Validating a short measure of personal intelligence: A multimethod assessment approach

Abstract

This study examined the validity of a brief measure of Personal Intelligence (PI): the Multidimensional Inventory of Personal Intelligence (MIPI-Short). PI is a broad personality trait consisting of separate dimensions of emotional intelligence (EI), social intelligence (SI), and motivational intelligence (MI). Using data from three independent samples, we assessed the construct validity of the MIPI-Short with measures of conceptually similar constructs (e.g., emotional intelligence, alexithymia) using a multimethod assessment approach (i.e., self-report, observer, and performance measures). The first sample, consisting of 257 undergraduates, examined relationships between the MIPI-Short and a widely used measure of trait EI. The second sample, consisting of 241 adults, examined relationships between the MIPI-Short and a performance-based measure of emotional and social competencies. The last sample assessed the relationship between the MIPI-Short and an observer-report measure of alexithymia in a sample of 74 couples. The MIPI-Short was found to account for 43 % of the variability in the trait EI measure. High scorers on the performance-based measure were found to have significantly higher scores on all MIPI-Short scales, and the pattern of relationships between PI and alexithymia matched prior work using only self-report measures for both constructs.