Blog #9: Personality

I find personality to be extremely interesting; however, after reading this chapter on the various assessments it left me with a lot of thought and questions regarding my own personality.  Personality is defined as, “reasonably stable patterns of thoughts, emotions, and behavior that distinguish one person from another” (p. 248). I thought it was important that Drummond and Jones (2010) defined traits, states, and types because I feel as though everyone is not clear on the differences.  There were several traits that were identified but what I gained from it was that it is the characteristics that an individual holds.  At that point I defined my own traits to be kind, caring, and dependable.  Next, state is identified as being a temporary behavior such as anxiety.  This hit home because I feel as though I am not an anxious person.  Yet, when I am about to take a test or give a presentation then I feel a little anxious because I want to do well.  Finally, with types, it is characterized as a various cluster of traits.  As I was reading this I could relate to an extroversion person because I am social, talkative, and full of energy.

The next section of the chapter that left me with questions is when they went through the various personality inventories.  Throughout reading these inventories I was curious how I would do on a few of the test due to how my mind works.  The first one, the Rorschach, was a test that presented a picture to you and I wonder how much information I would provide to the test administrator.  What happens if you assess a student and they do not provide you with adequate information?  The next one, verbal projective techniques include asking open ended questions as well as sentence completion.  I find this to be difficult because I tend to take time thinking and reflecting on the question.  I tend to process slowly compared to others and want to people please at times.  I feel that sentence completion would be a little easier due to having experience with them but you never know what will be presented.  Finally, the projective drawings would be extremely difficult because I do not feel that I am a good drawer and often do not enjoy it.  I am aware that drawings do not have to be Picasso but I tend to be a perfectionist and compare my work to others.  In conclusion, personality is a very interesting topic and you are able to gain a lot by administering various techniques. 

       Drummond, R. J. and Jones, K. (2010). Assessment procedures for counselors and helping professionals. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.