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Take a free Critical Reasoning Test
Our Development Dimensions personality test is based on the constructs and tools used to assess personality in clinical practice. Personality – and problems with personality – arise from the combined influence of biological, genetic and environmental factors. The broadly accepted view of personality is a set of stable characteristics, and discernible patterns in how people perceive themselves, how they relate to others and more generally, in their thinking style, typical emotional responses and behavioural repertoire. We can think of people possessing traits to a greater or lesser intensity, and of having traits or response patterns that can work well for an individual, or create problems for them.
Personality Disorder
In a clinical setting, when examining more problematic or challenging aspects of personality functioning, fixed patterns of self-perception, interpersonal relating and behaviour are assessed to identify traits that endure over time. Should an individual’s characteristics create problems that are pervasive and persistent, they may meet criteria for what has traditionally been called ‘personality disorder’.
Diagnostic tools
There are two main diagnostic instruments for identifying and classifying personality disorder, the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, published by the American Psychiatric Association) and ICD (International Classification of Diseases, developed by the World Health Organisation). Since the first version was published in the 1950s, the DSM and subsequently the ICD have defined personality disorder categorically. They have differentiated between different types of personality disorder (for example, in the DSM-IV there were 10 identified categories) and are used to assess individuals as possessing traits of a nature and degree to warrant a diagnosis. It has long been observed that some features within each personality disorder categories are similar or overlap, resulting in the identification of 3 clusters, into which 3-4 personality disorders belong.
Prevalence in the general population
It has long been acknowledged that many people who meet criteria for a personality disorder never enter clinical settings. There are several reasons for this, of which we will summarise the most likely. Firstly, such individuals may find an environment which suits their personality construction, so problems do not materialise. Secondly, the effects of their personality type do not result in persistent interruptions to functioning as to bring them to service level help. Thirdly, many people do not recognise that some of their experiences, their perceptions and their challenges are related to their personality functioning and so do not seek help where it may be provided.
Researchers have attempted to measure the population prevalence of personality disorder. The estimates vary across studies, but the stable global rate ranges from 10%-13.7% , meaning that just over 1 in every 10 people would meet criteria for personality disorder. The categories of personality disorder have different levels of frequency, with the most prevalent varying with country and time. For example, Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder is the most frequent personality disorder in non-clinical samples in the United States whereas in Norway, Avoidant personality disorder is the most commonly identified. In summary, whilst the overall rate of personality disorder presence has remained relatively stable over time in community populations, the different types of disorder has varied within and between cultures.
Recent changes in diagnostic systems
Over time, there has been a shift in the paradigm underpinning the categorical view of personality disorder. Growing research evidence, the experience of people with personality disorder diagnoses and traits and the developing view of clinicians working with the condition have accumulated to suggest that the phenomenon of ‘personality difficulty’ does not exist as a categorical construct. Individuals can present with more or less severe manifestations of personality disruption, however, this disruption is not as persistent over time nor as pervasive across several areas of functioning as has historically been perceived. The experience of the phenomenon is now better understood as existing along a spectrum of experience, where problematic functioning can emerge or subside depending on circumstance. Consequently, the most recent versions of the classification systems, DSM-5 (Version 5 of the DSM) published in 2013 and the ICD-11 (Version 11 of the ICD) issued in 2019 have both moved from a categorical to dimensional understanding of personality disorder.
To preserve some compatibility between the DSM-IV and DSM-5, and to allow identification of personality challenges where traits from a number of categories are present, the DSM-5 introduced a ‘hybrid categorical-dimensional model’. They retained the identification of 3 clusters. The resulting system has 10 categories across 3 clusters, but with an important addition that traits from any category can be identified as co-existing with a degree of intensity which is problematic. The ICD-11 went further: it has moved away from 10 categories of disorder and adopted a dimensional framework. Now, the presence of ‘personality difficulty’ is assessed, with the term ‘disorder’ being removed. Categories have been replaced by ratings of mild, moderate or severe, and the previous characteristics have been re-formulated as 6 trait domains which may exist across levels of personality difficulty or disorder (Negative affectivity, Detachment, Dissocial, Disinhibition, Anankastia and Borderline pattern).
Relevance of changes
This is a significant conceptual shift in the understanding of personality difficulty, and it is well supported by research and clinical evidence. Moreover, it has strong face validity that people’s personality features may, in some contexts, present challenge for them; and the difference between those in clinical settings and those who are not, is a matter of degree, rather than a difference in nature.
Development Dimensions Model rationale
Based on the stability of personality traits, but the variability of reliable categorisation across time and culture, we have created a personality test that employs the frameworks of the DSM-5 and ICD-11 and reflects the dimensional aspect of personality presentations. We have taken the 3 clusters from the DSM-5, plus the concept of levels of intensity from ICD-11 and overlaid the 6 trait identifiers, to describe the range of personality presentations from non-problematic to problematic.
This has produced a model that has 8 dimensions, and each dimension can be further broken down into 3 sub-scales for greater granularity or understanding of an individual’s profile.
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What to expect when completing the Development Dimensions Personality Test
Candidates are presented with series of short statements about their behaviours, characteristics, preferences, and motivations. They are then invited to rate their level of agreement with the statement on a scale, with answers ranging from ‘Strongly Disagree’, to ‘Strongly Agree’.
Our development dimensions personality test consists of a total of 200 items. Although our personality tests are untimed, candidates should expect to complete in approximately 15 minutes.
Example of a Development Dimensions Personality Test Question
How to get an accurate Development Dimensions Personality Test Report
To ensure an accurate representation of your personality in the results, it is worth considering the following:
1. Be yourself: Don’t answer questions based on what you think is wanted of you. Try to be yourself, relax and answer honestly
2. Try not to overthink: An accurate result depends on you answering in the way that comes most naturally to you. Overthinking the answer will only cause the test to take longer and perhaps make your results less representative of you