EXPERIMENT NO: 2

MAUDLEY`S PERSONALITY INVENTORY

PROBLEM

To assess the introversion-extraversion, emotional stability-neuroticism dimensions of

personality of the subject using MPI.

Basic Concept:

According to Allport, personality is the dynamic organizations within the individual of

those psycho-physical systems that determined his characteristics, behavior and thought.

Theories of Personality

Behavioral Theories: suggest that personality is a result of interaction between the

individual and the environment. They see the development simply as a change in response
characteristics, that is, a person learns new environments and stimuli.

Psychodynamic theories: Psychodynamic theories of personality are heavily influenced

by the work of Sigmund Freud, and emphasize the influence of the unconscious mind and
childhood experiences on personality. According to Freud, personality is divided in three parts
– Id, ego and super-ego. Freud stated that the mind is divided into three parts- conscious, pre-
conscious and unconscious. He proposed five-stage theory of personality, which includes oral
stage, anal stage, phallic stage, latency period and genital stage. Eric Erikson believed that
personality progressed through a series of stages, with certain conflicts arising at each stage.
Success in any stage depended upon successfully overcoming these conflicts.

Post/neo Freudian Approach: The Neo-Freudian psychiatrists and psychologists were a

group of loosely linked American theorists of the mid-twentieth century, who were all
influenced by Sigmund Freud, but who extended his theories, often in social or cultural
directions. Carl Jung founded analytical psychology and claimed that there was a collective
unconscious consisting of archetypes or primordial images. Alfred Adler emphasis on the
importance of feelings of inferiority complex, a feeling which every individual suffers from
due to the inadequacy and guilt, which arise from childhood. Alfred Adler considered human
beings as an individual whole; therefore he called his psychology "Individual Psychology" .
Karen Horney adopted a more optimistic view of human life with emphasis on human growth
and self- actualization.

Humanist Theories: Humanist theorists emphasized the concept of self-actualization,

which is an innate need for personal growth that motivates behavior. Humanist theorists
include Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.

Trait Theories: This approach emphasizes on traits, which are considered as the
relatively enduring attribute or quality on which one individual differs from another. Gordon
Allport organized these traits into a hierarchy of three levels: cardinal traits, central traits and
secondary traits. Raymond Cattell believed that there is a common structure on which people
differ from each other. He found 16 primary or source traits and a number of surface traits that
result out of the interaction of source traits. H.J Eyesenck proposed that personality could be
reduced into two broad dimensions, Neuroticism vs. Emotional Stability and Extraversion vs.
Introversion. Later he proposed a third dimension, called Psychoticism vs. Sociability.

Methods of assessing personality

Personality assessment refers to the procedures used to evaluate people on the basis of
certain characteristics. The goal of assessment is to understand and predict behaviour with
minimum error and maximum accuracy. The most commonly used methods for assessing
personality are Self-Report Measures, Projective Techniques and Behavioural Analysis.

This test is a self-report measure, which is fairly structured, based on the theory
proposed by Eysenk, which requires subjects to give verbal responses using rating scale. The
method requires the subject to objectively report his/her own feelings with respect to various
items. They are scored in quantitative terms and are interpreted on the basis of norms developed
for the test. Some of the self-report measure are The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory [MMPI], Eysenk Personality Questionnaire [EPQ] and 16 Personality factor [PF].
Advantages of self-report measure are that they are used for career guidance, vocational
exploration, personal counselling and personality development. Disadvantages includes social
desirability, a tendency on the part of respondent to endorse items in a socially desirable manner
and acquiescence, the tendency of the subject to agree with items irrespective of their contents.
 Preliminary Details

Name:
Age:
Gender:
Qualification:
Place of conduction: Psychology Lab
Time:

Materials Required

i. MPI manual
ii. Response sheet
iii. MPI questionnaire form
iv. Pen/pencil

Brief Description of the test

Maudsley’s Personality Inventory is a questionnaire designed to measure two major

dimensions of personality, namely extraversion and neuroticism, according to the theory of
personality of the German-born British psychologist H. J. Eysenck. Eysenck published the
test initially in the journal Rivista di Psicologia in 1956. Later versions of it were called the
Eysenck Personality Inventory and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire.

Each of these two traits are measured by means of 48 questions. Neuroticism dimension
refers to the degree to which people have control over their feelings. Extraversion dimension
refers to the degree to which people are socially outgoing or socially withdrawn.

