WO2001006825A2

WO2001006825A2 - A method of testing a person's personal characteristics as well as a system for feedback of the result of such a test

Info

Publication number: WO2001006825A2
Application number: PCT/DK2000/000423
Authority: WO
Inventors: Erik Kjaer; Stig Kjerulf
Original assignee: Erik Kjaer; Stig Kjerulf
Priority date: 1999-07-26
Filing date: 2000-07-25
Publication date: 2001-02-01
Also published as: AU6261300A

Description

A method of testing a person's personal characteristics as well as a system for feedback of the result of such a test

The invention relates to a method of testing a person's personal characteristics, wherein the person first answers a plurality of questions, and then a calculation of values for a plurality of parameters which each describe one of the person's characteristics is carried out on the basis of the answers, and a result of the test is presented to the person and/or others in the form of said parameter values in such a manner that the parameters are divided into some main groups.

The invention moreover relates to a system for feedback of the result of a test of a person's personal characteristics. The system comprises a presentation to the person of values for a plurality of parameters which each de- scribe one of the person's characteristics, said parameters being divided into main groups .

Today, there is a growing understanding of the fact that an individual's awareness of himself is a prerequisite for his ability to develop and live up to the ever greater demands that are made both in private life and in the labour market.

In the labour market, particularly in the industrial field, the intrinsic values of companies have previously been assessed primarily on the basis of buildings, machinery, stock and the like. In recent years the tendency has increasingly been toward measuring the intrinsic value of the companies by the individual know-how pos- sessed by their staff. Corporate management is no longer just a question of optimizing the operation of the machinery, etc. of the company, but is now also a question of managing and distributing the know-how that is present in the company.

Moreover, it is now also recognized in wide circles that the efficiency and quality of the contribution made by the staff are linked up with how they function, in par- ticular at their place of work. Personal development is therefore being recognized as an important means for improving the competitiveness of a company. The company that can inspire the employees to function as best as possible with their surroundings, i.e. first and foremost in the interaction with other people, will frequently be most successful in the competition.

Many of the other and more traditional competitive parameters, such as dimensioning of and selection of mate- rials for a new product, can be optimized and made more efficient today by means of computer programs to which all competing companies have the same access. Therefore, the competitiveness instead gets ever more dependent on how well the staff of a company can identify themselves with the needs of the consumers, and how well the company can market and sell its product.

Since the field of personal development must thus be said to be of great importance to the competitiveness of the industry, it must also be considered as being highly industrially useful.

A field of the personal development which the industry has already put to great use in this connection, is test- ing of persons' personal characteristics in the form of e.g. personality tests and behavioural tests. These tests are normally made in that the person being tested answers a plurality of questions, and then some parameter values, which each describe one side of the characteristics of the person in question, can be calculated on the basis of the answers given. The calculated parameter values are then presented in the form of a test report to the person or optionally to the person or persons who consider en- gaging the person in question to a job, such tests being used most frequently in connection with the engagement of staff to ensure the greatest possible likelihood of engaging the person whose characteristics best match the demands of the job concerned.

To facilitate the understanding, the parameters, when being presented in the test report, will frequently be divided into some main groups which each contain parameters that resemble each other more or less or describe closely related characteristics. In the known tests, however, this division is usually made on the basis of the circumstance that the test is to be used for deciding whether a specific person is suitable for a specific job. A typical division may e.g. have the following three groups of pa- rameters : problem solution, cooperation relations and penetration. Precisely these groups are suitable in connection with the engagement of staff, since, depending on the type of job, emphasis will frequently be attached to one or more of these main groups. For example, when ap- pointing a person to a job as a development engineer, special emphasis may be attached to the problem-solving characteristics, whereas cooperation relations and penetration may be less important. For a manager job, on the other hand, the situation might be just the opposite. However, it has been realized that it is not sufficient to engage the right person to a 30b, but m reality frequently even more important to give the employees (new as well as existing employees) the opportunity of developing themselves m some of the fields where a test shows that this may be needed, and here the above-mentioned division has been found not to be particularly expedient, since it does not readily give a picture of which characteristics may advantageously be worked on. The characteristics which for a given person will be the most relevant ones to develop, will typically be spread between the three above-mentioned groups, and therefore it will involve great difficulty to find the characteristics concerned.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a method of the type stated above which is more suitable for enabling a person to further develop the relevant personal characteristics himself on the basis of a test result.

