Journal of personality assessment最新文献

Richardson, Beath, and Boag (this issue) developed a questionnaire designed to measure attachment-related defense mechanisms with considerable promise for research, practice, and training. Their robust design and the sophisticated psychometric techniques used to generate and validate the measure are notable. The goal of this commentary is to situate the measure in contemporary research on defenses, draw a distinction between defenses linked specifically to attachment and defenses more generally, and to stimulate a constructive dialogue with the Defense Mechanisms Rating Scales (DMRS; Di Giuseppe & Perry, 2021; Perry, 1990, 2014), a model and set of measures that has dominated defense mechanism research for half a century.

The Triarchic Model of Grit Scale (TMGS) was developed as an innovative measurement designed to evaluate general grit levels, encompassing perseverance of effort, consistency of interests, and adaptability to situations within a collectivism culture. The present study was undertaken with the aim of examining the factor structure, measurement invariance, empirical validity, and incremental validity of the TMGS among in a sample of Chinese adolescents (N = 997, 43.4% males, M_age = 16.64, SD_age = 1.05). The results revealed that the original three-factor model of TMGS exhibited the best fit to the data, and supported partial scalar invariance across gender. Additionally, the internal consistency values of the TMGS scores ranged from marginal to acceptable, and the stability coefficients across time were acceptable. Moreover, the TMGS scores showed satisfactory criterion-related validity, correlating with scores of external criteria variables (e.g., Grit-S, self-control, and big five personality). Finally, the TMGS scores demonstrated superior incremental validity in predicting academic burnout compared to conscientiousness. Overall, although further studies are needed, our findings suggested that the TMGS demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties within a collectivist culture and may serve as a promising tool for assessing grit levels in Chinese adolescents.

The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is the second most commonly used performance-based task. However, traditional TAT administration is time-consuming and raises accessibility issues. Research exploring administration modifications has found that within a lab setting, having participants type their own narratives leads to richer responses than when participants narrate the stories out loud to an examiner. The current study extends prior research by investigating the impact of card presentation (hard copy versus computer screen) and setting (in the lab versus online) on narrative quality. A four-card TAT protocol was administered to 134 college students in three separate conditions: in lab with hard copies of cards, in lab with images on the computer, and online in which participants could take the TAT wherever they wished. In all conditions, participants typed their narratives. The narratives were scored using the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale- Global Rating Method (SCORS-G). MANOVA procedures showed that SCORS-G ratings were not affected by card presentation or setting and add to prior work to suggest that the TAT can be administered online without a diminution in the quality of SCORS-G ratings at least with some populations.

In narrative identity research, variables are typically captured through detailed content-coding of personal narratives. Yet, alternative methods have been suggested, notably self-report scales, because they capture a participant's own interpretation of their personal narratives, and because they are efficient to administer as a supplement to more labor-intensive coding methods. This study developed and validated the Narrative Identity Self-Evaluation (NISE) questionnaire. In Study 1, the questionnaire was developed through exploratory factor analysis (n = 425) and its criterion validity examined. In Study 2, the NISE factor structure and criterion relationships were confirmed (n = 304). In Study 3 (based on the same sample as Study 1), content-coding of 11 narrative identity characteristics in open-ended personal story accounts was conducted, and NISE scores were compared to corresponding content-coded variables. The 20-item NISE has three factors replicating common dimensions in narrative identity (autobiographical reasoning, desire for structure, positive motivational/affective themes) and a novel fourth factor capturing disturbances of narrative identity. The NISE correlated in theoretically-coherent ways with content coded narrative identity variables, self-report traits, and measures relevant for narrative identity, self-concept, well-being, and psychopathology. We discuss the scale's advantages in complementing content-coding of narrative accounts to assess variation in narrative identity within both clinical and non-clinical populations.

