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Death is to us change, not con Heart of Midlothian.

A change! no, surely, not a ch The change must be before Death may confer a wider ran From pole to pole, from sea It cannot make me new or stra To mine own Personality!

For what am I? -- this mortal f These shrinking nerves, this For ever racked with ailments And scarce from day to day A fly within the spider's mesh

PERSONALITY
Personality:Every individual is said to have a personality of his own which is unique and distinct from every other personality. In a popular sense, by personality we mean that an individual has some striking qualities to traits in which he differs from other i.e., in appearance, in aggressiveness or pleasant manners etc. But, these are not the only points that make up the person. Every individual has a typical and distinctive style of behaving. This unique quality of his behavior constitutes shape to his personality i.e., feelings, values, reactions, prejudices, attitudes, perceptions etc. are the basis of ones behavior. Thus, personality includes physique, habits, temperament, sentiments, will and intelligence etc. Personality pervades every aspect of human life and influences every behavior. It is on this ground that Woodworth calls personality as the quality of ones behavior. The personality of the individual is much more complex and goes deeper. Personality is meant the individuals characteristic and reaction to social situations and his adaptation to his social features of his environment. Hence, personality is not only what we do in relation to others, but something more than that.

Psychologically, personality is all that a person is. It is the totality of his being and includes physical, mental, emotional and

temperamental make-up. We often hear an adolescent admiring the good looking personality of a film star,

Amitabh Bachchan of the great personality, Smita Patil or the great personality of a national leader like Indira Gandhi and Subhash Chandra Bose.

Dashiell says it is a system of reactions and possibilities in toto as viewed by fellow members of the society. It is the sum total of behaviortrends manifested in his social adjustments. It does not exist as an entity by itself. It is ones habitual modes of response. CONCEPT AND MEANING OF PERSONALITY The word personality has been derived from the Latin word Personae which means to sound through. The term was used to described the voice of an actor speaking through a mask. This term slowly began to be applied to the actors themselves. About a century before Christ, this term became common in connection with the actors participating in plays. By personality it is now generally meant that it is the organization and integration of a large number of human traits. The concepts of personality differ widely among different people. Some people consider that personality is that something with which an individual is born, which remains unaffected by environmental influences and which permeates all his actions. The other people regard an individuals personality as a person himself. They use the two terms, personality and person, interchangeably.

There are many other views which are expressed regarding personality and it is because the concept of personality is so widely different among different people that to give a concise definition of personality is extremely difficult. However, here we will try our best to arrive at such definition of personality that may be acceptable to most of the psychologists. DEFINITION OF PERSONALITY Many attempts have been made to define personality. Some of in one there is beard, in another there is none. The picture with beard shows an effective personality Lincoln was, however, not great because he had beard but because he was a great thinker, reformer and an ideal politician.

Warren defines Personality as the entire mental organization of a human-being at any stage of his development. This definition is erroneous in the sense that the human-being is not made up of sets compartments or organizations out of which some are mental and some are physical. On the contrary, the human-being is a completely integrated functioning unit or a complete whole. Thus, any definition which separates the physical from the mental or leads to a dualistic interpretation of the facts of human existence cannot be acceptable to us. The definition given by Rexroad explains personality as the balance between socially approved traits. It is not very correct. On analysis it will

be seen that it leads inevitably to the concept of a personality. This means that as a man has a body, a head, a nose, similarly he has a personality. According to this position, personality is considered as a static balance between two well-known factors. If we reflect on this position, we will have to recognize that these factors are not stable commodities and that social approval and disapproval are not such attributes of an individual who is being analyzed which are fixed and dependent upon the experiences of the person who is analyzing the personality. Thus, this definition is not acceptable to us because it presents a static view of personality and also because it presents an oversimplified view of it which leads us towards ambiguity. The definition given by Dashiell seems to be more adequate. According to this definition, an individuals personality is defined as his system of reactions and reaction-possibilities in total as viewed by fellow members of society. It is the sum total of behavior trends manifested in his social adjustments. Thus, the definition describes personality as a system of reactions and behavior and takes into consideration not only the individual but also those who surround him. Hence, we may take this definition as describing personality correctly to quite an appreciable extent. It can be said with confidence that human personality does not exist unless there are other individuals to react to the individual and to whom he may respond. Another definition arrived at by Gordon Allport (1927) after an examination of 50 definitions of personality is worth mentioning here.

Allport suggested that Personality is the dynamic organization with the individual of those psycho-physical system that determine his unique adjustment to his environment. This definition emphasizes the adjective processes in the development of an individual personality. According to this definition, an individuals inherent needs, urges, or drives serve as motivation of behavior towards satisfied goals. If the individual fails to achieve one or more of these behavior goals, there may occur a disorganization of his personality unless a changed made of action results in the satisfaction of the need or drive or unless itself modified or replaced in such a way that satisfaction is made possible. This is also quite an adequate definition and explains the personality quite clearly and correctly. The definitions which seems to be correct, consider personality as dynamic and refer to integrated behavior. They represent as interaction between inherited potentialities and environmental influences. There are numerous definitions of personality. Each definition suggests a different approach towards personality. In other words, we may say that Psychologists too have added to the confusion by offering a large number of divergent definitions. A few of them are given below Personality is the integration of those systems of habits that represent one individuals characteristic adjustment to his environment. - Kemph The entire organization of a human being at any stage of development is personality. - Warren & Carmichael

Personality is that which permits a predication of what a person will do in a given situation. -Cattel, R.B. The personality of an individual may be defined as his persistent tendencies to make certain qualities and kinds of adjustment. -Shaffer & Shober Personality is sum total of all the biological innate disposition, impulses, tendencies, appetites and instincts of the individual and the acquired dispositions and tendencies. - Morton Prince It is an individuals typical or consistent adjustment to his environment. - Boring It is the sum total of innate and acquired dispositions. - Valentine We shall define personality as the pattern of responses which characterizes the individual. -Stagner By personality we refer to a pattern of traits rather than to a mere list or collection of characteristics. - Gates

Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychological systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment. - Allport Watson (1930), the father of behaviourism on the basis of his behavioural studies, concluded. Personality is the sum of activities that can be discovered by actural observations over a long enough period of time to give reliable information. Personality is the sum total of all the biological innate dispositions, impulses, tendencies, appetites and instincts of the individual and the dispositions and tendencies acquired by experience. This definition of Morton Prince was criticized on the ground that it does not present an integrated and organizational view of personality. Personality cannot be described through merely summing up the various elements involved in it and if this definition is accepted, it would be like describing a house as a collection of bricks. Personality is a dynamic organization within the individual of those psycho-physical systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment. Although Allport tried to give a comprehensive definition of the term personality by recognizing its dynamic nature and organizational

aspects and by emphasizing the role it can play in an individuals adjustment to his environment, his definition suffered from some serious defects. In emphasizing the dynamic organization within the individual he seems to view personality as somewhat different from the individual, residing within him, rather than as an integrated unity of mind and body. Personality to him is something put into the individual like water is put into a jug and it takes the shape of the jug. Personality is that which permits a prediction of what a person will not in a given situation. Personality is the more or less stable and enduring organization of a persons character, temperament, intellect and physique, which determine his unique adjustment to the environment. In Eysencks definition character signified conative behavior or will; physique meant bodily configuration and neuroendocrine endowments, temperament stood for affective behavior based on emotions, and intellect implied the cognitive behavior or intelligence. The definition given by Eysenck has very strong point in its favour. First, it tries to provide personality with a physiological base and given a balanced consideration to role of heredity and environment in building the personality. Secondly, it gives a complete picture of human behavior by involving all of its aspect-conative, cognitive and affective. Thirdly, it stresses the need of integration and organization of the behavioural characteristics. Finally, it aims at making personality somewhat

measurable and assessable, thus giving it a scientific base. However, on the other hand, it does have some weaknesses also in that human personality cannot be supposed to necessarily possess a physiological base and it cannot be considered to be as static and fixed as advocated by this definition. It is true that personality should be evaluated on the basis of generality of the behavior but at the same time, changes cannot be denied. Distinguishing Features & Characteristics of Personality The results of various experimental studies and observations have led to the identification of the following characteristics of personality. 1. Personality is something unique and specific. Every one of us is a unique person in oneself. Every one of us has specific characteristics for making adjustments. However, the uniqueness of an individuals personality does not mean that he has nothing to share with others in terms of traits and characteristics of personality. He may have certain characteristics which he may share with others and at the same time many others which are unique to him. 2. Personality exhibits self consciousness as one of its main characteristics. Man is described as a person or as having a personality when the idea of self enters into his consciousness. In this connection Bhatia (1968) writes: We do not attribute personality to a dog and even a child cannot be described as a personality because it has only a vague sense of personal identity.

