EMERGING DOMINANCE OF PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT

Modern Multivariate Personality Assessment

The history of applied multivariate personality assessment can be described in terms of eleven milestones as follows:

• Erasmus Darwin, the grandfather of Charles Darwin and Francis Galton, proposed in 1794-1796 that the variations in all important human characteristics are rooted in human evolution. This is the starting point for modern personality assessment.
• Francis Galton published Hereditary Genius in 1869. The book is the foundation for the modern study of behavior genetics; it demonstrated that talent and success runs in families and must, therefore, have a biological basis.
• Karl Pearson, a mathematician who was appointed to the chair of eugenics, endowed by Francis Galton at University College London, invented the statistical index called the correlation coefficient in 1896.
• Charles Spearman, at University College London, invents the statistical method called factor analysis based on Pearson’s correlation, and shows (1904) that one major factor underlies scores on all measures of mental ability.
• Raymond Cattell, Spearman’s most famous graduate student, adapted factor analysis to study the structure of personality (1933), and founded modern multivariate personality assessment.
• G. W. Allport and H. Odbert (1936) assembled a comprehensive lexicon (or list) of “trait terms”, words used to describe other people. This becomes the source for the later development of the Five-Factor Model (FFM).
• Raymond Cattell (1946) and Hans Eysenck (1947) propose competing models of the structure of personality based on factor analysis. They also publish the first multivariate inventories of normal personality . Eysenck’s test purports to measure three traits; Cattell’s test purports to measure 16 traits.
• H. G. Gough (1957) publishes the first multivariate inventory of normal personality designed to predict outcomes rather than measure traits. The test becomes the gold standard for predicting effective occupational performance.
• E.C. Tupes & R.E. Christal (1958) argue that personality can be adequately described in terms of five general factors—this is seen as the first statement of the Five-Factor Model, now generally accepted as reflecting the structure of personality.
• Robert and Joyce Hogan proposed that the multivariate personality inventory of the future should be based on the Five-Factor Model and Gough’s measurement goals—it should predict outcomes rather measure traits. They published the Hogan Personality Inventory in 1986.
• Murray Barrick and Michael Mount publish the first in a series of meta-analyses showing that personality measures, organized in terms of the Five-Factor Model, predict occupational performance across a wide range of jobs and industries.

References
Allport, G.W., & Odbert, H. (1936). Trait names: A psycho-lexical study. Psychological Monographs, 47(Whole No. 211).
Barrick, M.R., & Mount, M.K. (1991). The Big Five personality dimensions and jjob performance: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44, 1-26.
Cattell, R.B. (1933). Temperament tests. British Journal of Psychology, 23, 308-329.
Cattell, R.B. (1946). Description and measurement of personality. New York: Harcourt Brace, and World.
Darwin, E. (1794-1796). Zoonomia, or the laws of organic life. Dublin: Byrne & Jones.
Eysenck, H. J. (1947). Dimensions of personality. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Galton, F. (1869). Hereditary genius. London: Mcmillan.
Gough, H. G. (1957). Manual for the California Psychological Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Pearson, K. (1896). Mathematical contributions to the theory of evolution. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series A, 187, 235-318.
Spearman, C. (1904). “General intelligence” objectively determined and measured. American Journal of Psychology, 15, 201-292
Tupes, E.C., & Christal, R.E. (1958). Stability of personality trait rating factors obtained under diverse conditions. (USAF WADC Technical Note No. 58-61). Lackland Air Force Base, TX: U.S. Air Force.