Showing papers in "Journal of Personality Assessment in 1981"

The Narcissistic Personality Inventory: alternative form reliability and further evidence of construct validity.

Abstract: The aim of this study was twofold: (a)to measure the alternate form reliability of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, and (b)to determine its construct validity by correlating it with the four scales of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). The alternate form reliability was .72. The Extraversion and Psychoticism scales of the EPQ were positively and significantly correlated with the narcissism measure, and the Lie scale showed a significant negative correlation. The Neuroticism scale showed a nonsignificant relationship with narcissism. In addition, the combined Extraversion and Psychoticism scales produced[ a Multiple R with the narcissism measure that accounted for significantly more of the variance in narcissism than did either measure alone.

Measurement of Creativity: Review and Critique

Abstract: Presently available criteria of creativity are reviewed and classified into ten categories: tests of divergent thinking, attitude and interest inventories, personality inventories, biographical inventories, teacher nominations, peer nominations, supervisor ratings, judgments of products, eminence and self-reported creative activities and achievements. These techniques for measuring creativity are then criticized in terms of their reliability, discriminant validity, dimensionality and convergent validity. It is concluded that an inventory of self-reported creative activities and accomplishments is the most defensible technique for selecting creative individuals.

Reliability and validity of four anger scales.

Abstract: To assess the test-retest reliability of four anger scales: the Buss Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI), the Reaction Inventory (RI), the Anger Self Report (ASR), and the Anger Inventory (NI), 60 student volunteers were twice administered the four inventories (two weeks apart). They also filled out a Personal Incidents Record of all anger-provoking incidents for two weeks of their daily life, and participated in imaginal and role-play laboratory provocations, after which physiological readings and self-reports of anger arousal were assessed. The BDHI and RI evidenced good test-retest reliability, the ASR fair reliability, and the NI poor reliability. Many ASR subscales demonstrated good predictive validity. The RI and BDHI possessed some ability to predict the experience of anger, but most of the BDHI subscales did not seem to be measuring specific states or behavior. The NI did not correlate with any of the criterion measures.

A reanalysis of two scales of tolerance of ambiguity.

Abstract: Important reviews of the tolerance of ambiguity literature have shown that the concept has become overextended and its elements remain unsupported by the confused data collected, and scales with inadequate psychometric performance have been used. In the present study 631 subjects responded to Budner's (1962) test of Intolerance of Ambiguity and MacDonald's (1970) revision of Rydell and Rosen's (1966) Tolerance of Ambiguity Scale. These scales were chosen because they seemed somewhat less suspect than others. Tests of other personality dimensions which the literature reviews suggested were likely correlates of intolerance of ambiguity were also included. Initial results were uneven and inconclusive. After using item analysis to reduce the tests, more logical and consistent results were obtained. These help to clarify the concept, differentiating sharply between its supposed primary and secondary elements. Three studies in which the reduced tests were used with desirable results are reported.

Dimensionality and reliability of the Rotter I-E locus of control scale.

Abstract: The dimensionality and reliability of Rotter's internal-external control scale was examined using Australian students. The results imply that the scale is not additive but multidimensional. Two distinct largely independent factors relating to personal and political control beliefs were extracted. General control concerns the belief that a person has mastery over his own life while political control includes items which measure the extent to which an individual is capable. of having an influence on political institutions or the course of world affairs. On retesting, 8 of the 9 General Control items loaded on the same first factor. All 5 of the Political Control items loaded on the second factor. Test-retest reliability of the I-E scale was .61. These results suggest that the Rotter Scale itself, and its two factor structure, are stable over a considerable period of time.

Authoritarianism, dominance and assertiveness.

Abstract: It is shown that there are definitions of the three constructs of authoritarianism, dominance and assertiveness which read very similarly; so much so that no distinction is immediately evident. It is proposed that authoritarianism might be conceived as aggressive dominance and at least some types of assertiveness as nonaggressive dominance. A new scale of Dominance suitable for general population use was produced, and compared with the existing Ray (1976) behavior inventory of authoritarianism. Both scales showed highly significant correlations with peer rated dominance and submission (the latter being negative in sign) but only the authoritarianism scale showed significant correlations with rated aggressiveness and rigidity. It was concluded that the new definitions could be operationalized into valid scales.

