An exploratory study of personality measures in relation to trade-training success

(1)

AN

EXPLORA

TORY

STUDY

OF

PERSONALITY

MEASURES

IN RELATION

TO

TRADE - TRAINING

SUCCESS

Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the

requirements

for

the Degree of

}

'

lASTER

OF

ARTS

(PSYCHOLO

GY)

at the

POTCHEFSTROm

1 U

N

I

VE

R

SITY

FOR

CHRISTIA

N

HIGHER

EDUCATION

by

ADOLF

Ho

DEPPE

Johannesburg

a

September

,

l967

a

(2)

A

CKN

O

\·

ILE

DG

EIVIENTS

I

w

is

h

to expre

ss my

gratitude

to

w

a

rts m

y

tutor

and

pro

m

oter,

P

ro

fess

or

C. S

c

hoeman,

for his

k

ind

ass

ist

ance

w

ith t

he

w

riting

of

this thesis

.

I

also

w

ish t

o

t

hank

my wife, Carol,

for

her

consistent enc

ouragement

and valuable professional

guidance

.

Adolf

Dep

pe.

Johannesburg

,

September,

19

67.

(3)

INTRODUCTIOn CHAPT3R I: CONI'BNTS Page l

4

CH PT_~R II: THE TESTS AjYD OTH:STI ltEASURES 18

l. New South ~frican Group Test 2. Gordon Personal Profile

3 .

Gordon Personal Inventory 4. High School Personality

Questionnaire

5.

Gottschaldt Figures

6. Calif ornia Test of Personal i ty

7.

Mul t ipl e Choice Rorschach

CHAPr.ER III: hETHOD l. The Sample

2. Testing Procedure

3 .

The Criterion CHAPTER IV: RESULTS

l . ~eans and Gt~ndard Deviations 2. Correl ations

3 o

Interests

4. Vocational Preference

5.

Training Period

6. Age Differences

7.

Educational ~ualifications 8. Language I"!edium

9.

Graphic Presentation

CHAPTER V: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS l . Intel l igence and Achievement 2. Adjustment and ?ersonality

Correlat es

3.

Interest and Achievement 4. Educational 0ualifications

5.

Di scussion of t he Graphs 6. Follow-up Research

CHAFT2R VI: , o sm;;NARY B o OPSOhiUNG APPErrDIX 20

-23

28 31 -41

44

51 62 62 68 68

74

76

7

8

80 81

83

84

85

87

89

91

97

98

99

100 101 103 105

(4)

Number

I

II

III

IV

v

VI

VII

VIII Number 1

2 -

43

T.'\BLES

Age distribution

Distribution over Standards Dist ribution over Trades Weights of Characteristics Means and St andard Deviations Correlation Values

Frequency of Interests Interests and Achievement

GRAPHS Page 62 62

63

71 74-75

76 -

78

7

8

79

Page

7

2 -

73

88 -

89

(5)

INTRODUCTION

Traditionally, tests of skil~s and abil ities have been ~pplied t o job applicants for the purpose of scr eening, s9lect~on, classific:1tion and pla ce-ment.

These have general ly been performance tests i n which the t estee produces hi s maxim~m output within t he t est situatj_on. i~s ~e8ults of these ~ests are then used to answer such questions as - dces the testae have the necessary skills or potential to ~aet the job dema~ds? Or, to which job would he be best suited with his part icular compl ement of ski l ls?

Occasional ly test batteries are extended to include gener~lized perscnality assessments e.g. the sentence ~ompletion t~st, or, a biographical inventory. Fredictio~ i s made from tbese to c.ssess t he l ikelihooi of the teEtee adjusting sati sfactorily t o t he jobu

On the wiole , the role of the personal i ty in terms of i ts ~elation to on-the- job performance or achievement bas been given l i t t le a~tention. A

survey of the l iterature gives rise to the i mpressi on that academic achievcmen~ in relation to personal ity variabl es has been given much more attention by

resea~chers than job-performance in relation t o personal ity variableso

In this study an attempt i s made to explore possible rel at ionships between job-performance and personal i ty variables. It is felt that more i s to b ~ gained at this stage with an exploratory study

covering a reasonable ran~e of personality variabl e•. than from a more intensiv8 study investigatin~ T~.:er

(6)

variabl es . This holistic approach may produce certain promi sing areas of interrelationship which can be followed up, and also allows scope for inter-pretation of personality profiles.

This l e1ds ·~o the hypotheses in this study. The nul hypothes is i s chosen , viz., that scores on

personality ~eas 1res do not rel ate to success of response to trade-traini~g. Being an exploratory study, the l evel of significance chosen as criterion of relationship i s set at .0~

Within the context of this study the term personality is used in its broadest sense, as an inclusive concept em bod· Ting, inter alia, the dimen-sions included in this study. No attempt was made to adhere to any part icular discipline in choosing personal i ty measures. It was fel t that this would have been t oo rest rict ive.

"Trade-t raining success" may be defined as the degree of success wi th which a pupil responds to training in a particular trade . In this study it wi l l also be referred to as "achievement" . The

pupil's trade-trai ning success or achievement ser_ves as. t he criterion in t his study. Although there ls without doubt some in~srdependence , achi evement should not te equat ed wjth on-the-job performance. This was made qui te c~ear by Brown et al

(1952)

who, in conductir.g a li t eratl r e survey to establish the rel ationshi r betweer~ :::-e~.ponso to training and on-the-job periorm&nce, fo~nd t hat ''it is clear that one cannot be at all secure in using a t est that has been validat ed af;ainst t raining criteria as a basis for forecast ing job prof iciency, or i n using a t est

(7)

for forecasting success in training" o (p"372) " This study was conducted on a group of 100 institutionalized delinquentso

Tests, 3el ected in such a way that they

to-gether gave ~ wide coverage of personality dimensions, wer e appl ied to the pupils in groups of 10 to 30 as they b0came iVai lable fo~ t esting accordi ng to the school progrimme ~

