Select from one of the following categories: Moral Judgement Spiritual and Religious Concepts Creativity Emotional Intelligence Optimism Gratitude Sense of Humor Then find a scale that me

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C H A P T E R 8

Foundations of Personality Testing

I n psychological testing a fundamental distinction often is drawn between ability tests and personality tests. Defined in the broadest sense, ability tests include a plethora of instruments for measuring intelligence, achievement, and aptitude. In the preceding seven

chapters we have explored the nature, construction, application, reliability, and validity of ability tests. In the next two chapters we shift the emphasis to personality tests and related matters. Personality tests seek to measure one or more of the following: personality traits, dynamic mo- tivation, symptoms of distress, personal strengths, and attitudinal characteristics. Measures of spirituality, creativity, and emotional intelligence also fall within this realm.

Theories of personality provide an underpinning for the multiplicity of instruments available in the field. For this reason, we begin this chapter with a survey of prominent per- sonality theories. The many ways in which theorists conceptualize personality clearly have impacted the design of personality tests and assessments. This is especially evident with projec- tive techniques such as the Rorschach inkblot method, which emanated from psychoanalytic conceptions of personality. Thus, in Topic 8A, Theories of Personality and Projective Tech- niques, in addition to the survey of personality theories, we have included an introduction to several instruments based on the turn-of-the-twentieth-century psychoanalytic hypothesis

Topic 8A Theories of personality and projective Techniques

Personality: An Overview

Psychoanalytic Theories of Personality

Type Theories of Personality

Phenomenological Theories of Personality

Behavioral and Social Learning Theories

Trait Conceptions of Personality

The Projective Hypothesis

Association Techniques

Completion Techniques

Construction Techniques

Expression Techniques

Case Exhibit 8.1 Projective Tests as Ancillary to the Interview

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Topic 8A • Theories of Personality and Projective Techniques 307

in personality psychology, which he defines as “those questions that are simple, important, and central to many people’s lives.” He identifies 20 big questions, only a few of which can be addressed through testing and assessment. These questions involve existential matters such as the purpose of life, the nature of per- sonhood, and the difficulties encountered in seeking self-knowledge. His captivating article is a reminder that some vital issues can be approached through the empiricism of psychological research and testing, whereas other crucial matters remain elusive and are amenable mainly to philosophical and phenomeno- logical inquiry.

In addition to understanding personality, psy- chologists also seek to measure it. Literally hundreds of personality tests are available for this purpose; we will review historically prominent instruments and also discuss some promising new approaches. How- ever, in order that the reader can better compre- hend the diversity of instruments and approaches, we begin with a more fundamental question: How is personality best conceptualized? As the reader will discover, in order to measure personality we must first envision what it is we seek to measure. The reader will better appreciate the multiplicity of tests and procedures if we also briefly describe the per- sonality theories that comprise the underpinnings for these instruments.

PsyChoanalytiC thEoriEs of PErsonality

Psychoanalysis was the original creation of Sigmund Freud (1856–1939). While it is true that many others have revised and adapted his theories, the changes have been slight in comparison to the substantial foundations that can be traced to this singular ge- nius of the Victorian and early-twentieth-century era. Freud was enormously prolific in his writing and theorizing. We restrict our discussion to just those aspects of psychoanalysis that have influenced psychological testing. In particular, the Rorschach, the Thematic Apperception Test, and most of the projective techniques critiqued in the next topic dic- tate a psychoanalytic framework for interpretation. Readers who wish a more thorough review of Freud’s contributions can start with the New Introductory

where responses to ambiguous stimuli reveal the innermost, unconscious mental processes of the examinee. The coverage of personality assessment continues in Topic 8B, Self-Report and Behavioral Assessment of Psychopathology, which includes a review of structured tests and procedures, including self-report inventories and behavioral assessment approaches. These time- honored topics of Chapter 8— theories of personality, projective techniques, and structured personality tests—are followed by the relatively new focus of Chapter 9—the Evaluation of Normality and Individual Strengths.

