DIStance-from-the PROtotype (DISPRO) personality assessment for children

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Personality Assessment
• Social Psychology

Background:

• The DIStance-From-the-PROtotype (DISPRO) is a multidimensional scaling approach to personality assessment.
• DISPRO utilizes judgments of similarity or distance from trait-consistent prototypes.
• The model is based on Wiggins's interpersonal circumplex with eight equidistant trait categories.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine a children's version of the DISPRO personality assessment.
• To investigate the developmental trends in children's personality ratings using the DISPRO model.
• To assess the validity and reliability of the children's DISPRO.

Main Methods:

• 74 children (mean age = 7.3 years) were presented with stories about same-sex characters exhibiting prototypical behaviors.
• Children rated their similarity to these characters.
• Data were analyzed to identify structural similarities and developmental differences compared to adult DISPRO data.

Main Results:

• Children's DISPRO rating structure closely mirrored adult findings.
• Younger children (mean age = 6) showed a unidimensional "good-bad" or nurturance continuum.
• Older children (mean age = 8.5) utilized the two dimensions of dominance and nurturance, consistent with adult solutions.
• Significant validity coefficients (average r = .40) with parent/teacher ratings and adequate test-retest reliability (average r(tt) = .78) were observed.

Conclusions:

• The children's DISPRO assessment demonstrates structural similarity to the adult version.
• A developmental trend in personality perception was evident, transitioning from a unidimensional to a multidimensional structure.
• The DISPRO offers benefits such as ease of use and standardized trait stimuli for child personality assessment.