At t he aame t ime trade instructors were given a schedule containing instructions for rating, the characteristics on which pupiis were to be rated, scal e-point definitions and verbal explanations whero required. Subseq·•ently weights wer e obtained for t hese characteristics and the distributions were normalizedo

Resul ts were analyzed by computing correlations bet ween t est scores and the criterion and by a

graphical presentation of tho r esults for qual it a-t ive interpretat iono

The study i s presented as f ollows : Firstly, a basi s is provided in tho form of a l i terature

survey (Chapter 1). Aft er this the t ests and method are discussed (Chapt ers 2 and 3), the r esults

(8)

CHAPTER I LITERAT :RE SURVEY

A

number of researchers have touched on t ho question of personali ty, adjustment, interest, etcc? as related to training success or on-the-job perfo r-mance. These studies have been mainly atomistic in their approach insofar as they mainl y investigate one or t~o djmensions. Di fferences in the samples preclude ext~apolation so that one cannot sum the s~gnificant findings to obtain a personality picture of the succe8sful trainee.

Roe

(1

956 )

provide~ a good starting-point when, in discussing individual differences and jobs, she states "It i~> a matter of common-sense observation that a very disturbed person wi l l find i t difficult to function occupationally as wel l as social ly , 11

(p.Bl) .

Other authors have st ressed the importance of r elating personality variables to occupations or occupational success. Poggonpocl

(1

9 33)

states pertinently that two i ndividuals with the same apt i-t udes and with equal general intolligence can perform very different ly as a r -sult of thei r diff~rent

t emperamental bases; the one will work calmly, the other exci tedly; or t he one wil l be steady while the other will be errati c; and that individuals differ in t emperament is equally as apparent as that t hey di ffer in respect of general intel ligence and

special abiliti es or aptitudes.

l<urray

(1

953)

stressed the importance of

acknowledging human needs in vocational adjustment

(

p.3

03),

advocating that t ho vocational counse]or

(9)

fulfill the rol e of therapist. Needs to which the counsellor should be aware are the needs for initia -tive, for accomplishment, for autonomy? etc .• These needs should then be r elated to the work situat ion. By implication, her postulate encourages a more personal i ty-orientat ed approach to employment counselling.

Henry and ~oore

(1

950)

state specifical ly that per sonali ty tests should be used in selection.

''Both one 's working rel ationshi ps and intellectual productivity stem from personal qualities which operate in many other life situations to guide, direct or inhibit ovcr long periods of time. The del ineation of t hose individual characteristics is useful as a basis for considering proble~s of

general placement, promotability and long-range potentialities . " (p.6). Themselves employing the Thematic Apperception Test and Individual Rorschach Test as measuring instruments, they further define those personal characteristics most pertinent to the work-mi l ieu as ambition, emotional stability,

conformity to social and professional standards and ini t iative"

Campbel l ct al

(1

960 )

wanted to develop a per -formance evaluation procedure for use with clerical employees? a1d t o valida~e selection measures. In this they assessed tho int erview, personality t ests and p~rforma·1ce tests as predictors of performance as evaluated after each testec 's probationary p~riot. They stat e ''Product-moment correl ations between

sub-criteri on and predictor measures showed hi gher apparent validities for personality t est scores than fo~ intcrvic~ ~atings and performance t est s~o~·s'1 _•

(10)

Studies hav~ bc~n carri~d out empir i cally assessing thG incidenc~ of personali ty di mensions allied to certain occupational fi elds. Roo

(1956),

appl ying the Al lport-Vernon Study of Values, invc;sti -gat cd ths f requency of occurrence of certain

interests, viz. aesthet ic, economic1 etc., interests in occupat ions in the "upper strata'' , i .e_ those occupations enjoying hi gh social pr esti ge and

ent ailing a long peri od of traini ng, e.g. bankers, accountants and l awyers . Groupings of scores

significantly diffbrent from thG aver age could be oadc around occupations. In other words, occupations were characterized by specific patterns of inter ests or values bai ng maintai ned by the persons in t hese occupations ~ t o a stati stically significant oxtenta

In t ho same vein, two researchers, Maiscr and Kuder

(1

949)

2pplied the Kuder Preference Record (a measure of at t itudes, or interests) to

577

male subjects in v&rious occupational sroups and also to a control group of

4

50

unsel ectad malosu Five typos of prafcroncos were distinguished viz.

(l)

taking tho l oad in situations, (2) d~aling with practical probl ems rather than i~aginary or glamorous onesj (3) thinking and speculating, (4) relations fr0e from conflict, and (5) activities involving authority and power. They found that carpenters scored signifi -cantly below the moan on (l) and

(

3).

From thi s they conclud~d t bdt thu carpcn·~~~s in b~c study preferred tho follower rather than th~ l eadership role and were aver se to abstract thinkinG and speculation. Factory workers scored significantly bel ow tho moan on (5), thereby implyi ng a pref erence to sub~it to others rather than wield autbority and power.

(11)

Cali tz (1~53) at tempted to d0t~rmino th~ inci -dence of personality tr~its in t he following pro -fessions - architactura, l aw, medicine , accountancy, t eaching and eccl esiastical. She sent questi onnair es li stins

14

qualiti~3 suet as sel f-control , laad~r ship, honest y, ~tc., each quality defined on a scal e o ";__, _ as "v0ry i 1nportant" , "c}.osirable" , etc.~ to

persons reprosanting t hese professi ons. Of those

sent off,

2979

compl et ed questionnaires weru returned. An~lysis of t he data showed t hat in all professi ons

"honesty'' and ''th~ abi l ity to work h.J.rd" war e considered ''Y'-Jry importa11t il and "initiative 11 v-Ias considcr..:;d "impoJ.'tant '1

•

3arton ~1960) simi ldrly found clinical ly

-orientated p.~rsona .. lity measurements viz.~ scales of paranoid t~nienci..:;s, psy~hopathic tendencies and a f~king scal e (dc~ivad froD the l ie- scal e of the ~MPI) to produce significant differ ences among occupational groups. His saopl e consist ed of

45

2

men and women from a variety of occupations"

iiorG dir0ctly in l ine Hi th the them of this

study, i s an intensive study conducte~ by Heron

(1952).

