Personality is that which permits a prediction of what a person will do in a given situation- Raymond B. Cattell
The High School Personality Questionnaire (HSPQ) is a self-report inventory for adolescents that measures 14 primary personality characteristics which are important in predicting and understanding social, clinical, occupational and school behaviours.
The first edition of the HSPQ appeared in 1953 as the JUNIOR PERSONALITY QUIZ. The title was later changed and the test itself was revised in 1958, 1963 and 1968 to improve items, readability and norms. The scales have remained constant for more than 30 years. These scales were first identified through research by Cattell on the Allport-Odbert (1963) lexicon. This lexicon had a compilation on 17,953 words in the English language which could be applied to human behaviour including personal traits, moods, social perspectives and metamorphic terms. Out of these, he selected 4,504 words that were found to be descriptive of stable personality traits. His goal was to identify and quantify the principal dimensions of the trait universe.
The first test to appear in the personality series was 16PF, and its pool of items-368 in 1952- served as the source of HSPQ. In those times, children were not considered important for psychological research and there was no satisfying measure to assess their personality. Cattell realized that they too are in fact younger versions of adults and demonstrate similar traits. So in an effort to know more about the specific age groups, he constructed HSPQ for adolescents and CPQ for children.
Its most often used in group or classroom settings. There is no strict time limit but most examinees finish in 45-60 minutes. A reading level of 6th grade is necessary.
The scoring is of 2 types: Hand scoring and Machine scoring used with IPAT’s scoring service. Sten scores and percentile is used. Two scoring keys are used to obtain 14 raw scores from an answer sheet. The same 2 keys are used for all test forms as scoring patterns are exactly the same for all forms: A, B, C and D. A differential weighted mean is used so that some responses score 2 points and other responses score 1 point. Personality Questionnaires are at response distortion, intentional or otherwise. Thus, motivational distortion, faking good or bad, is all reduced by using the forced-choice technique.
Several useful scores are calculated from various combinations of the primary scales. These scales are not scored directly from the item responses but are obtained by combining scores on the fourteen primary scales according to specific formulas.
Test consists of four forms A, B, C and D. Every test booklet has 142 questions per booklet. In these booklets there are 10 items per factor and two buffer items.
While conducting the test examiner can explain the meaning of any word but not those items which come under intelligence scale.
Primary and Second order scales are used.
The 14 Factors are:
| LOW SCORE DESCRIPTIONS (-) | HIGH SCORE DESCRIPTIONS (+) |
| FACTOR A: | WARMTH |
| Cool | Warm |
| Reserved, impersonal, detached, formal, aloof. Primary element: affect A- people show very little affect. | Outgoing, kind, easy-going, participating, likes people. A+ people are very expressive. |
| FACTOR B: | INTELLIGENCE |
| Concrete thinking (less intelligent) | Abstract thinking (more intelligent/ bright) |
| Low mental capacity, unable to handle abstract problems, apt to be less organized. | High mental capacity, insightful, fast learner, intellectually adaptable, inclined to have more intellectual interests. |
| FACTOR C: | EMOTIONAL STABILITY |
| Affected by feelings | Emotionally stable |
| Emotionally less stable, easily annoyed. Clinically: Low factor C spears in a wide range of neuroses and psychoses and some character disorders. | Mature, faces reality, calm. |
| FACTOR D: | EXCITABILITY |
| Phlegmatic | Excitable |
| Undemonstrative, deliberate, placid, inactive. | Impatient, demanding, overactive, easily distracted. Individuals high on this factor report that they are restless sleepers, easily distracted from work and are hurt and angry if not given important positions or whenever they are restrained. |
| FACTOR E: | DOMINANCE |
| Submissive | Dominant |
| Humble, mild, easily led, accommodating. Very low scores: Occur in the profiles of neurotics and other psychiatrically diagnosed individuals. | Assertive, aggressive, stubborn, competitive, bossy. High scores: Delinquency patter in teenagers. |
| FACTOR F: | CHEERFULNESS |
| Sober | Cheerful |
| Restrained, prudent, taciturn, serious. Low F is found in many chronic physical and mental illnesses. | Enthusiastic, impulsive, expressive. |
| FACTOR G: | CONFORMITY |
| Expedient | Confirming |
| Disregards rules, self indulgent. | Conscientious, moralistic, rule-bound, persistent, staid. Depicts regard for group moral standards. |
| FACTOR H: | BOLDNESS |
| Shy | Bold |
| Sensitive, timid, hesitant, intimidated. Schizoid, pre-psychotics, schizophrenics have shown to score below average on factor H. | Venturesome, uninhibited, can take stress. |
| FACTOR I: | SENSITIVITY |
| Tough-minded | Tender-minded |
| Self-reliant, tough, realistic, expects little. | Sensitive, overprotected, intuitive, expecting affection and attention. Above average scores are seen in profile for neurotics. |
| FACTOR J: | WITHDRAWAL |
| Vigorous | Withdrawn |
| Goes readily with group, zestful, likes attention | Guarded, internally restrained, circumspect, individualistic, evaluates coldly. High scores associated with delinquency. |
| FACTOR O: | APPREHENSION |
| Self-assured | Apprehensive |
| Secure, feels free of guilt, untroubled, self-satisfied. | Self-blaming, guilt prone, insecure, worrying. Clinically, this is one of the largest contributors to the composite anxiety factor. |
| FACTOR Q2: | SELF-SUFFICIENCY |
| Group-oriented | Self-sufficient |
| A joiner and sound follower, believes in others, socially group-dependent Shows a tendency to go along with the group. Strongly value social approval and convention. | Resourceful, prefers own decisions. People are resolute and accustomed to making own decisions. |
| FACTOR Q3: | SELF-DISCIPLINE |
| Undisciplined; self-conflict | Self-disciplined |
| Lax, careless of social rules, uncontrolled, follows own urges. Untutored, emotionally and narcissistically rejecting cultural demands. | Controlled, socially precise, compulsive, self-respecting, exacting, willpower, follows self-image |
| FACTOR Q4: | TENSION |
| Relaxed | Tense. |
| Tranquil, composed, has low drive, unfrustrated. | Frustrated, overwrought, has high drive. Irrationally worried, tense, irritable and in turmoil. They feel frustrated and are extensively aware of being criticized by parents for untidiness, fantasy and not having good goals. |
PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES High School Personality Questionnaire (HSPQ)
Reliability:
The average short term reliability for form A+B is 0.83 and for form A alone is 0.79
The average long term scale reliability for form A+B is 0.69 and for the single form is 0.56
Validity:
Construct validity was used.
Norms:
Different for girls and boys.
Educational applications:
Clinical Applications:
Delinquency research and personality patterns:
The test is very lengthy and consists of four forms A+B+C+D which should be considered as extensions from the first and not as parallel forms. Therefore, for max accuracy, it is essential to make use of all four forms in test administration. No operational definition of personality has been provided. No operational definition for domains has also been provided by the author. In the 14 domains, the extremes are well defined but not the middle range.
The representative sample was really big. It was 5,332 for the first version and then on 9000 adolescents.