The methodology of the personal differential was developed on the basis of the Russian language in order to find out the peculiarities of the mentality and the structure of the personality formed in the Russian-language culture. Later, the technique was adapted to study the personality and its perception.
The personal differential method - when is it needed?
The personal differential is important in those cases when it is required to know the attitude of the subject to people or to himself. This method lies in the middle between the methods using questionnaires and the methods using sociometric scales, so it is so simple, fast and easy to use. Using this technique, it is easy to find out a variety of data - and anxiety, and sociability, and much more. This method can be used in conjunction with other procedures, since the technique is short and very simple.
Personal differential - creation
The method of the personal differential involves sampling words that describe personality traits, which allows you to study a kind of personality model.
To this end, 120 words were chosen from the dictionary of Ozhegov, indicating activity, strength and evaluation. They were randomly formed into 6 lists of 20 traits, and the subjects needed to classify them:
- A person should, on a 100-point scale, assess the likelihood that a person who has one set of qualities may have a second one.
- A person should assess the presence and severity of the following qualities on a 5-point scale.
- The person on a 7-point scale assesses the quality of the 3-D differential signs.
After that, 21 features were selected from the general list into the personal differential form.
Personal differential - instruction
The subject is offered a form in which the selected qualities of a person are presented. Positive and negative sides of them are marked by signs "+" and "-", respectively. Working with the test is simple:
- a person chooses a sign of this or that quality;
- assesses the degree of its manifestation (3 - strongly and often, 2 - noticeable, 1 - rarely and weakly, 0 - hard to say).
The selected characteristics are highlighted in the answer sheet. It is important to be careful to follow the change of positive and negative traits.
Test personal differential - interpretation
Define the results, referring to the blank-key. First you need to calculate the values of the assessment, strength and activity - from +21 to -21.
The level is defined as follows:
- 17-21 - high level;
- 8-16 - intermediate level;
- 7 and less is a low level.
Based on this, the results are determined. Interpreting a personal differential is necessary from different points of view. If the evaluation factor deserves high scores, then a person has a good self-esteem, a person is satisfied with himself. If there are low scores here, a person is too self-critical. Too low values indicate personal problems. In mutual evaluations, this will indicate the attitude towards another person.
The Force factor in self-assessments indicates an indicator of the wills of the personality, not as they are, but how they are assessed by the subject. If the indicators are high, then the person is confident in himself and believes that all problems are up to him, and if the indicator is low, then the person has poorly developed self-control and he is dependent in his behavior. Too
The Activity Factor in self-evaluations should be interpreted as an extraversion indicator. The higher the indicator, the more active and sociable person. If the estimates are low, the person is passive and directed toward himself. In mutual assessments, this indicator reflects the perception of each other's characteristics of each other.
Do not forget that this method indicates exactly the subjective evaluation of the subject, and not the actual state of affairs. However, as practice shows, this indicator is of real importance.