In this video, we'll continue our discussion of personality by learning about how psychologists measure and assess personality. We'll talk about the difference between structured and projective tests, and we'll go over specific examples of each (e.g., the MMPI and the Rorschach Inkblot Test).

Structured Personality Tests: Personality tests in which people answer direct questions about themselves, typically on a scale.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI): A structured personality test that takes 12 hours to complete and produces a clinical profile composed of 10 scales: hypochondriasis, depression, hysteria, psychopathic deviance (social deviance), masculinity versus femininity, paranoia, psychasthenia (obsessive/compulsive qualities), schizophrenia, hypomania, and social introversion.

Projective Personality Tests: Personality tests in which people interpret ambiguous stimuli; these tests rely on the projective hypothesis.

Projective Hypothesis: An idea taken from Sigmund Freud, according to which people will “project” their personality onto ambiguous stimuli.

Rorschach Inkblot Test: A projective personality test in which people must interpret ambiguous inkblots.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): A projective personality test in which people must “tell a tale”—or create a narrative—about an ambiguous image.

Barnum Effect: Named after the showman P.T. Barnum, this effect describes the tendency for people to quickly believe feedback about themselves, even when that feedback is in reality vague enough to apply to just about anybody; the Barnum Effect poses a challenge for validating the accuracy of personality tests.