Atypicality of norms for the Strong Interest Inventory

The Strong Interest Inventory uses large up-to-date norming groups for many scales, but the groups have exceptionally high education. Scores based on the atypical norms should be interpreted cautiously. The effect of the groups on construction of the occupational and nonoccupational scales is discussed.     

Edward Kellog Strong,Jr.: First Author of the Strong Interest Inventory

Ralph Bedell, professor emeritus of educational and counseling psychology, was interviewed to gain insight into the influence of the National Defense Counseling and Guidance Institutes on the history of counseling and to learn about the man who was responsible for the NDEA program.     

Edward Kellog Strong,Jr.: First Author of the Strong Interest Inventory

Edward K. Strong, Jr. (1884–1963) was the first author of the Strong Interest Inventory and the first psychologist to devote a career to the measurement and study of vocational interests. Strong's wisdom about interests and career decision making still is obvious and his 1943 volume, Vocational Interests of Men and Women, continues to provide inspiration for the field of interest measurement.     

Typicality Index of the Strong Interest Inventory: a binomial analysis

The Typicality Index of the 2004 Strong Interest Inventory was developed by Donnay, Morris, Schaubhut, and Thompson to identify inconsistent or other atypical responding. Analysis by the binomial distribution shows that the index, with the recommended cut score, correctly classifies 95.1% of randomly completed inventories.     

Development and validation of discriminant functions for the Strong Interest Inventory

This study compared the relative accuracy of (a) single Occupational Scale (OS) scores on the Strong Interest Inventory (SII) and (b) multiple-predictor scoring functions for discriminating members of nine occupations from people-in-general. The functions were constructed using discriminant function analysis with 4797 adults drawn from criterion samples for the 1985 SII. The analyses included Basic Interest Scale (BIS) scores only or combinations of OSs and BISs. Two subsequent analyses, one of which was cross-validation using 1302 young adults with little work experience, also were conducted. Results indicated that BIS-only functions yielded hit rates comparable to single OSs, and functions that combined OSs and BISs generally produced slight improvements in accuracy. These findings are potentially relevant for future SII scale development decisions.     

Translation and Validation of the Chinese Form of the Strong Interest Inventory

A Chinese form of the 1994 Strong Interest Inventory (SII) was developed through a three‐step translation process. The translated version was judged to show linguistic or inferential equivalence to the SII in English. Field‐testing data based on two Chinese samples ( N ₁ = 124, N ₂ = 40) and one American sample ( N ₃ = 52) provided additional support on metric equivalence between the SII and the SII‐Chinese. Correlational analysis, paired t ‐test, and profile analysis consistently demonstrated that the SII and SII‐Chinese yielded highly comparable results at all three levels of measurement—General Occupational Themes (GOT), Basic Interest Scales (BIS), and Occupational Scales (OS). Statistically significant difference between the SII and SII‐Chinese was found only on one basic scale and two occupational scales in selected male and female subsamples. Factor analysis, using maximum likelihood extraction and oblique rotation, identified six broad occupational interest dimensions on the SII‐Chinese: Enterprising (E), Investigative (I), Artistic (A), Public (P), Realistic (R), and Social (S). Implications for further adapting the SII‐Chinese to better fit the Chinese culture and to be used as an assessment tool in China are discussed.     

Effects of Response Set on the Infrequent Response Index of the Strong Interest Inventory

Associations of two different response sets on the Infrequent Response Index of the Strong Interest Inventory (SII) were examined. In one, participants responded to each item randomly; in the other, participants deliberately misrepresented their responses. The finding of scores higher than those proposed in the SII manual for the Infrequent Response Index suggests an alternative interpretation of this critical index.     

行政职业能力倾向测验效度的研究报告

为了对目前国家公务员录用考试中的行政职业能力倾向测验有效性有一个全面准确的了解,本研究依据现代心理测量理论,采用科学规范的实证研究方法,对行政职业能力倾向测验的效度进行了较为系统的研究,得到了一些有用的结论,为国家公务员录用考试的深化改革提供了较为全面的信息。     

A Simple Test of the Concurrent Validity of the Social Interest Index

To assess the concurrent validity of the Social Interest Index (SII), we examined the relationships between subjects' social interest scores and their number and frequency of social contacts. As hypothesized, subjects' SII scores were related in a positive, significant manner to their reported number of close friends, number of relatives they felt close to, and number of monthly friend/relative contacts (all ps < .01). The results, which showed a positive relationship between social interest and social contacts, support the concurrent validity of the SII.     