This object is achieved according to the invention m that the parameters are divided into three mam groups, wherein a first main group comprises parameters describ- mg the person's cognitive competence, a second mam group comprises parameters describing the person's emotional competence, and a third ma group comprises parameters describing the person's social competence.

Precisely by dividing the parameters into these three groups, i.e. cognitive, emotional and social competences, a much better overview is achieved as to which characteristics the person concerned can advantageously work on, since it will typically be relevant to concentrate one's efforts on characteristics which are present within one of these groups. In the field of clinical psychology, which is typically concerned with helping people out various problem situations, a person's characteristics are frequently divided into these three groups, since they appropriately describe three different points of the person on which the psychologist can work separately depending on the problem which a patient is to be helped out of. Typically, a psychologist will thus concentrate on working with the patient's characteristics within one of these domains at a time.

Even though this division has not previously been used m industrial psychology, which is typically concerned with finding the right applicant for a job, it has, however, been found extremely useful when it is desired to give an employee the opportunity of developing himself on the basis of the result of a test of the employee's personal characteristics .

Moreover, it has been found expedient to divide one or more of the mam groups into subgroups, as this provides an even better overview of the characteristics on which one can advantageously work. Thus, as stated in claim 2, the first mam group may expediently be divided into two subgroups comprising parameters which describe the person's thinking and the person's direction and goal, respectively. As stated m claim 3, the second mam group may expediently be divided into two subgroups comprising parameters which describe the person's temperament and the person's sensitivity, respectively. As stated claim 4, the third mam group may expediently be divided into two subgroups comprising parameters which describe the person's interaction and the person's norms and values, respectively.

In an expedient embodiment, which is stated m claim 5, m direct connection with the indication of each parameter value concrete instructions are given on how the person can develop the characteristic concerned m dependence thereon. When the parameter values and the associated concrete development instructions are arranged m direct connection with each other, they can be read simultaneously or almost simultaneously, thereby avoiding the cumbersome process of having to find instructions m a separate book. This also means that the test result is useful for private studies or can be communicated to the test person by a person, e.g. the personnel officer of a company, who has just received a relatively brief train^¬ ing therein, it having previosuly been considered necessary, at least m case of serious tests, that the test result was explained by a qualified psychologist.

As mentioned, the invention moreover relates to a system for feedback of the result of a test of a person's per^¬ sonal characteristics, said system comprising a presentation to the person of values for a plurality of parame- ters which each describe one of the person's characteristics, said parameters being divided into mam groups.

When the parameters are divided into three mam groups, wherein a first mam group comprises parameters descπb- ing the person's cognitive competence, a second mam group comprises parameters describing the person's emo^¬ tional competence, and a third mam group comprises pa^¬ rameters describing the person's social competence, a system is correspondingly achieved which is more suitable for enabling a person to further develop the relevant personal characteristics himself on the basis of a test result. As mentioned above, precisely by dividing the parameters into these three groups, i.e. cognitive, emotional and social competences, a much better overview is achieved as to which characteristics the person concerned can advantageously work on, as it will typically be relevant to concentrate one's effors on characteristics which are present within one of these groups.

Moreover, it has been found expedient that one or more of the mam groups are divided into subgroups, as this provides an even better overview of the characteristics on which one can advantageously work. Thus, as stated m claim 7, the first mam group may advantageously be divide into two subgroups comprising parameters which describe the person's thinking and the person's direction and goal, respectively. As stated m claim 8, the second mam group may expediently be divided into two subgroups comprising parameters which describe the person's temperament and the person's sensitivity, respectively. As stated m claim 9, the third mam group may expediently be divided into two subgroups comprising parameters which describe the person's interaction and the person's norms and values, respectively.

