Personality: Development and Measurement

Personality is as an individual’s unique, relatively consistent pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that determine his unique adjustment to his environment. Personality is the total quality of an individual’s behavior which includes his attitude, habits, interests, thinking, manner of acting and personal philosophy of life.

Importance of understanding personality

• To know what motivates an individual
• To understand the way one may fulfill a role
• To know the way to organize your teams
• To develop a good working environment
• To retain the staff
• To influence employee behavior

Factors influencing Personality Development

• Inherited Predisposition and biological factors
• Culture and Family
• Abilities
• Social Learning
• learning
• Modeling

Assessment of Personality

Personality can be determined through a variety of tests. There are mainly four methods for measuring personality. They are:

1. Subjective Methods: In subjective method, one person analyses the personality of another person using some techniques such as Observation, Case Study Method and interviews etc.

2. Objective Methods: To avoid subjectively misinterpretation, the objective method is applied using some techniques, such as Rating Scales, Checklists, Controlled Observation and Personality Inventories such as California Tests of Personality and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI).

3. Projective Methods: this method enable a person to project his internal feelings, attitudes, needs, values or wishes using some techniques such as Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and Children’s Apperception Test (CAT), Psychodrama and Sentence Completion Test such as  I am worried over…………., I feel proud when…………. My hope is……………. And I am afraid of………………

4. Psycho-Analytic Methods: 

(a) Word Association Test: analyzing remembered words from many words by the person.

(b) Free Association Test: behavior and words of a person from a long talk is analyzed