling stress. In other words, coping is a strain on personality subsequently increasing potential of negative expression or dysfunction. An important aspect of personality dysfunction is the impairment of perception and subjective reasoning. (Panayiotou, Kokkinos, & Kapsou, 2014)
Techniques used to assess personality utilize either objective—structured instruments or assessments such as Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI)—or projective—such as when clients are asked “to describe, tell a story, or respond in some way to relatively unstructured stimuli” (Whiston, 2013, p. 207). Projective techniques are considered more ambiguous, whereas objective techniques are usually more obvious. Projective techniques are thought to provide an avenue to detect malingering or faking, to confirm or not a suspicion or doubt of whether a client is being truthful. It is thought this allows client’s to project their personalities as they respond (Whiston, 2013). However, some instruments, such as the PAI, are gaining notoriety in specific scales ability to detect malingering or faking (Rios & Morey, 2013) making it clear that it is more about clinician preference and substitution—for various reasons the clinician uses formal assessment to either confirm or disapprove diagnosis and to inform treatment rather than rely solely on analysis of available client data and observation impressions. Formal assessments quickly elicit specific client information aimed at achieving quicker diagnosis and access to appropriate treatment plan. This rings especially true in the age of managed care, when everything has to be approved and to be approved the assessment must be essential to care. The most enduring and important way to understand a client’s personality is observation, as stated above. Yet, there are many clients who could benefit from formal assessment, which can inform clinical decisions—especially with children. Assessments can provide a shortcut to identification of client issues or problems (Whiston, 2013). Assessment also has value in many other fields such as academic, career or employment based, etc., and when reliable and valid can provide individual data that is valuable in making informed decisions in the respective fields—specifically value to clinical judgment. As new client information emerges through interaction and observation, but sometimes formal assessment is considered—such as needing to assess a client for post-traumatic stress disorder so that specific treatment interventions can be discussed and considered. It can provide an understanding of how the client differs across dimensions—such as how clients react, whether consciously or subconsciously, in different situations or does client have a set pattern of coping strategies—when responding to psychological distress. (Panayiotou, Kokkinos, & Kapsou, 2014)
In a rural area, community mental health clinicians generally use observation but only have access to resources according to budget and managed care approval. Projective techniques along with good observation and analytical skills, when used properly, can provide a wealth of information if the clinician has sufficient knowledge and specific direction. Also, simple verbal checklist may be useful as well. Information-gathering is an integral part of good treatment planning. Clinicians should take great care in not assuming based off limited information though, as people are multi-dimensional and complicated beings and some may be overly-sensitive with destructive insecurities in their subjective perception leading to anticipation of not being heard or understood—potentially triggered easily. Our calm presence can sometimes be the very thing that catapults positive growth in a client.