He formulatod his aim as

(po385)

"•co

by means mainly of objective psychologi cal t osts t o study th~ rel a -t ionshi ps which may be shown to exist betwaJn various aspects of t~~ p~rsonalitius of a Broup of male

factory worker s, and t he ~xtunt to which they appear t o be mec:ting th.:.: demand.s of the job situation

o"

Hi s sampl e consist .:.:d of

80

men in a product ion department who ungaged in pour1ng molten l oad into hand-oparatad moulds. Twenty-two t ests ware appl ied , measuring "such aspects of personal ity as general mental ability, emotional stabi l i ty , t cmpcramont and

(12)

8. dc

xt

e

rit

yo

"

(p.285

).

Th

·

2 r

e

sults were

factor

-a

na

l

ysed, using

B

urt

'

s

mJ

thod

wi

t

h a

matrix of

p

roduct

-

m

o

mo:1

t

corre

l

a

tion

s

.

As

cri

t

c:;r

ia

for job

adj

ustm

e

nt

hJ

us

e

d

an

in

dex

of productivity

and

rat

i

nss

on

job

adj

ustmGn

t

by

six

supervisors

in

de

-p~ndently.

Signific

a

nt

relationships

between factors

obta

i

ned

in

tho fact

or

ana

l

ys

is

with

t

he

criterion,

w~re

t

ho

following

:

Emotional

In

s

t

ab

ilit

y

(man

y

w

orrl

as

,

much stat

ic

atax

i

a, many a

nnoy

an

c

e

s, many

i

nterests)

corr

o

l

at2d

with

'

poor job

adjustment

1

to

th

e ex

t

an

t o

f

+

.45

(p

.001~

Spe0

d

of

A

pproach

(fin

ge

r

dox

t

.,:;

rity,

y_:~ic~;: 9-l)J)ro.a~h

to ti

me

t

es

t,

manual dexterity, speed

on tr

a

c

k

tracer

)

corr

o

l

3to

d

vith p

roductivit

y

to th

0 e

xt

en

t

of

+

.25 (

p

.05)

and VJ

ith

11

_good

_jo

_{b a}

_djustm

_cn

_t

11

_{to t}

_{he e}

_xt

_ent

_of

+

.2

8 (p

.01).

A

com

b

in

a

tion of factors

III

(r~versad)

and

I

V

g.J.v~

a

cor:::..~e;lation

w

ith

11

_g

_oocl

_,

_l

_ob

_adjustment"

_of

+ 0

53

0

Two

f

a

ctors

1

"G

-::

n

or

a

l

I~cntal

A

bility"

and

"Hyst-:::ricaJ.

T-:;ncL:;ncy

" (or

neu

rotic

ex

trav

e

rsion),

did not .show 3

significant relationsh

i

p '.vi

t

h

th

e;

c

rit

e

rion.

A

t

this

stag~

it

should be po

int

e

d

out

th

a

t t

he

majo

rit

y o

f

t~c r~lationships

between

th

e

vari

a

bl

es

a

nd

crit~rion

do

~ot

i

L

th~msclvcs

dem

on

strate a

causc-~ffcct

rclat

i

onsh

i

9 .

If

em

otional in

s

t

ab

ilit

y

is re;L::.t

. .;

d

to 'poor job

ad

jus

tm

c

nt

11

_it

_do

_c

_{s not}

n

c

ccss

o.

ril

y

follo

u

t

h

a

t t

he app

lic

ant

who

obt

a

ins

a

s

cocl

scor~

on

c~otional

sta

b

i

lity

wil

l

b2

adjusted

on

th

e

jo

b.

It

is

eq

uall

y

lil

c

ly that

p

oor

ad

just

-men

t to

the

job resu

l

ts

in

em

otional

in

s

t

ability, or

magn

ifi

es a

l

a

t

e

nt

s

usc

e

p

ti

b

ilit

y

to

um

otion

a

l

(13)

instability. Al l that has been est abl ished i s that th~ two arc concomi tant to the d2gr ee indicat ed by t he attain~d correlation value.

Baldwin (1960) conducted a study t o invest igat e t he hypoth~sis that so~c asp~cts of job p8rformanc~ arc bvttvr measured by cognitive variabl es, whil~

ot~0rs ar2 bettor measured by pvrsonal i ty variabl~so

Tho sampl~ consisted of 127 recent coll ege graduates empl oyed by a lar~c industrial organization. Hi s

criterion consisted of supervisor ratings. On the

basi s of a ~antroid factor analysi s hv identified a

numb2r of factors including general intel l igence ,

sunoral adjustment, masculin~ versus f eminine inte

r-~sts, social agcr cssivcnass, visual rclations~ips, r~flcctivc thinkin₆ , r el igi ous inter~st, wri t ten

language aptitude , sociabi l i ty, economic motivation, level of activity, verbal abi l i ty, t echnical p ro-ficicncy &nd int erpersonal rel ations. He found that

highly active subjocts with hi Bh economic intvr est s tended to be the more i ndustrious work~rs, that subjects showins positive interp0rsonal a~justmant wer e l ikely to ~ave a ~r~atcr abi l ity to wo~~ with

ot her s, and that subjects with a rel igious intcrsst

-~Jar~ i:1or~ l ik ly to rvmain on the job.