Given the critical role of socio-emotional skills in students' academic success, psychological well-being, and other critical life outcomes, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) developed the Survey on Social and Emotional Skills (SSES) to measure these skills among school-age students. However, the broad conceptual scope of socio-emotional skills necessitated the use of a large number of items (i.e., 120 items) in the original SSES, which poses challenges regarding survey administration and participant fatigue. To address these issues, this study aimed to develop a short form of the SSES (i.e., SSES-SF). The sample included 29,798 15-year-old students across 10 regions. We developed a 45-item version of SSES-SF using the machine learning approach of genetic algorithm, which is 62.5% shorter than the original 120-item SSES. The reliability, construct validity, reproduced information, concurrent validity, and measurement invariance of the SSES-SF were investigated. We found that the SSES-SF demonstrated satisfactory reliability, construct validity, and concurrent validity. Furthermore, the SSES-SF was able to reproduce a substantial amount of information from the original full-form SSES and exhibited measurement invariance across genders, regions, and language groups. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Forced-choice (FC) questionnaires have gained scientific interest over the last decades. However, the inclusion of unequally keyed item pairs in FC questionnaires remains a subject of debate, as there is evidence supporting both their usage and avoidance. Designing unequally keyed pairs may be more difficult when considering social desirability, as they might allow the identification of ideal responses. Nevertheless, they may enhance the reliability and the potential for normative interpretation of scores. To empirically investigate this topic, data were collected from 1,125 undergraduate Psychology students who completed a personality item pool measuring the Big Five personality traits in Likert-type format and two FC questionnaires (with and without unequally keyed pairs). These questionnaires were compared in terms of reliability, convergent and criterion validity, and ipsativity of the scores, along with insights on the construction process. While constructing questionnaires with unequally keyed blocks presented challenges in matching items on their social desirability, the differences observed in terms of reliability, validity, or ipsativity were sporadic and lacked systematic patterns. This suggests that neither questionnaire format exhibited a clear superiority. Given these results, it is recommended using only equally keyed blocks to minimize potential validity issues associated with response biases.

Therapeutic Assessment (TA) is a relatively new, short-term intervention that uses psychological tests to address clients' persistent problems in living. The core feature of TA is that assessors and clients work collaboratively in all the phases of the process, and psychological tests are used as "empathy magnifiers" to help assessors understand clients' "dilemmas of change" and promote positive change. An "ultra-brief" TA protocol involving an Initial Session, Test Administration and Extended Inquiry, and Summary/Discussion Session was undertaken with three adult clients in China. A case-based time-series design with daily measures was used to assess the outcome of TA. Recruited in a natural setting, all 3 clients benefited from participation in the TA. These results suggest that Ultra-brief TA may be a promising treatment for Chinese adult clients with a variety of psychological concerns.

Language is a fundamental aspect of human culture that influences cognitive and perceptual processes. Prior evidence demonstrates personality self-report can vary across multilingual persons' language contexts. We assessed how cultural identification, language dominance, or both dynamically influence bilingual respondents' self-conception, via self-reported personality, across English and Spanish contexts. During separate English and Spanish conditions, 133 Hispanic/Latino bilingual participants (70 female) completed the Big Five Inventory of personality. We used language use and acculturation surveys completed in both languages to calculate participants' relative language dominance and identification with U.S.-American and Hispanic culture. Participants reported higher levels of agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism in English relative to Spanish. Language dominance predicted cross-language differences in personality report, with higher extraversion reported in participants' dominant language. Within each language, greater endorsement of U.S.-American identity was associated with higher extraversion and conscientiousness and lower reported neuroticism. Agreeableness report in both languages was positively predicted by Hispanic identification. Our results clarify existing literature related to language and cultural effects on personality report among U.S. Hispanics/Latinos. These findings could inform assessments of self-relevant cognitions across languages among bilingual populations and hold relevance for health outcomes affected by cultural processes.

Coefficient alpha estimates the degree to which scale scores reflect systematic variation due to one or more common dimensions. Coefficient beta, on the other hand, estimates the degree to which scale scores reflect a single dimension common among all the items; that is, the target construct a scale attempts to measure. As such, the magnitude of beta, relative to alpha, informs on the ability to meaningfully interpret derived scale scores as reflecting a single construct. Despite its clear interpretative usefulness, coefficient beta is rarely reported and, perhaps, not well understood. As such, we first describe how coefficient alpha and beta are analogues to model-based reliability coefficients omega total and omega hierarchical. We then demonstrate with simulated data how these indices function under a variety of data structures. Finally, we perform a hierarchical cluster analysis of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire's Stress Reaction Scale, estimating alpha and beta, as clusters form. This demonstrates a chief advantage of alpha and beta; they do not require a formal structural model. Moreover, we illustrate how scales that primarily are based on sets of homogeneous item clusters can "ramp up" to yield reliable scores with conceptual breadth and predominantly reflect the intended target construct.