AFRICAN PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT CRITERIA: YORUBA EXAMPLE

Abstract

This analysis presents personality assessment criteria often used by the Yoruba as psychological tools to position an individual on the social responsibility scale and also to determine the norm compliant level of the Yoruba person. The study focused on four core criteria upon which such assessment is anchored, namely, (i) norm development at the family level, which is the foundation of the personality building block, (ii) socialization processes from childhood to adulthood, (iii) classification of personality types and (iv) sources of attribution values. This is a response to a yearning that seeks to integrate contextualized sociocultural beliefs and practices into personality assessment, counselling and psychotherapy.