Wednesday, January 24, 2007

A Personality Questionnaire for Traders

Recent research highlights the role of our emotional experience in our health, well-being, and job performance.

The following questionnaire asks you to assess your emotional experience during your trading. Specifically, you'll be rating how often you've experienced the following feelings over the past two weeks. Below, I'll explain how to score the questionnaire; please complete the items before looking at the scoring. My next post will explain how to interpret your results.

Please use the following scale for your responses:

1 = rarely
2 = occasionally
3 = sometimes
4 = often
5 = most of the time


1) I feel happy when I'm trading _____
2) I feel stressed when I'm trading _____
3) I feel alert and energetic when I'm trading _____
4) I feel discouraged when I'm trading _____
5) I feel capable of succeeding at my trading _____
6) I blame myself when my trading doesn't work out _____
7) I feel satisfied with my trading results _____
8) I feel edgy and frustrated when I'm trading _____
9) I feel in control of what happens in my trading _____
10) I make impulsive decisions when I'm trading _____




SCORING

Add the scores for the odd items. That is your positive emotional experience score: _____
Add the scores for the even items. That is your negative emotional experience score: ____


The ratio of your positive to negative experience is one of the most important psychological contributors to your trading performance. My next posting will explain why.