In an expedient embodiment, which is defined m claim 10, m direction connection with the indication of each parameter value concrete instructions are given on how the person can develop the characteristic concerned m dependence thereon. When the parameter values and the associated concrete development instructions are arranged in direct connection with each other, they can be read simultaneously or almost simultaneously, thereby avoiding the cumbersome process of having to find instructions in a separate book. This also means, as mentioned above, that the test result is useful for private studies or can be communicated to the test person by a person, e.g. the personnel office of a company, who has just received a relatively brief training therein, it having previously been considered necessary, at least in case of serious tests, that the test result was explained by a qualified psychologist .

As stated in claim 11, the presentation may expediently be in printed form, there being an independent page for each parameter. This gives the test person a better overview of his possibilities of further development and the possibility of concentrating on one parameter at a time.

Alternatively, as stated in claim 12, the system may be adapted to show the presentation on a computer screen, there being an independent screen picture for each pa- rameter. This gives a greater flexibility and a good overview of the possibilities of further development as well as the possibility of concentrating on one parameter at a time.

The invention will now be described more fully below with reference to the drawing, in which

fig. 1 shows an example of questions for a test according to the invention,

fig. 2 shows the division of the interaction competence into three domains of competence, fig. 3 shows a double page stating a test result as well as a coaching guide for a parameter,

fig. 4 shows the left-hand part of the double page of fig. 3, and

fig. 5 shows the right-hand part of the double page of fig. 3.

A test of the type to which the invention relates will typically be carried out in that the test person first answers a plurality of questions listed in a scheme. Figure 1 shows an example of a page 1 of such a scheme. A number of statements 2 is listed, and the words "agree" and "disagree" are stated at each statement, and the test person answers the question by drawing a ring 3 around that of the two words which indicates his or her attitude to the statement concerned. On page 1, 11 questions are shown by way of example; but in practice such a test will normally consist of much more questions. Typically, there may be from 50 to 500 different questions.

In figure 1 a test person has answered the four first questions by drawing a ring 3 around the relevant one of the words "agree" and "disagree". For the test to have value, it is important, however, that the test person answers all questions in the scheme.

As a result of the test, it is desired to have stated a plurality of parameter values which each describe one of the characteristics of the person concerned. Each parameter is associated with a plurality of statements 2 in the scheme, it being noted, however, that some questions may very well relate to several parameters. When the test person has answered all the questions the scheme, the parameter values may be calculated on the basis of the answers to the questions belonging to the individual parameter. If we, e.g., look at a parameter like "intellectual orientation" describing whether a person's approach to the solution of a problem is of an intellectual nature or more of a practical nature, e.g. the following statements may be used:

I read at least 10 books a year.

I am fond of studying and reading about the things I work on.

I like reading scientific magazines. I would rather read a good book than watching TV.

I like playing chess.

If the test person has answered "agree" to all these five questions, the parameter value for "intellectual orienta- tion" will be 100%. If, on the other hand, the answer is "disagree" to three of the statements and "agree" to the two others, the parameter value will correspondingly be 40%. If a test is to be serious, each parameter will be associated with considerably more than five questions m practice, typically perhaps 15 - 30 questions, and the above example with the five statements is therefore just intended as an illustration of how the calculation of the parameter values can be carried out. Also more complicated calculation methods may be used, m which the mdi- vidual parameters are e.g. weighted m the calculation. How this can be done is well-known to a person skilled m the field. As a result of the test, the calculated parameter values are presented to the test person or e.g. to an employer who considers engaging the test person with his company. Since, typically, 20 - 35 different parameters may be m- volved, they will usually be divided into some mam groups for clarity when being presented. In the described embodiment of the invention, the parameters are divided into the three mam groups, cognitive competences which tell how a person thinks of the world and himself, emo- tional competences which are also called the emotional talent and show how a person uses his emotional characteristics, and social competences which show how a person engages m social contexts. This division is shown m figure 2.