Taking acadcnric achi evement as an ind-:;x of pa r-:torr.·.anco ., i t n1ay b--: i lluminatins to discuss sol!10 studi~s relevant t o this f i eld .

tihcrcas pcrfor~anca on the job ray be found to ralat~ to personality variables , this docs not

necossnril~ hol( truv in thv same way for r esponse

In t rade-training l T·'. ·''-'

essenti ally with lc~rning, rather than a maintained l evel of pGrformancc within a job- level of mor > or

(14)

less static complexity. Insofar as we are deal ing with training, or learni~g, studies of personality characteri stics associated with acade@ic learning

are equall y relevant to the topic of this study as 1s.

t he relcttionshi p of personal i ty vari ables with on-the- job performa~ce .

Haun

(

1

96 5)

attempted to discover rel ationships bet ween personal ity test scores and acddemic pro

-fi ci ency. He applied t he I:innesota I-ml t iphasic

Personal i ty Inventory (f~PI), Maudsl ey Extraversion

and Collece Board tests t o a ~roup of 240 second

-year students. He found an inverse relationshi p between academic proficiency and indications of

pathology on the personality tests. The multiple correlation for predicting grade point average from t hose test s showing highest relationships with the

criterion, viz. , masculini ty - femi ninity, psycho

-pathic deviation (r .. if';ri ) , extraversion (r':audsley) and verbal scores, was .721.

Griffin and Flaherty (l SG4) and :)wisdak and Flahert y

(1

96

4 )

applied the Californi a Psychological

Inventory to a group of 170 feL1ale studen·cs. In the

first mentioned study the subjects were first -year students whose CPI scores were correlated wi th grade point averages. Over al l scal es correlations ransed from • 03 to . 26. In t he second study a follow-up study over

5

years was made, comparing drop-outs with successes. Gisnificant mean differ ences (at l~

level) were found on the Sociability and Ac~ievement versus Conformance scal es.

Other studi es have concerned themselves with adjustment or aspects of adjustment, as determinants

(15)

tendency and self- sufficiency to relate to achi eve -ment in theological studies. Jamuar (1961) found

t hat home , emotional and social adjustment, and introversion were conduc~ve to academic success.

Regardir:c the two l~st-named studies, i t is

interesting to note t hat Furneaux (1962) found

sl i5ht neurotici sm and introversion to be favourable

for academic success with a group of first-year engineering students .

Taylor (1964) reviewed the literature of the years 1933 to 1963 to establish w~ether ther e were any rel ationships between academic achi evement and per sonal i ty variables. The following emerged as significantly related: academic anxiety, self

-values, authority relations, independence-dependence conflict, activity patterns and goal orientation. He found the following to be relat ed t o achievement:

(a) the degree to whi ch a student 1s abl e to handle

his anxiety, (b) t he value a student places on hi s own worth, (c) the abil i ty to conf orm to aut hority

demands, (d) student acceptance by peers, (e) less

conflict over dependence-independence, (f) activi t ies

centered around academic interests, and finally,

(

9 )

realism of his goals.

Furneau>: (1962) sorted a group of 91 first-year

engineering Etudents i nto four groups, viz. , a

neurotic and a stable gr oup, and again introverted and extraverted groups. Each student was therefore classifi ed or. two scales , viz., neurotic - st able and introvert ed - extraverted. Furneaux qualifies the former by sayin; , ri • • • neurotic does not denote

neurotic illness, uut simply r el ates to the above -average score in a test, ' (p.40), ~he fourfold

(16)

12.

grouping was related to success and failure OJ the

engineering course , as r eflected in examination

resul ts" ThE: obtained r esults ar e t abled below:

- -

-

___p

i~_g_l!_ ( ·~"?__~. s ---. -1 lieurotic Introverts St abl e Introver ts Neurot ic Extraver ts Stable Sxtraverts I ---~---·

-Fai lure ~ate (Percentage)

-

·

--- - -'

The introverts fared bet·ter overall than the

extraverts ~ and neurotics bett er than stable persons .

Furneau~ ascribes the better perf ormance of the neurotic persons to a higher drive-level"

As stated above, neurotics are not necessarily

clinically classifiable as neurotic but merely

obtai ned an above- average neurotic score. It is not

clear •.rJ..,at the performance ·.-.rould be of those on the more o~trese end of the stable-neurot ic cortinuum.

_;_ cnrvi linear relR.tionshil) may e~~ist between

stabili ty-neurotici sm on tho one hand and perfor

-'nanco on tho other. Thi s would explai n the appar ent

~lash betwee~ Furneaux' results and those obtained

by Celli3rs .

Celli ers

(1

S6

3)

appl ied the r ul t ipl2 Choice Jorschach Test to a group of

1

67

f irst-year D.A.

students who underachieved, i.e. had a high intel l i

-gence but lo~ acliovemunt. He developed his own

scorinE ystcill based on an i t em analysi s and

weighting of i temsu Usins this scoring system he

obtai ned a correlation value of .

77

between ~orschnch sco~~s and examination r~sult~ in the

(17)

13. case of females

(n

=

93)

and

•

73 fo

r

male students

(n

=

74) o

B

r

i

ll

e

t

a

l

(1956)

assess

e

d

t~e

occupational

adj

ustment

of

d

i

s

c

ha

r

sed

~orld ~ar

I

so

l

d

i

ers

,

and

co

mpared

i

t

w

it

h

t

h

e

i

r "d

i

agnoses

of person

d

lity

"

made

on

entry

to

the

Armed F

orces

.

Their

fin

d

i

n;s

a

r

c

summa

ri

zed

be

low

· P

r

e

-

se

rv

ice

Pe

rsonality

O

ccupati

ona

ll

y ma

l

-r · -- - - - -- -1

- ~--

___

__

.

__

.

,

_a_~__j_u_st_ed J.E~F_c_~_n_t~'--e~)-.

I

N

ormal

!

I·:2

uro

ti

c Traits

2

3.5

_;cr' _l

J3ug~estive

Ne

uros

i

s

lL~.

