Just how accurate are personality tests?
Our textbook has entire chapters dedicated to the concepts of reliability and validity. It stresses the fact that a test lacking these qualities should not be taken seriously. While it is widely acknowledged that there is no such thing as a perfect psychological test, it is still interesting to wonder how accurate a good psychological test can be, and how it can affect us regardless of its quality. I have chosen to discuss the topic of personality testing. Many students in our class have at least some experience with personality psychology, either having taken Dr. Koestner’s Intro to Personality class or simply having taken a personality test.
The first experience with personality testing that I distinctly remember occurred in high school. It was in 10th grade. The next year we would have to decide which CEGEP and specifically which program in CEGEP we would choose to attend. Therefore, our high school had the tradition of seeking external help in order to administer career aptitude tests to 10th graders. Naturally, we were asked questions pertaining to our personality. While some were overt, some were covert measures of said personality. A few weeks later, the test results were back. We could finally know which career would be best suited to us for the next 45 years of our lives!
The first thing that struck me was that overall, the test was right. While I don’t remember the exact careers that were suggested to me, I remember positively reacting to some of them. However, I also remembered that the test had some shortcomings. For instance, while I had scored quite highly on items of introversion, the test did not take into account that in the company of people that I was very comfortable with, I would score quite highly on extraversion. Similarly, while I had been attributed low assertiveness by the test, it failed to take note that in certain situations (read: on a soccer field) my assertiveness rose significantly due to the demands of my position in the team (usually centre-back).
For us psychology students, it is a known fact that predictive test results should be taken with a grain of salt. However, if an individual is unaware of the caveats that come with a psychological test, could the results be taken too literally? Could we witness a self-fulfilling prophecy, especially for highly suggestible test-takers? At the time, we were still carefree high school students still looking to understand ourselves and many of us have changed significantly in the past 5 years, possibly confounding previous test results.
An interesting relationship to explore would be the increasing rates of occupational burnouts and career/personality testing. Are they unrelated? Would more orientation tests in youth reduce burnouts? Are some burnouts due to poor career orientation tests?
However, this question would be hard to answer since it would require a longitudinal study, possibly spanning decades!