3. Personality, as stated by Allport (1948): It is not only the assumed, the external and the non-essential but also the vital, the internal and the essential. It includes everything about a person. It is all what a person has about him. Therefore, it includes all the behaviour patterns, i.e. conative, cognitive and affective and covers not only the conscious activities but goes deeper to the semi conscious and unconscious also. 4. Personality is not just a collection of so many traits or characteristics. For instance, by only counting the bricks, how can we describe the wall of a house? Actually, personality is more than this: it is an organization of psychophysical systems or some behaviour characteristics and functions as a unified whole. Just as an elephant cannot be described as a pillar only by examining its legs, an individuals personality cannot be judged by only looking at his physical appearance or his sociability. The personality of an individual can be assessed only by going into all the aspects that comprise his totality. 5. Although the personality of an individual remains stable to a large extent, it cannot be said to be static, it is dynamic and continuously in the process of change and modification. As we have said earlier, personality is the everything that a person has about him. It gives him all that is needed for his unique adjustment to his environment. The process of making adjustment is continuous. One has to struggle

with the environmental as well as the inner forces throughout ones life. As a result, one has to modify and change ones personality patterns and this makes the nature of personality dynamic. 6. Personality is sometimes subjected to disorganisation and

disintegration, leading to severe personality disorders on account of factors and conditions like severe anxiety, stress, traumatic experiences, prolonged illness, infections, and damage to the brain and nervous system. 7. Every personality is the product of heredity and environment. Both these contribute significantly towards the development of the childs personality. A child is not born with a personality but develops one as a result of continuous interaction with his environment. Therefore, not only heredity but also factors like constitutional make-up, social and cultural influences as well as experience and training etc. all affect ones personality. 8. Learning and acquisition of experiences contribute towards growth and development of personality. Every personality is the endproduct of this process of learning and acquisition. 9. The personality of an individual can be described as well as measured. 10.Personality should not be taken as synonymous with ones character. Character is an ethical concept. It represents a moral estimate of the

individual, while personality as a psychological concept is a more comprehensive term which includes character as one of its constituents. 11.Personality may be further distinguished from temperament which can be termed a system of emotional disposition. This system of emotional disposition represents only the affective side of ones personality and so personality must be taken as being much beyond ones temperament. 12.Personality should also be viewed differently from the ego or the individual self. The word ego is generally used for that unified part of ones personality which in ordinary language we call I. However, as the psychoanalytic view of personality advocated by Freud explains, it is only a small aspect of ones total personality. Personality, therefore, stands for more than what the ego carries. 13.Every persons personality has one more distinguishing feature, that is, aiming to an end or towards some specific goals.

NATURE OF PERSONALITY Klausmeier says, Though personality integration includes

internalization of ethical values, in practice a distinction is frequency made between personality integration and character, with character used to denote ethical attitudes, value and motives. Thus, the character refers to the conformity to the ethical values and the observance of the laws set up by the society. A person is considered of good characters when he conforms to the ethical standards set in his society and obeys the laws of the land. It is however, not desirable to differentiate too much between the character of a person and his personality. The character-development and personality integration are almost similar processes in the life of a normal human being. The ethical conduct of an individual is as much part of his personality as it is a consequence of his character. A person achieves personality integration when he develops self-control, has recognized personal responsibility, social

responsibility and democratic social interest, beside inculcating an idealvalue system. The person with above qualities will also be classified as a person of good character. A well-adjusted personality does not merely signify the satisfaction on ones needs, desires, wishes, etc. If satisfaction of selfish motives is taken to be the sign of personality adjustment, the thief, the murderer, the delinquent, etc. may often be considered as of well-adjusted personality.

But we know how false is this situation. In fact, in personality development we cannot ignore the ethical values. When we talk of ethical values, we also talk of character-development. It is to describe the closeness of character and personality that Shoben used the term integrative adjustment. According to Cronbach Character is not really a cumulation of separate habits and ideas. Character is embedded in the total structure of personality. To understand character, the structure of the personality just be thoroughly examined. DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALITY A new-born infant comes to this world equipped with certain seriated capacities for personality development. In the very beginning of his life, he lacks a differentiated personality. The older persons who come in his contact interpret his untutored responses in the light of heir own personality reactions. Slowly, the infant begins to develop and understanding of the effect of his behaviour upon himself and other people and his personality begins to emerge out. As personality is not fixed and permanent, it follows that heredity days a small part in its development. It is rather the day-by-day experiences of the individual, the kinds of environment in which he was developed and the opportunities for all kinds of learning that are responsible for his personality development. The infant develops his

personality with every movement that he makes during a day. There are various influences which effects the development of personality of individual. Here we will discuss those under four heads, viz., Physique, chemique, Environmental Factors and Learning. DETERMINANTS OF PERSONALITY There are innumerable factors that affect the development of personality. Personalities, like oak trees, take shape slowly. The following are the most important determinates in which lies the origin of personality. 1. Biological Determinants 2. Psychological Determinants 3. Social Determinants 4. Cultural Determinants

1.

Biological Determinants Heredity provides the individual with a fund of potentialities and certain organismic conditions that determine, to a large degree, the type of his personality. The fact is that we have no clear means of knowing what children inherit individually. All that can be stressed is that the teacher should be on the look out for indications of innate abilities and tendencies of children. It is possible to know about the intelligence of children but their emotional and social development is so largely determined by environmental influences that it is not possible to say how much an individual owes to heredity. Hereditary factors may be summed as constitutional (physique) and chemical or Glandular Bases (Endocrine Glands). (i) Constitutional Factors (Physique) The constitution of the body is said to be an effective factor in determining the type of ones personality. Earnest Kretschmer, a German Psychiatrist distinguishes three body types of personality (a) the Pyknic is short and shout (b) the Leptosome or Asthenic is tall and thin (c) the Athletic is muscular and well-proportioned. Overt aspects of an individuals personality like his height, weight, body-built, have some colour and other on physical

characteristics

influence

personality

development. The physique of a child helps to determine his

self-concept. An individual with an imposition body-built and a healthy appearance definitely influences those around him. He gains recognition and status in his group. People take them as their leader in times of crisis. It flatters his ego. Contrary to this is the small, lean and thin person, even if he has some merits, these are overlooked because of his physique. This leads him to self-pity and gradual self-withdrawl. Tall and fair persons enjoy an advantage over their short and ugly associates. A bodily defect or deformity may, again alter the whole personality. A blind man has to depend upon another person. A stulterers speech is affected by his handicap. Fatty persons are often of an entertaining and ease-loving nature. We thus have the examples of an extrovert and in introvert personality because of physique. It is said that introverts have vertical body growth and extroverts horizontal growth. A fatigued and hungry man loses his temper for nothing. Persons whose blood-circulation is abnormal and whose oxygen supply runs short, lack encouragement to work. Also, application of drugs like alcohol, produces bodily changes and alter personality. The excess or shortage of sugar in blood also affects personality. Factors like fasting and disease may also produce changes in it. Last but not the least, brain disorders may cause remarkable changes in personality.

(ii)

Chemical or Glandular Bases The biological basis of behavior makes some aspects of behavior consistent. The nervours system, the glands and the blood chemistry largely determine the characteristic and habitual modes of behavior. These factors from the biological basis of personality. Adrenal women have masculine traits, and excel as administrators. Their secretion adrenalin intensifies bodily reactions. They exist near kidneys. Lack of their secretion results in the lack of energy, irritability and indecisiveness. They are aroused by an emergency. Endocrine glands secret hormones or the exciters into the blood. Co-operation between these is very important. Pituitary gland, existing between the brain and the roof of the mouth, sees that they are working in harmony. It influences our emotions. Berman describes two pituitary personalities-pre-

pituitary and post-pituitary. The pre-pituitary type, caused by its anterior lobe over-activity, is predominantly masculine. Postpituitary caused by the over-activity of the posterior lobe is excessively feminine.

The thyroid gland in two parts exists in the base of the neck in front of each side. Excitability and nervousness result from the over-enthusiasm and over-activity of this gland. Deficiency in thyroid gland leads to sluggishness in mental activity, lack of initiative and concentration of attention. Berman says sub-thyroids are under-developed physically, listless, dull and susceptible to disease. Hyper-thyroids are restless, energetic, keen and impulsive The thymocentric personality dominated by the thymus gland in the upper chest is physically fragile, uninhibited often abnormal glandular conditions seriously affect personality. 2. Psychological Determinants The role played + by love and affection in the development or personality cant be over emphasized. Affection is the positive emotion towards persons, pets objects etc. A child who gets plenty of love and efficient has better opportunities of becoming a good mixer and a socially efficient person. On the contrary, an unfortunate child who is denied the blessings of love and affection during infancy and childhood finds it rather difficult to adjust to other children and adults around him. A child is a natural object of love and affection within a family. Given a proper dose of parental affection he feels quite secure and happy. A denial of this privilege

lead to a number of serious personality problems. He is not simply to be patted and loved but is also to be taught to display the same feelings towards others. He must learn how to be considerate, affectionate and loving. Such a learning is indispensable for a healthy development of his personality. Friendship and social relations also influence a childs personality development. The bases of friendly relations, the social interaction between friends, the quality and duration of friendly contacts etc. contribute immensely towards the growth of a childs personality. During infancy the basis of friendship is nearness in space. Children residing in the same home or street are usually chums. Early friendships are usually short-lived. In the field of friendship few children are liable to develop certain undesirable tendencies e.g., over-attachments, selfishness, jealousy, hostility, exploitative attitudes towards friends etc. Such developments should be critically watched by the parents and teachers. The sense of personal achievement also plays a vital role in childs personality development. Human beings have a natural fascination for the attainment of reputation, fame, prestige, honour, distinction, recognition, success, skill etc.

As an infant, the child snatches and grabs everything he can possibly lay hands on it. As he grows older he needs to be taught gradually that thwarting anothers desires in order to fulfil ones own is an undesirable attitude. Organized sports, group recreations, competitive activities and even occasional theoretical social instruction at school and home enables the child to grasp the truth that one can often harmonize the demands of personal achievement with those of love and affection for others. Parental attitudes to wards children also affect the course of their personality development. If the general attitude of the parents is affectionate and balanced, children feed secure and happy. They develop into cheerful and adjusted personalities. On the contrary, if parents adopt unhealthy and unwholesome attitudes towards children their personality development is liable to be affected very adversely. Two of such wrong parental attitudes which prove personality spoilers are (I)
(II)

Parental Negligence, and Parental Over-Protection Parental Negligence It is the fundamental duty of every parent to provide affection

(I)

and security to a child at home and looking after his basic needs. Some parents, however, neglect to perform their duties properly and thus harm childs personality.