9

r' _I',

O

v

er

t

l

1

'

eu

ro

s

i

s

34.0

c' _f_L.i

Pe

rsonali

t~r

Diso

rd

e

r

41 .8

l,.'

,~

There a

ppe

a

rs to

b

e

a

continuum

of

occ

upa

ti

onal

ma

ladj

u

stment d

ir

ec

tl

y prop

orti

onate

to

th

e

sev

er

it

y

of

n

e

urotic

d

i

so

r

der.

Th

is

indic

ated by

t

h'

fact

that

f

ro

m lat

e

nt ("

su

e;ses

t

i

v

e

") n

e

uros

l

s

t

o overt

ne

uro

s

i

s th

e

inci

de

nc

e

b~s

do

ubl

e

d.

As

t

he

number

of c

ase

s

stud

i

ed

i

s

not

sta

t

e

d it

i

s d

i

ff

i

cult to

determi

n

e

how much s

i

gni

fi

canc

e

should

b

e

attach

ed

to these resu

l

ts

.

A

t any

r

a

t

e

,

the results conflict

w

i

t

h

t

!J.osc

of

l~'urneaux,

wh

ose

''

neuro

t

i

c"

m

ay

b2

p

r

esumed

to

be

on

par

at

L~ast

\·

J

it

h B

rill'

s

"sug

ges--tiv

e

neu

roti

c

".

In

terms

of Furn

e

a

ux'

findin

gs,

one wou

l

d

expe

ct

a high

e

r

incidenc

e

of ma

l

adju

s

t

ment

amo

n

g

t

he

"

normals"

.

It

may

be a

r

g

u

ed

t

ha

t

he

r

eason

s

m

ust be

so

ugh

t

i

n

th

e

diffe

r

ent fields

,

viz.,

"

a

c

a

demic"

v

e

r

sus

"occupational".

H

owev

e

r,

(18)

C

elli

e

r

s

, wh

o

ap

p

li

e

d

h

i

s

t

e

s

t

s t

o un

i

v

e

r

s

it

y

s

tu

d

en

t

s

.

P

iotro

ws

ki

(1

9 43)

mad

e use

of t

he Grou

p

R

o

r

s

c

ha

c

h

*

in

v

o

ca

tio

na

l

and

ac

ad

e

m

i

c

se

l

e

c

t

io

n

.

~~e

co

mpa

r

e

d sco

r

es

ob

ta

i

n

ed

o

n

t

h

e G

ro

up

Ti

orsc

h

ac

h

b

y

7

8 me

c

han

i

c

a

l

wo

r

k

e

r

s

w

i

th su

pe

rvi

so

r

s'

p

r

o

f

i

ciency

ratine_~s.

.

i:

i

gh

t

y

-

e

i

g

h

t

p

e

r c

e

nt of

w

o

r

ke

r

s

wer

e

c

or

re

c

tl

y s

ort

e

d

a

s

;'g

o

odn

o

r

tt

poor" w

o

:

c

ke

r

s

o

n

the

ba

s

i

s

of t

he

i

r

adjustm~nt

sco

re

s

.

L

lso

u

s

in

g

t

h

e

G

rou

p

R

or

schac

h

,

H

er

z

(

1

9

4

3 )

r

a·c

e

d

108

stu

d.

en

t

s

f

r

o

m "ex

c

e

l

e

nt

" t

o "

p

oor

"

on t

he

ba

s

i

s of t

he

ir a

d

ju

s

tme

n

t

s

co

r

e

s

.

Th

r

ee ye

ars

l

a

t

e

r

he

s

t

udi

e

d

t

h

e

ir

a

cadem

i

c

a

c

h

i

e

v

eme

n

t r

e

co

rd

s.

O

f

the

g

ro

up

,

1

4 h

a

d be

e

n r

Cl

t

e

d "

p

oo

r

I! - 93:-~

o

f

t

hese

had

s

e

v

e

r

e ac

a

d

e

m

ic

d

i

ff

i

cu

l

ti

e

s.

Of the r

ema

i

n

i

ng

9 4 w

e

ll

-

a

d

j

u

s

t

e

d s

tu

dent

s

,

14 %

h

a

d

exp

e

ri

e

nc

ed

c

o

m

pa

r

ab

l

e

ac

a

d

eo

i

c d

i

f

i

c

u

l

t

i

e

s

• .

~nough cvi~ence

i

s a

v

a

il

abl

e

to

s

u

g

e

s

t, as in

t~c

ca

se

o

f

m

easu

r

es of

pe

r

so

n

a

l

ity d

i

m

e

n

sio

n

s

,

i

nte

rest

a

n

d

ab

i

J. i

t

i

es

,

t:1

0-

t

a pe

r

s

i

st

;

ent

r

e

l

at

i

on

-s

h

i

p ex

i

st

s b

e

t

wee

n adju

s

t

me

nt

and

succ

ess

on

the

job, o

r

i

n a

n

educa

t

i

on

al

i

n

stitution

a

I

ntr;

J. l

i

<"

?;G

nC

P. :r

.

as

al

s0 .

liJ

:-o

o

tll

e

r

pe

rson

a

lit

y

v

a

ri

at

l

e

s

de

sc

ri

b

e

d

p

r

e

v

i

ously, b

e

n

r

e

l

a

t

ed

t

o

jobs~

a

nd

a mea

s

u

r

eme

n

t

o

f i

n

te

l

li

ge

n

c

e

i

n

o

n

e

or o

the

r

f

orm

(

so

n

e

r

a

l

adap

t

ab

ili

ty

,

me

nt

a

l sp

eed

,

mental

ab

il

i

t

y

,

me

nt

a

l

a

l

er

tn

e

s

,

etc

.)

i

s

trad

i

tio

nal

l

y

i

n

c

lu

d

e

d

i

n a ba

tt

e

r

y

o

f se

l

ec

tion

t

e

st

s.

