The Nomothetic Approach in Personality Testing

Burger (2008), says that there are many theories of personality and psychologists try to explain it with their own approaches. Discussed here will be the psychoanalytic approach, the trait approach, the biological approach the humanistic approach, the behavioural/social learning approach and the cognitive approach. They were devised to search for specific patterns in behaviour and ways of thinking about these

Dispositional personality theories are quite different from biological personality theories. The two will be compared and dissected in this article. The Big Five Personality Test will also be analyzed and how it is used to study personality will be examined.

Personality and how we behave have been of much interest to psychologists for a long time now and because of this there have been many theories and theorists that have been developed. Personality is defined as consistent behavior patterns and intrapersonal processes originating within and individual (Fritzley, 2012, p. 10). There are six main approaches to personality psychology they include: biological approach, humanistic approach, behaviorist approach, trait approach, psychoanalytic approach and cognitive approach. Each approach shines a little light onto why we behave the way we do and how our personalities are formed, the approaches contain many different theories from

This paper introduces the overview of personality assessment approaches in use currently in society. It proceeds to review the big five personality measures, its validity in prediction of personality types (Archer, 2011). The topic on MIPS questionnaires use in personality measurements and scoring methods used by the system is reviewed. Aspects on the social desirability trait and the distortion produced in responses to evaluation questionnaires, being a significant part of the problems in personality assessment is examined. Social desirability does not have an influence on the predictive validity of personality assessments. It is not related to performance in the job. Various strategies used for reduction of social desirability have been studied. The various tools used in assessments are recapitulated including some methodological aspects (Weiner, 2009). Cultural aspects in evaluation of personality discussed are touched upon. Two case studies are used to show the real life situation of personality assessment.

Feist, J., & Feist, G. J. (2009). Theories of Personality (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

The behavioural theory states that personality is as a result of the interaction between an individual and the environment (i.e. the society and the individual). It is focus on observable and measurable behaviour rather than mental or emotional behaviours and different theories focus on one type of behaviour over the other. On the contrary, the biological approach seeks to explain behaviour as a result of interactions within the body. It is based on assumptions such as how the brain psychology can influence behaviour and also how behaviour can be inherited

This paper will explore the Myers-Briggs, Thematic Apperception Test, and self-help books for validity, comprehensiveness, applicability, and cultural utility. Evidence of reliability, validity, along with strengths and weaknesses of each instrument are also presented. Despite the controversy surrounding these measures, they continue to be among the most popular psychological assessment tools today.

Personality is the enduring and unique cluster of characteristics that may change in response to different situations. It can be asses via different approaches such as Self-report or objective inventories, projective techniques, clinical interviews, behavioural assessment procedures and thought and experience-sampling procedures. In the study of personality ideographic research and nomothetic research are used and the major methods that the clinical method, the experimental method and the correlational method.

Gordon Allport during his course of how personality is established Allport theorized that the developmental of personality was purely based on trait 1. Definition “dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustment to the environment

1,000- to 1,200-word paper comparing the personality theories of Freud, Jung, Rogers, and Maslow. Outline how each theorist contributed to the study of personality. Identify the features of each theory that differentiate them from the other personality theories.

One of Jungs early achievements was to make a distinction between two personality types; extraverted (people with an outward looking attitude) and introverted people with inward looking attitudes). Jung later went on to classify the four main functions of the mind—thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition—an d stated that one or more of these functions are dominant in any personality. Results of this study were embodied in Psychological Types, 1923).

Jung’ theory proposed that when the’ attitude’ and the ‘function’ type of an individual was combined they could be defined into one of a possible eight more refined types. The extraverted sensing type, the introverted sensing type, the extroverted feeling type, the introverted feeling type, the extroverted intuitive type, the introverted intuitive type, the extroverted thinking type and finally the introverted thinking type. According to Jung any personality and behaviour could be fitted into one of these eight types. For example someone who is an extrovert feeling type will enjoy being around people and take pleasure from such things as music or the arts. In contrast an

Trait theory, as its name suggest is a platform to study Human Psychology that identifies and measures the degree to which certain personality traits—recurring patterns of thought and behavior, such as anxiousness, shyness, openness to new things—exist from individual to individual. The subject involves a set number of personality traits (although the number of traits can vary wildly) and assigns the degree that a trait exists, which then determines the individual’s personality. Dr. William Sheldon (1898-1977) was an American psychologist who during his career held teaching and research posts at a number of Universities in the United States. Much of Dr. William Sheldon 's professional life was devoted to investigating the range human

Literature about personality implies that it is necessary to prove or disprove its existence, stability, consistency, and generality and yet the ability to utilize such information as it pertains to our everyday lives would be of more value (Phares & Lamiell, 1977; Wrosch & Scheier, 2003). They claim that studies focused on such values could provide information about what a person does, thinks, or experiences as well as convey a sense that the cause of whatever it is that the person is doing (or thinking or feeling) is originating from within.

The next scholar to contribute was Allport. Allport stated that it is very unlikely that people just possessed one personality characteristic (Fleming, 2006). He claimed that personality exists in a “psychological matrix” meaning within a person, that people possessed traits which can be categorized into levels, which in turn allows there to be comparison among different individuals (Liebert, R. M. & Spiegler, M. D., 1970, 117). Allport also recognized that it is important to understand individuals within themselves, and that it is necessary to recognize some characteristics are not universal/transferable among individuals (Liebert, R. M. & Spiegler, M. D., 1970). To list the all the contributions Allport made to the academic world would be too much, in short, he among other scholars introduced an extensive list of adjectives that were descriptive of individual behaviours (Fleming, 2006). Lacking necessary agreement among classifications and definitions of the many personality traits, the further development of personality theories in the 1960’s was brought to halt.