Cognitive competences are an expression of how we perceive the world surrounding us. The manner m which we basically conceive of and think about the world, and how we combine impressions and knowledge, is important to our understanding of ourselves. Thus, it is a matter of how we understand, think and make decisions. The concepts and experience we have of the world are essential m how we perceive certain situations. As will be well-known, it often happens that two people perceive the same situation completely differently. For example, there are some people who "think with their hands". They think best when they have physical contact with the material, and then they quietly arrive at the end result, frequently without being able to explain how it happened. Others think through projects almost to completion m their mind before being able to put words on what they have arrived at. Another example may be that some people gather information before beginning an assignment, while others immediately begin assignments without prior analysis. Emotional competences may collectively be called our emotional talent. The knowledge of one's own emotional equipment and the ability of controlling and handling one's feelings, e.g. one's temper, are of great importance to how one utilizes one's resources. Insufficient awareness of one's feelings may cause the personal development to be inhibited. The consequence may be that the person does not fully utilize his gifts and his talents. Increased awareness of the importance of emotional talent has shown the expediency of being attentive to precisely these talents and abilities. An example of an emotional competence may be the sense which one's intuition can give one specific situations. Frequently, such a sense later turns out to have had substance, even though the situation did not directly give cause for suspicion.

Social competences are an expression of how we enter into relationships with other people. They give an overall picture of our interaction with other people. The character and the extent of a person's social talent rest upon the competences which already exist m the cognitive and emotional domains. The ability we have of applying and using our resources and potentials is of great importance as to whether we reach the goals we have set ourselves. Social competences are what makes us able to contact other people. This means gaming their attention, getting influence and being seen as an individual person and as a group member. An example of a social competence may be the degree of freedom. If a person is extremely uninhibited and not particularly attentive to others' norms, such a person might be described as "a bull m a china store" by others . In combination, the three above-mentioned competences form what is called the interaction competence, as will also appear from figure 2. Interaction competence is an overall indication of how the three domains, cognitive, emotional and social competences, function. These three domains give a picture of how the person functions together with the world around him and may be a basis for change. The interaction competence is thus a dynamic picture of the overall personality, the aura which a human being possesses and the overall ability the human being concerned demonstrates in his way of handling his life. Only in the contact with other people is it possible to see one's interaction competence unfold. This competence shows how one react when being together with others.

By looking at the three domains of competence one can get a picture of how a person thinks, feels and acts. The test result of a test like the one described here is precisely such a picture. The purpose is thus to give the test person the possibility of improving his knowledge of his own personality and thus just not to show whether a person is suitable for a specific job or not, like in the previous tests.

As shown in figure 2, the described embodiment of a test according to the invention moreover contains a specific and individual feedback option in the form of a coaching guide, which will be described below, and which enables the test person himself to influence and thereby change his interaction competence in a desired direction by means of the coaching guide and on the basis of the test result. The two elements, viz. the division of the individual parameters of the interaction competence into the three domains of competence and the coaching guide, sepa- rately provide a significantly improved possibility of using the test result for one's own development, and when, like m the embodiment described, the two elements are combined, the possibilities get even better.

In the embodiment described, the test comprises 32 spe^¬ cific parameters, which each describe one point of the test person's personality or behaviour, and which together show the interaction competence of that person. The 32 parameters are arranged according to domain of competence, so that the parameters describing the cognitive competence come first, then the parameters describing the emotional competence, and finally the parameters describing the social competence. Each of the three do- mams of competence is again divided into two subgroups. The cognitive competences are divided into the subgroups "Thinking" which comprises the parameters:

Intellectual orientation Rational/Emotional orientation

Flexibility Detail orientation Impulsiveness Creativity

and "Direction and goal" which comprises the parameters

Structure Responsibility Goal orientation

Action orientation.