Assessment of private and public self-consciousness: a Dutch replication.

Abstract: In the present article a replication of a study by Fenigstein, Scheier and Buss (1975), who constructed a Self-Consciousness Scale (SCS), is reported. The SCS was translated into Dutch, and its properties and its relation to Locus of Control was investigated. The norms and reliability coefficients presented are consistent with prior research. Also the results of a factor analysis that yielded the three factors: Private, Public Self-consciousness, and Social Anxiety are consistent with these findings. However, Private Self-consciousness did not correlate significantly with Locus of Control.

Oral dependence and dependent behavior.

Abstract: Eighty undergraduates were asked to solve a series of difficult puzzles, with the instructions that they could ask for help as often as necessary. Half the subjects had an experimenter of the same sex and half of the opposite sex. The subjects were categorized as high or low dependent based on the percentage of oral dependent responses they gave on the Rorschach test. The results indicated that while the male subjects generally performed as predicted (with high oral dependent males asking for help more than low oral dependent males), the opposite results were obtained for females. Additional analyses suggested that what has been called oral dependence consists of at least two factors that relate in different ways to other variables.

Locus of control and its relationship to anxiety and depression.

Abstract: This study proposed that the low-order-correlations reported in the literature between externality and two indices of pathology would be heightened if the externality construct was differentiated into defensive and congruent externality. Defensive externals, who have low expectations of success in achieving valued goals and adopt external beliefs as a defense against feelings of personal failure, should be prone to anxiety; congruent externals, with their sincere belief that reinforcement is not contingent upon their own behavior, fit into the "learned helplessness" paradigm and should become depressed. Sixty male and female college undergraduates were selected as Internal, Defensive External, and Congruent External subjects on the basis of their scores on Levenson's Internal, Powerful Others, and Chance scales, and administered the Self-rating Depression Scale and the Achievement Anxiety Test. Results of the study are equivocal. Congruent externality does manifest a significant positive correlation with ...

Field-dependence, sensation-seeking, and preference of paintings.

Abstract: College students (122 males and 88 females) completed the Group Embedded Figures Test measure of field-dependence, and Sensation-Seeking Scale, and performed preference ratings on 40 slides of paintings. Factor analysis revealed six hypothesized and one unhypothesized preference dimensions that underlay preference ratings of paintings. It was hypothesized that the cognitive structuring ability associated with field-dependence would result in certain relationships between field-dependence and preference for paintings. Further, it was hypothesized that preference for novel, complex, and dynamic experiences, associated with sensation-seeking, would result in certain relationships between sensation-seeking and preference for paintings. For the full sample, three of five hypothesized relationships between field-dependence and preference for paintings were obtained, while three of four hypothesized relationships were found between sensation-seeking and preference for paintings.

Rorschach simulation of mental illness and normality by psychotic and nonpsychotic legal offenders.

Abstract: The ability of subjects, within four diagnostic classifications, to alter Rorschach responses as a result of varied instructions was investigated. Forty-eight prison inmates at the Utah State Prison and the Forensic Unit at the Utah State Hospital were selected on the basis of their being in one of four diagnostic groups: (a) nonschizophrenic, (b) latent schizophrenic, (c) residual schizophrenic, (d) schizophrenic-psychotic. Subjects were administered the Rorschach twice, once with the instruction to respond as if they were normal and well-adjusted, and once with the instruction to respond as if they were seriously mentally ill or psychotic. A counter-balanced design was used. The variables and ratios ep, bl, P, IC, and dramatic responses were changed as a result of instructions. In addition, there were significant differences on 21 of 48 variables within the four diagnostic groups. An independent judge accurately differentiated protocols according to instructions and diagnostic groups. When subjects were simulating normality, more popular responses were given. When mental illness was simulated, there were more dramatic responses including the use of blood, mutilation, and hatred. Finally, it should be noted that the different diagnostic groups accounted for many more significant findings than did the varied instructions, reaffirming the discriminative ability of the Rorschach irrespective of instructions.

Orality and latency of volunteering to serve as experimental subjects.

