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Try this personality inventory from SRI.
Read the comments for non-American users of this test. What, if anything, does this suggest to you about the role of culture in personality testing? This test fairly suggests that non-Americans should regard their results as non-valid: not all tests are as fair. You are taking this test just for fun (or for educational value). Can you think of situations in which culture bias in personality testing may have more serious consequences? (hint: think of forensic or legal uses of testing).
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Holy that was totally not me. It said I was a striver. which means I am very concerned about the way others see me, and I fell money defines success!! I know that this is for Americans but still. My secondary wass experiencer spend lots of money on clothes and generally uniformed. I'm like the oppisite of that. I wonder how they decide if you are uniformed? All the religous questions? I mean I don't understand why the question on prayer in public school is there. Because that is more political than religous. The cultural differences with the states must be a lot bigger than I thought. Anyway could you imagine talkin a test like this and discovering you match a psychopath or they tell you you haave a personality disorder. I honestly think that most of these tests are incredibly biased anyway. I thought about the more serious bias that could occur in forensic testing etc. (And the only thing I can think of is the OJ Simpson trail!)
Anyway the thing that realy I think could apply is when your taking a polygraph test, in which the results are not very accurite anyway. but what if the tester had a bias against you, because of your gender, ethnicity or race. Could they skew the results.. it is interpretation and they can set the bas line wrong even.
bye

hmm...I was an experiencer ....interesting. I'm supposed to be "young, vital, enthusiastic, impulsive and rebellious"...and oh yeah, "offbeat, and risky." How they were able to get this is pretty weird. Its simply amazing how they can determine all these features from a single test (like all the other ones we've taken so far!). However, there was one part about the description that did fit me..I really enjoy sports, and the description about experiencer says that their "energy finds an outlet in exercise, sports, outdoor recreation and social activities."
I can actually see these tests being administered as one of the many used to determine if Mike Tyson was psyciatrically fit to box. However, it doesn't take a rocket scientist (perhaps just a psychologist ;) to fudge the test into producing results that would make a person seem less "crazy." Since these tests are based on honest answers, one can change them with ease to fit the mould of a "normal" personality.
As well, I'd have to agree with Angela in the fact that I too had no clue as to wh they'd ask questions about prayer in class rooms and stuff. IS that politically motivated? And why is it exclusive for Christianity only?

They said I was an experiencer. That partially describes me but not to a full extent. I am outgoing and like a wide variety of different activities. I am not very rebelious, neither am I impulsive. It takes me a long time to make up my mind. Nothing is done right on the spot. I do spend a lot of my money on food and clothes. Even though some of the things mentioned are true the others are not. It is hard to dertermine someone's personality from just a single test. Even though there was a wide variety of questions asked. There was insufficient information to determine personality types. The second characteristic that they said I was was a striver. That I am concerned about what other people think of me. They say money defines success, and that strivers are low on psychological needs and economical needs. Again, this is true but to an extent.
This test is suppose to be invalid for for Non-Americans. One thing I was trying to figure out is why they asked for your zip code. THen I realized maybe it's for the different types of social/economical backrounds presently used in different cities. Some cities are more scoiable while others are not. For example the state of California compared to maybe something like North Dakota. The different locTIONS GIVE YOU DIFEERENT RESULTS. The environment is different therefore the results will alter. As Angela mentiones I was going to mention that example as well, where in the O.J. Simpson trial a more serious bias is used. Then again, these tests are not accurate and cannot fully determine someone's personality. Over an amount of numerous test done maybe then can start to determine a person' personality.
Sorry if none of this makes sense I am so tired I have been studying for Psychology all day, and I couldn't really sleep that much last night either. Anyways I will see you guys on ICQ at 9:30. I have never used mine before I hope it works, anyways see you guys later!!

Hi, it's me. I am not sure if you guys are going to check this or not. But I cannot get on to ICQ, it keeps on saying check your internt connection and then retry icq. SO I Am not sure what is going on?