If jo

b

-

su

cc

e

ss i

s

vi

ewe

d a

s

tt

m

a

s

t

e

r

y o

v

er

a

jot-,;

?

~

T

h

e

Grou

p

R

or

sch

ach

e

lic

i

t

s

sp

o

ntan

e

ou

s

r

e

s

p

ons

e

s

.

I

t sh

o

u

l

d n

o

t be

con

fu

s

e

d w

ith

t

h

e

~ultiple

Ch

oic

e

:R

or

s

c

ha

c

h

Tes

t i

n w

hich th

e

t

e

s

t

ee

s

e

l

e

cts fr

om a

g

i

v

e

n

s

e

t

of r

e

s

p

o

n

se

s

.

(19)

and

on

e

considers

th

at

a

tend

e

nc

y e

xists

for an

indiv

i

dua

l

to

g

r

a

vit

a

t

e

towa

r

d

t

hat

job which is on

pa

r

wi

t

h

his

int

el

li

ge

nce, one

would expect a

small

and

clearly

de

lineat

e

d ran

ge

of

i

ntel

li

ge

nce for

e

ach

j

ob

-

le

v

0 l

,

In

practice,

clas

sific

at

i

on

o

f jo

b

s

in

t

e

r

ms

of

the in

tell

ectua

l

ab

iliti

es

of

persons

ho

ldi

ns

t~ose

jobo

ha

s

not been

p

roduct

iv

e

.

Th

i

s

is

po

int

ed out

by

S

u

pe

r

(1

95 7),

who

asse

r

ts

t

hat

w

i

de

ran

ges

o

f

i

ntel

li

gence are

fo

un

d ov

e

r

d

if

fe

r

ent job

l

e

v

e

l

s

,

and

t

hat

these

r

a

n

g

e

s lar

ge

ly

ov

e

rl

ap.

There

is

a mean

in

g

ful

di

ff

e

r

ence

,

howeve

r,

in t

he

means

of

int

e

lli

gen

c

e

t

e

st scor

es

in t

he

d

iff

e

r

ent class

i-fic

at

ions

of

w

or

k

(Proctor,

1 937)

_

In

a

follow

-

up

s

tud

y

on

a

form

e

rly

e

nvironm

en

t

a

lly

homo

sen

ous

sroup

of

sch

ool-

children

he

found t

he f

ollowin

g

mean

i

ntclli

Ben

c

e

quotients

w

ithin

d

if

fe

rent

job cate

-g

ori

e

s

:

Job

c

a

t

eg

or

y

P

r

of

es

s

i

onal

I

fJ

ana

ge

rial

C

linical

.S

k

illed

3em

i

-

sk

ill

ed

f

'

J

ean

I

.Q.

115

108 lOL~

99

9

7 F

rom t

he

professional

to

the sem

i-

ski

ll

ed jobs

there

is

a

pro

gress

iv

e de

cr

e

as

e

in job

-

complexity,

t

h

erefor

e

one

may

conclu

de

th

at

a p

o

si

tiv

e

r

e

latio

n

-s

h

ip

ex

ist

s

between

m

ean

intelli

gence

l

e

v

e

ls

and job

-com

p

l

e

xity lev

e

ls

.

With

i

n a part

icul

a

r occ

upat

io

n

,

h

o

weve

r,

(20)

rel at i onshi p het ween intel li gence and work efficiency.

Thi s appears to be especi ally t rue for t he executive, scientific and professional occupati ons . Nevert hel ess, thi s r elationship has been f ound to exi st i n the

machine book-~eepin~ occupat ion (Hay , l 943)o That

persons wi l l, through nat ural scr eening, move into jobs broadly in keGpi ng wit h their intel l igence l uvels, and that intelli~cncc wi l l t hen play a secondary role has been sugccsted by Super (1957) who states . "If the individual has mastered th~

cont ent of his fi el d, ot~or fact ors rna~ affect

succ:;ss more than int ol l igonceo" (po205) o Thcr G lS

additi onal sup:9ort for t:1.i s in studies of scienti st s by

R

o

e

(Roo, lS5la, l95lb) , fnr she fail ed to find

any signi ficant ciffcrences in t he intel lectual

l evels of eminent and l ess eminent scientists, con

-cl uding t hat t ho difference scorns t o be in mot i va

-t ional factors o

Sup0r app~ars to discard t he concept t hat intell igence i s the major determi nant for job

-succosso Liko Roe, he suggests t hat sot ivat ion l S

the key to differences ln job- successo

A number of i sol ated studi os have thus shown

t hat rel ationshi ps exi st between per sonal i ty, adjust

-ment , intel li gence , etc., vdriables on the on2 hand and achi evement on the othor , consi sti ng of success

of response t o educat ional traini ng, or on t he job

itself. Th8re i s al so evidence that personali ty, otco, CLaractor ist i cs, !Tlay ally themselves wi th

certain occupat i onal zroupings.

:sscnt ial ly , the principal message of t h0 l iterat ure is that achievement cannot be divorced

(21)

Cronbach (1960) dist inguishes bet ween maxi mum

performance of the t cstee in the t est situation, and

his habitual perforhlance. Tho habitual performance

may be expected to correlat e more hi ghly ~mth person

-ality vari~bl~s , i t concc~ns thu individudl 's overall

and long-t erm approach to the demands of tho job or

t raining situation. ~.boreas t he gifted person may

apply himsel f whole-heartedl y to answering t est

items, and derive a high score, the way he appl i es hi s talent s to a job in the long run involves more than a measure of those tal ents per se , i t involves tho total, functioning personal i ty.