Abstract: A comparison was made of the oral content of Rorschach scores of male Introductory Psychology students who signed up for experiments in the first half of the semester with those who did not sign up until the second half of the semester Those who participated early in the semester saw more oral images than those who waited until late in the semester to participate (p = 02) The implications of this finding are discussed

Behavioral observation of children during play therapy: preliminary development of a research instrument.

Abstract: There is a need for a measure of children's playroom behavior to assess areas of functioning relevant to diagnosis, therapy process, and outcome, as discussed in clinical literature. This study concerned the development of a Play Therapy Observational Instrument designed to meet criteria specified as necessary for such a measure. Two nonclinicians were trained in the observation and scoring of 31 child behaviors. The observations were made on video tapes and transcripts of ongoing play therapy sessions. Results indicated that 13 of the behaviors were scored with a high level of interjudge reliability. These reliable scores formed three statistically valid and theoretically meaningful subscales: emotional discomfort, use of fantasy play as a coping method, and the quality of the child's interaction with the therapist. Children's scale scores were sufficiently stable within sessions and across two therapy sessions to indicate that they reflected individual differences. Relationships between scales were assessed and discussed in the light of theoretical controversies. Implications for future research were discussed.

Clinical prediction of medical rehospitalization: psychological assessment with the Battery of Asthma Illness Behavior.

Abstract: Psychomaintenance in chronic illness refers to the perpetuation of chronicity or the defeat of medical management because of psychological, as opposed to strictly physical, reasons. The Battery of Asthma Illness Behavior (BAIB) has been developed to assess psychomaintenance potentials among chronic asthmatics. In this study of 57 adult asthmatic patients, the clinical utility of the BAIB was assessed by having two psychologists predict the likelihood of rehospitalization within six months following intensive medical treatment. Independent, blind predictions using the BAIB, but in the absence of any demographic or medical information, enabled hit rates of 70% and 84% by the psychologists. Moreover, the predictions were independent of the objective severity of the patients' asthma, indicating that the clinical judgments were not merely readings of the patients' asthma severity on the basis of the BAIB scores. The need for rapid, clinical assessment of psychological factors maintaining chronic illness was di...

Family environment and its relation to adolescent personality factors.

Abstract: Investigated the relationship between family social climate characteristics and adolescent personality functioning. The High School Personality Questionnaire (HSPQ) was administered to 80 high school students. These students and their parents also completed the Family Environment Scale (FES). Results of a stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that one or more HSPQ scales had significant associations with each FES scale. Significant variance in child behavior was attributed to family social system functioning; however, no single family variable accounted for a major portion of the variance to the exclusion of other factors. It was concluded that child behavior varies with total system functioning, more than with separate system factors.

A Free Response Test of Interpersonal Effectiveness

Abstract: Development of the Interpersonal Problem Solving Assessment Technique (IPSAT), College form, is described. Guided by Rotter's Social Learning Theory, problem-solving, and assertiveness research, a semi-structured free response format was designed to assess components of interpersonal effectiveness, The instrument yields patterns of self-reported behaviors in six classes of problematic social situations. A detailed manual enabled reliable scoring of the following response categories: Effectiveness, avoidance, appropriateness, dependency and solution productivity. Scores were not materially affected by sex, verbal ability, or social desirability response sets. Correlations with the College Self-Expression Scale, the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule and the Lanyon Psychological Screening Inventory provided initial evidence of validity. Comparison of mean IPSAT scores of 23 psychotherapy clients with those of 78 normative subjects showed that clients report less interpersonal effectiveness and more avoida...

Comparison of three psychological defense mechanism questionnaires.

Abstract: The Defense Mechanisms Inventory (DMI), the Coping Operations Preference Enquiry (COPE), and the scales developed by Joffe and Naditch (J&N) were compared using multitraitmultimethod logic. Convergent validity was tow as measures of the same defense were not highly correlated across instruments. Similar patterns of correlations occurred within instruments but the J&N scales, and particularly the DMI scales, had high interscale correlations so overall discriminant validity was limited. These results suggest that either the defense constructs or at least some of the defense scales studied lack validity. Another possibility is that the scales are valid, but assess different parameters of defensiveness (e.g., intensity versus breadth of use of mechanisms). Comparisons of the scales' predictive validity should help resolve these points.

