Journal of personality assessment
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Comparative Study
Measuring epistemic curiosity and its diversive and specific components.
A questionnaire constructed to assess epistemic curiosity (EC) and perceptual curiosity (PC) curiosity was administered to 739 undergraduates (546 women, 193 men) ranging in age from 18 to 65. The study participants also responded to the trait anxiety, anger, depression, and curiosity scales of the State-Trait Personality Inventory (STPI; Spielberger et al., 1979) and selected subscales of the Sensation Seeking (SSS; Zuckerman, Kolin, Price, & Zoob, 1964) and Novelty Experiencing (NES; Pearson, 1970) scales. Factor analyses of the curiosity items with oblique rotation identified EC and PC factors with clear simple structure. ⋯ Divergent validity was demonstrated by minimal correlations with trait anxiety and the sensation-seeking measures, and essentially zero correlations with the STPI trait anger and depression scales. Male participants had significantly higher scores on the EC scale and the NES External Cognition subscale (effect sizes of r =.16 and.21, respectively), indicating that they were more interested than female participants in solving problems and discovering how things work. Male participants also scored significantly higher than female participants on the SSS Thrill-and-Adventure and NES External Sensation subscales (r =.14 and.22, respectively), suggesting that they were more likely to engage in sensation-seeking activities.
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Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Item placement on a personality measure: effects on faking behavior and test measurement properties.
Although personality tests are widely used to select applicants for a variety of jobs, there is concern that such measures are fakable. One procedure used to minimize faking has been to disguise the true intent of personality tests by randomizing items such that items measuring similar constructs are dispersed throughout the test. In this study, we examined if item placement does influence the fakability and psychometric properties of a personality measure. ⋯ Results indicate that the grouped item placement format was more fakable for the Neuroticism and Conscientiousness scales. The test with items randomly placed fit the data better within the honest and applicant conditions. These findings demonstrate that the issue of item placement should be seriously considered before administering personality measures because different item presentations may affect the incidence of faking and the psychometric properties of the measure.
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This research explores the scale development process for the MMPI-2 Wiener and Harmon (1946) Subtle subscales for Depression (D) and Hysteria (Hy) to provide insight into why certain items were included on these scales and were subsequently but inappropriately assumed to be subtle indicators of the same pathology that the Obvious items measure. In this research, I also explore what the Subtle scales on D and Hy measure and their potential utility for the interpretation of their parent scales and the "neurotic triad." It was hypothesized that the D and Hy Subtle subscales are related to denial, repression, or both and this hypothesis was supported. ⋯ It was also found that they had strong negative correlations with scales on the MMPI-2 and Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-II; Millon, 1987) that are related to symptom endorsement, which can be considered the opposite of denial or repression. In addition, ratings of the Subtle items on D and Hy by clinical psychology residents were consistent with the hypothesis that these items reflect a denial of psychological or physical dysfunction.
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Wood et al.'s (1999b) article contained several general points that are quite sound. Conducting research with an extreme groups design does produce effect sizes that are larger than those observed in an unselected population. Appropriate control groups are important for any study that wishes to shed light on the characteristics of a targeted experimental group and experimental validity is enhanced when researchers collect data from both groups simultaneously. ⋯ They continued to use this formula despite being informed that it was incorrect. Subsequently, Wood et al. told readers that their faulty z-score formula was "incompatible" with the proper weighted formula and asserted that the two formulas "do not yield identical results" and "do not yield HEV scores that are identical or even very close." These published claims were made even though Wood et al. had seen the results from eight large samples, all of which demonstrated that their wrong formula had correlations greater than .998 with the correct formula. At worst, it seems that Wood et al. (199
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The use of the MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstron, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) with minorities has been questioned due to potential misinterpretations related to cultural differences. This study examined acculturative differences among Asian American college students and their scores on the validity and clinical scales. A sample of Asian American students (n = 90) was assigned to groups based on acculturation level. ⋯ These differences were clinically interpretable with a range from 6.46 to 21.65 T-score points. High-acculturated Asian Americans did not differ from Whites. Cultural variables to be considered when interpreting Asian American profiles are discussed.