Practical-1
NEO Five Factor Personality Inventory
(Adolescent Version)
Purpose
The purpose of this practical is to assess the personality type of the subject using NEO-FFI
adolescent version test.
Introduction
Personality
What is personality?
When you look into the importance of the word personality in layman's terms, you may
discover something like 'that what characterizes a person’. In regular day to day existence we
use terms, for example, character, identity or predisposition. It is derived from the Latin word
‘Persona’. Referred to the masks the roman theatre artists wore while performing on stage.
They are the relatively enduring characteristics and ways of responding to individuals and
situations, which guide a person’s behaviour and make a person unique. According to
Allport, these traits are influenced by our childhood experiences, our current environment,
and the interaction between the two.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONALITY
Personality traits reflect people’s characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and
behaviours. It infers to the psychological and social character that an individual secures by
genetic natural enrichment which gives him the premise to improvement and social
development of condition inside which he springs forward.
1. Has both physical and psychological components
2. Its expression in terms of behaviour is fairly unique in a given individual
3. Its main features remain fairly constant.
4. It is dynamic and occasionally situational in nature.
Objective tests – The psychological tests that measure an individual’s characters in such a
way that it is independent of biases and a person’s own beliefs are called objective tests.
Projective Tests.- the Personality test in psychological testing that allows the person to reply
to an ambiguous or vague stimuli and reveal the hidden emotions and conflicts.
Benefits of Objective testing over projective testing
The objective test is different from the projective test because the projective test is based on
Freudian psychology and seeks to reveal the unconscious aspect of people. Therefore
objective tests seem to be more reliable as compared to the projective and subjective tests.
OCEAN-
The Big Five personality traits, also known as the five-factor model (FFM) and the OCEAN
model, is a taxonomy for personality traits.
This theory uses descriptors of common language and therefore suggests five broad
dimensions commonly used to describe the human personality and psyche.
The five factors are:
Openness to experience (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious)
Conscientiousness (efficient/organized vs. easy-going/careless)
Extraversion (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved)
Agreeableness (friendly/compassionate vs. challenging/detached)
Neuroticism (sensitive/nervous vs. secure/confident)
The five factors are represented by the acronym OCEAN or CANOE. Beneath each
proposed factor, there are a numerous correlations which indicate prime factors . For
example, extraversion is said to include such related qualities as gregariousness,
assertiveness, excitement seeking, warmth, activity, and positive emotions.
Likert scale
there are various kinds of scales which have been developed for measuring attitudes and
behaviors directly (i.e. the subject knows that his/her behavior is being studied). The most
widely used among scale all of these is Likert scale. Likert scale is also known as
psychometric scale and it is named after psychologist Rensis Likert. It is a five point scale
which is used by the subject to express how much they agree or disagree to a statement or
particular questionnaire. The following table shows the range which captures the intensity of
the feeling for a given item.
Strongly disagree neutral agree Strongly agree
disagree
1 2 3 4 5
Likert scaling is a bipolar scaling model which suggests that measuring either positive or
negative response to a statement. A Likert scale assumes that the strength/intensity of an
attitude is linear, i.e. on a continuum from strongly agree to strongly disagree, and makes the
assumptions that attitudes can be measured.
Strengths of Likert scale includes:- quantitative data analysis, offers anonymity on self -
administered questionnaires.
Limitations of Likert scale includes:- like all other surveys conducted , the validity of the
Likert scale measurements or results can have concessions due to social desirability and
agreeableness. Sometimes the subject may lie to prove himself/herself as on a positive side.
Number of approaches and theories has been developed to understand and explain
behavioural differences among individuals, and behavioural consistencies within an
individual. There were three major approaches to studying personality. They are:
TYPE APPROACH
The type approaches attempts to comprehend human personality by examining certain broad
patterns in the observed behavioural characteristics of individuals.
Sheldon’s theory: Using body build and temperament as the main basis, Sheldon
proposed the Endomorphic, Mesomorphic, and Ectomorphic typology. The
endomorphs are relaxed and sociable. The mesomorphs are energetic and courageous.
The ectomorphs are brainy, artistic and introvert. They are more like stereotypes
which people hold.
Jung’s theory: Jung has proposed another important typology by grouping people
into introverts and extraverts. Introverts are people who prefer to be alone, tend to
avoid others, withdraw themselves in the face of emotional conflicts, and are shy.
Extraverts, on the other hand, are sociable, outgoing, drawn to occupations that allow
dealing directly with people, and react to stress by trying to lose themselves among
people and social activity.
