Self Assessment Methods, Research Paper Example

Abstract

A wide variety of self assessment methods and procedures are employed by people for an equally wide array of reasons, from desires for self-improvement to career suitability testing. A method may be as unstructured as a personal log, one employed randomly and with no structure regarding actual expectations or rates of personal progress, or a method may be a detailed and technical analysis of a single set of characteristics and/or behaviors. Of the tools most commonly employed, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, formulated half a century ago, remains a popular and reliable means of gauging individual traits. While subjectivity is clearly an issue within any self assessment procedure, Myers-Briggs most effectively isolates parameters of choice and best promotes as objectively derived a personal assessment as can be achieved.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Motivated by the work of psychoanalyst Carl Jung, Katherine Cook Briggs began, in the World War II years, to better define Jung’s approach to personality assessment and render the results in a way which would yield a practical, accessible self assessment tool. The goal was to assist in placing the then-new female workforce in positions best suited to their characters. Assisted by her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers, the team eventually produced in 1962 what the world would know, and employ, as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

The MBTI is not a “test”, as its creators emphatically stressed, but a means of evaluation and personal enlightenment in regard to distinct natures. Ultimately, this self assessment device is in place to determine personality type, and to that end Katherine and Isabel Briggs broke down Jungian models of behavior into sub-groupings of identifiable characteristics, these sub-groupings falling under, and consequently determining, the greater personality aspects. Sixteen distinct personality types were determined to encompass the range of normal, human personality, and  “…The descriptions of the 16 types come from the variations of the four variables of opposite qualities: introvert and extravert, sensing and intuition, thinking and feeling, and perceiving and judging” (Comer, et al., 2004, p. 43).

The standardization of the MBTI occurred, and occurs, on two levels. In structuring and devising the evaluator, the team adhered to Jungian concepts, yet expanded them to ensure that all recognizable traits and/or behaviors would be incorporated.  While, again, restricting the work to relate only to acknowledged normal human behavior, Katherine and Isabel Briggs essentially standardized the MBTI to apply to the general population. As contrasting traits are set out to be determined by greater strength or evidence, virtually no characteristic or mode of behavior within normal, standard parameters could be overlooked.

Then, on a wider plane, the MBTI also inherently exists as a template of sorts, and a model of standardization: “The word ‘standardization’ implies that the construct being assessed is being measured in a relative way…Thus, all major objective psychological tests are standardized” (Hersen, 2004, p. 6). Relativity, at some level, is a foundation of objective evaluation; in terms of personality assessment, there can be no absolute standards because the subject itself is defined as intrinsically relative. A personality is identified, essentially, by how it contrasts with other personalities, and in this regard the MBTI is a completely standardized self assessment.

Psychometric Properties

In terms of psychometric properties, reliability and validity are the chief components desired in self assessment. The reliability factor is dependent upon one thing: consistency in application and result. Validity is a more complex attribute to determine, but essentially goes to the relation between the evaluator and the object evaluated. In plain terms, in the MBTI, the indicator must relate completely to the personality of the subject.

The MBTI, in fact, enjoys its continued popularity as an assessment tool because it typically fulfills the requirements of psychometric authenticity. Researchers Francis and Jones conducted a wide-ranging 1999 study on the key properties as evidenced by the MBTI, and  “…concluded that there was good evidence for the internal consistency reliability and construct validity of the continuous scale scores…” (de Souza, 2009, p. 130). Other research indicates that refinements may be in order, to better ensure reliability. However, as will be noted, there are inherent limits on how psychometric properties may be observed in even as objective an evaluator as the MBTI.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the MBTI

It is in the nature of any self assessment to be influenced by subjectivity issues. No individual, however objective their intent and approach, can claim to be free of personal interpretations regarding definition, import, and their own manifestations of what is being assessed.

This intrinsic flaw within self assessment is present within the MBTI. In relatively obvious terms, the individual analyzing their capacity to, for example, sense may either fail to understand the meaning as put forth by the indicator, or simply elect to view the evidence differently, and in a manner more satisfactory to their image of themselves. This is true of all sixteen trait categories, clearly, and there is no means yet devised to ensure objectivity from what must be a subjective source.

That acknowledged, the MBTI succeeds consistently because its creators took great pains to render the definitions within the evaluator distinct and understandable. To the average mind, for instance, an introvert is a typically withdrawn person who prefers solitude, as an extravert is perceived to be innately gregarious. The MBTI serves to educate before it evaluates, and informs the subject that, in fact, introversion and extraversion are defined by the manner by which a person draws energy. Consequently, many who have long perceived themselves to be introverts gain, through the evaluation, a better awareness of their true natures.

Conclusion

In basic terms, the MBTI has remained a valued and widely employed tool for self assessment because a great deal of time and care was put into its creation, and the result is as comprehensive and reliable mode of self analysis. It asks only of the evaluated that it be approached in as unencumbered a manner as possible. Subjectivity is an inescapable  issue within any self assessment procedure, yet the Myers-Briggs Indicator most effectively isolates parameters of choice, and best promotes as objectively derived a personal assessment as can be achieved.

References

Comer, J. P., Joyner, E. T., and Ben-Avie, M. (2004.) Six Pathways to Healthy Child Development and Academic Success: The Field Guide to Comer Schools in Action. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.

de Souza, M. (2009.) International Handbook of Education for Spirituality, Care, and Well-Being. New York, NY: Springer.

Hersen, M. (2004.) Comprehensive Handbook of Psychological Assessment: Personality Assessment. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.