Acquiescence and the Wilson conservatism scale

Data contributed by six different researchers in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and England were assembled from seven different administrations of the Wilson Conservatism scale. The correlation between the positive and negative halves of the scale was found to be generally around -0.5. It was concluded that although the C-scale is seriously affected by acquiescent response set, the balanced structure of the scale controls for this quite satisfactorily.     

Acquiescence response style and the Vocational Development Inventory

The possible effects of acquiescence response style upon endorsement of items in the Vocational Development Inventory-Attitude Scale (VDI-Att) were investigated in an experimental paradigm. On Test “free-choice” (T,F,?) response options were presented to both the Experimental (E) and the Control (C) groups; on Retest C received the same format but E was administered a “forced-choice” (T,F,) answer sheet. One hundred male and female undergraduates were randomly assigned to the E and C groups cross-classified by sex. ANOVA on Test indicated the groups were equivalent; ANOVA on Retest yielded negative findings on acquiescence in the VDI-Att. It was concluded that responses to the VDI-Att are not significantly affected by acquiescence; rather, it was hypothesized that they can be conceptually related to discrimination learning processes.     

The economics of paradox: a response to armour-garb

‘Those ice cubes melted because by melting total entropy increased and entropy increase has a very high objective chance.’ What role does the chance in this explanation play? I argue that it contributes to the explanation by entailing that the melting was almost necessary, and defend the claim that the fact that some event was almost necessary can, in the right circumstances, constitute a causal explanation of that event.     

Extraversion, sensation seeking and electrodermal response: Probing a paradox

Extraversion and psychoticism are thought to relate inversely to electrodermal response amplitude. Paradoxically, sensation-seeking scales, which correlate positively with extraversion and psychoticism, have shown a positive relation to electrodermal response amplitude. In the present inquiry, inverse relationships were obeserved for extraversion and psychoticism with the electrodermal response to visual stimuli. Sensation seeking was also negatively related to the magnitude of the initial electrodermal response to pictures. A lowered response to words for low sensation seekers was observed that appeared to be influenced by skin conductance level.     

Images: Preliminary scale construction

Abstract

In a series of papers, Bagarozzi and Giddings outlined a theoretical model of mate selection and marital interaction based upon principles of cognitive matching (Bagarozzi, 1982, 1986; Bagarozzi&Giddings, 1983, 1984). Briefly, this theory postulates that individuals seek out, develop intimate relationships with, and eventually marry persons whom they perceive to: (a) possess specific personality traits, qualities and characteristics; (b) share similar values, beliefs, and ideas concerning husband/wife roles; and (c) subscribe to a similar set of rules and assumptions governing interpersonal power, distributive justice, and the exchange of value messages between intimates. Essentially, one marries a person whom he/she perceives to fit an internal cognitive model or schema of an “ideal spouse.” The term “ideal” does not denote perfection. It merely represents an enduring image that becomes a standard against which all prospective mates are judged and evaluated. This cognitive matching takes place at both conscious and unconscious levels of awareness.     

The construction and validation of a juror bias scale

A questionnaire was constructed to measure individual differences in pretrial bias among jurors. The final Likert scale, called the Juror Bias Scale (JBS), contains 17 items—8 that reflect pretrial expectancies that defendants, in general, commit the crimes with which they are charged and 9 that reflect the value attached to conviction and punishment. The scale is internally consistent and test-retest reliable. Scores are uncorrelated with social desirability, moderately correlated with I-E control and belief in a just world, and more highly correlated with authoritarianism. In one validation experiment, student jurors were exposed to three trial presentations in a laboratory setting. Overall, subjects classified as prosecution biased were more conviction prone and adopted a less stringent standard of reasonable doubt. In a second study, community jurors watched one of two videotaped mock trials in a courtroom. Prosecution-biased subjects asserted a higher probability that the defendent committed the crime and rendered a higher percentage of guilty verdicts than defense-biased subjects for one of the two trials. JBS scores were unrelated to all demographic variables, but were significantly correlated with political views. The potential uses and limitations of the JBS are discussed.     

