Psychological Reactance: Factor Structure and Internal Consistency of the Questionnaire for the Measurement of Psychological Reactance

Abstract

Psychological reactance, the theory that people resist attempts to constrain either their thoughts or their behaviors (J. W. Brehm, 1966), has been an influential concept in social psychology. In an attempt to measure reactance, J. Merz (1983) developed the Questionnaire for the Measurement of Psychological Reactance (QMPR). Subsequent researchers (S.-M. Hong & R. Ostini, 1989; R. K. Tucker & P. Y. Byers, 1987) have debated both the exact factor structure and the psychometric stability of the QMPR. In the present study, 898 undergraduates completed the QMPR. Factor analysis suggested that psychological reactance is multidimensional. The authors found 3 factors underlying the QMPR, but the QMPR provided unreliable estimates for each of those factors. According to the results, the QMPR as currently written is psychometrically unsatisfactory.     

The Spanish version of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire: factor structure and internal consistency reliability

We examined the factor structure and internal consistency reliability of the Spanish version of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire which was applied to a sample of 850 secondary school students. Factor structure investigated by principal components analysis, followed by varimax orthogonal rotation, indicated that a single factor explained 37% of the variance. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was good (Cronbach alpha=.88). We conclude that the Spanish version of the questionnaire, like the English version, has a single factor and high internal consistency reliability.     

The Therapeutic Reactance Scale: A Measure of Psychological Reactance

This article describes the development of the Therapeutic Reactance Scale, which was developed to measure psychological reactance as defined by Brehm (1966). The scale was factor-analyzed into verbal and behavioral reactance subscales. Reliability and validity data are also presented.     

The Color-A-Person Body Dissatisfaction Test: stability, internal consistency, validity, and factor structure

Stability, internal consistency, validity, and factor structure of the Color-A-Person Body Dissatisfaction Test (CAPT) were assessed. Two- and 4-week test-retest correlations for college students and alpha coefficients for students and eating-disorder patients ranged from .70 to .89. Factor structure was unaffected by gender and clinical status. Correlations were mostly between -.40 and -.60 with Rosenberg's (1965) Self-Esteem Scale and Secord and Jourard's (1953) Body Cathexis Scale (BCS). Men higher on Body Mass Index (BMI) liked upper body parts; women higher on BMI disliked lower body parts. Treatment for bulimia affected both body image tests comparably.     

Differentiation of Self and Psychological Reactance

This study examined the relationship between differentiation of self and psychological reactance. A total of 279 college students completed the Personal Authority in the Family System Questionnaire, the Therapeutic Reactance Scale, the Questionnaire for the Measurement of Psychological Reactance, and demographic questions. Results showed that three measures of differentiation (i.e., intergenerational individuation, peer intimacy, and peer individuation) significantly predicted psychological reactance. Implications of these results for therapists are provided.     

The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Brief Version: factor structure and reliability

The short scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (EPQR-S; H. J. Eysenck & S. B. G. Eysenck, 1992) is a 48-item personality questionnaire primarily designed to measure an individual's level of extraversion (vs. introversion) and neuroticism. Although L. J. Francis, L. B. Brown, and R. Philipchalk (1992) created the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised-Abbreviated (EPQR-A), an even briefer version of the EPQR-S, the reliability coefficients of some of the measures have been less than satisfactory (S. Forrest, C. A. Lewis, & M. Shevlin, 2000). Because brevity and reliability are both extremely important, the author of the present study created a briefer version of the EPQR-S, more reliable than the EPQR-A, by making slight alterations in the item content as well as the response format of the EPQR-S. Two hundred and sixty eight participants completed the original EPQR-S and the 24-item newly revised briefer version of the EPQR-S (EPQ-BV) twice. The findings revealed that the EPQ-BV has good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity. A principal component analysis revealed a solution with factor loadings that accurately reflected the primary measures of the EPQR-S. These findings are discussed in relation to the psychometric properties of the EPQR-A and the original version of the EPQR-S.     

Psychological reactance: examination across age, ethnicity, and gender

Psychological reactance is a motivational state aroused when real or perceived personal freedoms are threatened, reduced, or eliminated. Although psychological reactance theory has existed for almost 40 years, there is still dissent over some of its most basic characteristics. Research on age and ethnicity is scant, and research on gender has not produced a clear pattern of results. We attempted to clarify the relationships of these variables to psychological reactance. A total of 3,499 undergraduates completed the Therapeutic Reactance Scale and a brief demographic questionnaire. We found a curvilinear relationship between age and reactance, with older and younger participants exhibiting higher reactance than the middle age group. African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics exhibited higher total, behavioral, and verbal reactance than Caucasians and Native Americans. Men produced higher total, behavioral, and verbal reactance scores than women. We discuss the implications of these findings and make suggestions for further research.     

