Hi everyone. For my letter Q post in the #AtoZChallenge, I’d like to talk about personality tests and questionnaires. How valid are self-report questionnaires for personal growth? Do they have any validity in diagnosis?
The short answer to these questions is that it depends. After all, many people especially those with some knowledge of the thing being tested, will answer in such a way that they’ll get the results they want or expect. Even people who don’t know how the test works, may distort their answers because they think the test works in a certain way or because they think others want them to answer in a certain way. Or sometimes even because they don’t understand the questions.
For example, when I was eleven, I was tested with this weird sentence completion test that included open-ended questions. An example I remember clearly was the psychologist asking me “When I can’t sleep, I…”. I replied “I’ll try to sleep”. I had absolutely no idea what to say, not because I thought the psychologist wanted a particular answer but because the question was far too open-ended. Similarly, my lack of emotional awareness at the time often made me choose the middle option on rating scales. This was judged to be manipulativeness, but it wasn’t.
Like I shared before, many personality tests include a “liar scale” or validity subtest. An example on the Big Five test I got in college is “I always feel equally good”. I honestly answered with “strongly disagree” and totally thought it’d make me score high on neuroticism. Instead, that particular question and others I answered honestly got me to score above-average on the validity scale. That isn’t to say I didn’t score high on neuroticism though.
I don’t personally think it matters that many self-report questionnaires can lead to a strong confirmation bias, especially if you’re using the test for personal development only. That is, if you want to hear that you’re great, you will always be able to find validation for that. Whether lying on self-report questionnaires will help you on your journey, is another thing, but if you aren’t consciously manipulating the test, chances are there’s some truth to the result anyway. I don’t recommend relying on a test alone to determine anything about yourself, but to also always do your own research. Similarly, in clinical settings, while self-report questionnaires are somewhat useful, professionals also need to rely on observations.
A Multitude of Musings 
To me, the way I answer self-assessment questionnaires is directly linked to the way I feel when taken them. We all have good days and bad ones.
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Yes, that makes total sense. Thanks for stopping by.
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I agree with Susanne. That’s how I am, too.
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Oh yes, I can relate to that experience as well.
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I would never rely on these tests, I don’t think anyone should. Not even professionals. X
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Well you’ve probably had tests administered too and your care team do rely on them. My point was not to rely exclusively on tests.
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Questionnaire is a great word for Q! All the best or the rest of the challenge.
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Thank you!
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I generally don’t like those questionnaires as they’ll always have one question that just pisses me off. And they’re multiple choice, so there’s never an answer that I can use. Sigh.
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Very good points indeed. I think this may be the reason I used to often choose the middle option.
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In my old job we had to give the clients — in this case, juvenile delinquents — assessments using these kinds of tests. To me, they feel like starting points, where it is when you go over the questions and their answers is where you get a real sense of where they are coming from.
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True indeed, especially when you’re doing the questionnaires in a face-to-face situation and you’re looking beyond the simple ratings or yes/no answers your clients give.
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p.s. i.e. going over the questions and their responses with them (and sometimes with their parents)
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Yep, good additional point.
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On the standard test my psych meds doctor gives me I always wish there was another option, especially when they ask how often I have felt a certain way – it seems to jump from none to several days. How about a few days maybe?
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That’s interesting. I think the simple depression and anxiety screening questionnaire in the iPhone’s Health app is the same. I mean, in my case I rarely feel significantly depressed or anxious for an entire day, but rather my mood is usually slightly low all of the time but can get really low for a few hours one day, then return to baseline for a few hours, get low again, etc.
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Yes, there are ebb and flow of both depression and anxiety a lot of the time. I rarely am anxious all day but there have been a few times, before my meds were straightened out, that the depression stayed strong all day.
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Oh, that must have been hard. I’m glad your meds are effective now.
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Thanks, Astrid!
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