Response styles & interpretation principles

In this unit, you will explore different personality assessments and learn about the importance of response styles in interpreting results. The module explains how response style indicators help identify the way people answer questionnaires and why it’s important to interpret personality scales by comparing scores to a suitable norm group. You will also pick up advice on avoiding common interpretation errors and ensuring feedback is specific, tentative, and supported by evidence.

After this talk, you will:

• Understand why it’s important to have experience with different personality assessments.

• Be familiar with the concept of response styles and why they matter in personality questionnaires.

• Recognise the types of response style indicators used in different assessments (such as self-protecting, social desirability, accuracy, and unusual high/low answers).

• Understand how response styles can affect responses, including motivational distortion and cultural influences.

• Know why it is essential to look for additional evidence if a response style indicator is flagged.

• Appreciate differences between fake good and fake bad response patterns, and when they might occur.

• Understand what central tendency means and how it might appear in test results.

• Recognise why response style indicators are only a starting point and have lower reliability than core personality scales.

• Be able to describe the importance of choosing the correct norm group when interpreting personality scales.

• Appreciate why it’s crucial to use the test publisher’s definitions and to understand the full meaning of each personality scale.

• Know you should interpret personality profiles by looking at how scales interact, not just individually.

• Be aware that feedback and reports should remain tentative and objective until you have further evidence (such as from a feedback session).

• Understand the need to avoid general statements (Barnum effect) and use language that matches the candidate’s scores.

• Recognise that personality interpretation should connect scales to likely behaviours or outcomes at work.

• Appreciate the example of how two people can have the same score on one scale, but other aspects of their profile can change the interpretation.