(II)

Parental Over-Protection Parental over-protection, over-solicitude or over-indulgence is

as injurious for the personality growth as negligence and rejection. Over-protection means excessive caring for, loving and shielding the child by one or both the parents. Usually mothers are more guilty of this excessive parental attitude towards children. 3. Social Determinants An individual is born and nurtured in society. He acts in response to environment stimuli. The school environment consists of social code and social role of a person. He abides by the rules and prohibitions of his society and finds in it a place of his own. Social rules and prohibitions of his society and finds in it a place of his own. Social rules and prohibitions or taboos regulate the individuals customs, manners and conduct. The child, for example, has to court ridicule, punishment and even expulsion, if he violates the social code. So, he deems it prudent to abide by it. Yet in spite of being regulated by it each individual develops in his own way. Personality is no mere social product, but also the product of the individuals nature. The individual acquires social code in his childhood. Even the child at play has to obey the rules of the game. On telling a lie he is disbelieved.

4.

Cultural Determinants Culture gives a permanent mould to the personality of the child. A child is born in a particular cultural group. Soon after birth he is gradually conditioned to the demands and expectancies of that culture. He finds that in order to become a successful participant in the life of the group he must accept their ideas, habits, attitudes, outlooks, etc. This process of accepting or identifying oneself with the modes of thought and behavior in vogue in ones group determiners considerably the formation and development or childrens personality. The cultural group of the child also conditions him to socially acceptable modes of expressing aggression and anger through sports, debates, discussions, competitive activities etc. If they feel that certain personal demands or other forces are clashing with a cultural demand they are usually able to achieve harmony by making some sort of a compromise, reconciliation adjustment etc. certain children, however, fail to achieve a good adjustment to the demands of their culture, which might seriously clash with another equally strong inner or outer force. This phenomenon is known as a culture conflict.

TYPES OR CLASSIFICATION OR PERSONALITY A large number of studies advocated the theory of type of personality by classifying human beings into more or less clear cut types based on their temperament, ways of behviour, body build, mental make up or the objectives they pursued or aimed at in life. First Type:The earliest attempt to classify human beings into types based on temperamental qualities caused by what were called humours or fluids in the body and its build, was of Hippocrates, the medical man in ancient Greece. He classified persons in four types as under (a) Sanguine - who had more blood in the body, were said to be lighthearted, optimistic, happy, accommodating, confident. (b) Phlegmatic - who had more colourless and thick phlegm as the dominant humour, were said to be cold, calm, slow or sluggish, indifferent, placid, not easily excited and rather dull. (c) Choleric - who had more yellow bile in their system and were said to be irritable, angry but were passionate and strong with active imagination. (d) Melancholic - who had more black bile as the dominant humour, were surly or bad-tempered, pessimistic, dejected, sad, depressed, pensive, deplorable, miserable and self-involved. hopeful, ardent and

Second Another types

Type

into

classification based was on

bodily by

structure Kretschmer

given

who

divided

human being into the four types as under(a) Athletic - who were strongly muscular built body, with wide

chest and shoulders, large hands and feet. (b) Ashletic - who were lean, frail, flat-chested, weak or sick, lacking in strength with debility. (c) Pyknic - who were short limbed with large head, chest and ahdoman. They had plump body roundish and fatty, their face was soft and broad with broad hands and feet but they had slender neck and crooked nose, typical of a devil, as it were. (d) Dysplastic developed who were rather lanky with ill-balanced and under body. They had underdeveloped secondary sex

characteristics and were incompatible in sex relations.

Third

Type

A on by

similar bodily W.H.

classification variations was

based given

Sheldon according to whom the types of persons were(a) Endomorphic or Viscerotonic who had big viscera, were flabby with weak bones and muscles but were fatty. They liked ease, comfort and support from others. (b) Mesomorphic or Somatotonic - who had strong muscles and bones but were slim. These persons were active, assertive, competitive and

aggressing or struggling to achieve their goals. (c) Ectomorphic or Cerebrotonic - who were weak, frail and skinny. The were stiff, restrained, afraid, with lack of confidence. They had nervous and retiring nature and they suppressed their emotions and were sorrowful.

Fourth

Type

Another

classification was made by Kraeplin from the point of view of mental structure as under (a) Cycloids who were social, good natured, sentimental,

emotional and rather restless. They were helpful, co-operative with feelings for others and friendly. They could develop mental symptoms of manic depressives. (b) Schezoidswho were self-centered, unsocial, hot-tempered,

unsympathetic and eccentric but often intelligent and imaginative. They could develop symptoms of schzophrenia. Fifth Type - A similar classification based on mental structure or in terms of the mental energy or libido flowing inwardly or outwardly was given by C.G. Jung who thought that there were four important functions in the individual through which libido expressed itself inwardly or outwardly, These functions were sensations, feelings, thinking and intuition and so there were really eight types of people -

(a) Introverted - in which category were introverted sensorial, introverted feeling, introverted thinking and introverted intuitive types of persons. Similarly, there were(b) Extroverted- sensorial, feeling, thinking, and intuitive types of personality. Sixth Type- Spranger made a classification of human beings on the basis of values they held dear and whose objectives in life were the pursuit of those values. This classification was according to the following six values(a) Economic - Those who aimed at economic gains or wealth. (b) Social - Those who wanted to have social prestige or position, status or name and fame. (c) Theoretical - Those who pursued studies and academic gains. (d) Aesthetic- Who wanted to keep busy themselves in the pursuit of art creation and art appreciation. (e) Political- Those who struggled for political power like-political leaders, statesman etc. (f) Religious - Who pursued religious experience and devoted more time in religious practices, study and meditation. Seventh Type - Adler made a classification of children, on the basis of the style of life they adopted by virtue of their ordinal position in the family and which style of life became the style even in adulthood for the

sake of gaining power or position, as according to Adler, power seeking was the chief aim in life of everybody. He named the following four types(a) Demanding Type - who dominate and demand from others and consider it their privilege. The eldest child, according to Adler, adopts this style of life. (b) Escaping Type - are the only children who are pampered and who are not taught how to struggle or face the difficulties. They escape the solution of problems and make excuses. (c) Getting Type - are the youngest children who being everybodys pet are given things easily. They are dependent, looking to others for help. (d) Struggling type - are the other children in the family who know that unless they try on their own, they were not getting any help or advantage and so they struggle in later life also. Eighth Type - Classification of human beings has been done by many other people also. Francis Galton, for example, categorized people as visuile, audile, olfactile, volatile and gustatile in accordance with their capacity to recall experiences or imagery pertaining to vision, hearing and Sensations of touch, smell and taste respectively. William James also thought of tough-minded and soft-minded persons. But the attempt for classification of human being into types seems futile as there are no such clear cut types. All human beings are of mixed types though it is quite understandable that in some people one or two attributes or qualities are more predominant and there too it is more the

situation where those qualities or attributes emerge more easily and persistently when in other situations they may remain hidden or in the background. ANCIENT INDIANS (AYURVEDIC) CLASSIFICATION Even in India, the ancient system of medicine Ayurveda classifies man based on the presence of combination of elements of Nature. Ayurveda, advocates that the entire Universe (living and non-living) is made of up five elements; air, fire, water, earth and ether (space), collectively called panchamahabhutas. Human body contains these elements as its constituents. Ayurvedics Classification of Personality Types Dominance Personality Physiological/ of the type Somatic elements of characteristics the body Air & ether Vata Slightly built, a little (space) pigeon chested with dull dark hair and eyes, have dry rough and chapped skin, suffer from stiff joints, rheumatic problems and constipation Personality characteristics

Restless with active minds, indecisive and emotionally insecure, poor in memory, tendency towards insomnia depression and night Marish dream good artists and enjoy travelling, solitary and

Water &

Kapha

rebellious. Big boned, often over- Need a lot of sleep,

Earth

weight with a pale, smooth complexion, haris are lustrous and wavy and eyes are wide and attractive, suffer from sinus problems, lethargy and nausea. Average build, have a ruddy complexion or red hair, with moles, freckles or acne, tendency to go grey and bald early in life and often have green or very piercing eyes.

rational speak and move slowly, calm and loyal, emotionally secure, experience romantic and sentimental dreams. Intense, argumentative and precise with a critical sharp intelligence, make good leaders, at their worst they can be passionately angry, enjoy sports, hunting and polities and have vivid dream.

Fire & water

Pitta

Hippocrates classification. According to Hippocrates the human body consists of four types of humours of fluids-blood, yellow bile, phlegm (mucus) and black bile. The predominance of one of these four types of fluids in ones body gives him unique temperamental characteristics leading to a particular type of personality as summarized in Table.

Dominance of

Personality type

Temperamental characters

fluid type in the body Blood Yellow bile

Sanguine Choleric

Light-hearted, optimistic, happy, hopeful and accommodating. Irritable, angry but passionate, and strong with active imagination. Cold, calm, slow or sluggish and indifferent. Bad tempered, dejected, sad, depressed, pessimistic, deplorable and self-involved.

Phlegm (mucus) Black bile

Phlegmatic Melancholic

Kretshmers classification. Kretschmer classified all human beings into certain biological types according to their physical structure and has allotted following definite personality characteristics associated with each physical make-up Table. Kretschmers Classification Personality types Pyknic (hving fat bodies) Athletic (balanced body) Leptosomatic (Lean and thin) Personality characteristics Sociable, jolly, easy-going and good natured. Energetic, optimistic and adjustable. Unsociable, reserved, shy, sensitive and pessimistic. Sheldons classification. Sheldon too, like Kretschmer, classified human beings into types according to their physical structures and attached certain temperamental characteristics to them as shown in table.

Sheldons Classification Personality types Endomorphic Somatic description Person having highly developed viscera but weak somatic structure, (like Kretschmers athletic type). Balanced development of viscera and somatic structure, (like Kretschmers athletic type) Weak somatic structure as well as undeveloped viscera, (like Kretschmers Leptosomatic) Personality characteristics Easy-going, sociable and affectionate.

Mesomorphic

Craving for muscular activity, self-assertive, loves risk and adventure

Ectomorphic

Pessimistic, unsociable and reserved.