Rubina, if you read this before I get you on the phone, try reconnecting to the internet.. you were on, I sent you a chat request then I think I skrewed something up.

forget it .. we'll try again tommorow

Angela, I tried reconnecting to the internet. It didn't work. I am not sure what is wrong. Write me an e-mail. I am still online under XRUBINAX@aol.com if you guys have internet maybe we can go to aol.com or yahoo.com and talk in a chat line and then paste it or something. Write me an e-mail or tell me what is going omn. I tried calling you Angela but no one answerd the phone probaly because you are on the net. Anyways please get back to me asap

The connection isn't working. I don't think we installed it properly. You know when it asked for the type we put aol mirrors maybe it has to be different user, I don't know what to do. I am so sorry. I am trying but it's not connecting. My internet connection is fine. Obviously because I am on AOL, but I just can't seem to get connected to ICQ

well, I tried the questionnaire again, but I lied about my income and jacked it all the way up to $200,00 and up.....I left everything else the same, and oddly enough, it still said that I am an experiencer, but my secondary choice changed from a maker to an actualizer. I'm still perplexed as to how they come up with these results from the questions that they ask especially since alot of the questions repeat themselves (like I mentioned before). I also noticed that all of the typlogies that they said I am tended to be founded on the right side of the diamond-shaped figure...meaning that I'm supposed to be action-oriented have high resourses...I'm wondering why money would change the secondary choice....

Unbeleivable! I changed my income to 50-75 thou and I've become an Acheiver/actualizer. This totally refects to me anyway hoe shallow and money driven American society is. Its is true that you can buy justice there. And people have way more respect for people who have money. They say its the land of equal opportunity, and monkeys might fly out of my butt. When every scholl, no matter what neighbourhood its in gets equal funding ang all highschool graduates with the appropriate mark go to college. Then I'll say that its true. It makes me realize how, even in Alberta, much we accept overs a little better, even if they have no money.

Hi guys, what's up? You probaly were wondering what happened to me. Well Angela called me I told hger I was in the hospital. I went in late Sunday nite like after midnite sometime. I was really sick. I passed out. I am not sure why that happened the doctor's said that it might have something to do with stress. I didn't even write the nidterm, I hope I can still write it instead of adding it on to my midterm because I studied for it so I would much rather write it now. The doctor said I had a low red blood cell count, and that I am anemic and that is the reason why I am so weak and sick all the time. But anyways back to the assignment:
This personality test shows the difference in cultures. It shows us that by changing how much income you make will change your characteristic as DAvid and Angela mentioned. Your income will also vary from state to state and province to province. Minimum wage is higher in some provinces then others. This shows the culture variance. One serious consequence that can be used is when something is wrong in one culture but not in another. For example in Saudia Arabia they have a law where women are to be covered from head to toe, or else they are to be put in jail. If someone from that culture lives in a culture like the type we live in he has to learn to accept the culture differences. They are brought up in a different culture so they might think it is wrong for women to dress the way they do. That was kind of a dumb example but just things like that change the results for different people raised in a different environment. I hope I make sense I am so tired, Well anyways I will post something later. I am not sure if you guys are posting something before tommorrow morning or not. Anyways, I'll talk to you guys later.