The emotional competences are divided into the subgroups "Temperament" which comprises the parameters: Mood

Expressiveness

Control

Principled

Need for excitement

Moderation,

and "Sensitivity" which comprises the parameters:

Understanding Intuition Self-esteem Empathy.

The social competences are divided into the subgroups "Interaction" which comprises the parameters:

Sociability Visibility

Need for categorization

Assertiveness

Independence

Dominance Risk,

and "Norms and values" which comprises the parameters

Tolerance Rule-governed

Status orientation Need for being liked Adaptability. The embodiment shown in the figures is in printed form, and a double page is used for each parameter, the left- hand page describing the meaning of the parameter concerned and indicating the test result in the form of the value of the parameter for the test person, the right- hand page containing the coaching guide associated with the parameter concerned. By way of example, figure 3 shows the double page associated with the parameter "Intellectual orientation". Each of the two pages is shown in a greater and clearer format in figures 4 and 5.

The top of the left-hand page states the domain of competence and the subgroup to which the parameter belongs. Cognitive competences and thinking are involved here. Then the name of the actual parameter is given, which is thus "Intellectual orientation" in the example, and finally there are some lines which explain what the parameter means .

Below this there is a description of what a low score and a high score, respectively, on the scale show about the test person. The descriptions are worded such that the first sentences describe high and low scores, followed by a description of what very high or very low scores say about the tested person.

The scale, in the middle of the page, shows the actual test result in the form of a dot, which indicates the value which has been calculated on the basis of the test person's answers to the individual questions, as described above. In this example, the value is 65% or merely indicated as the value 65. It is described below the scale which fields of resource and development are associated with the two ends of the scale. Fields of resource and development separately correspond to strong and weak points, respectively, at each of the two extremes of the scale; but these designations are less expedient in this connection.

The right-hand page includes the coaching guide associated with the parameter which gives proposals on how the person can develop new points of his personality relatively to the existing profile. The coaching guide may be used directly for private studies, but is also extremely suitable as a dialogue tool in a conversation which follows a test. The advantage is here that the specific in- structions in the coaching guide open up the possibility that the person providing the feedback need not be a qualified psychologist in order to be able to give serious and professional guidance. Such a person might e.g. be the personnel officer of a company. As will appear from figure 5, there are separate proposals for a low score and a high score, respectively, which makes the coaching guide useful in all situations.

This development test has been designed to prepare the way for cognition and development of a test person in contrast to previous personality tests, which have predominantly been designed for measuring the personality with the purpose of evaluation and selection. The very purpose and design of the test tool is decisive for the test person's meeting with the test tool and the continued development process.

It is of decisive importance to the test person's reaction to the meeting with a personality test that the pur- pose is clear, and not least that the tool matches the purpose. Importantly, it must appear whether the person is tested because he is to be evaluated or commence a development process. Here it is important that the tool be- ing used has actually been developed for either evaluation and selection or for development of personal competence .

If it is a matter of selection, the situation for a test person can be compared to an exam situation. It is a different situation if a test person is tested because it is desired to have a basis for determining the personal competences and a subsequent development of these. This makes it necessary to create an overview of and a basis for preparing fields of resource and development.

The test described here, with respect to the design, educational structure and communication of it, has been developed and created to form the best possible basis for determining and developing the personal competences. Therefore, a comprehensive and subtle measurement of the personality takes place, which is the reason why 32 parameters are included. The test result for precisely this tool is therefore a comprehensive, many-sided and thor- ough elucidation of the person's current personal competences .

As an alternative to the printed embodiment described above, the result of the test may also be presented on a computer screen, which provides increased flexibility. Like above, the two pages may be shown at the same time on the screen; but it will also be possible first to show the left-hand page supplemented with marking of a button which, by a click with a computer mouse, displays the page with the associated coaching guide on the screen. Since at this time the computer knows the person's test result, it will moreover be possible just to show the coaching proposals which are relevant to the person concerned.

