The High School Personality Questionnaire(HSPQ) is a personality

questionnaire suitable for use with high school students. It was published in 1984.

HSPQ is a personality questionnaire which evaluate 14 personality characteristics

with in-depth self-report inventory. The High School Personality Questionnaire
(HSPQ) addresses Warmth, Intelligence, Emotional Stability, Excitability,
Dominance, Cheerfulness, Conformity, Boldness, Sensitivity, Withdrawal,
Apprehension, Self-Sufficiency, Self-Discipline, and Tension. HSPQ is useful in
predicting and understanding human behavior. It is an effective tool for adolescents
with behavior problems.

Three Different Forms Each of HSPQís three forms—A,B, and D—contains 10 items
per personality factor, plus two "buffer" items for a total of 142 questions per booklet.
HSPQ may be administered individually or in groups.

Norms Edit

Percentiles and Standard Scores, characteristics combined and separated by sex.

Administration Edit

45 to 60 minutes; individual or group administration

The High School Personality Questionnaire (HSPQ) is a self-report inventory for

children ages 12-18. It measures 14 personality characteristics that research has
shown to be good predictors of social, clinical, occupational, and school behavior.
These 14 characteristics were identified through factor analysis and are as follows:
Warmth, Intelligence, Emotional Stability, Excitability, Dominance, Enthusiasm,
Conformity, Self-Sufficiency, Self-Discipline, and Tension. The test takes 45 - 60
minutes to complete and may be given in groups. It is made up of 142 multiple-
choice questions regarding the examinees' responses to social situations, as well as
preferences for future careers and leisure time. Test scores are intended for use in
predicting academic achievement, school interest, the likelihood of becoming a high
school dropout, learning styles, and creativity. In addition, they may be used by
psychologists and psychiatrists to diagnose anxiety disorders, to predict which
children with speech disorders will respond best to treatment, to predict the
effectiveness of any therapeutic treatment, and to identify children who are at risk for
chemical dependency. Furthermore, test norms reveal a "delinquency profile" as well
as the difference between leadership qualities and popularity in young people.
Answer sheets can be scored by the test administrator either manually or by
machine, and scores are expressed as 14 subscores, one for each personality
characteristic. By comparing raw scores with the norms (the establishment of which
on a sample of 9000 is the subject of many independent research projects listed in
the bibliography of the test manual), sten scores which are designated as "low",
"average", or "high" as well as percentile scores are obtained. Separate norms are
used for boys and girls and a Spanish version of the test is available. Several special
scales help detect deliberate misrepresentation of self, and random response
patterns. Short-term test-retest reliability is in the .70s and .80s, and long-term is in
the .50s and .60s. Factor analysis was used to establish construct validity, and 12
replications of the original procedure have confirmed the validity of the 14 personality
characteristics.
HIGH SCHOOL PERSONALITY QUESTIONNAIRE (HSPQ)

INTRODUCTION:
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.

HISTORY:
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.

TEST ADMINISTRATION AND SCORING

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 DESCRIPTION
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
Outgoing, kind, easy-going, participati
A- people show very little affect. A+ people are very expressive.

FACTOR B: INTELLIGENCE

Concrete thinking (less intelligent) Abstract thinking (more intelligent/ br

Low mental capacity, unable to handle abstract problems, apt to be High mental capacity, insightful, fast l
less organized. adaptable, inclined to have more intell

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 Mature, faces reality, calm.
psychoses and some character disorders.

FACTOR D: EXCITABILITY

Phlegmatic Excitable

Impatient, demanding, overactive, easi

Individuals high on this factor report th
easily distracted from work and are hu
important positions or whenever they a
Undemonstrative, deliberate, placid, inactive.

FACTOR E: DOMINANCE

Submissive Dominant

Humble, mild, easily led, accommodating.

Very low scores: Occur in the profiles of neurotics and other Assertive, aggressive, stubborn, compe
psychiatrically diagnosed individuals. High scores: Delinquency patter in tee

FACTOR F: CHEERFULNESS

Cheerful

Sober

Restrained, prudent, taciturn, serious.

Low F is found in many chronic physical and mental illnesses.
Enthusiastic, impulsive, expressive.

FACTOR G: CONFORMITY

Expedient Confirming

Conscientious, moralistic, rule-bound,

Depicts regard for group moral standa
Disregards rules, self indulgent.

FACTOR H: BOLDNESS

Shy Bold

Sensitive, timid, hesitant, intimidated. Venturesome, uninhibited, can take str

Schizoid, pre-psychotics, schizophrenics have shown to score
below average on factor H.

FACTOR I: SENSITIVITY

Tough-minded Tender-minded

Sensitive, overprotected, intuitive, exp

attention.
Above average scores are seen in profi
Self-reliant, tough, realistic, expects little.

FACTOR J: WITHDRAWAL

Vigorous Withdrawn

Guarded, internally restrained, circums

evaluates coldly.
High scores associated with delinquen
Goes readily with group, zestful, likes attention

FACTOR O: APPREHENSION

Self-assured Apprehensive

Self-blaming, guilt prone, insecure, wo

Clinically, this is one of the largest con
anxiety factor.
Secure, feels free of guilt, untroubled, self-satisfied.

FACTOR Q2: SELF-SUFFICIENCY

Group-oriented Self-sufficient

A joiner and sound follower, believes in others, socially group-

dependent Resourceful, prefers own decisions.
Shows a tendency to go along with the group. People are resolute and accustomed to

Strongly value social approval and convention.

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, compulsiv
willpower, follows self-image

FACTOR Q4: TENSION

Relaxed Tense.

Frustrated, overwrought, has high driv

Irrationally worried, tense, irritable an
frustrated and are extensively aware of
for untidiness, fantasy and not having
Tranquil, composed, has low drive, unfrustrated.

PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES
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.

APPLICATIONS:
Educational applications:
Achievement

School interest

High school dropouts

Student composition in the classroom and instructional methods

Creativity

Clinical Applications:
Classroom adjustment

Anxiety and anxiety disorders

Speech impairments

Personality and therapeutic outcome

Chemical dependence in adolescence

Delinquency research and personality patterns:

Diagnosis of the character disorders

The main delinquency profile

Sociological and co-relational aspects of delinquency

Evaluating prognosis and the effects of treatment

CRITICAL EVALUATION:
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.