The Advantages and Disadvantages of Objective Personality Tests

Objective personality tests have a lot to offer a psychologist seeking to better understand their client and possibly scope out mental or medical illness. Because of this, and the generally high levels of reliability and validity found in objective tests, many clinicians turn to objective tests for their personality testing needs. However, despite the frequency of use, objective tests still have disadvantages to balance out their advantages. Like any other form of assessment, critics and advocates have weighed in for years on the merits and shortcomings that objective tests present.

Advantages of Objective Tests

Unlike projective tests, objective test's counter, objective tests are quite economical. This is a certain upside since the cost of health care is rising and mental health facilities are looking for new methods of cutting costs while still providing the services the community needs. Since objective tests present a fixed set of questions and answer choices, they make available the option of group testing. A therapist can even allow a patient to complete such personality tests as the MMPI-2 alone and bring it back to them. Additionally, in today's day and age it is possible to have a computer score the test as opposed to having the therapist go over it, which can be an extremely time-consuming process.

This leads to the second advantage of objective personality assessments. Since the questions and answers are set, the scoring is objective, allowing for easier interpretation of data. Whereas projective tests require a great deal of interpretation skill on the part of the clinician, objective assessments make it easier on the clinician to interpret the score into something meaningful for diagnosis and treatment. However, this is not to say that testers need not be well trained and skilled. The simplicity of scoring and administration can often lead to errors and misuse, one major flaw of objective exams. These flaws and misuse can greatly affect the validity and reliability of the assessment, so it is important to take into consideration the experience and skill of the test giver in any psychological testing situation.

Disadvantages of Objective Tests

Some clinicians argue that there is little to gain from an objective exam if the goal is not behavioral. Gaining an understanding of motives or the dynamics of personality are virtually impossible using most objective assessment since the questions are generally "behavioral in nature" (Trull, 2005). Meaning, several different interpretations may be made as to why different people do the same thing. For example, two people may mark that they drink more than 3 glasses of alcohol a night. Does this mean that they both drink for the same reason? Not at all! One may drink in order to get to sleep, one may drink because they are depressed, and another may party every night. There are so many possibilities as to what the motives for one's actions are, and this is the aspect of personality that objective tests tend to miss.

Next, some tests offer only one score for a range of different questions. Questions based on behavior, cognitions, and needs all receive only a single score. This scoring system leaves much to be desired as it eliminates the option for alternate interpretations to the answers given. Grouping them all together can reflect different combinations of behaviors, cognitions, and needs and thus a client may be misinterpreted by the overall score.

Client faking is also easy on an objective exam, however, newer versions of such tests as the MMPI have put in place validity scales to check for faking and malingering. Still, test-taker faking still has to be kept in mind, and taken very seriously. Another serious problem is the self-knowledge aspect of objective exams. For some, knowing themselves is extremely easy, for others, answering the types of questions found on objective exams can be extremely hard. Since not all questions or answers given may match the test-taker exactly, and they aren't allowed to elaborate on their answer, the tests can be frustrating and inaccurate.

In Conclusion...

While negatives can be found with objective assessments, it is clear that such tests as the MMPI and MCMI-III have been a useful tool for clinicians everywhere. The advantages, when skillfully administered and interpreted, outweigh the disadvantages. Furthermore, a good clinician will combine several assessment forms to get the best and most comprehensive picture of their client. One assessment alone can be used, but it is best to plan a complete assessment program in order to balance out the advantages and disadvantages that make up each personality assessment type.

Kronheim, S., Ph.D, Jones, G., Ph.D, Munshell, C., Ph.D. (2007). Module 2: Clinical Assessment and Evaluation. Retrieved December 11, 2007, from UMUC.

Trull, T. (2005). Clinical Psychology, 7^th Edition. Belmont, CA. Thomson Wadsworth.