Protocol for investigating the process underlying responses in personality assessments

Abstract

The literature investigating the process underlying the answers given in self-report tests for personality assessments is scarce. This study aimed to develop a protocol to investigate the response process of people who responded to a self-report instrument for personality assessment. It also sought evidence of content validity for this protocol. The protocol presented focused on grandiosity, representing the narcissistic functioning. A total of 35 people answered the Dimensional Clinical Personality Inventory (IDCP) and the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5). Favorable evidence was identified, indicating the proper functioning of the developed protocol, since the literature showed consistent information about it. For example, it was observed that people who scored higher in grandiosity on self-report tests were those who chose the alternatives that represented grandiosity characteristics and were also those who presented a higher baseline to consider someone as narcissistic. The protocol is expected to be replicable by other researchers who aim to verify the response strategies adopted in self-report type personality tests.