Assess psychological traits with a full sphere of descriptive adjectives
Harrison G. Gough & Alfred B. Heilbrun, Jr.
Main ACL product page * Full ACL Standard Scales * Uses of the ACL * ACL Research & Uses * About the ACL * Standard ACL Products * Web-Based Products * ACL for Research * ACL Assessment Scales (brief)
Uses of the ACL
Self Description
The most frequent application of the ACL is to obtain self-descriptions. The self-description method typically generates the thirty-seven scales in the ACL profile.
Descriptions from Observers
The ACL is used to describe individuals who have been interviewed or observed in specific situations. For example, one is asked to describe significant others (spouse, parent, child, etc.) or persons they have observed in various situations or roles. The method could be used, for example, to compare the manner in which well-known politicians are perceived by their public.
Self and Observer
If both self description and other description are obtained, a comparison can be made between the different perspectives. The ACL manual describes several indexes such as Insight that can be derived from this method. For example, with the Intropunitiveness index, low scores are self-enhancing and high scores are self-detracting.
Assessing the Ideal Self
The real self reflects immediate circumstances, experiences, and self characterization. The ideal self relates to the future by setting goals to which the individual aspires. A number of researchers have looked at these differing perspectives and the implications in, for example, client centered counseling, personal adjustment, occupational groups, and gender.
Historiography
The ACL can be used in researching cultural archetypes, those individuals whom society has identified as instrumental in the shaping of its history and who have become psychological models of what society admires or what it rejects. An example can be seen in D.K. Simonton, Presidential Personality: Biographical Use of the Gough Adjective Check List. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1986, 51, 149-160.
Environmental and Consumer Psychology
The item pool can be used to characterize a variety of non-person concepts which, nevertheless, can be meaningfully personified. One example was the use of the ACL to study environmental topics in which a class in introductory psychology described the cities of Rome and Paris. Another example was to describe Fiat and Volkswagen automobiles.
Descriptions of Stereotypes
The ACL has frequently been used in studies of stereotypes and beliefs. Some studies have been applied to beliefs about men, women, persons in particular occupations and professions and even specialties within professions such as medical specialties. Clinical categories have been described by the ACL such as one study in which more-experienced and less-experienced therapists were asked to characterize a typical female schizophrenic patient.
Gender Roles
The ACL was selected as the gender role measurement in an large international study as document in Measuring Sex Steroeotypes: A multinational study (1990) by John E. Williams and Deborah L. Best. “This book reports the results of an extensive cross-cultural research project. Our objectives were to identify the beliefs commonly held in many cultures about the psychological characteristics associated with men and women and to examine these sex-trait stereotypes for evidence of cross-national similarities and differences.” (Preface)
Cross-Cultural Applications
The ACL is available in a number of languages (see complete list here) and a number of studies have used the ACL to describe cultural differences. A good example is
J.E. Williams, R.C. Satterwhite, & J.L. Saiz, 1998. The Importance of Psychological Traits: A Cross-Cultural Study. New York: Plenum Press
ACL Research and Uses - Examples
Personality Description
Portraits of Type: An MBTI Research Compendium
Authors Avril Thorne and Harrison Gough review and discuss more than 30 years of research with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® assessment tool at the Institute of Personality Assessment and Research (IPAR). The IPAR method of assessing personality includes self-report personality and cognitive instruments, as well as observational measures. The results provide an unparalleled depth of information about the MBTI instrument and the 16 personality types as observed by others. Students can use the information as a basis for understanding characteristics and tendencies of personality types. The IPAR method includes the description of MBTI types by showing the ten most characteristic and least characteristic ACL items for the types. An appendix includes the correlations of IPAR staff descriptions of subjects between each of the 300 ACL adjectives and the four MBTI scales separately for men and women.
CPI™ Manual, Third Edition
The California Psychological Inventory (CPI) Manual includes chapters on the interpretation of the Folk Scales and the three Vector Scales, illustrative case analysis, reliability and factor analysis, and the detection of invalid protocols, eight specialized appendices, and an update on recent research (2002). The CPI Manual includes ACL adjective descriptions by observers. The 12 most salient positive and 12 most salient negative correlations with each scale. An appendix includes the correlations of CPI scales with adjectival descriptions by observers.
ACL as a self-report device
Vidoni, D.O. Factor analytic scales of the Adjective Check List (ACL) replicated across samples: Implications for validity. Education and Psychological Measurement, 1977, 37, 535-9.
FormyDuval, D.L., Williams, J.E., Patterson, D.J., & Fogle, E.E. A “Big Five” scoring system for the item pool of the Adjective Check List. Journal of Personality Assessment, 1994, 65, 59-76.
John, O.P. The search for basic dimensions of personality. In P. McReynolds, J.C. Rosen, & C.J. Chelune (Eds.), Advances in psychological assessment, 1990, Vol 7, 1-37. New York: Plenum.
Schaefer, C. Self-concept of creative girls: A twenty-five year follow-up, Psychological Reports, 1990, 67, 683-686.
Diagnostic Problems
Harris, M.G., & Messinger, J.H. Personality traits and failure in wearing contact lenses. American Journal of Optometry and Archives of American Academy of Optometry
Occupational choice and work preference
Hollander, M.A., & Parker, H.J. Occupational stereotypes and self-descriptions: Their relationship to vocational choice. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 1972, 2, 57-65.
Zimet, C.N., & Held, M.D. The development of views of specialties during four years of medical school, Journal of Medical Education, 1975, 50, 157-166.
Political phenomena
Costantini, E., & Craik, K.H. Personality and politicians: California party leaders, 1960-1976. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1980, 38, 641-661.
Simonton, D.K. Presidential personality: Biographical use of the Gough Adjective Check List. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,1990, 51, 149-160.
Psychopathology and clinical issues
Cartwright, R.D., Lloyd, S., & Wicklund, J. Identifying early dropouts from psychotherapy. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, and Practice, 1980, 17, 263-267.
Kilmann, P.R., Personality characteristics of female narcotic addicts. Psychological Reports, 1974, 35, 485-486.
Self-ideal congruence
Gough, H.G., Fioravanti, M. & Lazzari, R. Some implications of self versus ideal-self congruence on the revised Adjective Check List, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1983. 44, 1214-1220.
Special concepts
Wink, P. & Helson, R. Personality and transcendant wisdom: Their nature and some longitudinal findings. Journal of Adult Development, 1997, 4, 1-15.
Williams, J.E. & Best, D.L. Measuring sex stereotypes: A multinational study. 1990, Beverly Hills: Sage.