Confirmatory factor structure and measurement invariance of the Memory Compensation Questionnaire

Recent research with the Memory Compensation Questionnaire (MCQ) has examined changes, functions, and correlates of compensatory strategy use in older adults. The twofold aim of this study was to test (a) the hypothesized structure of the MCQ and (b) structural equivalence across age, gender, and time. The 7-scale MCQ was designed to measure 5 compensatory mechanisms and 2 general aspects of compensatory awareness. The authors assembled a 3-wave (6-year) sample (N = 521; age = 55-85 years) from the Victoria Longitudinal Study. The results of structural equation modeling supported (a) the a priori structure of the MCQ and (b) the inference of measurement invariance across the 3 dimensions. Accordingly, the MCQ is available for measuring self-reported efforts to compensate for everyday memory losses.     

Factor structure and internal consistency of the Spanish version of the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form

The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of Parenting Stress Index-Short Form. After translating the instrument from English into Spanish using the forward-backward translation method, it was administered to a sample of 129 mothers of children aged between 10 and 39 months olds. The exploratory factor analysis identified two factors: Childrearing Stress and Personal Distress, which accounted for 48.77% of the variance. The internal consistency of these factors was high (Childrearing Stress: .90 and Personal Distress: .87). Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Type A Behavior and Diabetic Control: Implications of Psychological Reactance for Health Outcomes1

According to laboratory research, Type A coronary-prone individuals are sensitive to threats to their personal control and react to such threats with active and often stressful coping responses. The present investigation tested the prediction that these features of Type A behavior would interfere with blood glucose regulation in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients. Two independent hypotheses were investigated. Because elevated sympathetic arousal, a concomitant of stressful coping, is associated with elevated glucose levels, it was predicted that Type A diabetics experiencing high levels of life stress would display poorest blood glucose control (indexed by Hemoglobin A₁c). The second hypothesis was derived from the observation that Type As are more likely than Type Bs to respond to control threats with reactance in order to restore the perception of control. Given that illness or treatment can reduce personal control, it was predicted that Type A diabetics would be most reactant and, thus, most medically noncompliant. To test these hypotheses, 37 Type 1 diabetics were assessed for Type A behavior, life change, attributional style, desire for control (both within treatment and in general), and specific perceptions of and actions to their diabetes. Type As were more likely than Type Bs to show poor blood glucose control. However, for patients in general, and Type As in particular, blood glucose regulation was not related to life stress. Rather, those Type As who displayed poor glucose control made more extreme self-attributions about the cause of their diabetes, were angrier about it, and felt they should fight it. The implications of these findings for a reactance-Type A model of medical compliance are discussed.     

Jung's Psychological Types: Meaning and Consistency of the Questionnaire

Third-grade children (n = 72) completed arithmetic problems in an individually conducted experimental session while receiving one of three types of verbal feedback (positive statements, negative statements, or their combination), either randomly or contingent on the accuracy of their answers. Random feedback produced a higher rate of responding than did contingent feedback with no loss of accuracy. The varying types of verbal feedback statements did not produce differential effects on either rate or accuracy measures. These results were discussed in terms of the ineffectiveness of verbal feedback in producing differential results with tasks not involving new learning and in terms of mechanisms which could account for the efficacy of random feedback.     

Reliability and factor structure of the Finnish version of the Sport Imagery Questionnaire

The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and factor structure of the Finnish version of the Sport Imagery Questionnaire, a measure which examines cognitive and motivational functions of imagery. The final sample comprised 231 participants drawn from 34 sports and ranging in age from 14 to 49 years (M = 20.9, SD = 5.8). Internal consistency and confirmatory factor analyses were undertaken to evaluate the reliability and factorial validity of the scale. Fit indices and modification data generated from examining the 30-item five-factor model were equivocal, suggesting minor amendment and recategorization of several items rather than major adjustment to the proposed latent factor structure. Cronbach coefficients alpha indicated the scale is reliable. Overall, these results provide positive additional support for the claim that the Sport Imagery Questionnaire has a reproducible factor structure and is a reliable test for measuring imagery use in Finnish athletes.     

