Personality Tests and Theories

Personality Assessment

Personality assessment is a term used to refer to the administration, scoring, and interpretation of measures of personality styles and traits that are supported empirically. As a result, personality assessment is an important part of organizational and clinical conceptualizations (Shorey, 2018). It is also an important part of change initiatives and intervention planning. Personality assessments are used for various purposes including clinical diagnoses, psychological intervention, and prediction of behavior. The use of personality assessments for different purposes is attributable to the fact that these tests provide insights that help characterize people. In essence, personality assessments help in the identification and characterization of individuals’ personality features.

Given their significance in clinical and organizational conceptualizations, different types of personality assessments exist. There are different types of personality assessments that are used for various purposes. An example of a type of personality assessment is type-based personality assessments, which examines a collection of personality attributes that are classified together (Stockdale, 2013). This type of personality assessment is based on Jung’s theory of personality since it examines a group of personality traits. According to Morris & Maisto (2016), Carl Jung divided personality traits into two broad categories i.e. introvert and extrovert. These two broad categories formulate the basis of type-focused personality assessments. To this extent, type-based personality assessments evaluate one’s personality based on introversion or extroversion. Unlike other kinds of personality tests, type-based personality assessments are used to describe psychological differences between healthy people. These assessments do not imply personality preferences but rather demonstrate inborn personality differences.

When using these personality assessments, individuals can be grouped into groups since they are bi-modal. Even though an individual can either be introverted or extroverted, he/she can also have both aspects of the personality traits since type-based personality assessments are also bi-modal (Stockdale, 2013). Type-based personality assessments are used to measure in-born personality preferences/traits but not measure skills, natural ability, competence, excellence, or psychological issues. Type-based personality assessments can be used for various purposes including team working and coaching. In addition, this type of personality assessment is useful for career development initiatives.

One of the most commonly used type-based personality assessments is the Myers-Briggs Personality Test (MBTI). Similar to other type-based personality assessments, MBTI seeks to measure individuals’ in-born personality preferences/traits. MBTI measures personality preferences based on their preferences of four major psychological functions. These personality assessments generate up to 16 distinctive personality types.

Type-based personality assessments are associated with some pros and cons. One of the advantages of type-based personality assessments is their provision of insights regarding an individual’s strengths and weaknesses. These personality tests achieve this through measuring an individual’s inborn personality traits or preferences. Secondly, the results of type-based personality assessments are useful or beneficial in different settings including career development, team building, and coaching. Third, type-based personality assessments can be used as the premise for promoting one’s personal development and growth. However, type-based personality assessments are characterized by some disadvantages including the lack of scientific validity. While most of these tests are employed in different settings, they lack scientific validity. Secondly, these personality assessments are limited since they measure traits based on two major categories.

Personality Theory

Morris & Maisto (2016) define personality as the unique patterns of thoughts, behaviors, or feelings of an individual. Personality basically incorporates an individual’s unique differences that are essentially stable and enduring. Personality is an issue that has attracted considerable attention in the field of psychology. Psychologists have studied the issue of personality and formulated different theories to explain this concept. The existence of different theories explaining the concept of personality is attributable to the varying approaches adopted by psychologists. Existing theories provide varying insights into the concept of personality and shape understanding of this concept.

Humanistic personality theories are one of the theoretical approaches used to explain the concept of personality. These theories assert the fundamental goodness of individuals and their endeavors toward higher levels of functioning (Morris & Maisto, 2016). Humanistic personality theories assert that people are positively motivated and focus on attaining higher levels of functioning throughout their lives. Therefore, these theories imply that human existence goes beyond dealing with hidden issues or conflicts as it entails striving toward achieving higher levels of functioning. Unlike other personality theories, humanistic personality theories emphasize the idea that the dominant purpose of the human condition is to achieve one’s potential. Some of the psychologists that have influenced the development of humanistic theory include Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.

Humanistic personality theory explains the development of behavior or personality based on the idea that humans are constantly striving to achieve their potential or realize higher levels of functioning. The pursuit to become better shapes one’s own development and his/her behaviors. This implies that the development of an individual’s personality or behavior is largely influenced by the actualizing tendency. Actualizing tendency refers to the determination of every organism to realize its biological potential. People develop mental images or perceptions of what they are inherently capable of becoming or achieving. These mental images/perceptions of themselves in turn shape personality or behavior development. This implies that personality or behavior development is influenced by self-concept. When our self-concept is in line with our inherent capacities, an individual is likely to become a fully functioning person (Morris & Maisto, 2016). This implies that the individual attains a higher level of functioning based on his/her self-concept or self-actualization.