Psychology-Personality Assessment and Theories - Essay Example

Running Head: Psychology-Personality Assessment and Theories Psychology-Personality Assessment and Theories s [Course name][Professor’s name][Date]Psychology-Personality Assessments and TheoriesBefore delving into the subject of Personality tests and psychometric tests, it is best t first define exactly what is meant by the term ‘Personality’. Personality refers to the set characteristics that are organized and dynamic in their nature and play a great role in affecting one’s cognitions, thought processes, behaviour and actions.

Psychologists and psychological researchers have proposed various theories to explain the diverse nature of personality and the factors that contribute in the development of personality in an individual. These factors include upbringing, environmental factors, physiological factors and various cognitive processes that are responsible for giving rise to a certain behaviour or trait of an individual. In order to further define personalities they are divided into psychological classifications of different people.

(Engler, 2008)Personality types actually originated from different sets of personality traits and these types also signify the degree or intensity of the set of traits that characterize the personality type. The notion of personality types emerged from the theoretical works and researches of a renowned psychologist named Carl Jung. According to the Jungian theory of personality, the unconscious plays a great role in the molding and shaping the characteristics of an individual and it is the unconscious thought processes that give rise t various conscious thoughts and cognitions.

(Wilde, 2011)Is theories had strong concurrences with the Freudian theory of personality, but the schism between the two theorists was their beliefs regarding the factors that constituted an individual’s unconscious and as Freud was largely focused on sexual desires and interactions between humans, whereas Jung just deemed it another component of the unconscious and not the most fundamental one as Freud thought it to be. Therefore, to illustrate this aspect of his theory, and people can easily find the class that their personality falls into by taking a simple test.

There have been a number of speculations regarding the validity and reliability of these tests but they d serve their purpose in providing ample amount of insight into an individual’s personality. (Wilde, 2011 & Plante, 2010, p. 115)Jung classified various types of personalities and this theory was further developed by Katherine Myers and her daughter Isabella Briggs, and drafted out a test called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator that consisted of 72 questions that enabled an individual to describe the degree of intensity of various traits the individual believes that he or she possesses.

The test is vastly based on the theory of Carl Jung and classifies people according to the eves of extraversion, introversion, intuition, perception and emotional sensitivity of the individual. (Wilde, 2011)The test has achieved great accolade for the immense amount usefulness in helping individuals discover their true personality and contrary to the widely held notion, the purpose of this test is not to categorize people or stigmatize them, but just help them discover traits and aspect of their character.

For instance, taking the test helped me discover that my personality traits were similar to those of an INFP, who are also known as the ‘Idealists’. I believe that there’s a huge correspondence between the traits that characterize an INFP and me, because I actually do have a very idealistic approach towards life. I am generally intuitive and rely on my feelings and perceptions more often than my empirical approach towards various situations. All in all, the Myer-Briggs test seemed quite accurate assessment of who I really am and provided great insight into my true personality.

ReferencesEngler, B. 2008. Personality theories: an introduction. Cengage Learning. Wilde, D.J. 2011. Jung’s Personality theory quantified. Springer.Plante, T.G. 2010. Contemporary Clinical Psychology. John Wiley and Sons: p. 115