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY The search for understanding the meaning and nature of personality would be incomplete if we do not discuss some important theories of personality. These theories in one way or another, try to describe the basic structure and underlying entities or constructs involved in personality along with the processes by which these entities interact. The theories of personality in general can be classified into the following broad categories: Theories adopting the type approach. The viewpoint of Hippocrates, Kretschrner, Sheldon and Jung belong to this category.

Theories adopting the trait approach. Theories like Allports theory and Cattells theory of personality are based on the trait approach. Theories adopting the type-cum-trait approach. Theories like Eysencks theory of personality can be put under this category. Theories adopting the psycho-analytical approach. Theories like psycho analytic theory of Freud, theory of individual psychology by Adler, analytical psychology of Jung, social relationship theory of Homey and Ericksons theory of psychosocial development may be included in this category. Theories adopting the humanistic approach. Theories like Carl Rogers self theory and Maslows self-actualization theory belong to this category. Theories adopting the learning approach. Dollard and Millers learning theory and Bandura and Walters theory of social learning can be put into this category. Let us now briefly discuss the viewpoints propounded in these theories.

Type approach Theories adopting the type approach advocate that human personalities can be classified into a few clearly defined types and each person, depending upon his behavioural characteristics, somatic structure,

blood types, fluids in the body, or personality traits can be described as belonging to a certain type. Based on such an approach, the physician of ancient India broadly categorized all human beings into three types. This classification was based on the three basic elements of the body, namely pitt (bile), vat (wind), and kuf (mucus). TRAIT APPROACH In the trait approach the personality is viewed in viewed in terms of various traits. In our day-to-day conversation we ascribe traits to our friends and near ones as being honest, shy; aggressive, lazy, dull, dependent etc. Traits may be defined as relativity permanent and relatively consistent general behavior patterns that an individual exhibits in most situations. If a person behaves honestly in several situations, his behavior my be generalized and he may be labeled as honest and honestly is then said to be a behavioural trait of his personality. Allports theory and Cattells theory are said to be the best examples of the trait approach. Allports theory. Gordon W. Allport (1897-1967) was the first theorist who by rejecting the notion of a relatively limited number of personality types adopted the trait approach for the description of highly individualized personalities. Traits, according to Allport, are the basic units of personality. Each of us develops a unique set of such organized tendencies termed as traits in the course of our continuous and gradual development. Allport

distinguished three types of traits namely, cardinal traits, central traits and secondary traits. Cardinal traits are the primary traits so dominant is ones personal disposition that they colour virtually every aspect of ones behviour and attributes. These traits, if found in an individual, are limited in number to just one or two. For example, if a person has humorousness as a cardinal trait, he will bring a sense of humour into almost all situations irrespective of its actual demands. Secondary traits are not as dominant as the cardinal or central traits. They appear in only a relatively small range of situations and are not considered strong enough to be regarded as integral part of ones personality. Cardinal traits are thus central to the description of ones personality. These traits combined with a few central traits from the core of characteristic traits responsible for giving uniqueness to ones personality. The other remaining traits, not so generalized and consistent may also be found in other people and may thus be categorized as common traits. In order to find out how many traits are responsible for defining personality, Allport and one of his colleagues, Odbert (1936) analysed about 18,000 terms taken from a dictionary that could be used by people to describe each other and they finally came up with a total of 4541 psychological traits from describing human behavior.

In this way, Allport focused on these large number of behavioural traits to describe personality instead of explaining it like other developmental and psychoanalytical theorists. To him personality was the dynamic organization of all the behavioural traits that an individual possessed and it was that organization. Which could be considered responsible for his behavior in a particular situation. Allport (1961) showed that traits lead towards the consistency in ones behavior though this does not mean that trait of personality must be regarded as fixed and stable operating mechanically to the same degree on all occasions. Instances of inconsistency thus do not mean the nonexistence of a trait. It is very much there in the behavior of the person, but for the time being allows itself to be dominated by the demands of the situation. Allports theory of personality is known not only for its emphasis on traits but also for its stress on concepts like functional autonomy, individualized approach in the study of personality, and the discontinuous nature of the development of personality etc. The concept of functional autonomy suggests that functions or means which once served a purpose may attain autonomy at a later stage. Though motives are goal-oriented to begin with, they become functionally autonomous when the goals are achieved. A behavior that once satisfied some specific need later serves only itself. For example, what originally began as an effort to reduce hunger, pain or anxiety may become a source of pleasure and motivation in its won right. The drinks or intoxicating

substances originally taken to reduce pain or anxiety may thus attain autonomy by becoming an end in themselves. Allport also emphasized another important concept of the discrete and discontinuous nature of the development of personality. In his book Pattern and Growth in Personality, he mentioned three stage in the growth and development or personality namely, the childhood, adolescence and adulthood personalities. Personality is not a continuation from childhood to adulthood rather it is a discrete and discontinuous development. The past cannot decide the functions of the present. What matters during childhood is certainly different from the value during adolescence and adulthood and, therefore according to Allport, the adolescents or adults functioning is not constrained by his or her past. Cattells theory. The most recent advanced theory of personality based on the trait approach has been developed by Cattell (1973), a British-born American researcher. He has defined a trait as a structure of the personality inferred from behavior in different situations and described four types of traits.

Common traits. The traits found widely distributed in general population like honesty, aggression and cooperation.

Unique traits. Traits unique to a person such as temperamental traits, emotional reactions.

Surface traits. These can be recognized by manifestations of behavior like curiosity, dependability, tactfulness.

Source traits. These are the underlying structures or sources that determine behavior such as dominance, submission emotionality, etc. The theory propagated by Cattell attributes certain specific

dimensions to personality so that human behavior related to a particular situation, can be predicted. Cattell has adopted factors analysis as a technique for this work. Let us see how this is done. 1. Cattell began by attempting to make a complete list of all possible human behaviours. In 1946, he compiled a list of over 17,000 traits and by eliminating similarities and synonyms reduced the list to 171 dictionary words related with personality and called these treatments. 2. His next step was to ascertain how they are related. He found that each trait element has high correlation with some traits and low with others. In this ay, he identified some 35 specific groups and called them surface traits. 3. Hefurther analyzed these surface traits in terms of their interrelations and eliminated those which were overlapping. The removal of such overlapping gave him the desired basic dimensions which he called source traits, i.e. the real structural influence underlying personality.

4. After obtaining the source traits (which are 16 in number) he tried to use them to predict behavior employing what is called the specification equation.

The response or behavior of an individual is thus predicted from the degree to which he exhibits each source trait (T) modified by the importance of the trait for that response (s). Suppose, for example, that academic performance (AP) is predictable from two source traits namely intelligence (I) and Reading habits (R), then.

Now also suppose that intelligence (I) is more important for this behavior than reading habits (R) in the ratio of 5:3; this may be expressed as:

The trait theory of Cattell, thus, tried to describe and predict the behavior of individual on the basis of their personality traits (the fundamental building blocks of human personality). Basically, Cattells work as a whole, involves the identification of basic dimensions of personality (by applying factor analysis techniques to the observable behavior i.e. traits) and then developing instruments to measure these dimensions. TYPE-CUM-TRAIT APPROACH

This approach tries to dynthesize the type and trait approaches. Starting with the trait approach, it yields definite personality types. Eysencks theory of personality. While Cattell has tried to use the factor analysis technique to give some basic dimensions to personality by enumerating 16 basic traits, H.J. Eysenck, a German-born British psychologist, went a step further in the adopting factor analysis technique by extracting second order factors and grouping traits into definite personality type. How individual behavior is organized and acquires the shape of a definite type is revealed by the following illustration Fig. 1. According to Eysenck, there are four levels of behavior organization. 1. At the lowest level are the specific responses. They grow out of particular responses to any single act. Blushing, for example, is a specific response. 2. Habitual responses form the second level and comprise similar responses of an individual, to similar situations. For instance, (a) the inability to easily strike friendships, or (b) hesitancy in talking to strangers are habitual responses.
Introversion

Persistence Shyness

Rigidity Irritability

Subjectivity

Habitual response level

Specific response level

3. At the third level is the organization of habitual acts into traits. Behavior acts which have similarities are said to belong to one group and are called traits. In the above example the habitual responses (a) and (b) etc., give birth to a group of traits called shyness. 4. The fourth level is the organization of these traits into a general type. A type is defined as a group of correlated traits. Traits which are similar in nature give birth to a definite type just as figure 1 traits like persistence, rigidity, shyness etc., have been grouped into a type termed as Introversion. Eysencks work has clearly demonstrated that human behavior and personality can be very well-organized into a hierarchy with specific response at the bottom and the definite personality type at the top. The three basis dimensions (defined as clusters or groups of correlated traits) derived by Eysenck through his work are: 1. Introversion-extroversion

2. Neuroticism (emotional instability-emotional stability) 3. Psychoticism These three basic dimensions refer to definite personality types i.e. introvert, extrovert, neurotic and psychotic. The second major dimension suggested by Eysenck involves emotional instability at the lower end and emotional stability at the upper end describing people as neurotic and not neurotic. Thus, at its lower end are the persons who are moody, touchy, anxious or restless and at the upper end are persons who are stable, calm, carefree, even-tempered and dependable. The third dimension is psychoticism. The people high on this dimension tend to be solitary, insensitive, egocentric impersonal, impulsive and opposed to accepted social norms while those scoring low are found to be more empathic and less adventurous and bold. Eysenck has also tried to make use of Cattells basic dimensions for the measurement of ones personality by developing an appropriate set of questions in the form of two well-known inventories the Maudsley personality inventory and the Eysenck personality inventory. The contribution of Eysencks theory to describing, explaining, and predieting ones behavior and personality are notable and worthy of praise. Psychoanalytical Approach The psychoanalytic approach to personality was first created and advocated by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) by viewing people as being engaged in a constant stuggle to tame their biological urges.