Friedman and Rosenman: Friedman and Rosenman have classified individuals into
Type-A and Type-B personalities. Type-A personality seem to possess high
motivation, lack patience, feel short of time, be in a great hurry, and feel like being
always burdened with work. Such people find it difficult to slow down and relax.
Type-B personality, which can be understood as the absence of Type-A traits.
TRAIT APPROACH
In contrast, the trait approach focuses on the specific psychological attributes along which
individuals tend to differ in consistent and stable ways.
Allport’s trait theory - He categorised traits into cardinal, central, and secondary.
Cardinal traits are highly generalised dispositions. Less pervasive in effect, but still
quite generalised dispositions, are called central traits. The least generalised
characteristics of a person are called secondary traits.
Cattell: personality factors - He applied a statistical technique, called factor
analysis, to discover the common structures of personality. He found 16 primary or
source traits. The source traits are stable and are considered as the building blocks of
personality. Besides these, there are also several surface traits that result out of the
interaction of source traits. He developed a test, called Sixteen Personality Factor
Questionnaire (16PF), for the assessment of personality.
H.J.Eysenck - He proposed that personality could be reduced into two broad
dimensions.
(1) Neuroticism vs. emotional stability: It refers to the degree to which people have
control over their feelings
(2) Extraversion vs. introversion: It refers to the degree to which people are socially
outgoing or socially withdrawn.
THE INTERACTIONAL APPROACH
The interactional approach holds that situational characteristics play an important role
in determining our behaviour. People may behave as dependent or independent not because of
their internal personality trait, but because of external rewards or threats available in a
situation.
The Neo PI-R personality test was developed by Costa and McCrae in 1978. The
revised version of this test was published in the subsequent years. These are called NEO PI,
NEO PI- R, and NEOPI3 . The original test consisted of 240 items and was very detailed in
the analysis of various facets of personality. The test that was conducted was the NEO FFI ,
which is the shorter version of the original test. NEO FFI has only 60 items with 12 per
domain.
Although originally developed for adult men and women, it is equally valid for
children as well. This test focuses on the five major personality traits: openness,
conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism. It also quantifies six
subcategories under each trait.
By extensively describing the individual traits, this test provides a comprehensive summary
of a person’s emotional, intrapersonal, interpersonal, attitudinal and motivational styles. The
sub categories provide a fine analysis by measuring specific traits within each domain. The
five domains:
Neuroticism: The measurement of neuroticism gives us an overall idea about the
emotional stability of the person. Individuals prone to different kinds of mental distress score
higher on this domain. They are more vulnerable to negative feelings and affects like agitation,
fear, sadness, anger and others. The facets under this domain are anxiety, hostility, sadness ,
self- consciousness, impulsiveness and vulnerability.
Extraversion: This domain gives us a summary of traits like sociability, assertiveness
and activeness. The people who score high tend to like excitement and exposure to new
situations. They are generally energetic and cheerful. As opposed to extroverts, introverts are
more reserved and independent. The sub facets consist of warmth, gregariousness,
assertiveness, activity, excitement seeking , positivity.
Openness: Openness includes an inclination towards active imagination, aesthetics and
attentiveness to inner self. The high scorers tend to be curious about inner and outer worlds.
They are always up for new experience and have idealist values. They experience emotions in a
much more intense manner. The sub categories are: fantasy, aesthetics, feelings, actions , ideas
and values.
Agreeableness: This trait is a dimension of interpersonal tendencies. The high scorers
are sympathetic to others and helpful in nature. Low scorers tend to be egocentric and self
centered. They tend to be competitive rather than cooperative. It includes facets like trust,
straightforwardness, altruism, compliance, modesty, tender mindedness.
Conscientiousness: This domain focuses on self-control with active processes like
planning, organising, and execution of tasks. High scorers are ambitious, strong willed and
determined. They are very goal oriented and focused. The categories under this are:
competence, order, dutifulness, achievement striving, self-discipline , deliberation.
Uses of The NEO personality inventory
The most fundamental capacity of mental evaluation is to give the clinician a feeling of
what the patient resembles. In spite of the fact that self-reports are not faultless, there is
impressive proof that the NEO-PI gives moderately precise data on patients from an
assessment of clinical populaces. Since the fivefactor model is far reaching, the profile the
NEO-PI gives, covers the full scope of character qualities and can give the clinician a feeling
of both the patient’s qualities and short comings. NEO-PI may suggest further diagnosis for
the patient or the disorder. Extraordinary scores on typical character qualities are not really
sign of psychopathology, however outrageous scores are regularly contraindicative of specific
findings. When specialists are educated by NEO-PI results right off the bat in the helpful
procedure, the show up progressively proficient and empathetic to the patient, permitting an
increasingly quick advancement of compatibility. This is especially significant in momentary
treatment, in which sessions spent finding out the patient might be time lost from treatment.
