The effects of different response option orders on survey responses have been studied extensively. The typical research design involves examining the differences in response characteristics between conditions with the same item stems and response option orders that differ in valence--either incrementally arranged (e.g., strongly disagree to…

The questionnaire method has always been an important research method in psychology. The increasing prevalence of multidimensional trait measures in psychological research has led researchers to use longer questionnaires. However, questionnaires that are too long will inevitably reduce the quality of the completed questionnaires and the efficiency…

Many psychometric measures yield data that are compatible with (a) an essentially unidimensional factor analysis solution and (b) a correlated-factor solution. Deciding which of these structures is the most appropriate and useful is of considerable importance, and various procedures have been proposed to help in this decision. The only fully…

Previous research has found the effects of acquiescence to be generally consistent across item "aggregates" within a single survey (i.e., essential tau-equivalence), but it is unknown whether this phenomenon is consistent at the" individual item" level. This article evaluated the often assumed but inadequately tested…

The NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) is often used in field-based research and clinical studies as it is designed to measure the same personality dimensions as the longer NEO Personality Inventory in a shorter time frame. In this study, the authors examined the reliability and structural validity of the NEO-FFI scores at the item level in a…

A major stumbling block for emotional intelligence (EI) research has been the lack of adequate evidence for discriminant validity. In a sample of 280 dyads, self- and peer-reports of EI and Big Five personality traits were used to confirm an a priori four-factor model for the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) and a five-factor…

The potential importance of suppressor variables in the personality domain was studied in classifying white-collar criminals with a validation sample of 435 prisoners and a cross-validation sample of 214. Results suggest that suppressor variables can increase prediction and may contribute to knowledge and theory development. (SLD)

Results of this study indicate that VPI acquiescence scale scores are suspect as indicators of the response style of acquiescence. (Author)

Study was undertaken to assess the factorial validity of the RSAP by comparing the original scales with empirically determined ones. (Authors)

Develops and illustrates a method for clustering hierarchically the interrelationships between many persons, as represented in a matrix of a thousand by a thousand. (RC)

Reprint requests should be directed to the author, Department of Psychology, LSUNO-Lakefront, New Orleans, Louisiana 70122. An ALDOUS user's manual is available. (Author/CB)

The runs test for random sequences of responding is proposed for application in long inventories with dichotomous items as an index of sterotyped responding. This index is useful for detecting whether the client shifts between response alternatives more or less frequently than would be expected by chance. (LMO)

Separate groups of judges rated the degree of autonomy, impulsivity and desirability in a set of 60 items comprising 20 items from each of the three scales. Results indicated that the judges were able, through their ratings, to identify the scales to which the items belonged. The results were discussed in relation to facet analysis, and the…

Explored the utility and meaning of the imaginary audience phenomenon in 2 studies involving 207 and 101college students. Results show that the Imaginary Audience Scale (D. Elkind and R. Bowen, 1979) meets conventional standards of validity and reliability, and that imaginary audience behavior is related to social anxiety, the self, and…