Exploring the Effects of Tape-Recording on Personality Assessment

This study examined the possible influence of audio and video recording of personality assessment measures on anxiety. Undergraduate students in psychology were randomly assigned to Audiotape, Videotape, or Control conditions and given the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Rorschach Inkblot Method. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance indicated no significant differences among these conditions on the Spielberger, et al. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, A-State scale, and five Rorschach measures of situational anxiety. Tape-recording itself did not seem to affect the anxiety indices of these frequently used personality assessments.