Psychometric Tools: Measurement of Personality Effectiveness

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Psychometric Tools Measurement of Personality Effectiveness Many standardized tests have been devised to tentatively show the personality type or general tendencies of any given subject. Through the use of these question and answer exercises, psychologists have hoped to gain considerable knowledge as to the workings of our inner being. In doing so, these professionals strive for the ability to obtain valuable information, specifically towards the understanding of human behaviors, their causes, as well as discovering links associated with disorders and diseases; while determining the effectiveness of the techniques applied to achieve these results, a closer examination will be necessary of these areas: 1. Personality Testing – Explained 2. General Usage 3. Examination Dependencies Personality Testing – Explained Although the personality of every person is uniquely different, the exhaustive ranges of testing, which have been used to identify the common behavior of a particular subject, continue to be applied to several areas of our lives. Specifically, these assessments attempt to categorize an individual by compiling the responses received from any number of predetermined questions; once completed, the resulting data is then evaluated to form a profile containing information that is particular to the person in focus. This process, as a whole, seems to operate upon a few basic assumptions; one of these presumptions is that certain groups of people usually have similarities within the components of their personalities. Suggestions such as these, however, do appear to contain a great amount of exception among those in the psychological community; for example, “the idea that alcoholics share common personality traits and ... ... middle of paper ... ...dence does not exist, which proves this belief to be a recognized and collaborative hypothesis or fact, it should only be treated as conjecture and the opinion of the minority; in support of this conclusion, the generally accepted significance of ‘Correlation vs. Causation’ shows how uncertain the relationship of behavior patterns and groups of people, truly is. Supposition, as used in this scenario, is not a reason to justify the use of personality testing; therefore, the entire process of promoting or claiming the effectiveness of these examinations is justly questionable. References Heinemann, A. (1993). Substance abuse and physical disability. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press Inc. Cha, A. (2005, March 27). Employers Relying on Personality Tests To Screen Applicants. Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/articles/A4010-2005Mar26.html

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