References:
Panayiotou, G., Kokkinos, C. M., & Kapsou, M. (2014). Indirect and direct associations between personality and psychological distress mediated by dispositional coping. Journal of Psychology, 148(5), 549-567. doi:10.1080/00223980.2013.817375
Rios, J., & Morey, L. C. (2013). Detecting feigned ADHD in later adolescence: An examination of three PAI–A negative distortion indicators. Journal of Personality Assessment, 95(6), 594-599. doi:10.1080/00223891.2013.821071
Whiston, S.C. (2013). Principals & applications of assessment in counseling. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
By Robbyn Raquel Wallace / RRW
Before personality is assessed, it should be understood. Personality could be viewed as patterns of implicit cognitions and explicit behaviors that are unique to each individual at any given time, yet can be manipulated and/or changed by internal processes and/or external variables—i.e. realization or having a baby. Personality is impacted by the dynamics of—and between such factors as—life-experiences, biological make-up and cultural identity; thus, the formation of coping strategies or lack there of. From many perspectives, personality is viewed as being manipulated by concepts such as self-esteem, self-concept, or self-image. From a Rogarian perspective, individuals are governed by an organismic valuing process throughout the lifespan defining the evaluation process of the individual by their subjective perception. Therefore, essentially if an individual has a low self-esteem it may cause that individual's perception of any given experience to have a more negative tone, which—when chronic—can lead to such problems as anti-social behavior or oppositional defiance disorder among others. On the other hand, the higher one's level of positive self-regard, it is more likely that individual received more positive regard from their parents or caregivers. Conceptually, these concepts can be intense manipulating forces throughout a lifespan, which would cause fluctuations with the individual's personality. The notion of coping is, generally speaking, the personality handling stress. In other words, coping is a strain on personality subsequently increasing potential of negative expression or dysfunction. An important aspect of personality dysfunction is the impairment of perception and subjective reasoning. (Panayiotou, Kokkinos, & Kapsou, 2014)
Techniques used to assess personality utilize either objective—structured instruments or assessments such as Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI)—or projective—such as when clients are asked “to describe, tell a story, or respond in some way to relatively unstructured stimuli” (Whiston, 2013, p. 207). Projective techniques are considered more ambiguous, whereas objective techniques are usually more obvious. Projective techniques are thought to provide an avenue to detect malingering or faking, to confirm or not a suspicion or doubt of whether a client is being truthful. It is thought this allows client’s to project their personalities as they respond (Whiston, 2013). However, some instruments, such as the PAI, are gaining notoriety in specific scales ability to detect malingering or faking (Rios & Morey, 2013) making it clear that it is more about clinician preference and substitution—for various reasons the clinician uses formal assessment to either confirm or disapprove diagnosis and to inform treatment rather than rely solely on analysis of available client data and observation impressions. Formal assessments quickly elicit specific client information aimed at achieving quicker diagnosis and access to appropriate treatment plan. This rings especially true in the age of managed care, when everything has to be approved and to be approved the assessment must be essential to care. The most enduring and important way to understand a client’s personality is observation, as stated above. Yet, there are many clients who could benefit from formal assessment, which can inform clinical decisions—especially with children. Assessments can provide a shortcut to identification of client issues or problems (Whiston, 2013). Assessment also has value in many other fields such as academic, career or employment based, etc., and when reliable and valid can provide individual data that is valuable in making informed decisions in the respective fields—specifically value to clinical judgment. As new client information emerges through interaction and observation, but sometimes formal assessment is considered—such as needing to assess a client for post-traumatic stress disorder so that specific treatment interventions can be discussed and considered. It can provide an understanding of how the client differs across dimensions—such as how clients react, whether consciously or subconsciously, in different situations or does client have a set pattern of coping strategies—when responding to psychological distress. (Panayiotou, Kokkinos, & Kapsou, 2014)
In a rural area, community mental health clinicians generally use observation but only have access to resources according to budget and managed care approval. Projective techniques along with good observation and analytical skills, when used properly, can provide a wealth of information if the clinician has sufficient knowledge and specific direction. Also, simple verbal checklist may be useful as well. Information-gathering is an integral part of good treatment planning. Clinicians should take great care in not assuming based off limited information though, as people are multi-dimensional and complicated beings and some may be overly-sensitive with destructive insecurities in their subjective perception leading to anticipation of not being heard or understood—potentially triggered easily. Our calm presence can sometimes be the very thing that catapults positive growth in a client.
References:
Panayiotou, G., Kokkinos, C. M., & Kapsou, M. (2014). Indirect and direct associations between personality and psychological distress mediated by dispositional coping. Journal of Psychology, 148(5), 549-567. doi:10.1080/00223980.2013.817375
Rios, J., & Morey, L. C. (2013). Detecting feigned ADHD in later adolescence: An examination of three PAI–A negative distortion indicators. Journal of Personality Assessment, 95(6), 594-599. doi:10.1080/00223891.2013.821071
Whiston, S.C. (2013). Principals & applications of assessment in counseling. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