Frends psychoanalytic theory of personality. Freuds theory of personality is built on the premise that the mind is topographical and dynamic, there are provinces or divistions which are always moving and interrelated. The human mind has three main divisions namely, the conscious, semiconscious and unconscious. Freud also believes that the anatomy of our personality is built around the three unified and inter-relating systems, namely, id, ego and superego (Fig. )

Super ego
Relative position of ID, Ego, and Super Ego

Ego

Id

Relative positions of id, ego and superego The id is the raw, savage and immoral basic stuff of a mans personality that is hidden in the deep layers of his unconscious mind. It consists of such ambitions, desires, tendencies and appetites as are guided by the pleasure-seeking principle. It has no values, knows no laws, follows

no rules, does not recognize right or wrong and considers only the satisfaction of its needs and appetites to be paramount. The third system of personality is the superego. It is the ethical or moral arm of the personality. It is idealistic and does not care for realities. Perfection rather than pleasure is its goal. It is a decision-making entity which decides what is good or bad to the social norms and therefore acceptable or otherwise. Freud put forward a dynamic concept of personality by conceptualizing the continuous conflict among the id, ego and superego. While the id operating on the pleasure principle, continuously presses for the immediate discharge of bodily tension, the superego concerned with morality prohibits such gratification. The extent to which the ego is able to discharge its responsibilities decides the personality make-up of the individual. 1. Individuals who have a strong or powerful ego are said to have a strong or balanced personality because the ego is capable of maintaining a balance between the superego and the id. 2. In case an individual possess a weak ego, he is bound to have a maladjusted personality. Here two situations may arise. In one situation, the superego may be more powerful than the ego and so does not permit desirable fulfillment of the repressed wishes and impulses which results in a neurotic personality. If, on the other hand, the id is more powerful than the ego, the individual may

indulge in unlawful or immoral activities leading to the formation of a delinquent personality. The Humanistic Approach This approach to personality came from a group of psychologists subscribing to the humanistic school of psychology. Humanistic psychology, the so-called third force in psychology (the other two being behaviourism and psychoanalysis) reflects a humanistic trend in dealing with and understanding human behavior. It believes in the goodness of man and reposes optimistic confidence in mans positive nature. The self-actualization theory of Abraham Maslow. Abraham H. Maslow, an American psychologist, has been the major theorist adopting the humanistic approach for studying human behavior and personality. According to his theory, human beings are basically good or neutral rather than evil and there lies in every one an impulse craving towards growth or the fulfillments of ones potentials. The goal is to seek self-actualization that usually comes from the pursuit of knowledge, the appreciation of beauty, playfulness, self-sufficiency, insight into the truth or other constructive and creative expression. The behavior or personality of a human being thus depends upon his style of striving towards the ultimate goal of self-realization. Thus, the pattern of human behavior is always governed by the satisfaction of our needs from the lower, base level to the upper top level. We have to satisfy our biological needs for our survival and for our social

and psychological needs, we have to strive for the satisfaction in the sociopsychological context. These values or characteristics of a self-actualized person to which ones efforts are directed in terms of the development of his personality have been enumerated by Maslow through sixteen basic characterizes. This select group had included the well-known personalities past and present, e.g., Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Roosevelt etc., and also his own professors and persons who were known for self-actualization in their respective fields. Maslow concluded that the self-actualized peopled have the following common characteristics which distinguish them the average person (Source: Maslow, 1962): 1. Ability to perceive reality accurately. 2. Willingness to accept reality readily.
3.

Naturalness and spontaneity.

4. Ability to focus on problems rather than on themselves. 5. Need for privacy. 6. Self-sufficiency and independence. 7. Capacity for fresh, spontaneous, nonstereotyped appreciation of objectives. 8. Ability to attain transcendence. LEARNING THEORIES OF PERSONALITY The learning theories of personality depiect a new development approach quite different from psychoanalytic and phenomenological

theories of personality in the sense that they emphasize the importance of learning and objectivity to understand personality. The notable psychologists who are known to have developed personality theories are Pavlov, Watson, Guthrie, Thorndike, Skinner, Dollard & Miller; Bandura & Walters, etc. Dollard and Millers Learning theory of personality. By combining the psychology of learning with aspects of psychoanalytic theory, John Dollard and Neil Miller (1950) in the institute of human relations at Yale University put forward their theory of personality. In this theory they tried to substitute Freuds concept of a pleasure principle with the principle of reinforcement, the concept of ego with the concept of learned drive and learned skills, the concept of conflict with competing reinforces etc. The theory of Dollard and Miller tries to describe the development of personality from simple drives to a complex function from a learning theory angle. It emphasizes that what we consider as personality is learned. The child at birth is equipped with types of basic faculties: reflexes and innate hierarchies of responses and a set of primary drives, which are internal stimuli of great strength and are linked with known physiological processes which impel him to action. Thus impelled by drives (both conditioned and unconditioned) one acquires responses to the extent that they reduce the drives. Dollard and Millers theory stressed the development of a personality on the basis of the responses and behaviour learnt through the

process of motivation and reward. Dollard and Millers theory of personality did not really ascribe any static structure to personality, and emphasized, instead, habit formation through learning as a key factor in the development of personality. Bandura & Walters Social learning theory. Albert Bandura and Richard Walters (1963) came out with an innovative approach to personality in the form of their social learning theory. They advanced the view that what an individual presents to the world at large as his personality, is acquired though a continuous process of structuring and restructuring of experiences, gathered by means of social learning and later imitated in corresponding. ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES Local or environmental factors also affect the personality of an individual. We regard that particular definition and adequate one which lakes into consideration the other persons around the individual. Thus we see that personality cannot be defined properly unless the environmental factors are taken into consideration. Personality development in keeping with the conditions of the environment in which an individual is placed and out of the experiences which grow in his relationship with other individuals. Social or environmental factors affect the personality even of your infants. This has clearly been established by the studies of their behavior

investigations of the changing of, or the persistence of reactions, such as crying, negativism, jealousy, irritability and quietness seem to indicates that biological as well as environmental factors are responsible for a very young childs personality tendencies. It is rightly said that the individual has the personality be possesses mainly because of the kind of social environment and social experience had during his development. The kind of family in which he grew the teachers in the schools he attended, the people in his community playmates and indeed all people with whom he comes in contact have their imprint on him. Family influences. There are some social contacts which are more important for personality development than others. Among there are family influences. The attitude of parents towards the child, towards one another and toward other people, events and objects exercise a present influence upon the childs developing personality. Scotts study of adolescents in rural area of Nebraska indicates the effect of home life upon high school pupils. Factors, such as, enjoyment of group family life, little if any, work done away from home by mother, amount of punishment, emotional control and good health of the parents etc. lead to good adjustment. School Experiences. Similar to the home influences are the school experiences which influence to a great extent the developing personality of the child. If there are good teachers, well-furnished laboratories adequate play-grounds, etc., there are more chances that the personality of the child

will develop properly. If the student has offered some objects which he does not like, then also his personality will be affected adversely. The teacher is to guard against this. Assessment of Personality Why Assessment of Personality rather than measurement personality has been chosen as the title of this section is a question that needs to be answered. This has been done because the accurate measurement of personality is itself problematical. The accuracy of any process of measurement depends on the following: 1. The nature of the thing to be measured. 2. The instruments to be used. 3. The person who will do the measurement. Let us now evaluate the measurement of personality in terms of these criteria.
1.

The nature of the thing. Personality is a complex characteristic that it is hardly possibility to measure it. First, personality is not a thing; it is an idea, art abstraction, and in an attempt to measure it, we would have to wrongly, try to give it a concrete shape. Secondly since psychologists are not agreed upon the dimensions or content of personality, what would be measured? Thirdly, personality is not static. How can we accurately measure something which is constantly in the process of change and modification? Its

measurement would vary from time to time and hence would not be the same from one moment to the next.
2.

The nature of the instruments. The process of measurement requires appropriate tools and satisfactory units of measurement. In personality measurement, we encounter difficulties in this direction as well:

(a) There is no zero (starting point) for reference in case of personality. No child is born with zero personality. (b) Length is measured in units like inches, centimeters etc., temperature is measured in degrees but in psychological measurement we do not have any such equal or regular units of measurement. (c) Accurate measurement requires exact scales or measuring instrument. No such reliable instruments are available for measurement of personality.
3.

The nature of the person. The dependability, accuracy and validity of any process of measurement largely depend on the competence and detachment of the person doing the measurement. In the absence of standard tools or units of measurement, the results of any evaluation of personality are bound to be influenced by the subjective views and the norms, likes and dislikes of the person carrying out the measurement.