Gender bias and construct validity in vocational interest measurement: Differential item functioning in the Strong Interest Inventory

Item response theory was used to address gender bias in interest measurement. Differential item functioning (DIF) technique, SIBTEST and DIMTEST for dimensionality, were applied to the items of the six General Occupational Theme (GOT) and 25 Basic Interest (BI) scales in the Strong Interest Inventory. A sample of 1860 women and 1105 men was used. The scales were not unidimensional and contain both primary and minor dimensions. Gender-related DIF was detected in two-thirds of the items. Item type (i.e., occupations, activities, school subjects, types of people) did not differ in DIF. A sex-type dimension was found to influence the responses of men and women differently. When the biased items were removed from the GOT scales, gender differences favoring men were reduced in the R and I scales but gender differences favoring women remained in the A and S scales. Implications for the development, validation and use of interest measures are discussed.     

Vocational interest structures for Asian Americans,Middle-Eastern Americans and Native Americans on the 2005 Strong Interest Inventory

This study examined whether the vocational interests of Asian Americans, Middle-Eastern Americans, and Native Americans, as measured by the 2005 Strong Interest Inventory (SII), followed Holland's (1997) calculus hypotheses for a RIASEC ordering. The structures of interests of these three racial/ethnic groups were examined for fit with two structural models: (1) a less-stringent model requiring a circular RIASEC ordering and (2) a more stringent model requiring equal distances between adjacent interest types. Individuals who completed the 2005 Strong Interest Inventory were included in the sample (N = 22,394), and the overall sample was divided between racial/ethnic groups, gender, and professional status (i.e. student and employed adults). Results from randomization tests of hypothesized order and circular unidimensional scaling analyses found that a circular RIASEC order is applicable to Asian American, Middle-Eastern American and Native American students and employed adults, regardless of gender, when measured by the 2005 Strong Interest Inventory. Results from this study indicate that the current version of the Strong Interest Inventory measures vocational interests in a manner that strongly aligns with Holland's calculus hypothesis for both men and women.     

The Chinese Version of the Self-Report Family Inventory: Reliability and Validity

The reliability and validity of the Chinese Self-Report Family Inventory (C-SFI) were examined in three studies. In Study 1, data based on 361 adolescents showed that the C-SFI was temporally stable and internally consistent and there was support for its concurrent and construct validities. In Study 2, data analyzed from a clinical group and a nonclinical group (N = 281 and 451, respectively) showed that the C-SFI scores were able to discriminate these two groups. With data pertaining to 3649 secondary school students, Study 3 gives support for the internal consistency, concurrent validity, and construct validity of the C-SFI in different adolescent samples. These studies strongly suggest that the C-SFI possesses good psychometric properties in different Chinese adolescent samples.     

Discriminant Validity of the General Behavior Inventory: An Outpatient Study

Recent studies have provided strong support for the convergent validity of the General Behavior Inventory (GBI), a case identification inventory for chronic subsyndromal affective disorders (cyclothymia and dysthymia). Fewer data are available, however, on the ability of the GBI to distinguish chronic subsyndromal affective disorders from other forms of psychopathology. In order to address this issue, outpatients with cyclothymia (n = 9), dysthymia (n = 26), nonchronic major depression (n = 16), and nonaffective psychiatric disorders (n = 30) were compared on the GBI. Diagnoses were derived blind to GBI scores using structured diagnostic interviews and DSM-III criteria. The inventory significantly discriminated cyclothymes and dysthymes from patients with nonchronic major depressions and nonaffective disorders. Using the cutoff score that maximized GBI-diagnosis concordance, the inventory correctly classified 88% of the sample. All of the cyclothymes, 92% of the dysthymes, 87% of the patients with nonaffective psychiatric disorders, and 75% of the nonchronic major depressives were correctly classified by the inventory. These data provide strong support for the discriminant validity of the GBI.     

