Repetition on Psychological Testing

**Haphazard** · 02-29-2008, 05:10 AM

Recently, because of some, err, 'behavioral issues,' I was forced to take a psychological test. I forget the exact name, but I remember that it was for adolescents and was developed somewhere in Minnesota.

Well, it came back that I don't like working with other people and that I have a very strong will to succeed -- that much I guess would be normal on this forum, with no conclusive signs of any mental illness.

But there was another thing that the test produced; many of my answers were inconsistent. Apparently this is supposed to mean that "the subject either did not understand the question or was not paying attention while taking the test." Or, according to my father's unspoken opinion, there's also the possibility that I'm extremely conniving and that I deliberately inconsistently answered certain questions to ward off any potential diagnosis.

Thinking about it, I believe there is a fourth option. I genuinely think that some of the 'repetitive questioning,' that's supposed to ensure accuracy, is not actually very repetitive at all.

Let's compare two questions:

"Do you feel that you are less attractive than your peers?"

"Do you sometimes find yourself wishing you were more attractive?"

Poorly written as they may be, just bare with me for a moment.

These are very similar questions, but they each ask a totally different question. One is about comparison to other people, and one is about yourself in particular. I would likely answer 'yes' to the first and 'no' to the second, because I don't really care if I'm attractive or not. For what I like to do, being attractive is not important. I may frankly find myself less attractive than my peers, but in the end that fact doesn't really matter.

It's the difference between 'love' and 'enjoying spending time with.' I may love somebody close to me, but even so, often, spending time with them can be exhausting, so I answer the questions differently.

Does anybody have any thoughts on this?

**vaguely dissatisfied** · 02-29-2008, 06:28 AM

I agree with you. Many of these tests are questionable. Perhaps the answer is to do several different ones and take a look at the general trend. Sort of like blood pressure tests.

**Haphazard** · 02-29-2008, 01:43 PM

	Originally Posted by vaguely dissatisfied To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	I agree with you. Many of these tests are questionable. Perhaps the answer is to do several different ones and take a look at the general trend. Sort of like blood pressure tests.

All of these sorts of tests depend on mood -- even the test that told me I was an INTJ I got a different profile when I was tired, moody, sick, etc, but most of the time I ended up with INTJ or something close.

I've always had problems with interpreting things 'differently' (eg: wrong) when it came to tests. I'm surprised my grades ended up as good as they are because my work is so full of 'misunderstandings.'

02-29-2008, 05:10 AM	#1
Haphazard Member [28%] MBTI: ISTP Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 1,141	Recently, because of some, err, 'behavioral issues,' I was forced to take a psychological test. I forget the exact name, but I remember that it was for adolescents and was developed somewhere in Minnesota. Well, it came back that I don't like working with other people and that I have a very strong will to succeed -- that much I guess would be normal on this forum, with no conclusive signs of any mental illness. But there was another thing that the test produced; many of my answers were inconsistent. Apparently this is supposed to mean that "the subject either did not understand the question or was not paying attention while taking the test." Or, according to my father's unspoken opinion, there's also the possibility that I'm extremely conniving and that I deliberately inconsistently answered certain questions to ward off any potential diagnosis. Thinking about it, I believe there is a fourth option. I genuinely think that some of the 'repetitive questioning,' that's supposed to ensure accuracy, is not actually very repetitive at all. Let's compare two questions: "Do you feel that you are less attractive than your peers?" "Do you sometimes find yourself wishing you were more attractive?" Poorly written as they may be, just bare with me for a moment. These are very similar questions, but they each ask a totally different question. One is about comparison to other people, and one is about yourself in particular. I would likely answer 'yes' to the first and 'no' to the second, because I don't really care if I'm attractive or not. For what I like to do, being attractive is not important. I may frankly find myself less attractive than my peers, but in the end that fact doesn't really matter. It's the difference between 'love' and 'enjoying spending time with.' I may love somebody close to me, but even so, often, spending time with them can be exhausting, so I answer the questions differently. Does anybody have any thoughts on this? Last edited by Haphazard; 02-29-2008 at 01:48 PM.
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02-29-2008, 06:28 AM	#2
vaguely dissatisfied Member [38%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,540	I agree with you. Many of these tests are questionable. Perhaps the answer is to do several different ones and take a look at the general trend. Sort of like blood pressure tests.
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