Computational Personality Assessment

Computational personality assessment will drastically impact personality science.

Objective measures of behavior, thought, and feelings will be essential.

Summary of key data sources, results, opportunities, and challenges.

It has been said that the quality of a scientific discipline flows from its tools of measurement (Tal, 2020). Measurement in science is subject to constant improvement, allowing for the evermore precise quantification of phenomena which, in turn, leads to progress in both theoretical and practical realms. One of the most profound changes that has broadly affected psychological science is the ongoing shift towards computational measurement and assessment.

In personality psychology, the phenomena of interest are individuals and their characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving (Funder, 2009). To measure personality, psychologists rely on various forms of assessment, including self-reports, objective personality tests (Ortner & Schmitt, 2014), and behavioral observation. Such personality assessments are used to describe and evaluate individuals, compare them to others, and make predictions about how they might behave, think, and feel in various situations (Back et al., 2009; Ozer & Benet-Martínez, 2006).

A core challenge for personality assessment is that the phenomena of interest are complex patterns in individual differences that partially manifest over time. These patterns are typically represented as latent constructs (e.g., traits and states, values, goals, identity) that are mostly assessed using self-report methods (Paulhus & Vazire, 2007). However, it has repeatedly been highlighted that more objective data on naturalistic behavior is needed to improve measurements in psychological science (Baumeister et al., 2007; Furr, 2009). For example, a personality assessment goal might include determining the extent to which a person is sociable over time, in general (trait assessment), or in a given situation during a short period of time (state assessment). In order to measure a person’s sociability at the trait or state level, they could be asked about their communication behavior using self-report methods or be observed engaging in communication behavior using naturalistic observation methods.