PErsonality: an ovErviEw

Although personality is difficult to define, we can distinguish two fundamental features of this vague construct. First, each person is consistent to some ex- tent; we have coherent traits and action patterns that arise repeatedly. Second, each person is distinctive to some extent; behavioral differences exist between individuals. Consider the reactions of three gradu- ate students when their midterm examinations were handed back. Although all three students received nearly identical grades (solid B’s), personal reactions were quite diverse. The first student walked off sul- lenly and was later overheard to say that a complaint to the departmental administrator was in order. The second student was pleased, stating out loud that a B was, after all, a respectable grade. The third student was disappointed but stoical. He blamed himself for not studying harder.

How are we to understand the different reactions of these three persons, each of whom was responding to an identical stimulus? Psychologists and laypersons alike invoke the concept of personal-

ity to make sense out of the behavior and expressed feelings of others. The notion of personality is used to explain behavioral differences between persons (for example, why one complains and another is sto- ical) and to understand the behavioral consistency within each individual (for example, why the com- plaining student noted previously was generally sour and dissatisfied).

Why people differ is just one of many key issues in the study of personality. Mayer (2007–8) provides a thoughtful discussion of the big questions

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techniques, it is evident from Rorschach’s view that the psychoanalytic conception of the unconscious had a strong influence on testing practices.

the structure of the Mind

Freud divided the mind into three structures: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is the obscure and inaccessible part of our personality that Freud likened to “a chaos, a cauldron of seething excite- ment.” Because the id is entirely unconscious, we must infer its characteristics indirectly by analyzing dreams and symptoms such as anxiety. From such an analysis, Freud concluded that the id is the seat of all instinctual needs such as for food, water, sexual gratification, and avoidance of pain. The id has only one purpose, to obtain immediate satisfaction for these needs in accordance with the pleasure princi- ple. The pleasure principle is the impulsion toward immediate satisfaction without regard for values, good or evil, or morality. The id is also incapable of logic and possesses no concept of time. The chaotic mental processes of the id are, therefore, unaltered by the passage of time, and impressions that have been pushed down into the id “are virtually immor- tal and are preserved for whole decades as though they had only recently occurred” (Freud, 1933).

If our personality consisted only of an id striving to gratify its instincts without regard for real- ity, we would soon be annihilated by outside forces. Fortunately, soon after birth, part of the id develops into the ego or conscious self. The purpose of the ego is to mediate between the id and reality. The ego is part of the id and servant to it, but the ego “inter- polates between desire and action the procrastinating factor of thought” (Freud, 1933). Thus, the ego is largely conscious and obeys the reality principle; it seeks realistic and safe ways of discharging the in- stinctual tensions that are constantly pushing forth from the id.

The ego must also contend with the superego, the ethical component of personality that starts to emerge in the first five years of life. The superego is roughly synonymous with conscience and com- prises the societal standards of right and wrong that are conveyed to us by our parents. The superego is partly conscious, but a large part of it is unconscious, that is, we are not always aware of its existence or

Lectures on Psychoanalysis (Freud, 1933). Reviews and interpretations of Freud’s theories can be found in Stafford-Clark (1971) and Fisher and Greenberg (1984).

origins of Psychoanalytic theory

Freud began his professional career as a neurologist but was soon specializing in the treatment of hys- teria, an emotional disorder characterized by histrionic behavior and physical symptoms of psy- chic origin such as paralysis, blindness, and loss of sensation. With his colleague Joseph Breuer, Freud postulated that the root cause of hysteria was buried memories of traumatic experiences such as child- hood sexual molestation. If these memories could be brought forth under hypnosis, a release of emotion called abreaction would take place and the hysterical symptoms would disappear, at least briefly (Studies on Hysteria, Breuer & Freud, 1893–1895).