In this way the actual measurement (which defines itself in terms of objectivity, reliability and validity) of personality is not possible. Also, it is very difficult to go round in search for all the constituents or elements of personality, most of which are unknown. Moreover, prediction of the future status is the most essential aim of measurement. In case of a dynamic phenomenon like personality, such prediction is not possible and hence it is not justified to use the term measurement. We can only have the estimate or assessment of personality. Techniques and Methods of Assessment of Personality The methods used for the assessment of personality may be termed as ob or projective. As it is not possible, however, to clearly demarcate subjectivity from objectivity and even effectively insulate projective processes against the subjectivity and personal biases of the examiner, it is necessary to look for other ways to classify the techniques of personality assessment. The commonly employed assessment techniques may be classified- as follows: 1. Where an individuals behaviour in actual life situations can be observed, namely observation techniques and situation tests. 2. Where the individual is required to speak about himself namely, autobiography interview. questionnaire and personality inventory and

3. Where other peoples opinions about the individual whose personality is under assessment are ascertained. These are biographies, case history, rating scales and socio-metric techniques. 4. Projective techniques involving fantasy which aim at assessing the individuals reaction to imaginary situations. 5. Indirect techniques in which some personality variables may be determined in terms of physiological responses by the use of machines or technical devices. Let us discuss some of the important techniques in detail. Observation Observation is a popular method to study the behaviour pattern of an individual in an actual life situation. The observer decides what personality traits or characteristics he needs to know, and he then observes the relevant activities of the subject in teal life situations. The observation can be done in two ways. In one the observer does not hide from the subject or subjects and even becomes more or less a part of the group under observation. In the other, he takes a position where his presence is least disturbing to the subject but from where he can clearly observe every detail of the behaviour of the individual under observation. He may also use a tape-recorder, photographic cameras, a telescope etc. To ensure reliability of the observed results, the observer may repeat the observations in the same situation

several times, or the subject may be observed by a number of observers and the results may be pooled together. Situational Tests Here situations are artificially created in which an individual is expected to perform acts related to the personality traits under testing. For example, to test the honesty of an individual, some situations can be created and his reaction can be evaluated in terms of honesty or dishonesty. Does he feel the temptation to resort to copying? Does he try to pick up the ten-rupee note which is lying there? His behaviour would lead to an assessment of how honest he is. Questionnaire The nature of a questionnaire is explained by the description given by Goode and Hatt (1952): In general the word questionnaire refers to a device for securing answers to questions by using a form which the respondent fills in himself. This definition makes it clear that in collecting information from the subject himself about his personality characteristics, a form consisting of a series of printed or written questions is used. The subject responds to these questions in the spaces provided in columns of yes, no or cannot say etc.

These answers are then evaluated and used for personality assessment. Items, like the following, are included in the questionnaires: Yes, No, Do you enjoy being alone? Do you enjoy seeing others succeed? Do you laugh at a joke on yourself? ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ (Cannot say) __________ __________ __________ __________

Do you get along well with your relatives? ___

This is the most popular method and is quite useful in collecting both quantitative as well as qualitative information. Personality Inventory While this resembles the questionnaire in many respects such as administration, scoring, interpretation etc., it is different in two ways. First, while the questionnaire is a general device and can be used for collecting all kinds of information not connected specifically with personality traits or the behaviour of an individual, personality inventory is specifically designed to seek answers about the person and his personality. Second, the questions, set in the questionnaire are generally worded in the second person. e.g. Do you often feel lonely? Yes, No,

While in the personality inventory, they may be worded in the first person such as, I often feel lonely. The best known personality inventory is the Minnesota Multiphasic personality Inventory (MMPI) developed by J.C. McKinley and S.R. Hathaway of the Minnesota Medical School. The items included in this inventory are such that their answers are known to indicate certain specific personality traits. It consists of 550 items some of which are: I sweat very easily even on cool days. There is something wrong with my sex organs. I have never been in love with any one. I like to talk about sex. Each hem is printed on a separate card. The subject reads the questions and then, according to his response puts it down as yes, no or doubtful in the space provided for the purpose. Evaluation of the important personality traits can then be done in terms of these responses. The California personality inventory, the Eysenck personality inventory and the Sixteen personality factor inventory (16 P.F.) developed by Cattell are some of the other well-known inventories. The questionnaire and personality inventory technique suffer from the following drawbacks:

1. It is difficult to get the responses to all questions. 2. The subject may give selective responses rather than genuine ones (hide his weaknesses etc.) 3. He may be ignorant of his own traits or qualities which he may possess. Rating scale. The rating scale is used to assess where an individual stands in terms of other peoples opinion of some of his personality traits. It reflects the impression the subject has made upon the person who rates him. There are three basic factors involved in this technique: 1. The specific trait or traits to be rated. 2. The scale on which the degree of possession or absence of the trait has to he shown. 3. The appropriate persons or judges for rating. First of all, the traits or characteristics, which have to be evaluated by the judges are to be stated and defined clearly. Then a scale for the rating has to be constructed. How it is done can he understood from the example which follows: Suppose we wish to rate the students of a class for the quality leadership. We can rate the degrees of this quality as divisions such as very good, average, poor, very poor etc. Now the arrangement of these divisions along a line, on equal intervals, from high to low is termed as a rating scale

for assessment of the quality of leadership. Usually the divisions of the scale are indicated by numbers, 1 to 3, 1 to 5 or 1 to 7, comprising a threepoint, five-point or seven-point scale. The seven-point scale is of the following type: 7 Excellent 6 Very good 5 Good 4 Average 3 Below average 2 Poor 1 Very poor

Now the raters, who are in a position to properly rate the individuals may be asked to give them scores, ranging from 1 to 7, according to the degree of leadership they possess. Rating techniques suffer from some obvious drawbacks like the error of central tendency, subjective bias and halo effect etc. In the former, the raters hesitate to give very high or very low ratings and tend to keep their ratings in the middle. Subjective bias leads to their own likes and dislikes, colouring their assessment of the individuals under rating, and under the halo effect, they may rate an individual (on the basis of general impression) to be more honest or the like, than he may actually be. To bring some reliability into rating scale technique, it has been that instead of having rating by only one judge, we an assign the rating more judges - for example to different teachers, classmates, parents etc. the rating may be done by pooling the individual assessments.

Interview Interview is a technique of eliciting information directly from the subject about his personality in face-to-face contacts. It gives an opportunity for mutual exchange of ideas and information between the subject and the psychologists. For this purpose, the psychologist tries to arrange a meeting with the person or persons under assessment. The face to face interaction in the interview is of two types viz., structured or unstructured. An unstructured interview is an open interrogation. Here the interviewer asks the interviewee any question on any subject relevant to the situation. The interviewer here is not restricted to a particular set of predetermined questions hut is free to drift along the paths opened up by the interviewee to explore any issue that may arise, and to clarify any bought that may emerge in the broad assessment of his personality. The structured interview on the other hand, adopts a systematic and predetermined approach instead of riding on the tides of the situation. Here the interviewer is definite about the personality traits or behaviour he has to assess and then plans accordingly. Usually, a list of questions, is prepared for this purpose and after taking the subject into confidence, the psychologist tries to seek answers to these pre-planned questions. He does not attend to only the content of the responses but also to the tone,

behaviour and other similar factors, for the total evaluation in terms of the designated personality pattern of the individual. The limitations of this technique are that it calls for a well-trained competent interviewer and is costly in terms of labour, time, and money. It also suffers from the subjective bias of the interviewer. Here also, like questionnaire and personality inventory, we cannot have any safeguard to prevent the subject from hiding his feelings or from giving selective responses. The points in favour of the technique are that answers are obtained to every question which is put to the subject. In fact, responses even to intimate questions, which subjects may hesitate to put in writing, can also be obtained. In fact, interview is a relatively flexible tool. It permits explanation, adjustment and variation according to the situation and thus has proved to be one of the essential and more important tools of personality assessment.

Techniques and methods of assessment of personality


Projective Techniques The title is derived from projection, meaning reflection of ones own inner self upon the external objects. Freud was first to use this word. This was, according to Freud, one of the defence mechanisms used by the individual to solve his own mental conflicts. To his perception of the outer world is determined largely by the feelings, desires, fears, thoughts and

ideas of the inner world which is unknown. This is based upon depth psychology, the psychology of tile unconscious. According to it the quality of personality is much affected by the unconscious motives and emotions. We must measure this depth of personality below the forbidden crust of consciousness. Conscious mind is only a segment, a part of our total personality. The conscious mind derives its strength from the unconscious mind. It was Freud who first made inquiry into hidden motives. A child, for example, wishing-to hit his cruel father, may beat a male rubber doll, kick it or break its neck or the neck of a toy elephant by calling it a devil. Here the toys symbolized the cruel father and the child expressed his anger against him. To test the whole personality we must have some technique to measure and elicit this unconscious and depth-character of personality. Projective techniques makes this possible which according to Waiter is a tendency, to ascribe to the external world the repressed mental process. Through this technique is let out the hidden quality of the personality. This tells us as what lies at the back of our conscious behaviour. Thus, certain unconscious dispositions that determine behaviour and the quality of the personality are disclosed and we have an idea of type of personality one has. Following are the devices used in Projective Techniques (i) The Rorschach Test

(ii) Thematic Apperception Test (T.A.T.) (iii) Childrens Apperception Test (C.A.T.) (iv) Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration Test (v) Role-playing and Psycho-drama (vi) Free Association or Word-Association Test (WAT) (vii) Picture Completion Test (PCT) (viii) Sentence Completion Test (SCT) (ix) Story Making (x) Play-Therapy
(xi)

Expressive Movement Test-Drawing, Painting, Hand writing and Sculpture (EMT)

(xii) Poetry, Dramatics Or, Novels Writing, and (xiii) Autobiography Or, Biography. The above techniques will be dealt with here briefly.

(I) The Rorschact Test

This test is also known as ink-blot test. Rorschach was not the only man who used ink-blots for evolving his series as a systematic diagnostic test known by his name. Prior to him J. Kener (1857), Galton (1883), Binet and Simon, Whipple, Dearborn and G.S. Hall, Britin (1907), Bartlett (1916), also made use of these ink-blots. But, above all, Rorschach was the first to develop a workable method, what was called as a shorthand method by Beck-later, for understanding the responses of an individual. Prof. Herman Rorschach was born in Zurich in Nov. 1 884. He was the son of an art teacher. medicine After this He till he

studied 1910.

pursued the study of ink-blots for ten years starting in 1911 using hundreds of- them and in 1921 he published his studies called Psychodiagnostic before his premature and early death on April 2, 1922.

