Word Association Test (WAT) of SSB interview

Looking for Word Association Test (WAT) questions asked in SSB interviews? WAT test is very vital for cracking SSB. Read more about expected WAT words asked in SSB interview.

As we all know that SSB interview is all about testing the psychology of a candidate, to crack the SSB one need to do his best in Word Association Test.   Word Association Test or WAT is one of the crucial tests conducted by SSB interview board psychologists on the second day of SSB interview. This test is responsible to judge the mentality or personality of candidates. So let us see how personality of persons giving WAT test is evaluated.

• Check out online WAT practice sets

Seating plan in Word Association Test (WAT)

All candidates who are appearing for WAT test will be seated as per their chest numbers allotted by the SSB board in a room. There will be a projector on which candidates will be showed sequence of words of Word Association Test. All candidates will be given answer sheet on which they need to write the answers. Officer of SSB board will be there who will tell you do's and don'ts of WAT examination. So just listen carefully what the officer briefs in the instructions. 

Qualities tested in WAT exam of SSB interview

Mainly five personality qualities of candidates are tested in WAT by SSB psychology officers. All these personalty traits tested are linked with Officer Like Qualities i.e., OLQs. So based on the answers given by candidates, trained and experienced psychologists will judge whether a candidate has OLQs in him or not.    Following qualities are checked in WAT test.

• Honesty
• Loyalty
• Secular
• Truthfulness
• Impartiality

In order to test whether the above mentioned OLQs are there in the aspirant, SSB follows olden approach where psychologists were deciding whether a person does have leader like qualities or not by conducting word association tests. The psychologists used to show or tell persons few words and were asked to write down the first thought that came in their mind when they heard / listened the said word. And based on the answers given by the candidates, they used to form an opinion about the respondents.    In the same fashion, Services Selection Board too depend on Word Association Test to decide whether candidates have OLQs in them or not. To test the genuineness of the answers, specially trained psychologists are appointed for evaluation. Also reaction time is reduced to the minimum possible time so that the candidates will not have time to recollect the practiced or mugged up sentences. So automatically all personality traits will come out according to the person.

Present approach of WAT followed by SSB interview boards

At present, SSB interview boards follow a crisp approach for conducting WAT. Total sixty (60) words will be displayed on the screen using a projector. Each word is displayed for fifteen seconds. Candidates have to see the word and have to write down a sentence which flashed first in their mind. Fifteen seconds is very less time to react. So there is little chance to mug up the sentences or reactions.

Candidates who have mugged up response sentences for few of the expected WAT words, will be tired and confused after five to ten words shown on the screen. Afterwards, they will not be able to answer remaining words and thus loose scoring in WAT exam of SSB interview. So best way to top in WAT exam is to give real answers or thoughts that come across your mind when you see a particular word.

Last but not least, all sentences written by the candidate will not fetch marks. Instead, few answers will fetch positive marks and some will fetch negative marks and others will fetch nil marks. So candidates needs to know few tips of answering WAT exam to score high marking in the SSB interview.