It will also be possible to have the test itself take place on a computer, e.g. via the Internet. A user can connect himself to the homepage of a test provider, and having given a password ensuring that the provider will get his payment for the test, the user will be presented with the questions of the test directly on the computer. Each question is answered by activating a key or by a click with a mouse. When all questions have been answered, the computer of the test provider can calculate the test result and present it on the user's screen, as described above.

In relation to the computer version the invention may be embodied as a computer program or a part of a computer program which may be loaded into the memory of a computer and be executed therefrom. The computer program may be distributed by means of any data storage or transmission medium. The storage medium may be magnetic tape, optical disc, compact disc (CD or CD-ROM) , mini-disc, hard disc, floppy disc, ferroelectric memory, Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) , flash memory, Eprom, Read Only Memory (ROM) , Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) , Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) , ferromagnetic memory, optical memory, charge coupled devices, smart cards, etc. The transmission medium may be a network, e.g. a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Net- work (WAN) or any combination thereof, e.g. the Internet. The network may comprise wire and wireless communications links. Via the network a software embodiment (i.e. a program) of the invention or a part thereof may be distrib- uted by transferring a program via the network.

Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described and shown, the invention is not restricted to it, but may also be embodied in other ways within the scope of the subject-matter defined in the following claims.

Claims

P a t e n t C l a i m s

1. A method of testing a person's personal characteris- tics, wherein

• the person answers a plurality of questions,

• a calculation of values for a plurality of parameters which each describe one of the person's characteris^¬ tics is carried out on the basis of the person's an- swers,

• a result of the test is presented in the form of said parameter values such that the parameters are divided into main groups, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that said parameters are divided into three main groups, wherein

• a first main group comprises parameters describing the person's cognitive competence,

• a second main group comprises parameters describing the person's emotional competence,

• and a third main group comprises parameters describing the person's social competence.

2. A method according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r - i z e d in that the first main group is divided into two subgroups comprising parameters which describe the per^¬ son's thinking and the person's direction and goal, respectively.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the second main group is divided into two subgroups comprising parameters which describe the person's temperament and the person's sensitivity, respectively.

4. A method according to claims 1 - 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d that the third mam group is divided into two subgroups comprising parameters which describe the person's interaction and the person's norms and values, respectively.

5. A method according to claims 1 - 4, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that m direct connection with the m- dication of each parameter value concrete instructions are given on how the person can develop the characteristic concerned in dependence thereon.

6. A system for feedback of the result of a test of a person's personal characteristics, said system comprising a presentation of a plurality of parameters which each describe one point of the person's characteristics, said parameters being divided into mam groups, c h a r a c t e r i z e d m that said parameters are divided into three mam groups, wherein

• a first mam group comprises parameters describing the person's cognitive competence,

• a second mam group comprises parameters describing the person's emotional competence, • and a third mam group comprises parameters describing the person's social competence.

7. A system according to claim 6, c h a r a c t e r i z e d m that the first mam group is divided into two subgroups comprising parameters which describe the person's thinking and the person's direction and goal, respectively.

8. A system according to claim 6 or 7, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the second main group is divided into two subgroups comprising parameters which describe the person's temperament and the person's sensitivity, respectively.

9. A system according to claims 6 - 8, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the third main group is divided into two subgroups comprising parameters which describe the person's interaction and the person's norms and values, respectively.

10. A system according to claims 6 - 9, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that in direct connection with the in^¬ dication of each parameter value concrete instructions are given on how the person can develop the characteristic concerned in dependence thereon.

11. A system according to claims 6 - 10, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that said presentation is in printed form, and that an independent page is provided for each parameter.

12. A system according to claims 6 - 10, c h a r a c ^¬ t e r i z e d in that it is adapted to show said presen- tation on a computer screen, and that an independent screen picture is provided for each parameter.