Discriminant Validity of the Inventory to Diagnose Depression

Measures of depression and anxiety correlate highly with one another. It has been hypothesized that this shared variance partly reflects poor discriminant validity, which could be improved by linking item content more closely to diagnostic criteria. We tested this speculation by comparing the Inventory to Diagnose Depression (Zimmerman, Coryell, Corenthai, & Wilson, 1986), developed to correspond with diagnostic criteria for major depression, with the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979) in terms of discriminant validity. These measures correlated more strongly with each other than with anxiety but did not differ in their relations with anxiety.     

Assessing the Current Validity of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory

The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) is a widelyused instrument in measuring gender role perceptions.Recent concerns regarding the validity of the adjectiveshave arisen as changes in the roles of men and women have occurred in American society sincethe 1970's. A partial replication of the method that Bem(1974) used to validate the masculine and feminineadjectives comprising the instrument was conducted. All but two of the adjectives were validatedusing Bem's criteria. These findings suggest that theBSRI may still be a valid instrument for assessing genderroles. However, evidence was revealed that traditional masculine and feminine gender role perceptionsmay be weakening. Future validation of the BSRI iswarranted in light of these patterns.     

The Daily Stress Inventory: Validity and effect of repeated administration

The Daily Stress Inventory (DSI) is a self-report measure of minor stressors which is administered daily. One test of the validity of a measure of daily stress is its sensitivity to the difference between the stressors of workdays and those of weekends. A second concern in establishing the validity of a test administered repeatedly is that self-monitoring may influence the obtained scores. The present study investigated these two issues using a sample of 70 community adults who reported full-time employment. These subjects provided a week of self-monitoring with the DSI. The results indicated that the DSI was sensitive to the difference between weekends and weekdays. The analyses of the effect of repeated administration suggested that the first day of self-monitoring may differ from the other days of self-monitoring. When the first day was eliminated, there was no significant difference among the days of self-monitoring, and the difference between the weekdays and the weekends remained. The data suggest that the DSI is a valid measure of the construct of daily stress and that any influence of repeated self-monitoring with the scale may be easily resolved.     

Validity of the German Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI‐G) in an Australian sample

Test anxiety (TA) is a prevalent issue among students that can result in deleterious consequences, such as underachievement. However, a contemporary measure that has been validated for use with Australian students seems to be lacking. This study, therefore, investigated the suitability of the German Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI‐G) for use with Australian university students. While the original TAI‐G contains 30 items and was designed to measure four factors (worry, emotionality, interference, and lack of confidence), differing factorial models have been supported in the literature using either the original or a shortened 17‐item version of the measure. These differing TAI‐G models were tested and compared in the current study via confirmatory factor analysis using 224 Australian university students. As expected, results supported the superior fit of the 17‐item four‐factor model. Additionally, the convergent validity of the measure was supported since measures of self‐esteem, self‐efficacy, and general anxiety were all found to correlate significantly with the TAI‐G in the hypothesised directions. Finally, the finding that all of the TAI‐G subscales had acceptably high reliabilities led to the conclusion that the 17‐item TAI‐G is a valid and reliable measure of TA in an Australian university population.     

The Driving Appraisal Inventory: Psychometric Characteristics and Construct Validity1

Four studies examined the dimensionality, reliability and construct validity of the Driving Appraisal Inventory (DAI), a self-report measure of driving habits and skills. In Study 1, analysis of 127 items led to the formation of four unidimensional, internally reliable scales: Carelessness, Drunken Driving, Vehicle Safety, and Self-Evaluation. In Study 2, all were found to have acceptable test-retest reliability. In Study 3, convergent validity support was obtained for the Carelessness and Vehicle Safety scales. In Study 4, concurrent criterion-related validity support was obtained for the Carelessness and Drunken Driving scales. Scores on the Self-Evaluation scale appear to be more a function of self-confidence and/or ego-involvement in driving skills and less a function of actual driving skills. Men score higher than women do on the Carelessness, Drunken Driving, and Self-Evaluation scales, and in Study 4, criterion-related validity of the Self-Evaluation scale was stronger among women than among men.