From these early studies Freud developed a general theory of psychological functioning with the concept of the unconscious as its foundation. He believed that the unconscious was the reservoir of instinctual drives and a storehouse of thoughts and wishes that would be unacceptable to our conscious self. Thus, Freud argued that our most significant personal motivations are largely beyond conscious awareness. The concept of the unconscious was dis- cussed in elaborate detail in his first book (The In- terpretation of Dreams, Freud, 1900). Freud believed that dreams portray our unconscious motives in a disguised form. Even a seemingly innocuous dream might actually have a hidden sexual or aggressive meaning, if it is interpreted correctly.

Freud’s concept of the unconscious penetrated the very underpinnings of psychological testing early in the twentieth century. An entire family of projective techniques emerged, including ink- blot tests, word association approaches, sentence completion techniques, and storytelling (appercep- tion) techniques (Frank, 1939, 1948). Each of these methods was predicated on the assumption that unconscious motives could be divined from an ex- aminee’s responses to ambiguous and unstructured stimuli. In fact, Rorschach (1921) likened his inkblot test to an X ray of the unconscious mind. Although he patently overstated the power of projective

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Topic 8A • Theories of Personality and Projective Techniques 309

Of course, because they distort reality, the rigid, excessive application of defense mechanisms may create more problems than it solves.

assessment of Defense Mechanisms and Ego functions

Although Freud introduced the concept of defense mechanisms, it was left to his followers to eluci- date these unconscious mental strategies in more detail (Paulhus, Fridhandler, & Hayes, 1997). Vaillant (1971) developed a hierarchy of ego defense mechanisms based on the assumption that some mechanisms are healthier or more adaptive than others. He suggested four broad types, listed here in ascending level of maturity: psychotic, immature, neurotic, mature. Each type includes specific defense mechanisms such as denial, projection, repression, and altruism, described below. Perry and Henry (2004) proposed a similar hierarchy of adaptation in defense mechanisms. They also developed a sophis- ticated rating scale, which, as we will see, is of value in clinical practice. A hierarchy of types of defense mechanisms (least mature to most mature) is pro- vided in Table 8.1.

Psychotic defense mechanisms are the least healthy because they distort reality to an extreme degree. One example includes gross denial of ex- ternal reality such as the refusal to acknowledge the death of a loved one. Another example is delu- sional projection, which consists of frank delusions about external reality, usually of a persecutory nature. The second grouping, Acting Out, comprises several forms of maladaptive action such as passive- aggressive behavior (e.g., intentional lateness to aggravate a partner), impulsive behavior designed to reduce tension, and complaining while simultane- ously rejecting help.

Borderline defense mechanisms include patterns of behavior often found in persons with a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder ( American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The spe- cific mechanisms include splitting, in which the images of others (or self) alternate rapidly from all good to all bad, and projective identification which is the projection of an unwanted, unrecognized trait (like anger) onto others. Neurotic defense mecha- nisms, the fourth group, are found to some degree

operation. The function of the superego is to restrict the attempts of the id and ego to obtain gratification. Its main weapon is guilt, which it uses to punish the wrongdoings of the ego and id. Thus, it is not enough for the ego to find a safe and realistic way for the gratification of id strivings. The ego must also choose a morally acceptable outlet, or it will suffer punishment from its overseer, the superego. This explains why we may feel guilty for immoral behav- ior such as theft even when getting caught is impos- sible. Another part of the superego is the ego ideal, which consists of our aims and aspirations. The ego measures itself against the ego ideal and strives to fulfill its demands for perfection. If the ego falls too far short of meeting the standards of the ego ideal, a feeling of guilt may result. We commonly interpret this feeling as a sense of inferiority (Freud, 1933).

the role of Defense Mechanisms

The ego certainly has a difficult task, acting as me- diator and servant to three tyrants: id, superego, and external reality. It may seem to the reader that the task would be essentially impossible and that the in- dividual would, therefore, be in a constant state of anxiety. Fortunately, the ego has a set of tools at its disposal to help carry out its work, namely, mental strategies collectively labeled defense mechanisms.