An MMPI Typology of Male Alcoholics: Admission, Discharge and Outcome Comparisons

Abstract: The admission MMPI profiles of approximately half of 337 male alcoholics treated at the Hazelden Foundation (Center City, Minnesota) were classifiable into four groups: neurotic, classic alcoholic@ psychopathic, and psychotic. The discharge MMPI profiles of the neurotic, classic, and psychotic types showed foreshortening but maintained their basic configurations. The psychopathic type's discharge MMPI profile showed no major change either in elevation or shape. Several biodemographic and treatment outcome differences were found among the four profile types.

Methodological issues in the quantitative analysis of dream content.

Abstract: Reviews measurement approaches applied to dream reports and proposes some methodological cautions that may result in more effective utilization of the dream report in research and assessment. Standardization of dream collection techniques and controls for variability in the length of dream reports are suggested. Further investigation of the intraindividual consistency of dream report measures is seen as necessary for a discussion of their validity. Though there are indications that a variety of dream report measures are potentially valid for psychological assessment, measures based on general dream report characteristics show greater promise than specific content analysis. Research on the differences between normal and disturbed subjects highlights the potential, and the problems, inherent in the use of dream reports as tools of psychological inquiry.

Reliability of the Sentence Completion Test of Ego Development in a Clinical Population

Abstract: Interrater and internal consistency reliability of Loevinger's sentence completion test of ego development is examined within a psychology clinic population consisting of relatively pure types of neurotic, psychotic, and character disordered groups. Reliability study of the instrument suggests it is generalizable across populations, thusly supporting the reasonableness of further research with the test in clinical contexts.

The relationship of two measures of perceived control to depression.

Abstract: Investigated the general hypothesis that assessment of control perceptions as a factor in depression should involve measurement of both generalized expectancies and currently experienced control. Sixty-two college students completed the Rotter I-E scale, the Tiffany Experienced Control Scale (E-C) and the Beck Depression inventory (BDI). Results indicated that the E-C dimensions of experienced control over internal (OI) and over external (OE) forces interacted with I-E scores in predicting depression. In each case, internals with high experienced control reported less depression than low control internals and both high and low control externals. Implications for use of I-E and E-C scores in planning and evaluating treatment of depressives are discussed, and suggestions for future research on the utility of the E-C scale are presented.

A measure of interpersonal orientation: the Linking People Scale.

Abstract: A 15-item Likert scale, the Liking People Scale, was developed to measure that aspect of interpersonal orientation Liking people is conceived as a personality construct which serves a mediational function in social interaction Three cumulative studies are reported The samples include college students in two regions of the country and a random sample of adults from a large metropolitan area People low on Liking People spend less time with others, are more socially anxious, tend to be introverted, and are less adept at judging the characteristics of other people The relationship of Liking People to other measures of affiliative characteristics is examined

A Hebrew version of the Depression Adjective Check Lists.

Abstract: In order to develop a Hebrew version of the Depression Adjective Check Lists (DACL) for use in research, the lists were translated by linguists and the adequacy of the translations determined. Reliability (split-half, alternate form, internal consistency, and test-retest) of translated lists E, F, and G were sufficiently high in the case of the first three and sufficiently low in the case of test-retest reliability of the state DACL. Concurrent validity was determined in three separate samples: correlations with (a) a 7-point self-rating scale of depression, (b) the MMPI-D Scale, (c) the Bradburn Scale of Psychological Well-being, the Cantril Self-anchoring Striving Scale, and the Katz Social Adjustment Symptom Subscale, and demographic variables. Magnitude of correlations were sufficiently high and in the expected direction. Also, correlations with part scores of the Bradburn Scale of Well-being demonstrated the discriminant validity of the Hebrew version of the DACL.

Body Image Concerns of Psoriasis Patients As Reflected in Human Figure Drawings

Abstract: Human figure drawings of patients with severe (n = 85) and mild (n = 38) psoriasis were compared on dimensions of nudity, sexual overemphasis, and omissions of exposed body parts. For female patients significant differences were found for percentages of undressed figures and omissions. For male patients only omissions were significant. When compared to 30 patients with other mild dermatologic conditions, mildly affected psoriatic males drew significantly fewer omissions. Discussion of results focused on body image concerns, of dermatology patients as related to issues of nudity, sexuality, and exhibition of exposed body parts.