Clinicians themselves may likewise think that it is simpler to identify with patients when they
consider nonpathological perspectives of character. The accomplishment of psychotherapy
depends on the specialist’s aptitude, yet additionally on the patient’s participation, inspiration
to work, and limit with respect to restorative advantage. Patients with insufficiencies in these
regions need extraordinary consideration from the advisor, and the NEO-PI can flag potential
issues in these territories.
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Method
Material Required
Subject Details
Name – KC
Age - 18
Gender - Female
Educational qualifications- High School pass out
Preliminary Setup
The NEO FFI answersheet, scoring sheet and manual are issued from the Psychology
laboratory.
The NEO FFI answersheet and 2 pencils are kept ready for the subject to use.
The scoring sheet and manual are kept handy with the examiner for efficient scoring and
interpretation.
Procedure
Step 1: The subject is invited into the lab and made to sit comfortably.
Step 2: Questionnaire is provided to the subject and instructions are given.
Precautions Taken
1. The experimenter should make sure that the subject has understood the instructions.
2. The subject should easily understand and comprehend the content of the scale.
3. The subject must meet the requirements of age, language and educational qualifications
needed f-or completing the questionnaire.
Instructions
“This questionnaire contains 60 statements. Read each statement carefully. For each
statement, blacken the circle in the column that best represents your opinion. Make sure that your
answer is in the correct box.
Fill under SD if you strongly disagree or the statement is definitely false.
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Fill under D if you disagree or the statement is mostly false
Fill under N if you are neutral on the statement, if you cannot decide, or if the statement is about
equally true and false.
Fill under A if you agree or the statement is mostly true.
Fill under SA if you strongly agree or the statement is definitely true.
Fill in only one response for each statement. Respond to all of the statements, making sure that
you fill your response in the correct box. Do not Erase. If you need to change an answer, make
an ‘X’ through the incorrect response and then fill in the correct response.”
Results
Table 1: Table showing scoring and interpretation of NEO-FFI.
Neuroticis Extroversion Openness to Agreeableness Conscientiousness
m Experience
Raw score 28 41 37 38 37
T- score 54 64 68 54 61
Percentile 57.9 91.9 78.8 91.9 86.4
Interpretation Average High High High High
Discussion
Personality Profile
The five domains:
1. Neuroticism (N)- it deals with emotional instability. People with higher scores are
relatively emotionally instable. They are more likely than average to be moody and feel
anxious, worried, fearful, angry, jealous, guilty, lonely etc. They are often self- conscious
and shy. People with high neuroticism indexes are at a risk for the development of
common mental disorders. Individuals who score low on neuroticism are more
emotionally stable and less reactive to stress. They tend to be calm.
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2. Extraversion (E)- it indicates how outgoing and social a person is. People with high
scores in extraversion enjoy being with people, participating in social gatherings, and are
full of energy. They enjoy engaging in the external world. They thrive on excitement and
are enthusiastic. On the other hand, people with low scores are introverted. They are less
involved in social activities and tend to be quite and to themselves. They do not require
the external stimulation that extroverts do.
3. Openness to experience (O)- Openness involves five facets, or dimensions, including
fantasy, aesthetic sensitivity, attentiveness to inner feelings, and intellectual curiosity.
People who score low on openness are considered to be closed to experience. They tend
to be conventional in their outlook and behavior. They prefer familiar routines to new
experiences, and generally have a narrower range of interests. Openness has moderate
positive relationships with creativity, intelligence and knowledge.
4. Agreeableness (A)- A person with a high level of agreeableness in a personality test is
usually warm, friendly, and tactful. They generally have an optimistic view of human
nature and get along well with others. A person who scores low on agreeableness may
put their own interests above those of others. They tend to be distant, unfriendly, and
uncooperative.
5. Conscientiousness (C)- Conscientiousness is the personality trait of being careful,
or diligent. Conscientiousness implies a desire to do a task well, and to take obligations to
others seriously. Conscientious people tend to be efficient and organized as opposed
to easy-going and disorderly. They exhibit a tendency to show self-discipline,
act dutifully, and aim for achievement; they display planned rather than spontaneous
behaviour; and they are generally dependable. It is manifested in characteristic
behaviours such as being neat, and systematic; also including such elements
as carefulness, thoroughness, and deliberation.
