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There are several disadvantages to self-report inventories as well:
- Self-report inventories often contain transparent questions, which means subjects can figure out what a psychologist wants to measure. Therefore, subjects can lie intentionally and fake personality traits they don’t really have. Researchers who develop tests address this problem by including lie scales in tests, which provide information about the likelihood that a subject is lying.
- The social desirability bias can affect responses on self-report inventories. In other words, when filling out an inventory, people might state what they wish were true, rather than what is true. Test developers can minimize this bias by dropping questions that are likely to evoke it.
- People sometimes don’t understand the questions on the test. Test developers try to address this issue by wording questions very clearly so that they have only one possible interpretation.
- People sometimes don’t remember aspects of the experience they are asked about.
Projective Personality Tests
Projective personality tests require subjects to respond to ambiguous stimuli, such as pictures and phrases, that can be interpreted in many different ways. Projective tests are based on the projective hypothesis, which is the idea that people interpret ambiguous stimuli in ways that reveal their concerns, needs, conflicts, desires, and feelings.
Clinical psychologists and researchers often use two projective tests: the Rorschach test and the Thematic Apperception Test.
The Rorschach Test
The Rorschach test consists of a series of ten inkblots. Psychologists ask subjects to look at the inkblots and describe what they see, and the psychologists then use complex scoring systems to interpret the subjects’ responses. Scores are based on various characteristics of responses, such as the originality of the response and the area of the blot described in the response. The Rorschach gives psychologists information about the subject’s personality traits and the situational stresses the subject may be experiencing.
The Thematic Apperception Test
The Thematic Apperception Test(TAT) consists of a series of pictures containing a variety of characters and scenes. Psychologists ask subjects to make up stories about each picture and look for themes that run through the subjects’ responses. For example, a person with a high need for achievement may consistently come up with stories that have achievement-related themes.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Projective Tests
Projective tests are useful because they allow psychologists to assess unconscious aspects of personality. Projective tests are also not transparent: subjects cannot figure out how their responses will be interpreted. Therefore, subjects cannot easily fake personality traits on a projective test.
A serious disadvantage of projective tests is that they have questionable reliability and validity. Despite this flaw, many researchers and clinicians find that such tests give them useful information.
Assessment Centers
Assessment centers allow psychologists to assess personality in specific situations. In assessment centers, subjects are made to face situations in which they must use particular types of traits and skills, and their performance is then assessed. Assessment centers work on the well-accepted idea that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior in similar situations. For example, a corporation may select a person for a managerial position by placing candidates in a simulated managerial situation for half a day and assessing their performance.
Assessment centers are useful for selecting personnel for positions of responsibility because they predict how people will act in challenging situations. However, assessment centers are expensive and time consuming.
