The study's purpose was to use the Adjective Check List (ACL), a self-administered personality assessment instrument, to determine whether there were response differences between a sample of Adult Basic Education (ABE) students and the general test norms. The ACL was administered to 142 students in ABE high school completion programs in Des Moines, Iowa and in several surrounding nonurban areas, validated and scored according to test instructions. On the basis of univariate "t" and multivariate Hotellings T-square analyses, it was concluded that there were significant differences between the adult sample's ACL score and the predicted norm on 14 of 24 test scales. The ACL provided a consistent personality attribute portrait of the sample. A comparison of the interpretations of each of the 14 significantly divergent normed means found none to be in psychological opposition. The ABE sample scores showed the students tended to be more anxious, worried, and critical of themselves and others; less self-confident; less adequately socialized; less satisfied with their current status, yet less certain about adventure and risk taking; more prone to action than to thinking; at times self-centered and insensitive to others; and less trusting while more calculating in interpersonal relationships. (JR)