PROCEDURE

Rapport Formation

Rapport was established between the subject and the tester, prior to the test so that
he/she could feel comfortable and at ease. In such a state, she/he should answer the questions
in a calm manner and any doubts should be cleared before starting the test. A friendly
conversation was held by asking about schooling, parents, friends and her interests in general.
When the subject felt at ease, she/he was asked if she/he was ready for the test to begin. After
an affirmative answer from her/him, she was given the following instructions.
 Instructions

The following instructions were given: “There are some questions regarding the way
you feel, behave and react. In each item there are three answers `yes`, `no` and `?`. Don’t leave
any question and try to complete as soon as possible. There are total of 48 items in this test.
There are no right or wrong answers. Give the first natural answer as it comes to you. When in
doubt, give the best possible answer.”

Precautions

i. Optimal conditions for testing were ensured before the test begun
ii. Time of start and finish were noted
iii. The tester should ensure that the subject is not familiar with the test.
iv. Subject should be told that there is no correct answer.
v. Subject should not skip any item and use “?” only when required.
vi. Subject should be assured of confidentiality of test results.
vii. Proper rapport should be established before starting the practical

Test Administration

After the instructions were given, the subject was asked to fill in the necessary details.
The tester ensured that the instructions were clear and understood. The MPI questionnaire was
given to the subject and was completed in less than 10-15 minutes. The raw score was obtained
after the subject completes the test.

Introspective Report/Verbal Report

The test was quite insightful and fun to do. The tester made me feel at ease.

[You can write the introspective report given by your subject]

Scoring

The inventory is scored directly from the test forms. The raw scores were converted
into Standard Score through the Long Scale Forms which was added to give a total for
neuroticism and for extraversion. All the items that are in `YES` are weighed as 2, except the
ones where NO is allotted 2 and `No` is scored as 0, except the ones where YES is allotted 0.
All the `? ` are scored 1.
RESULT

Table 1 shows that subject’s raw score for neuroticism dimension and extraversion
dimension are ____ and ___ respectively. The subject’s standard score for neuroticism
dimension and extraversion dimension are _____ and _____ respectively.

[Table to be drawn on the left side/ plain sheet]

Table 1: showing the subject’s raw score and standard score obtained in both neuroticism and
extraversion dimension

Total Neuroticism Extraversion

Raw Score

Standard Score
[Sten Score]

Discussion

The aim of the experiment is to assess the introversion-extraversion, emotional stability-

neuroticism dimensions of personality of the subject using Maudsley’s Personality Inventory.

[To be written based on your/subject’s score]

[Extrovert]
The subject’s raw score and Sten score of Extraversion dimension reveals that she/he
is highly [Only if the score is 10. If the score is 8 or 9 skip the word ‘highly’] extraverted.
She/he is highly [Only if the score is 10. If the score is 8 or 9 skip the word ‘highly’] sociable,
friendly, outgoing, active, gregarious, impulsive, thrill seeking and enjoys interacting with
other individuals.

[Ambivert]
The subject’s raw score and Sten score of Extraversion dimension reveals that she/he
is neither an extrovert nor an introvert, but was seen to be of an ambivert. She/he is neither
active nor passive, neither impulsive nor reserved and neither thrill-seeking nor cautious.
 [Introvert]
The subject’s raw score and Sten score of Extraversion dimension reveals that she/he
is highly [if score is 1. If score is 2, 3 or 4 skip the word ‘highly’] introverted. She/he is passive,
quiet, cautious and reserved.
[Neurotic]
The subject’s raw score and Sten score of neuroticism dimension shows that she/he is
extremely neurotic. She/he becomes anxious, moody, touchy, restless and quickly lose control.
[Average stability]
The subject’s raw score and Sten score of neuroticism dimension shows that she/he is
seen to be neither extremely neurotic, nor extremely emotionally stable, but was seen to be of
average emotional stability.
[Emotionally stable]
The subject’s raw score and sten score of neuroticism dimension shows that she/he is
seen to be emotionally stable. She/he is calm, even-tempered, and reliable and remain under
control.

CONCLUSION

The subject is ______ (neurotic or average emotional stability or emotionally stable) and is
__________ (extrovert or ambivert or introvert).

REFERENCE
 Baron, R. A. (2003). Psychology: By Robert A. Baron. Delhi: Prentice Hall of Indian.
 NCERT. (2015). Chapter 2. In Psychology: Textbook for class XII (pp. 3-8). New Delhi:
National Council of Educational Research and Training.