Rorschach Test consists of 30 pictures, ten for men, ten for women, and ten for men and women both. Out of 700 pictures he selected only 30 which are standardized. Of the ten common cards or ink-blots, five are black and grey, two black and red and the rest fully coloured. The cards are shown to the subject one by one and is asked to look into each card carefully and report what it looks like to him or what he sees in it or what it makes him think of. He is also told that he can turn the cards upside, down, on the left or on the right. The examiner records all the verbal responses, the time taken for the first response, time spent on each card, total time and the card turnings. After the responses have been tabulated they are scored in accordance with the four categories of Location, Content and the Determinants. Location means the portion of the card seen that is, the whole of it, major part of it, or small details in it. Contents mean whether the response pertains to human beings or to parts of the human body, animals or some part of the animal body and so on. Originality or popularity stands for the response being popular or being very unusual or original. Determinants mean whether it was human movement, animal movement or inanimate movement, three dimensional vista or loose expanse like clouds or smoke and so on as given in the chart. Every response is judged in terms of these four categories and the symbols for them are given to each response. Then all the responses are arranged to find out the percentage of each category

and the protocol is made about each person and interpretation is given. On behalf of protocol a Clinician infers about personality traits. For example, reaction upon whole block indicates abstract, theoretical knowledge while the same upon a part suggests compulsion neurosis. Secondly, perception of movement suggests introversion while that of animal shapes indicates narrow thinking. Thirdly, excessive reaction upon colour expresses the subjects impulsiveness. Again, reaction upon colour and shape as well indicates his spontaneity of emotional expression. However, all the scoring is not quite so simple. Thus, in administering and interpreting Rorschach Test only trained personnel is needed. Test Details This test was constructed by Herman Rorschach a Swiss Psychologist in 1921. This test is considered the most successful test.
(i)

Material of the Test There ten cards in this test. These cards bear unstructured figures like blots. Out of these ten cards, five cards bear black figures two cards bear red and black figures and rest of the cards bear the figures of mixed coloures. All the figures on these ten cards bear no specific meaning.

(ii)

Administration of the Test - These ten cards are given to the individual whose personality is to be evaluated one by one. The reactions regarding the printed figures on these cards are noted. The individual is asked about what they see in the figures of those

cards. The time which an individual wants to see each card is given to the individual. The individual can see these cards from any angle. There is no restriction to see the cards from the same angle. The reactions of the individual after looking at the figures, his style of holding the cards and face readings of that individual are recorded.
(iii)Analysis

of the Responses - After the test is over, the responses

received from the individual are analysed. For this analysis, the responses are scored. For the scoring of responses, the following four steps should be taken in view(a)

Location - This is seen in the context that which part of the figure printed on the card an individual includes in his reaction. It is seen whether an individual is making his reactions on the basis of whole of the figure or on looking at the basis of its part only. If the individual has reacted on the basis of whole of the figure, that reaction is designated as W, if he explains excessively it is denoted as D. The sharp observations of the individual are marked as d. If an individual reacts regarding blank places that reaction is represented by the words.

(b)

Contents - in this all what an individual looks into the figures printed on the cards are noted such as a figure or a person, animal, figures of objects or of natural sceneries. The human figures are

denoted as H, animal figures as A, natural scenes as N and other objects like pots, umbrella etc. as O.
(c)

Determining Elements - Determining elements are those factors which help the individuals in perceiving the figures printed on the cards, e.g., if it is colour it is denoted by C motion by M and the variation in colours as K.

(d)

Originality - The already declared or familiar responses are denoted by P and if original response are made, these are marked as o.

(iv)

Validity and Reliability - Its reliability has been calculated ranging from .67 to .97 and its validity is .49.

(v) Utility

- The utility of Rorschachs test is as below test proved useful to know the reasons of complicated

(a) This

unsocial activities. (b) This test reveals the intelligence of the testee.
(c)

This test familiarizes us regarding the emotional, mental and social aspects of the individual.

(vi)

Criticism (a) This method is not useful for small children. (b) It needs more time and finance. (c) To conduct this test, efficient and trained persons are needed. All can not use this test. (d) This test lacks objectivity.

(II) Thematic Apperecption Test (TAT) Thematic Apperception Test is an another important test in the family of projective techniques. First conceived by Morgan it was developed by Murray in 1935.

The test consists of 30 pictures in the original, which are divided into three sets, each set contains 10 pictures. One is exclusively meant for men, the other exclusively for women, and the third is used with both of them. One blank card is also there. The pictures depict common life situations of tussels between children and parents, love affairs, parental relations, frustrations in achieving or securing things of interest, jealousy, rivalry, aggression and hostility as in Oedipus and Electra situations and so on. These pictures are presented one by one to the subject who is asked to narrate a story centred round the incident portrayed in the picture. He has also to say how the, incident may have taken place and what might follow as a result thereof. In short, he has to reveal a picture of his private world.

The fun is that the subject happens to identify himself with one or other character depicted in the picture and his narration becomes a sort of autobiography. Thus, an individual exposes all that which he would be reluctant to express voluntarily.

The technique of interpretation of the stories is not one and rests on understanding of personality dynamics which can be gained only from intimate or first hand association with diagnostic and therapeutic work. It differs from person to person. As a procedure, for each card, the psychologist first tries to find the Hero or the central character with whom the subject has identified himself (Identification), and the way various figures have been depicted (Figures). Besides these, he also tries to find the needs and goals (Trends), the frustrating or facilitating situations or persons (Press), the interrelationships of the hero with other figures, the theme or the plot of the story, the nature of the outcome (sad or happy,

real or unreal) and certain formal characteristics (vocabulary, imagination, etc.). The stories are read and re-read carefully several times until meaningful whole emerges. Thus, TAT seems to be more organized than the Rorschach Test as here, one gives expressions to a wide variety of his feelings and actions to the figures shown in the picture which are a part of everybodys life.

Test Details This test was constructed by Morgan and Murray in 1925.
(i)

Material of the Test - This test also possesses 30 pictures in these, 10 pictures are for males, ten are for females and rest 10 are for both. Every person is shown 20 pictures. These cards are shown in two turns. Administration of the Test - In this test, the pictures are presented one by one. These pictures are vague. There is no correct or incorrect response in this test. Only the original imagination is seen

in this test. The individual is given a definite time. The testee is to write a story after looking at that picture on the card in a definite time. The story regarding a picture is to be written on the following aspect -

(a) What is going on in the picture? (b) What the causes of it can be? (c) Its result etc. An individual can express his feelings, expectations, etc. through these stories. Hence, the persons who are unable to express themselves before others can be able to express themselves through these stories. Analysis and Interpretation - The stories are anaiysed on the of the basis of the following facts (a) How the personality of the hero of the story was?

(b) Theme of the story. (c) Style and language of the story. (d) Contents of the story. (e) Behaviour of the individual while writing the story. (f) End of the story. (iv) Criticism- In this method, some untrained testers may interpret incorrectly the stories written after looking at the pictures. This may affect the complete interpretation of the personality. Secondly, to conduct this test, well trained persons are needed. This test is not fit for children, and is useful for elders only. (III) Childrens Apper-ception Test (CAT) Childrens Apperception Test (CAT) is the test on the lines of TAT developed by Leopold Bellak of the school of Education, New York

University. It consists of 10 pictures, printed on cards depicting animals in various 4 different situations as of children from 3-10 (of both sexes) years for whom this test is devised to elicit responses to problems presented by children such as feeding fads, sibling rivalry, parental attitude, reactions towards parents, edipus situation, primal scene, childs fantasies around aggression,

acceptance by adult world, fear of being rejected and being lonely, toilet behavior etc. Here animals are shown since children are more interested in animals and the test was to be culture free to be used for children of all except for those groups which might not be familiar with things like bicycle, for instance. In such cases some items, animals and situations are changed. For example, in an Indian adaptation (by Uma Chaudhary) fox is substituted for Kangaroo, European type of toilet seat in bath room is changed into Indian style. The chicken are shown eating without spoons. The 10 pictures are (a) Mother hen at the breakfast table watching chicken (as

children) eating from plates, (b) Mother fox going shopping with the little young one of the fox following her on a cycle, (c) Bears pulling at a tugof-war and the little cub siding with one parent, (d) Two monkeys sitting on a bench are seen conspiring, as it were, (e) Dog mother is beating the pup for going to the pot, (f) Two bears as mother and father sleeping in a double bed and two younger ones are seen talking, (g) A little rabbit is shut in a room alone, (h) A lion sitting with a pipe in mouth and a stick by his side, I Two bears are shown together and a cub sitting in the corner.

To study the reproductions or stories of children after seeing these pictures one by one and to interpret them, 10 variable are kept in view viz, (I) The main theme (ii) The main Hero (ii) Attitudes towards parental figures (iv) Family members role (v) The figure or objects (vi) Nature of anxieties (vii) Significant conflicts (viii) Nature of punishment (ix) Outcome of the story (x) The objects or figures omitted. The application of this test and the interpretation of it cannot be done as in the case of ordinary tests it requires special experience, study of human nature and insight as in the case of TAT. In the hands of an experienced and trained personnel, the test is found to be very useful revealing about the problems which children present and this diagnostic information is found very handy to deal with those problem children or the problem presented by some children. (iv) Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration Test Picture-Frustration Test of Saul Rosenzweig is devised for assessing the degree of frustration, guilt feelings and punishment for something going wrong by presenting to children certain

frustrating situations through pictures like a child trying to find something nice in a cupboard by getting on a stool and not finding anything, missing the bus just on reaching, breaking something etc. The material consists of an eight page booklet of 24 cartoonlike drawings, each depicting a situation which might occur in any ordinary day. Each picture represents two persons who are involved in a mildly frustrating situation of common occurrence. Frustration may be of any type. This test can be administered individually as well as in a group and is designed to assess reactions to stress-situations. In each picture, the subject examines the situations and writes in the blank space the first reply that enters his mind as likely to be given by the anonymous figure. An enquiry is conducted at the end of the test. (v) Role-Playing and Psycho-drama Role-playing as in Psycho-drama, popularised by J.L. Moreno provide an opportunity to live through an experience which the patient wishes to live through. He may play the role of a tyrant, wielding his sword and hitting a dummy with full force, as if he were cutting the throat

