Personality Assessments in Legal Contexts - A Special Issue of the Journal of Personality (2 CEs)

Abstract

This symposium shares with the SPA community a forthcoming special issue of the Journal of PersonalityAssessment, focusing on building a cohesive evidence base for legal admissibility considerations regarding commonly-used psychological assessment instruments. A credibility revolution is occurring in various fields, including in both psychology and in law, with a sharpened focus on the tenability of claims made by experts. Recent projects have raised some questions and concerns about the legal admissibility of various psychological assessment methods (e.g., DeMatteo et al., 2020; Edens & Boccaccini, 2017; Neal et al., 2019). The current special issue represents a systematic effort for the field to answer some of these questions, respond to some of the concerns, and charter a path forward. As such, a set of articles offering a high-level review of some of the mostcommon psychological assessment measures practitioners use in legal settings will be published, with attention to multiple audiences for each article: psychological scientists, mental health practitioners, attorneys and judges, and the public. This symposium will cover the special issue as a whole, with an introductory presentation outlining the entire special issue’s general findings and themes, followed by a panel discussion, and interactive audience conversation.

Discussant

Barry Rosenfield | Fordham University

Panelists

Yossef Ben-Porath | Kent State University

Jaime Anderson | Sam Houston State University

Paul Arbisi | University of Minnesota

Gregory Meyer | University of Toledo

Dustin Wygant | Eastern Kentucky University

Chair

Tess Neal | Arizona State University

Speaker

Tess Neal | Arizona State University

Presenters

Tess Neal | Arizona State University

Martin Sellbom | University of Otago

Corine De Ruiter | Maastricht University