How to Design an Objective Test to Assess Personality: Step by Step

Objective tests allow us to study the behavior thatpeople show, without having to resort to the analysis of the verbaldescriptions they make about their own behavior. Objective tests have beenwidely used to study abilities, and it was not until the works of Cattell andWarburton that these instruments also began to be systematically designed tostudy personality. In this work, we describe what objective tests are and whythey have the potential to be a useful instrument in personality assessment. Wepresent what researchers need to know to design an objective personality test.To this end, we offer an example of the process that we followed to design atest that measures self-control. This work could serve as a basis forresearchers who want to design this type of instruments.