Alcoholic MMPI types and their relationship to patient characteristics, polydrug abuse, and abstinence following treatment.

Abstract: This study attempted to delineate personality types by applying empirical clustering procedures to the MMPI protocols of 207 (175 males and 32 females) inpatient alcoholics in a private treatment facility. Additional patient information was collected, including self-reported alcohol use following treatment, ethnicity, educational level, marital status, number of previous admissions, and dependence on drugs in addition to alcohol. Shipley-Hartford IQ scores and Zung Depression scores obtained upon admission were also included. Four representative MMPI types emerged, one of which had a significantly greater proportion of polydrug abusers. Significant differences between the types were obtained for ethnicity, level of education, marital status, and Shipley-Hartford scores. Zung Depression scores were found to be significantly different between types and closely reflected the levels of depression indicated on the MMPI. Finally, the types were found to have a significant although modest relationship to twelve ...

The Barnum effect in a group setting.

Abstract: The present study expands the typical Barnum effect paradigm by investigating reactions to feedback in a group setting. People initially participated in a group experience (8 per group), and then were given bogus positive or negative feedback (the favorability manipulation) purportedly prepared by either the group leader or another group member (the source status manipulation). The answerability manipulation led participants to believe that they either would or would not have to share their reactions to the feedback with the person who prepared it. Positive feedback was rated as more accurate and accepted more highly than the negative feedback, though no differences in recall of either the positive or negative feedback emerged. Additionally, a pattern of results revealed that the feedback from the group leader generated greater perceived accuracy, acceptance, and recall than did feedback from another group member. Implications for the impact of feedback given by a high status person in group settings are ...

Approaches to the diagnosis of borderline conditions by use of psychological tests.

Abstract: The use of psychological tests in the diagnosis of borderline conditions by application of five approaches to the test battery is illustrated on a patient who was diagnosed as borderline by the criteria of both Gunderson and Kernberg. These approaches in terms of(a) structural variables, (b)response to confrontation, (c) severity of illness, (d) symptom diagnosis, and (e) differential response to tests of varying structure, may be used to strengthen each other and to facilitate the diagnosis of borderline patients.

Rorschach movement and color responses and MMPI social extraversion and thinking introversion personality types.

Abstract: Results of an analysis of MMPI profiles and Rorschach protocols scored by the Exner method for 100 psychiatric patients provided partial support for Rorschach's hypotheses that perceptions of color (FC, CF, and C) and movement (M) tap separate personality dimensions. First, the proportion of M responses on a protocol correlated significantly (p < .01) to thinking introversion as defined in terms of a subject's MMPI profile similarity to a prototypic MMPI profile with peak PtSc elevations. Second, the proportion of FC responses correlated negatively (p < .01) to social extraversion defined in terms of MMPI profile similarity to a prototypic MMPI profile with peak PdMa elevations. Hence, use of FC signified a socially reserved, controlled behavior. The findings regarding CF and C were inconclusive. Third, color and movement responses did not correlate significantly with somatization defined in terms of similarity to a prototypic MMPI profile with peak Hs, D, Hy elevations. Finally, the nonsignificant correlations of FC with M and with MMPI thinking introversion plus the nonsignificant correlation of M with color responses and MMPI social extroversion further supported the hypotheses that movement and color responses tap essentially unique personality dimensions.

Adaptive regression and types of cognitive flexibility.

Abstract: The relationship between adaptive regression and cognitive flexibility was explored in a group of 42 college students. Adaptive regression was measured with the Holt scoring system for the Rorschach. One type of cognitive flexibility was measured by Guilford's tests of divergent production (Word Fluency, Associational Fluency, and Alternate Uses) and a second type by Mednick's Remote Associates Test. Adaptive regression was found to be significantly positively related to the Remote Associates Test in males but not in females. Adaptive regression was found to be unrelated to divergent production tests. These relationships were not found to be mediated by Rorschach productivity or verbal intelligence. A two-stage process was proposed to account for the cognitive operations underlying adaptive regression and the Remote Associates Test. The first stage is seen as a generative (primary process) stage, while the second stage is seen as an evaluative (secondary process) stage. Possible reasons for sex difference...