Question

Select an instrument that falls in the scope of personality testing (See the link to the Wikipedia page that lists psychological tests)

For the record, I include clinical and counseling personality tests as well as interest and career assessment in this realm. Pure cognitive assessments (IQ testing and aptitude) are NOT included. Please do not select non-professionally developed tests (i.e. those featured in popular magazine or websites.)

Describe the history of the test’s development. Research the instrument’s validity and reliability (a good explanation of these concepts is featured at this website:

http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/relandval.php (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

there are others out there too…) according to the individual(s) or institution that created it. Finally, look for independent (i.e. not affiliated financially or otherwise with the test developers) analysis/evaluation of the test’s strengths and weaknesses.

Provide your own concluding thoughts about the instrument.

Answer 1

The first personality tests were developed in the 1920s and were intended to ease the process of personnel selection, particularly in the armed forces.

Since these early efforts, a wide variety of personality tests have been developed, notably the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator(MBTI), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), and a number of tests based on the five factor model of personality, such as the Revised NEO Personality Inventory.

Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

This tool is an introspective self-report questionnaire with the purpose of indicating differing psychologicalpreferences in how people perceive the world around them and make decisions.

The MBTI was constructed by Katharine Cook Briggsand her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers. It is based on the conceptual theory proposed by Carl Jung, who had speculated that there are four principal psychological functions by which humans experience the world – sensation, intuition, feeling, and thinking – and that one of these four functions is dominant for a person most of the time.The MBTI was constructed for normal populations and emphasizes the value of naturally occurring differences. "The underlying assumption of the MBTI is that we all have specific preferences in the way we construe our experiences, and these preferences underlie our interests, needs, values, and motivation."

Although popular in the business sector, the MBTI exhibits significant psychometric deficiencies, notably including poor validity (i.e. not measuring what it purports to measure) and poor reliability (giving different results for the same person on different occasions).The four scales used in the MBTI have some correlation with four of the Big Five personality traits, which are a more commonly accepted framework