<Angela> hello
<Angela>
<DaKim> hey...sorry about that...had to run a little errand for my parents...
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<Angela> the perrils of living at home
<Angela>
<Angela> k
<Angela>
<DaKim> just give me 1 more minute...gotta do something..brb...sorry ;)
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<DaKim> sorry about that...
<Angela> is ok
<Angela>
<Angela>
<Angela> anyway
<DaKim> anyhhooo
<DaKim>
<DaKim> summary......
<DaKim>
<Angela>
<DaKim> let's see....i changed the income , and only my secondary thingy changed......
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<Angela> how much did you changeyour income by?
<Angela>
<DaKim>
<DaKim> from the lowest to the highest income....(0, to the 200,000 and up )
<Angela> did you read what happened to me, I made myself middle class and both changed
<Angela>
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<Angela> its pretyy funny
<Angela>
<DaKim> really? middle class as in income wise?
<Angela> yup i think it was 50-75..ok so upper middle class
<Angela>
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<DaKim> really...did you change your age? sex?
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<Angela> no i didn't try that, but it did tell me i was very conservative and my family is very importent(and church which was real funny to me :)
<Angela>
<DaKim> hehee.....really...where did you usually fall on the diamond shaped thingy? I was always on the right hand side, and near the top...
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<Angela> well acheiver i think was top hold on
<DaKim> ok
<DaKim>
<Angela> just another second..
<Angela>
<Angela> ok second time i was an acheiver/actualizier top middle
<Angela> the first time I was striver experiencer
<Angela> bottom row middle and toprow right
<Angela>
<Angela> so i was all over
<Angela>
<DaKim> hehe..really? I seemed to be atleast on the right side of things...regardless of income...which is a good point when you mentioned how money hungry americans are....no wonder its not valide for people outside of America...i think they have different (better ) values ;)
<DaKim>
<Angela> hey man, how long have you lived in the states?
<Angela>
<Angela> well there u go
<Angela>
<DaKim> never...I was born in canada...have yet to leave it......never passed the border of this great country l(
<DaKim> ;)
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<DaKim> buyt I have alot of american friends....
<DaKim>
<Angela> where are they from?
<Angela>
<DaKim> one's from L.A ...another from north carolina...another from new york..another from bvirginia...
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<Angela> I don't know whether i'd want to live in ny of those places :) but i've heard seatle kinda cool :)
<Angela>
<DaKim>
<DaKim> yeah..its close to canada...that's why its good ;)
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<Angela>
<DaKim> my friend always goes to seattle..she likes it alot...
<DaKim>
<Angela> birth of alternative music and specialty coffe shops
<Angela>
<DaKim> really? wow..didn't know that.....come to think of it...my frind is into alternative music and coffe....interesting ;)
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<DaKim> have you ever left canada for the states?
<DaKim>
<DaKim> ah...the potato state if I'm correct right?
<Angela> yup, been to montana/idaho(well drove through it-yes potatos) and washington
<DaKim> home of the.....scandals ;)
<DaKim>
<DaKim> oh....hehehehhe
<Angela> no the state! to see the mountains and also been to minnisota and the one beside it .
<Angela>
<Angela> not sure whats its called
<Angela>
<DaKim> hehe "the one bsiede it"...hahaha..ugh
<DaKim> its amazin ghow school kids can remember all 50 states...we only have to memorize 11
<DaKim>
<Angela> umm no 10 provinces and 2 territoies..
<Angela>
<DaKim> I consider the north one province ;)
<DaKim>
<Angela> there are 2.. soon there will be three
<Angela>
<DaKim> I know.....but its so much more easier o...ugh..nevermind...
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<DaKim> anyhoo..back tro summary.....
<DaKim>
<DaKim> what did you think of the explanations? were most of them wrong>? did they atleast get some traits that might fit you?
<Angela> not the striver or the experiencer for that matter
<DaKim>
<Angela> achevier.. well a little, but thats would be when i have a career
<Angela>
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<Angela> actualizer are independent
<Angela>
<Angela> I have visited an arts museum in the past year and played golf:)
<Angela>
<DaKim> hehe...well, as for one of them....they said I was all these things..one sec..I'll look it up again...
<Angela> what about you?
<Angela>
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<DaKim> oh yeah..with the experiencer...tyhey said I was a risk taker as well as rebellious impulsive and offbeat....totally off of course...then they talked about how much I;m supposed to love sports...which I do..so atleast they were right about that...
<Angela>
<Angela> I don't know the more i look at this site the more I don't like it
<Angela>
<DaKim> hehe...that's the impression I get...very little to work with..I have more complaints than I do have good stuff to talk about it...it almost disgusts me with their format...
<DaKim>
<Angela> yah, the money thing is realy what gets me. could you not be a leader and independent and .. umm i dont know be like an actualizer if you are poor?
<Angela>
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<DaKim> I get mad about that too..there are lots of people who come dfrom the ghetto or the poor part of a city and still made it...
<Angela> exactly
<Angela>
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<Angela> its going back to
<Angela>
<DaKim> If anything...this site discourages peoples hopes and dreams...and create false ones for the rich....
<DaKim>
<Angela> i was going to say it goes back to the predgidice thing, poor people are stupid stereotype is being shown by the authers of the study.. i do realize that its a lifestyle questionare as well, but values can be the same rich or poor.
<Angela>
<DaKim> totally afree....its a lifestyle questioonnaire, but it sounds more business oriented (with respect to its explanations...."risker, off beat, enthusiastic"..almost sounds like something you'd find on a resume...
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<Angela> these people do make stuff geared toward business
<Angela>
<Angela> VALS 2.. understanding american consumers
<Angela>
<DaKim> hmm..interesting...and its only for americans I take it (I dnno..the title kinda gave it away ;)
<Angela> :)
<Angela>
<Angela>
<Angela> so we should talk abot the last question
<Angela>
<DaKim>
<DaKim> sure/.//with what example though
<DaKim> ?
<Angela> hold on..i got all screwed up
<Angela>
<DaKim> I know..you have an example we could use?
<Angela> what situations in cultur bias personality tesing may have more serios consequences..hint forensic or legal
<Angela>
<Angela> profiling!!!
<Angela>
<Angela>
<DaKim> hmm?
<DaKim> hmm
<Angela> a serial killer in the states may have adifferent profile than one from Saudi Arabia
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<Angela>
<DaKim> how so? I don't understand what you mean by profiler....
<Angela> do you ever watch millenium or the profiler?
<Angela>
<DaKim> no..not really.
<Angela> umm these shows are about forensic psycholigists who peice together evidence to create a psychological profile of the killer so s/he can be more easily caught
<Angela>
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<Angela> no.. the profiles of a killer might be different
<Angela>
<DaKim> I see...so a profilier in amierica is different from one in saudia arabia how?
<DaKim>
<DaKim> in what way? in the way the killer kills? or his motives for killing?
<DaKim> \
<DaKim>
<DaKim>
<Angela> motives
<Angela>
<DaKim> I';d agree then....americans would do it for greed, hatred jealousy....and for middle east killers, I'm sure its more religiously based than anything else...
<DaKim> hehe...try again...
<DaKim>
<Angela> if you went to the states, you could concievable be labelled as a criminal just because your personality is different, and if you do commit a crime, your personlity might be misunderstood for being more aggresive or hateful or something and you might get treated unfairly
<Angela>
<DaKim> hmm...good point...I didn't see it in that way before.....
<Angela>
<Angela> i'm tired
<Angela>
<DaKim> me too...I could tell too..with your lost of train of thought ;)
<Angela> well I'll put this up this time
<Angela>
<Angela> on the site
<Angela>
--------------------------------------

