Assessing Personality: Projective Methods

Elena Čėsnaitė, PSbd8-01

Contents

 Personality  Personality tests  Projective personality tests  Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)  Rorschach test  Conclusion

Personality



Personality

can be defined as a dynamic and organized set of characteristics possessed by a person.



Personality

arises from within the individual and remains fairly consistent throughout life.

Personality tests

 There are two major types of personality tests. 

Projective

tests assume personality as primarily unconscious and assess an individual by how he or she responds to an ambiguous stimulus. 

Objective

tests assume personality as consciously accessible and measured by self-report questionnaires.

Projective personality tests

 The projective personality tests claim to measure your underlying personality traits, fears, anxieties and attitudes.  They are the most ambiguous in their structure, interpretations and philosophy.  Many employers use them to apply suitability or even reject for some particular job.

 Obscure series of cartoons, pictures, ink blots and incomplete sentences are used as projective techniques.  The proponents of projective personality tests believe that you ‘project’ to these ambiguous stimuli from your sub consciousness .



Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

TAT

has been among the most widely used, researched, and taught projective psychological tests.  The TAT is popularly known as the

picture interpretation technique

.  The subject is asked to tell as dramatic a story as he can.

 Sometimes it is used in a psychiatric or psychological context to assess personality disorders, thought disorders.

 The large number of research studies that have used the TAT have indicated that cultural, gender, and class issues must be taken into account.

Rorschach test

 Hermann Rorschach created Rorschach inkblot test in 1921.

 Psychologists use this test to examine a person's personality characteristics and emotional functioning.  It has been employed to detect an underlying thought disorder, especially in cases where patients are reluctant to describe their thinking processes openly.

Method

 Ten official inkblots, each printed on a separate white card.

 Five inkblots are of black ink, two are of black and red ink and three are multicolored, on a white background.

 The subject is asked to note where he sees what he originally saw and what makes it look like that.

 As the subject is examining the inkblots, the psychologist writes down everything the subject says or does, no matter how trivial.

What do you see?

What is a bad response?

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76UXSdU VuLk

Conclusion

  Projective personality tests are widely used in assessing personality.

It shouldn’t be forgotten that there are also many differences between cultures and genders.

 It is hard to determine abnormalities.

Thank you

References

      * http://beethecracker.deviantart.com/art/be-my-eyes 140923240 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_psychology#Pers onality_tests http://psychology.about.com/od/overviewofpersonality/a/ persondef.htm

http://www.personality-and-aptitude-career tests.com/projective-personality-tests.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorschach_test http://www.minddisorders.com/Py-Z/Thematic Apperception-Test.html

Picture references

     http://redpublic.deviantart.com/art/The-Mask-65867925 http://gilad.deviantart.com/art/Meeting-New-Faces-55529876 http://mehmeturgut.deviantart.com/art/sahiler-dus-dusler-sahi-II 136658031 http://2.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kq8fs9AjTW1qzabnwo1_500.jpg

http://eclipsy.deviantart.com/art/Surreal-Paradise-82532856