It is fel t t hat t here is at this stage a need

for a broad expl oratory study, from which pr edictive

measures may be derived and followed up as to t heir

r el iabi l i ty and validity for occupat ional sroupings

other than the sampl e t est ed. This exploratory

study envisaged here would attempt to supply such a

(22)

CHAPT:3R II

TI-D~ TE:3TS AND OTHZR fVLZASUIU;,S

'I'he t est s used in this stud;y have been chosun

wi th a view t o coverinG a wide ran5e of parson~_ity

di mensions, including intelligence. Other measures,

2.g., educational level, home lan~uage m~dium, etc.,

have also boon included~ ?hough not falling wi thin the Cccfini tion of tho term ";>crsonality", they may

pr ovide useful results for tho final int erpretation.

The t 8st dimensions arc:

Intclli~cnca, measured on tho New Jouth i frican

Group Testo f'.c)asurcs on thi.s t est ar0* (l) Non

-Verbal (rcrformancc) Intel l igence , (2) Varbal

Intcllig2ncc and a compound score , (3) Total Intel l i -gence"

P~rsonality dimensi ons of a more or l ess basic nature include scores on the Gordon Personal Profile

viz. , (4) Ascendancy, (5) 2csponsibility, (6) ~mo t ional Stability, and

(7

)

Sociabi l i ty; and on the

Gordon Personal Inventory, viz., (8) Cautiousness~

(S) )_iginality, (lG) P2rsonal :Relations and

(ll) Vigour u

The Sigh Gchool Personality Questionnai re (RbP~)

by Cattel l was used t o acsess 14 basic per sonality

factors , viz. , (12) 11

Cri t ical, rescrvc:d, cool"

(Schizothymi a) versus "'Iarin, soft -hearted, part

ici-pating" (Cyclothymi a) ; (13) "Dull, l ess intGl l igt.:nt"

(1.:01.'! gonoral mental capacity) versus "Lore int el l i

-gent, bright'' (~igh general mental capacity) ;

---~-

-*

Dimensions ar2 pr ograssiv0ly numbered in order to

(23)

( 14) ''2r:wtional l;y immatur~.; and unstable" (Ego vJcak

--nc;ss) versus w ~raotionall;y mature , stabl e , realisti c"

(:Sgo strength) :

(15

)

"Deliberat e , stodgy, pl acid" (i1_h_l _egmt:t._tic _t_::_i_~_·!pcram<.:n_t₎ _V_G_rs_{us "Unr}₂_str_a_i_nod,

nervous" ( i:xci tabil i ty) ; (16) "Obed.ient, mi ld, dependent'' (.Subl~issi vcness) vorsus :l;.\sserti ve ~

ac;crcssivo, rcb~llious11 ₍_D_om_i_nanc_e);

silent, serious" (Dosurse:nt) ver sus "IIappy-go-lucl~y,

enthusiastic" (.3urg-nt) ; (12) "Casual, quitting,

undepondabl o" (,.)up~=r-ego vJcakness) versus "Conscien

-tious , porse:vsrins" ( Supcr-ce;o str ength) ; ( 19)

"Timid, tbr•)t:tt -scnsi t i ve, shy" (Threctia) versus "Venturc:sorJ.J, thi ck- skinned" (Parmia); (20) "Pr a c-tical, tough--minded" (Harri a) versus "Tender-minded, sensitive., protected" (:i.·Tc;msi a); (21) "Vigorous,

goes rc;adi ly wi th Q_roup" ( Zc_~)pia) vc;rsus "Individual

-i stic , obstrt>.ctive; ro:Clcct ive" (Coc;stheni a); (22) "~ccurc: , r..Jsi l iont , confident" (ConfidGncc adequacy) v...;rsus "Discouraged, worrying, solf-reproacbi ng"

(Guilt-proneness); (23) "Group f ollower, values soci al approval'' (Group depcndcmcy) versus "Eakcs own decisions, resourceful" (J.::lf-suffiency); (24)

"Carel ess, ignores .standards, lax" (iJeak sel f

-sentiment) versus "Self-controlled, self-respecting"

(3trong self- sentiment) ; (25) "' .. \;laxcd, composed"

(Low ergic t ensi on) vorsus "Tense, driven, irritabl e" (High argic t~nsion) .

ThurstonG 's Gottschaldt Fi gures Test (26) was

used to n~asurc fl exibility of closure.

Besides basic porsonali ty dirn~nsions , adjust ment

-orientated measures wore obt ained. This was dono

wi th t he California Test of Personali t y (CTP) and tho Multipl e Choice Rorschach. The CTP measures

(24)

(27)

Pe

rsonal

adjustm

e

nt,

(

28 )

S

elf

-

relianc

e

,

(29)

S~nse

of personal

w

ort

h,

(30)

Sen

se

of

pe

rsonal

free

-dom,

(31) Belon~ingncss, (32)

F

r

ee

dom

from with

-drawa

l,

(33)

Freedom from nervous symptoms,

(34)

S

ocial

adjustment,

(35)

Social s

tan

dards,

(36)

S

oci

a

l

skills,

(37)

Fre

ad

om

from

an

ti

-

social tend

e

n-cies,

(38)

Fami

l

y

r

e

lations,

(39)

Schoo

l

r

e

l

at

ions,

(40) Commun

i

ty

relations

and

(41)

Tota

l

adjustment.

The

~ultiplc

C

hoic

e R

orschach (42)

purports

to

measure

th

e

d8gr

oc

to

wh

ich th

e

ind

i

vidu

a

l

has

adj

ust

ed

to

lif

e

.

Int

e

r

es

ts

were assesse

d

by the C

.

V. Int

erest

Q

uestionna

i

r

e

(43

)

of th

e

P

rovinc

i

a

l

A

dministration

of th

e

Cape

o

f

Good

H

o

pe

(D

epartmen

t

of

Adm

ini

stra

-tion)

.

The

test supplicE

i

psative

scor

es

of

the

subject

'

s

preference for

a

certain

t~pc

of

act

ivity

1

e

.

g

.

work

i

ng w

ith f

i

gures,

d

o

vering

tw

el

v

e

ar~as ~

int

eres

t

.

