Which of the following is a particular disadvantage of self-report personality inventories?

• A. Respondents may intentionally provide socially desirable answers rather than truthful ones.
• B. They are always more expensive than projective tests.
• C. They require extensive clinical interviews for administration.
• D. They are unable to assess any aspect of personality.

Answer: (A)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand what self-report personality inventories are: these are questionnaires where individuals answer questions about their own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to assess personality traits.
2. Recognize that a key limitation of self-report inventories is the potential for response bias, especially social desirability bias, where respondents may answer in a way that they think is more socially acceptable rather than being completely truthful.
3. Evaluate the other options by considering their accuracy: self-report inventories are generally less expensive than projective tests, do not require extensive clinical interviews for administration, and are indeed designed to assess various aspects of personality.
4. Conclude that the particular disadvantage highlighted is the tendency for respondents to provide socially desirable answers, which can compromise the validity of the results.
5. Remember that this limitation is important when interpreting results from self-report inventories and when designing studies or assessments that rely on them.