Defense mechanisms come in many varieties, but they all share three characteristics in common. First, their exclusive purpose is to help the ego re- duce anxiety created by the conflicting demands of id, superego, and external reality. In fact, Freud felt that anxiety was a signal telling the ego to invoke one or more defense mechanisms in its own behalf. Defense mechanisms and anxiety are, therefore, complementary concepts in psychoanalytic theory, one existing as a counterforce to the other. The sec- ond common feature of defense mechanisms is that they operate unconsciously. Thus, even though de- fense mechanisms are controlled by the ego, we are not aware of their operation. The third characteris- tic of defense mechanisms is that they distort inner or outer reality. This property is what makes them capable of reducing anxiety. By allowing the ego to view a challenge from the id, superego, or external reality in a less-threatening manner, defense mecha- nisms help the ego avoid crippling levels of anxiety.

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forms of humor that do not distort reality but that can ease the burden of matters “too terrible to be borne” (Vaillant, 1977). Specific kinds of mature mechanisms include:

Altruism: Vicarious but constructive and grat- ifying service to others.

Humor: Playful acknowledgment of ideas and feelings without discomfort and without unpleasant effects on others; does not include sarcasm.

Suppression: Conscious or semiconscious decision to postpone paying attention to a conscious conflict or impulse.

Anticipation: Realistic anticipation of or plan- ning for future inner discomfort; for example, realistic anticipation of surgery or separation.

Sublimation: Indirect expression of instinctual wishes without adverse consequences or loss of pleasure; for example, channeling aggres- sion into sports.

An example of humor as a mature defense mecha- nism would be former president Ronald Reagan’s quip to doctors in 1981 as he entered surgery for a bullet wound from his attempted assassina- tion. He is reported to have said, “I hope you’re all Republicans.”

Perry and colleagues developed the Defense Mechanism Rating Scales (DMRS) as a basis for assessing the level, type, and severity of defense mechanisms encountered in psychotherapy patients (Perry, 1990; Perry & Harris, 2004). The DMRS was devised for rating the presence of 30 discrete de- fense mechanisms (e.g., acting out, splitting, denial, projection, repression, intellectualization, altruism, etc.) in a 50-minute dynamically oriented interview. In the original scale, a 3-point qualitative rating of absent, probably present, or definitely present was obtained for each defense mechanism identified in a review of a videotaped session.

Subsequently, the test developers adopted a simple quantitative scoring approach in which de- fense mechanisms were isolated and identified in short, meaningful segments of the taped interview. They found that a typical therapy session includes anywhere from 15 to 75 illustrations of the various

in most persons and include repression (inexplicable memory lapses or failure to acknowledge informa- tion, such as “forgetting” a dental appointment) and displacement, which comprises the transfer of feel- ings from the real object onto someone or some- thing else, such as kicking the dog when angry with the boss.

Obsessive defense mechanisms also are very common and consist of mental patterns like isola- tion of affect or intellectualization. Isolation of affect involves the superficial acknowledgement of a feel- ing in the absence of a full emotional experience. In intellectualization, threatening matters are acknowl- edged but explored in bland terms that are relatively devoid of feelings. For example, Vaillant (1971) de- scribes a physician whose mother had died recently of cancer. The doctor talked at length about the medical characteristics of her illness, thereby easing his sense of loss.

Mature defense mechanisms appear to the be- holder as convenient virtues. An example is certain

tablE 8.1 A Hierarchy of Types of Defense Mechanisms (Least Mature to Most Mature)

Type Description and Examples

Psychotic Gross denial of external reality such as frank delusions; includes denial and distortion

Acting Out Maladaptive behaviors such as impulsive actions; includes passive-aggressiveness

Borderline Splitting the image of others into good and bad; includes splitting and schizoid fantasy

Neurotic Mechanisms that involve minor reality distortion; includes repression and displacement

Obsessive Somewhat adaptive mechanisms; includes isolation of affect and intellectualization

Mature Mature forms of defense with minor reality distortion; includes humor and sublimation

Source: Based on Perry and Henry (2004) and Vaillant (1977).