It

was

f

e

l

t

that

th

e

deg

r

ee o

f satisfaction a

pupil

f

e

l

t

may

be

a d

c

cidin

s

factor for

h

is

pe

r

for-ma

nc

e

on th

e

job.

To

obt

a

in

a

ro

ugh measure of

sat

i

s

f

act

ion

,

th

e

pup

i

l

was

ask

ed

wh

e

t

her he wou

ld

choose

the

sam

e

tr

a

de or

ano

t

her

on

e

if

g

iv

en

t

he

cho

i

cc.

This w

a

s

r

:Jco

r

d

c

d

as

(

44) 11

_sa

_me

;r

(

S

)

or

"diff

e

r

en

t" (D)

.

F

inally, i

t was

decided

to

incl

u

de th

e

dimen-sions

-

e

x

pe

rienc

e

in

th

o

trade

(45),

ag

e

(4

6),

lev

el

of

ed

ucation

(47)

and

th

e

subj

e

cts

'

ho

me

l

anguage

(48)

as

cxpcri~ental

variablcs

.

2.1, Ihc_ Jf.9."~--~S_o_ut_l1_ )\t:ri~_a_n

__

Q-_r

ou

_p

·l'c?t

was

d

(

;sit;n

od

to mc:asurG

thos

c

dim

e

nsions

of

menta

l

ab

il

i

ty

, viz.,

(25)

21.

total intel l igence (a combination of the former two) .

The test was developed by t he rational Bureau

for Sducational and Joci al Research for t he purpose

of establishi ng the general intellectual level of

testees ~s well as measuring diff er ent ial abi l ities"

It was designed primarily for screening and class i-fication in schools.

On tle basis of a factor analysis of the

res-ponses to a lare:_,e number of items in a sa:·tple of

3,000 school children, six subtests were foroed. These are:

~igure Anal ogies, Classification of Vord Pairs ~

Humber .~:.eries, Verbal Heasoning, Pattern Completion, Word Analogies.

Desc~iP._!_i_on;

~he t est is desi gned for three age groups, viz. ,

Junior (3 t o l l years) , Int ermediate (10 to 14 years)

and Seni or (13 to 18 years). Three alternate forms

are avai lubl e for both language groups. The non

-verbal and verbal parts are each made up of three

subtests

The i.·r .-~"!~ .. G.T. is a periorr. ance test of the

paper-and-penci l type and can be administered

indivi-dually or to a group.

To appl y the test, pre-test pat ter is given~

subjects are supplied with a test booklet, pencil,

JJiograp~ical data (name , age, etc.) i s entered.

~nswers are of the multiple choi ce type (one out

-:_;.f

5),

recorded on a standard I .. B .t·, . answer sheet.

~ach new subsection is preceded by exa1-1pl es o

J,n exv.mpl e of a non-verbal i tern is shown on the next paze. Fixed test-times are observed.

(26)

(;.

\

J

hich pair

_lS A B r·~irror

'l

1

_able

g

l

ass

1.'o

od

A

u

the

odd one

c

Shilling

S

ilv

e

r

c

r.

u

D

n

u

out?

D E

:

B

lanket

H

ater

Wo

ol

Ground

Ths

reliab

i

lity

of

t

he

N~D.A.GaT

was

ca

lcula

-ted

according

to

t

he h

ud

a

r-

Ti

ic

hardson

a

nd

Sors

t

formulae

.

R

eliabilit

y

coefficient

s

obt

a

ined

on th

e

Bo

nio

r

Ge

ri

es

(used

in

t

h

is stu

dy)

we

r

e

as

follo

ws:

KR

21 Horst

I I

Total Te

s

t

0

_9"

c_

.

9

6 N

on-verbal

Se

ction

0 81+ 0

90

I

i

Verbal

:

..le

ction

i

.8

8 .

9

4

I ' ' - - - - -

--N

=

5952

Validity:

To establi

sh

validity,

N.S

.A.

G

.

T

.

scores were

correl

a

ted

w

it

h

scores

ob

tai

ned on

the

ori

g

inal

S

ou

th

A

fric

an

Gr

oup

Test

.

This t

es

t

i

s simila

rl

y

de

sign

ed

but

les

s

thorou

gh

l

y standardized

.

T

he

c

or

re

l

at

io

n

valu

e

obt

a

ined

b

e

tw

ee

n

the two t

e

sts

w

as

. 7

v~nnexure

to 'J:lest

IJa

nnu

a

l,

N

ov

.

1956

-

B

ur

eau

for

~ducational

and

Social

Re

search)

.

D

iscussion:

I

n

discussing

the N

.3.A.G

.T

.

,

R

ob

e

rts

(1

9

5

9 )

po

int

ed

ou

t

tha

t t

he

tables transf

ormi

ng

r

aw

sc

o

r

es

(27)

good test and well-pl anned, but the present tables associated wi th i t are inappropriate and involve

risks o" As e-m example he: quoted the difference in

scores obtained by the English- speaking pupils as

compared to the Afrikaans-speaking pupils, with the

former scoring hi gher o

The t est designers, however, pointed out in

t heir Annexure to the Test Mannual

(1

9 56)

t hat t asts

are not comparable" This may hold true for the

translated verbal section, but in the case of t he

non-v~rbal section only the languaGe-medium of instructions differ, i tems are identical o This

ultimat ely points to t he norm calculation or saillpl ing

as faultyo If norm development of both Engl ish and ,tfril-c:cans-speaking norin tables separately arrived at

a oean l oCo of 100, no such di fferences should exist,

even thou~h there may be true non-verbal ability

differences bet\,Teen the t wo l anguage groups ..

·~ second criticism concerns the inadequate

validi ty stvdi es o A correlation value of o

7

between

t he original South African Group Test and li.J.A.GoT. i s quotedo No mention is made of the sample sizeo N vortheloss, given a sample size of, say 100 plus, th~ fiBure is satisfactory . A reason given as to why t his figure is not higher, is t hat tho original