Which of the following is a primary type of assessment tool used in personality psychology?

Self-report inventories are a primary type of assessment tool used in personality psychology due to their standardized format and the ability to gather quantifiable data about an individual's personality traits, attitudes, and behaviors. These inventories often present respondents with a series of statements, and individuals indicate their level of agreement or frequency of certain behaviors on a scale, allowing for a comprehensive assessment of personality dimensions.

The reliability and validity of self-report inventories make them valuable tools in both research and clinical settings, as they can provide insights into a person's self-perceptions and personality characteristics. Well-known examples include the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) and the Big Five personality traits assessment.

While other methods such as case studies, observational methods, and clinical interviews contribute to understanding personality, they lack the systematic, quantitative approach that self-report inventories provide. Case studies offer a more in-depth qualitative exploration of individual cases, observational methods focus on behavior in naturalistic settings, and clinical interviews rely on direct interaction and interpretation, making them more subjective than self-report measures. Therefore, self-report inventories are considered a foundational tool in personality assessment.