Personality tests are one of the most commonly used tools in psychological practice, although we are faced with a complex evaluation method, composed of dynamics that make each individual unique, these clinical instruments end up being more useful than we think. You need to know what types of tests exist, what they evaluate, and what methodology they use.
Who has never taken a personality test at some point in their life?
- Personality tests are the most commonly used resources in clinical practice.
- The most important.
- Those that are applied daily in clinical practice.
- Have been the subject of adequate studies that guarantee their reliability and effectiveness.
Thus, it is also interesting to know that in psychological practice there are usually two very specific types of tests, the first being conventional psychometric tests, that is, those in which we start from a cognitive-behavioral current and the principle that people will be honest. when they respond to each item.
The second type is that of always interesting projective tests, they are tests where the subject projects unconscious elements and internal conflicts that are not recognized by creative or introspective exercises, these tests end up being of great use, especially in clinical, forensic practice or in the field of children. Next, we’ll indicate which personality tests are most commonly used to define, understand, and describe our personal worlds that are always interesting.
Although it’s not exactly a personality test, he? Big Five is one of the most recognized and, in turn, the basis of a lot of evidence to understand and evaluate human behavior?This personality approach is divided into five main areas, in five dimensions known as the acronym “OCEAN”:
This test is generally applied in several contexts with great success: from the clinician, to the human resources departments for the selection of personnel, to the pedagogical advisors, who see this model as a correct framework to recommend the most appropriate professional profiles to students. Features.
The 16PF questionnaire is one of Raymond B’s most respected tests, the result of decades of work and analysis. Cattell, a British psychologist known for his great contributions in the field of personality and, above all, intelligence. who proposed, for example, the existence of fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence.
This personality test has been continuously reviewed and updated, but the main thing remains the same: study our personality traits based on 16 main factors and 5 secondary factors.
The Myers-Briggs typology is a personality test well known for being based on the work of Carl Jung in this same field, the test, as such, was developed by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers. Well, it goes without saying that despite its very high popularity, it is not used much in clinical practice as it is not a very useful tool in this area.
The scale measures only two dimensions: extraversion and introversion, so, and considering that it is of no use at the clinical or forensic level, the same is not true in the field of personal growth or even in the school or professional field. the Myers-Briggs indicator is as follows:
MMPI (Minnesota Multiphase Personality Inventory) is one of the most widely used personality tests in clinical, forensic and personnel selection, it is also interesting to know that this test not only gives us a very accurate profile on the personality of each subject or patient. , but it is very accurate to detect different psychopathologies.
Therefore, MMPI measures people on a wide variety of scales, including depression, cynicism, schizophrenia, anxiety, antisocial behavior, mania and paranoia, etc.
We have all heard of Rorschach, it usually appears in films and it is a personality test that each psychologist has at hand (almost obligatory) every time a patient goes to the appointment, it is worth saying that everything has its peculiarities, since Hermann Rorschach published this essay in 1921, its dissemination in the psychoanalytic community has been immediate; however, today it remains an additional projective test, such as tree testing or thematic perception test (TAT).
However, these projective tests, such as Rorschach’s own test, require the professional to perform an appropriate evaluation process where he or she should consider everything from the response time and the content assigned to each of the maps, to the details in the spots that are developed. these ideas in the patient.
This test is just one more way to plot the shape and impression of our personality, that is, if it is used exclusively, it will never be conclusive, ideally combine it with other instruments, with other batteries of evidence through which possible. to get more perspectives to get a more accurate description.
In conclusion, we note that there are many other personality tests, however, the ones we present here are usually the most common, the most common ones that are most used in the daily life of any school psychologist, company, in the clinical field or in the world of personal growth.