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Topic 8A • Theories of Personality and Projective Techniques 311

two drawbacks: The practitioner needs specialized training to identify defense mechanisms, and the process of collecting relevant information from pa- tients is very time-consuming.

tyPE thEoriEs of PErsonality

The earliest personality theories attempted to sort individuals into discrete categories or types. For example, the Greek physician Hippocrates (ca. 460–377 b.c.) proposed a humoral theory with four personality types (sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic) that was too simplistic to be useful. In the 1940s, Sheldon and Stevens (1942) proposed a type theory based on the relationship between body build and temperament. Their approach stimulated a flurry of research and then faded into obscurity. Nonetheless, typological theories have continued to capture intermittent interest among personality researchers. We will illustrate type theories by re- viewing contemporary research on coronary-prone personality types.

type a Coronary-Prone behavior Pattern

Friedman and Rosenman (1974) investigated the psychological variables that put individuals at higher risk of coronary heart disease. They were the first to identify a Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern, which they described as “an action–emotion com- plex that can be observed in any person who is aggressively involved in a chronic, incessant struggle to achieve more and more in less and less time, and if required to do so, against the opposing efforts of other things or persons” (Friedman & Rosenman, 1974). At the opposite extreme is the Type B be- havior pattern, characterized by an easygoing, non- competitive, relaxed lifestyle. Of course, people vary along a continuum from “pure” Type A to “pure” Type B.

Friedman and Ulmer (1984) have provided a detailed description of the full-fledged Type A be- havior pattern, and it is not an appealing picture. These individuals display a deep insecurity, regard- less of their achievements. They desire to dominate others, and typically are indifferent to the feelings of competitors. They exhibit a free-floating hostility,

defense mechanisms. Based on prior research, each defense mechanism receives a score from 1 (highly immature and maladaptive) to 7 (highly mature and adaptive). Although the scale offers a number of scoring options, the most useful score is the Over- all Defensive Functioning (ODF) score, which is the simple average of the ratings of the observed defense mechanisms. The theoretical range of scores is 1.0 to 7.0, although scores of 3.0 and below are rare. Scores below 5.0 indicate significant personality disorder or severe depression. Scores of 6.0 and higher indicate normal or healthy functioning. Interrater reliabili- ties from six studies were mostly in the mid- to high- .80s for the ODF scores. The stability coefficient for a small sample of patients over a one-month interval was a respectable .75 (Perry & Harris, 2004).

The ODF scores tend to improve over the course of dynamically oriented therapy, which sup- ports the validity of the construct being measured, maturity of defense mechanisms. In four studies involving one-month to one-year follow-up with small samples, the within-group effect sizes for gains in ODF scores ranged from .02 to 1.05, with most in the range of .41 to .82 (Perry Harris, 2004, Table 9.5). Effect sizes of this magnitude are considered moderate to large, that is, meaningful gains are be- ing accomplished, as registered by the increased ma- turity of the defense mechanisms emerging in the therapy sessions. The authors observe:

Defenses can be viewed as both process phe- nomena (psychological mechanisms in action) and as a measure of adaptive outcome, when aggregated across sessions and time. This gives the study of defenses great potential clinical relevance. To develop and test predictive hy- potheses about treatment will make the study of defense very relevant to daily clinical work, and both scientifically promising and exciting (Perry & Harris, 2004, p. 190).

