Measurement of Personality via Conditional Reasoning

People often rely on reasoning processes whose purpose is to enhance the logical appeal of their behavioral choices. These reasoning processes will be referred to as justification mechanisms. People favor only certain types of behaviors and develop justification mechanisms to support them because these behaviors allow them to express underlying dispositions. People with different dispositions are prone to develop different justification mechanisms. Reasoning that varies among individuals due to the use of these different justification mechanisms is described as conditional. A new system for measuring dispositional tendencies, or personality, was based on conditional reasoning. This system was applied to develop measures of achievement motivation and aggression. Initial tests suggested that the measurement system is valid. An additional study examined relationships between conditional reasoning and both self-report and projective measurements of the motives to achieve and to avoid failure.