of the winner in a race or competition where the patient lost some years ago and the patient may have harboured the grudge and may have felt agitated looking for a chance to wreak his revenge. To illustrate this technique one true example is here. Once in the clinic of Moreno there was a couple where some other persons were also sitting round a stage in the centre of big room. Morenos wife and the couple were asked to come up on the stage and Morenos friends was also asked to play the role of the father of the girl. The case in this psychodrama was that the father of the girl was objecting seriously to the proposal of the girl to marry the young man. Here the chance was given in the role the girl was playing to express herself freely and she expressed her anger, hostility and aggression against the father by giving him hard hits of verbal blows in the abusive language as you son of nun, bastered, and so on. And the fathers role was just to allow her to speak up as long as, she through necessary, because the therapeutic technique consisted in making her to abuse her father as much as she could as she through that it was he who stood in her way to marry the young man. After she had finished and exhausted with tears in her eyes, sobbing and crying, she was consoled by the father, telling her not to feel so bad but to think of the whole situation, how she was brought up by him when she was hardly tow months old when her mother died. She was his only consolation and hope, and for her sake he did not remarry and found everything possible for her best

comforts and for nourishment, food and clothing and gave her the best education. (VI) Free Association or Word Association Test (WAT) Iinterest in the association of ideas began with the associationistic school before the advent of experimental psychology, as the speculations of John Locke, Galton (1879), Wundt (1980), Cattell, Jastrow, Munsterberg etc. Galton began his more systematic study in 1885.

Freud used free association when the patient was required to freely associate his ideas and go on speaking about himself freely by lying in a couch in a relaxed mood. This was Freuds technique both for diagnosis and treatment of mental patients.

Bleuler writes, In the activity of association there is mirrored the whole psychical essence of the past and of the present with all their experiences and desires. It thus becomes and index of all the psychical process which we have but to decipher in order to understand the complete man. Jung utilized this technique to investigate the unconscious. He assumed that the deviant behavior occurred because the stimulus word had touched off a deep conflict or complex. The test material consists of a standardized list of words, usually numbering between 50 and 100 items. While drawing the list, a numbe3r of significant words are chosen and mixed up with a number of neutral words. The subject is seated comfortably on a chair with his eyes closed and mind relaxed. The room in which he is seated, is kept free from all noise. A stop watch is used to record the reaction time of each response word. He is then told to respond, as quickly as possible, with the first word that comes to his mind, after hearing the stimulus word given by the examiner. The reaction words may be any words except that they should not be sentences, multi-words, definitions or their opposites. Responses with reaction times are noted in each case. Some testers repeat the procedure immediately after the first administration, requesting the examinee to reply as far as possible with the responses given originally. The subject is, also sometimes, asked to explain any obscure connections between stimulus and response words.

Sometimes the continuous method of free association

is also used at

doubtful words revealing complexes. An examiner may, also sometimes, draw up a special list to meet the requirements of a particular case or selected words may be interpolated in one of the standard lists. Each standardized list has got its own norms with which an individual response are compared. (VII) Picture completion Test (PCT) Picture completion is another method to study the unconscious contents. bare If mental certain or

outlines

incomplete

pictures

are given and the subject is asked to fill in the gaps or complete the picture, he will imagine the lines to mean something and this imagination will be his own phantasy and he will project himself on those outlines of incomplete picture to complete it. This procedure was long time ago studied by Bartlett for serial reproduction of certain outlines of vague pictures by presenting the reproduction of one person to the next and his to another and so on through many hands. He showed that every individual added something of his own and did not reproduce only what he saw. The

bare and vague outline of something like a fish, for example, when passed through serial reproductions of a number of children became a clear picture of a bird eating from a cup. This process also explained how rumours spread. But, as a projective method the reproductive attempt to complete the picture give some data about ones mental make up. (VIII) Sentence Completion Test (SCT) A semi-projective technique used for assessment of personality is the Incomplete Sentence Blank (JSB) or the Sentence Completion Test (SCT). The method requires giving a series of stems or the first part of the sentence and on the basis of these stems subject is asked to complete the sentence in any way he sees fit. The completed sentence indicate the hidden desires, interests, feelings or the attitudes of the subject toward himself and others. They reveal emotional disturbances. For example, incomplete sentences like these I failed ......................................................................................................... I wish I ......................................................................................................... The future ................................................................................................... When I am alone I ..................................................................................... My mother wants to .................................................................................. When somebody weeps I ..........................................................................

And the material used to complete them can make an individual to reveal himself in many ways. A well known Incomplete Sentence Blank has been prepared by J.B. Rotler. In this blank the scoring method is based on a classification of responses in three categories-conflict or unhealthy responses, neutral responses, and positive or healthy responses. It is observed that sentence completion method can be used with children from about a years of age and upward. (IX) Story Making Story making or story writing by seeing pictures is used as a projective device, as was used by Symonds to have a peep into the mental working of the individual. This method is elaborately made use of in TAT as discussed previously. The central idea is the same, that is, the subject projects itself on the pictures or persons shown therein by identifying himself with anyone of them and so interpreting the scene in the picture in terms of his own hidden desires, repressed feelings or unconscious motives, hostility, jealousy or anxiety. (X) Play-Therapy Through play, as in a child guidance clinic, the play therapist not only finds the clue for the mental problems of the child but helps him to have some catharsis for his pent up feelings, guilt, hostility or anxiety. Play is for diagnosis and for therapy for children as psycho-analysis is for adults. Doll playing is also a form of play where instead of having a free

choice of toys, the child plays with dolls and gives free vent to his phantasies which reveal his unconscious mind. The dolls many represent the father or mother or elders with whom he is living and also siblings, friends, classmates, ghosts, devils or other frightening objects. The various emotional cross-currents of an inhibited, repressed and unconscious nature flowing in the childs mind pertaining to people in his social environment find easy outlet. In a similar manner clay-modelling like-playing with mud -in the child guidance play room enables the child to have a free expression to his phantasies, hidden desires and other troubling thoughts.

(XI) Expressive Movement Tests (EMT) Expressive Movement Tests include drawings, paintings, sculpture and such art media, when freely used by the artist are used to point his own mental contents, as a poet uses his pen to express himself and a painter uses his brush. The frustrated desires burst open in songs or in strokes on the canvas. An artist, frustrated in love, paints the picture of his beloved and feels as if he is in union with her while painting her arms, breasts or cheeks. Art creation in many cases is the story of the artists own personality make up, as no one can jump out of himself what he makes in his own, it has his own personal stamp. Great masters wept out their own heart through brush, colours and chisel, and thus projected themselves through these media. Drawings of children have been extensively used in guidance clinics both for diagnostic and therapeutics purposes.

(XII) Poetry, Dramatics and Novel Writing Poetry, dramatics, story and novel writing reveal the

personality both through the language used as well as the theme or contents of the writing. An individuals for one choice of

language reveals

self-expression aspect of his

personality. According to Piaget the manner in which the child uses the language forms, as in egocentric expressions, reflect the inner or emotional level of the speaker. Language is said to be the vehicle of thought. What the writer of poems or novels or stories writes, expresses the inner life of the writer. Many novels of Sarat Chander like SHRIKANT are, in a way, the autobiographic: portions of his complex life. In the psycho-analytical sense Meeras Poems and Bhajans are the expressions of her frustrated love. Similarly, the movies like, Kinara, Kora Kagaj, Aap Ki Kasam, Abhimaan, Samay Ki Dhara, Aandhi, Dard Ka Rista, Khoshboo, Thori Si Bewafai etc., are all based on egocentric theme. After all every writer writes what he is and he cannot be other than himself, he cannot jump out

of himself to be something entirely different. Shakespeares Hamlet is, in some respect, Shakespeare himself minus the Prince of Denmark. The literary critics analyse the personality of the writer from his creations. (XIII) Autobiography or Biography Autobiography or Biography provide sample material which give insight into the working of the mind of the biographer, as in the heat of the moment while writing on certain events, episodes or experiences, the writer forgets himself and digs up unconscious and pours out his heart about his failures, frustration and ambitions. The biographer of an Unknown Indian e.g., writes all about himself and like as a patient in free association sessions in the room of the psycho-analyst the writer as a patient is revealing his unconscious. While writing, the biographer projects himself on paper with pen and ink.

A unique device introduced by Skinner and adopted by Shakow and Grings is the so called Tautophone or Verbal summator. This instrument produces low level sounds which resemble speech. Subjects hear it and are asked to tell what the voice is saying and they thus project their own preoccupations and meanings into an auditory medium. Merits of Projective Techniques
1.

The projective methods have wide field. With these methods, various aspects of ones personality can be evaluated.

2. With this method, both conscious and unconscious behaviours can be studied. 3. In these tests, an individual performs an activity which is un structured. 4. The nature of these methods is much secret. One cannot know which aspect of personality is being looked into. De-merits of Projective Techniques 1. These methods and the material used in these tests are much costlier. 2. It takes much time in scoring. 3. These tests lack objectivity. 4. For the administration of these tests trained persons are needed and scarcity of such persons often exits. Intelligence is the ability to make profitable use of past experience.

- Thorndike CONCLUDING My Friend says, A journey through these various personality tests may seem more like a visit to the fairgrounds hail of distorting mirrors, but without a standard mirror to validate ones genuine self. On behalf of this statement and from the diversity of techniques it can be said that some psychologists have given penetrating accounts of the dynamics of personality on their basis. But, even they are not suitable for use by teachers. There is no doubt that the scope of projective testing is unlimited, and they can reveal hidden wishes, ideas and feelings which underlie behaviour. Also, they probe into the region of the unconscious and present a broader and fuller picture of personality, but the only disadvantage is that these tools can be handled only by trained psychologists, psychiatrists and clinicians. At the same time reliability and validity of these tests is woefully lacking.

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