Pressey X-O Test of Emotion and Personality: First standardized attitude test

About the Pressey X-O Test of Emotion and Personality

By 1920 it was clear that intelligence was not the only individually-varying psychological trait that could be measured. Could attitudes, emotional reactions, and personality also be measured with paper-and-pencil instruments? Sidney Pressey, a young psychologist at Ohio State, set out to answer this question.

Pressey's X-O Test consisted of long lists of words and phrases. The subject crossed out (X) items they considered 'wrong' or 'unpleasant' and circled (O) items they considered 'pleasant' or 'right'. Different sections tested different attitudes: moral judgments, aesthetic preferences, fears, interests. The pattern of X's and O's was scored and could be compared to norms.

The Pressey X-O Test was not a great success on its own terms - the scoring proved unreliable - but it was the first widely-used standardized measure of attitudes and personality, and it pioneered the format that would later be refined into the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI, 1943) and other modern personality scales. Pressey himself went on to develop the first 'teaching machine' in 1924.

The 4 subtests

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Sample items from the original Pressey X-O Test.

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Source

All test materials and historical content on this page are transcribed from:

Pressey, S. L. (1921). A group scale for investigating the emotions. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 16, 55-64.

Public domain. Sidney Pressey (1888-1979) was an early innovator in educational testing technology - he also developed the first 'teaching machine' for programmed learning in 1924.