Transcript General

Objective Personality Tests
Examples of uni-dimensional traits
Surveys
Locus of Control
 Type A/B
 Tolerance of Ambiguity
 Need for Cognition
 Bem Sex-Role Inventory
 Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ)

Locus of Control
Julian Rotter
 1966
 Internal vs External
 Control of reinforcement
 Internal = own action determines rewards
 External = rewards determined by luck, fate,
chance

Type A/B
Friedman and Jordan
 1950s
 Type A = ambitious, rigidly organized,
highly status conscious, sensitive, truthful,
impatient, try to help others, meet deadlines,
multi-task
 Type B = apathetic, patient, relaxed, easygoing, no sense of time schedule, poor
organizational skills

Tolerance for Ambiguity
MSTAT - Multiple Stimulus Types
Ambiguity Tolerance
 David McLain 1993
 “ability to tolerate contradictory and
incalculable information”
 Trait or state?

Need for Cognition
Cacioppo and Petty
 1982
 “tendency for an individual to engage in and
enjoy thinking”

Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI)
Sandra Bem
 1974
 Masculine and feminine traits
 20 m traits, 20 f, 20 “distractors”
 Gender roles = how people identify
themselves psychologically

Bem “alternatives”
Gender Traits Test – link
 Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ)
 Spence, Helmreich and Stapp – 1974
 Instrumental and expressive characteristics

Examples of uni-dimensional traits
Behavioral
Impulsive/Reflective (Kagan - Matching
familiar figures)
 Field Dependent/Independent (Witkin embedded figures)

Impulsive/Reflective
Matching Familiar Figures – (MFF)
 Jerome Kagan – 1965
 Based on time to react
 Slower, more accurate = reflective
 Faster, less accurate = impulsive
Field Dependent/Independent
Embedded Figures Test – (EFT)
Herman Witkin – 1950’s
Field Dependent
– has trouble finding geometric shape
embedded in background = very interpersonal,
reads social cues well, openly convey own
feelings. Women more likely field dependent
Field independent
– readily finds geometric shape regardless of
background = has internal frame of
reference, imposes own sense of order on
situation lacking structure, impersonal and
task oriented, separate own self identity
from field. Men frequently field
independent.