The meaningful assessment of defense mechanisms largely has eluded clinical researchers, but instru- ments like the DMRS show promise of making key elements of psychoanalytic theory accessible to em- pirical validation (Perry, Beck, Constantinides, & Foley, 2009). However, this approach does have

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Type A behavior can also be detected by paper-and- pencil tests (Jackson & Gray, 1987). However, the questionnaire approach is limited because it cannot reveal the facial, vocal, and psychomotor indices of hostility and time urgency that are usually evident in interview (Friedman & Ulmer, 1984).

Early studies indicated that persons who exhibited the Type A behavior pattern were at greatly increased risk of coronary disease and heart attack. In one 9-year study of more than 3,000 healthy men, persons with the Type A behavior pattern were 2½ times more likely to suffer heart attacks than those with Type B behavior pattern (Friedman & Ulmer, 1984). In fact, not one of the “pure” Type B’s—the extremely relaxed, easygoing, and noncompetitive members of the study—had suffered a heart attack. In the famous Framingham longitudinal study, Type A men ages 55 to 64 were about twice as likely at 10-year follow-up to develop coronary heart disease as Type B men (Haynes, Feinleib, & Eaker, 1983). In this study, the link between Type A behavior and coronary heart disease (CHD) was especially strong for white-collar workers.

PhEnoMEnologiCal thEoriEs of PErsonality

Phenomenological theories of personality emphasize the importance of immediate, personal, subjective experience as a determinant of behavior. Some of the theoretical positions subsumed under this title have been given other labels also, such as humanis- tic theories, existential theories, construct theories, self-theories, and fulfillment theories (Maddi, 2000). Nonetheless, these approaches share a common focus on the person’s subjective experience,  personal world view, and self-concept as the major wellsprings of behavior.

origins of the Phenomenological approach

The orientation briefly reviewed in this section has numerous sources that reach back to turn-of- the-twentieth-century European philosophy and literature. Nonetheless, two persons, one a philoso- pher and the other a writer, stand out as seminal

and easily find things that irritate them. They also suffer from a sense of urgency about getting things done. Type A persons often engage in multitasking, such as reviewing correspondence while making a phone call. Almost beyond belief, one patient con- fessed to using two electric shavers, one for each hand (Friedman & Ulmer, 1984).

In other studies, researchers have found only a weak relationship—or no relationship at all— between Type A behavior and CHD (e.g., Eaker & Castelli, 1988; Smedslund & Rundmo, 1999). In the most comprehensive review of its kind, Myrtek (2007) conducted a meta-analysis of 25 prospective studies of Type A behavior and CHD and concluded flatly that “Type A behavior is not an independent risk factor for CHD.” Effect sizes in this review were not just small, they were effectively zero, on the or- der of .003. It did not matter whether structured in- terviews or questionnaires were used to assess Type A behavior. Myrtek (2007) also warns that the exis- tence of the concept itself can be dangerous because it provides patients an “external causal attribution” and relieves them of the responsibility for behavior change. The Type A concept also gives false benefit to physicians when they work with CHD patients who lack the usual risk factors (smoking, poor diet, lack of exercise). Blaming Type A behavior is easier than admitting that the causes of CHD sometimes are unknown.

Other researchers have found that CHD is linked not so much with the full-blown Type A be- havior pattern as with specific components such as being anger-prone (Dembroski, MacDougall, Williams, & Haney, 1985) or possessing time ur- gency (Wright, 1988). Wielgosz and Nolan (2000) identified hostility, cynicism, and suppression of anger, as well as stress, depression, and social isola- tion as significant risk factors in Type A behavior. Certainly there continues to be a need to sort out the specific risk factors in this area of investigation. What we do know with certainty is that the simple equation of Type A behavior causes CHD no longer is convincing.

Type A behavior can be diagnosed from a short interview consisting of questions about hab- its of working, talking, eating, reading, and think- ing (Friedman, 1996). The more flagrant cases of

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Topic 8A • Theories of Personality and Projective Techniques 313

I make strong demands on myself

I am a submissive person

I am likeable

The examinee is asked to sort a hundred or so statements into nine piles, putting a prescribed num- ber

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