The factor structure of ADHD items in DSM-III-R: Internal consistency and external validation

Previous research employing factor-analytic procedures to study the underlying dimensions of DSM-III attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADDH) symptoms have consistently supported a two-factor model. Revision of the structure of the ADHD diagnosis in DSM-HI-R, as well as inclusion of new items, has raised the question of comparability of the two diagnoses. To explore the significance of these changes, teacher ratings of DSM-III ADDH items and DSM-III-R ADHD items of 85 nonreferred school children were factor-analyzed to determine their underlying factor structures. A similar two-factor solution was obtained for each diagnostic scale. The factors consisted of items believed to reflect inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity constructs. These factors were further evaluated against results of a cognitive test battery to ascertain whether objective, external validation could be demonstrated. The hyperactivity-impulsivity factor scores were related to continuous performance test measures of response inhibition, while inattention-disorganization factor scores were related to measures of attention and visual search. Implications for assessment and diagnosis of ADHD are discussed.The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Sister Hildegarde Koger, the St. Francis de Sales School, and the parents and children who participated in this study.     

Evaluating the factor structure of the Psychological Performance Inventory

This study assesses the construct validity of a measure of mental toughness, Loehr's Psychological Performance Inventory. Performers (N = 408, 303 men, 105 women, M age = 24.0 yr., SD = 6.7) drawn from eight sports (artistic rollerskating, basketball, canoeing, golf, rugby league, rugby union, soccer, swimming), and competing at either international, national, county and provincial, or club and regional standards. They completed the 42-item Psychological Performance Inventory during training camps. Principal components analysis provided minimal support for the factor structure. Instead, the exploratory analysis yielded a 4-factor 14-item model (PPI-A). A single factor underlying mental toughness (G(MT)) was identified with higher-order exploratory factor analysis using the Schmid-Leiman procedure. Psychometric analysis of the model, using confirmatory analysis techniques, fitted the data well. Collectively satisfying absolute and incremental fit index benchmarks, the inventory possesses satisfactory psychometric properties, with adequate reliability and convergent and discriminant validity. The results lend preliminary support to the factorial validity and reliability of the model; however, further investigation of its stability is required before recommending practitioners use changes in scores as an index for evaluating effects of training in psychological skills.     

Factor structure of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire: examination of a method factor

The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) was originally designed as a unifactorial measure of pathological trait worry. However, recent studies supported a two-factor solution with positively worded items loading on the first factor and reverse-scored items loading on a second factor. The current study compared this two-factor model to a negative wording method factor solution among college students. A method factor model with all PSWQ items loading on a single worry factor and reverse-scored items loading on a negative wording method factor provided as good a fit as the two-factor model. This method factor alone did not predict a generalized anxiety disorder diagnosis. Finally, the psychometric properties of an abbreviated scale containing only positively worded items were examined. The PSWQ appears to measure a single unitary construct, but response patterns differ between positively worded and reverse-scored items. Theoretical implications for pathological worry and assessment-related issues are discussed.     

Tactual performance test trials: internal consistency reliability using the Gilmer-Feldt coefficient.

Internal consistency reliabilities using the Gilmer-Feldt coefficient were calculated for the Tactual Performance Test for the Preferred Hand (n=298), Nonpreferred Hand (n = 302), and Both Hands (n = 314) trials, and total time. Reliabilities were reported for the total sample and three groups: 118 normal volunteers, 95 inpatient alcoholics, and 103 undiagnosed patients sent for neuropsychological assessment. The reliabilities ranged from .5584 to .8953.     

Exploring the factor structure of the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire (MASQ)

L. A. Clark and Watson (1991) proposed a tripartite model of anxiety and depression defined in terms of common symptoms relating to general distress, anxiety-specific symptoms of hyperarousal, and depression-specific symptoms of low positive affect and loss of interest. To aid the measurement of and discrimination between anxiety and depression they developed the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire (MASQ). Although potentially useful, the MASQ is still in an early stage of development, and there is an indication that a discrepancy exists between items and scales. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the items and factors of the MASQ and determine whether a pattern similar to that suggested by L. A. Clark and Watson would emerge. Factor analysis of the MASQ revealed 3 factors relating to general distress, positive affect, and anxious arousal. Inspection of the individual items indicated that some refinements are required.     

Sex differences in the factor structure of a modified Sexual Experiences Questionnaire

Sexual harassment has long been a problem in educational, employment, and military populations. It is unclear whether existing questionnaires used to measure sexual harassment in the U.S. military--particularly, derivatives of the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire--perform similarly in men and women. Using exploratory factor analyses in a mixed sample of active duty troops and veterans (289 men, 181 women), sex differences were found in one version's factor structure. Implications and suggestions for improving the validity of the questionnaire for men are offered.