The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
The correct answer is C: asking people to describe their own traits and behavior.
Self-report measures are a fundamental method in personality assessment where individuals provide information about their own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. This approach operates on the principle that people are valuable sources of information about themselves. Typically, these measures take the form of questionnaires or surveys. Participants respond to a series of questions or statements, often using a rating scale, for example, from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”, to indicate how well an item describes them. For instance, a question on a personality inventory might ask, “How much do you enjoy social gatherings?” and the individual provides a subjective answer based on their own experiences and self-perception.
This method is popular because it is cost effective, easy to administer to large groups, and it provides access to a person’s internal world, including their motivations and feelings, which are not directly observable. However, self-report measures have limitations. They are susceptible to biases, such as the social desirability bias, where individuals may respond in a way that presents them in a more favorable light rather than with complete honesty. Furthermore, the accuracy of the responses depends on the individual’s level of self-awareness.
The other options describe different assessment techniques. Asking people to interpret ambiguous stimuli (A) refers to projective tests like the Rorschach inkblot test. Measuring biological reactions (B) is a physiological assessment. Observing people’s behavior and making inferences (D) is a behavioral observation method. Only option C accurately describes the core process of a self-report measure.
