A Roundtable Discussion of the Professional Practice Guidelines for Personality Assessment

Abstract

This roundtable will present the recently published Guidelines for personality assessment developed by a work group formed by the Society for Personality Assessment (SPA), which are intended to serve as an aid for best practices specific to personality assessment for professionals, and a source of information for consumers and policy makers. The Guidelines were developed after a careful and systematic review of the literature on personality assessment and examination of practice patterns, and were refined through multiple rounds of input from stakeholders including members of SPA and other professionals routinely conducting personality assessment. The roundtable session will begin with a brief review of the scope of personality assessment and current practice trends, minimum education and training qualifications, ethical practices, diversity considerations, assessment procedures, and appropriate applications as addressed by the Guidelines. A guided discussion will follow focused on how these Guidelines can help psychologists practice ethically, competently, with appropriate attention to diversity, and to the highest standards of the profession, as well as how these Guidelines can function as a resource for professionals, educators, supervisors, and consumers of personality assessment. As these Guidelines represent a first step in what is hoped to be an evolution of ever improving personality assessment standards of practice, the roundtable session will conclude with an open discussion on how the current guidelines can and should evolve.

Chair

Radhika Krishnamurthy | Florida Institute of Technology

Moderator

Radhika Krishnamurthy | Florida Institute of Technology

Panelists

Giselle Hass | Universidad de Iberoamerica (UNIBE), Costa Rica

Adam Natoli | Sam Houston State University

Paul Arbisi | University of Minnesota

Emily Gottfried | Medical University of South Carolina