What are psychometric assessments?
Psychometric assessments are designed to objectively evaluate an individual’s mental capabilities and behavioural style. They provide insights into attributes such as intelligence, aptitude, personality and emotional functioning, helping to understand a person’s cognitive strengths, weaknesses and suitability for specific roles or environments.
To put it simply, psychometric assessments are specially designed quizzes that assess performance, personality and behaviour. They are used to determine how well someone might fit into certain jobs, tasks or activities.
Interestingly, there is no universally accepted definition. The British Psychological Society notes: “It is very difficult to define ‘tests’ in a way that everyone would agree upon.”
For our purposes, we can describe a psychometric measure as a process that helps make reliable predictions about aspects of a person that are difficult to assess reliably (and quickly) by other means.
In practice, most measures are designed to assess and develop people in work, education and sports, and to enhance well-being and mental health both in and outside the workplace. These measures are also valuable in social mobility programmes and work with the disadvantaged, and are used in forensic or clinical settings.
What makes psychometric assessments so useful or helpful?
Psychometric assessments offer a clear, objective way to understand people’s unique qualities. They can:
- Help match people with jobs that fit their skills and personality.
- Shape jobs to fit the personality and abilities of the person doing them.
- Identify areas where someone might need more support, development or training.
- Help teams work better together by understanding each member’s strengths and weaknesses.
In essence, the right type of assessment can provide a map of your brain and personality!
Types of psychometric assessments
What are ipsative assessments?
Ipsative assessments literally mean “of the self,” which can create ambiguity and inaccuracy as they do not provide comparisons between individuals. These tests are best not used in recruitment, performance assessment or job capability / suitability. However, they can be useful in personal development as they give an indication of how you see yourself, which might not always be accurate.
Examples of ipsative assessments include:
- IMA / Colours
- Belbin
- DISC
- McQuaig
What are normative assessments?
Normative assessments compare an individual’s performance to a “norm” group to determine if their performance is above, below or equal to average. These assessments are often used to measure abilities and personality characteristics, presenting results in percentiles. The composition of the comparator sample group is crucial for ensuring validity.
Examples of normative assessments include:
- Hogan
- Mental Toughness Measure
- Prevue
- The OCEAN (or CANOE) Model (The Big Five personality traits)
Why should you care?
You might be thinking, “Meh, I’ve done similar stuff before.” But have you? Many well-known assessments like Jung, Belbin, IMA, DiSC, and 4 Animals categorise you by type, which can fall into the “one size fits all” trap. Many of these assessments lack significant psychological research proving their effectiveness.
To truly develop people, we need to understand their uniqueness. It’s not enough to know something needs fixing; we need to understand what needs fixing and why. Effective training requires this depth of understanding.
What’s the difference between behavioural and mental assessments?
Another significant aspect is understanding the difference between behavioural and mental measures. Behavioural assessments explain “how we act,” while mental measures provide the more powerful insight of “why we act” the way we do.
Ready to discover your unique strengths and areas for growth? Start exploring psychometric assessments today and unlock your true potential. To learn more about how these tools can enhance your personal and professional development, please contact me.