Hello I guess you guys did your chat I wish I could get my ICQ to work. I feel so sick. I was on this drug that made me sleep all this time. I just woke up. I didn't mean to sleep that long I have so much work to do. Well I hope you guys read what I wrote. Hopefully it made sense sorry if it didn't I was really tired. I am feeling so sick, so I am going to go back to bed now. I don't really have anything to say about the sumarry other then what I just wrote earlier.

Here's our summary:
This site was a good example of how different cultures define different personalities in different ways. The most striking part of this questionnaire is the note saying that it is invalid for non-American users. This was proven so by the results. None of us felt that the questionnaire described us at all. We all felt that the questionnaire was based on money. Which was shown when we lied about our income. Activity as A Key Concept for Cultural Psychology by Carl Ratner is a paper dealing with cultural psychology and how it effects peoples interpretation of others' behavior. (Okay I did not quite read it all-not enough time, but it does bring up some interesting points). The problems with cultural bias can be very harmful. If you went to another culture and made a comment or did something that you usually do like wink at someone when you are kidding, it is possible that those actions could bee considered hostile. Alternatively, if you went to the states from a non-western culture, you could conceivable be labeled as a criminal just because your personality is different. If you do commit a crime, your personality might be misunderstood for being more aggressive or hateful and you might be treated unfairly. Or what if you fit the personlity of a "typical criminal", bacause of misinterpretation of your personality. One example is the Oklahoma City bombing. When that occurred a lot of the media and so- called experts were blaming Middle East terrorists. They said the style was very much like other incidents caused by Middle East terrorists. However, misinterpretation and racism where the basis for those accusations.
Overall, the site was fun, but very narrow. We do not even think it takes into consideration the differences between the US states. In addition, it was obviously a very business orientated site. We do understand that it is a values and lifestyle questionnaire, and income does cause differences in lifestyles. We do not think that income really has that big difference in values. We also felt that there are many stereotypes reflected in this questionnaire.