Coping through emotional approach: scale construction and validation

Four studies demonstrate the psychometric adequacy and validity of scales designed to assess coping through emotional approach. In separate undergraduate samples, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of dispositional (Study 1) and situational (Study 3) coping item sets yielded 2 distinct emotional approach coping factors: emotional processing (i.e., active attempts to acknowledge and understand emotions) and emotional expression. The 2 scales yielded high internal consistency and test-retest reliability, as well as convergent and discriminant validity. A study (Study 2) of young adults and their parents established the scales' interjudge reliabilities. Longitudinal (Study 3) and experimental (Study 4) research supported the predictive validity of the emotional approach coping scales with regard to adjustment to stressful encounters. Findings highlight the utility of functionalist theories of emotion as applied to coping theory.     

Acquiescence in personality questionnaires: Relevance,domain specificity,and stability

Acquiescence, which is defined as agreeing to items regardless of content, is a well-known bias in self-report instruments. This paper investigates the relevance, domain specificity, and the stability of acquiescence in personality questionnaires. Data from two large samples representative for the German (N = 1999) and for the Austrian adult population (N = 3266) were investigated with structural equation models. In both studies respondents answered, besides others, a short Big Five inventory. The three core findings are: (1) acquiescence systematically affects the variance of personality items and biases the association with other variables, (2) acquiescence is consistent across different question types, and (3) acquiescence in personality items is moderately stable over time. Implications for research and the application of personality questionnaires are discussed.     

Accommodation,prediction and replication: model selection in scale construction

In psychology, measurement instruments are constructed from scales, which are obtained on the grounds of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Looking at the literature, one can find various recommendations regarding how these techniques should be used during the scale construction process. Some authors suggest to use exploratory factor analysis on the entire data set while others advice to perform an internal cross-validation by randomly splitting the data set in two and then either perform exploratory factor analysis on both parts or exploratory factor analysis on the first part and confirmatory factor analysis on the other. In spite of all these divergent recommendations, there is no consensus on which method yields the best result. In this paper, we analyze this issue in light of the prediction versus accommodation debate and argue that the answer to this question depends on one’s conception of the criteria that should be used to achieve the goals of the scientific enterprise.

     

Acquiescence as a source of bias and model and person misfit: A theoretical and empirical analysis

In personality and attitude measurement, the presence of acquiescent responding can have an impact on the whole process of item calibration and test scoring, and this can occur even when sensible procedures for controlling acquiescence are used. This paper considers a bidimensional (content acquiescence) factor‐analytic model to be the correct model, and assesses the effects of fitting unidimensional models to theoretically unidimensional scales when acquiescence is in fact operating. The analysis considers two types of scales: non‐balanced and fully balanced. The effects are analysed at both the calibration and the scoring stages, and are of two types: bias in the item/respondent parameter estimates and model/person misfit. The results obtained theoretically are checked and assessed by means of simulation. The results and predictions are then assessed in an empirical study based on two personality scales. The implications of the results for applied personality research are discussed.     

Detachment and coping: The construction and validation of a new scale for measuring coping strategies

The present study describes the construction and validation of a new scale for measuring coping strategies entitled the Coping Styles Questionnaire (CSQ). Earlier studies had suggested that there were three primary coping components: task, emotion, and avoidance. In part, the validation of the CSQ confirmed these results, extracting factors concerned with problem-solving (Rational Coping, RATCOP), emotion (Emotional Coping, EMCOP) and avoidance (Avoidance Coping, AVCOP). However, a new factor was uncovered which tapped distancing or detachment (Detached Coping, DETCOP). Subsequent analyses suggested a grouping of two adaptive (RATCOP and DETCOP) and two maladaptive (EMCOP and AVCOP) coping styles, which was confirmed by the concurrent validation of the scale using the Emotional Control Questionnaire.     

Measuring knowledge of the insanity defense: scale construction and validation

Given the influence of social conformity and prejudice, defendants pleading not guilty by reason of insanity face the significant challenges of securing fair and impartial juries. Attitudes and knowledge of the insanity defense are factors that may influence levels of impartiality. In the light of this, we set out to develop a scale to examine knowledge levels of the insanity defense and their influence on decision-making. Two studies were conducted to construct a scale designed to assess laypersons' knowledge of the insanity defense. Items measuring knowledge of the insanity defense were based on Perlin's (1995) insanity defense myths. The first study identified particular items in need of revision and subscales that required the development of additional items in order to improve reliability and construct validity in the second study. The second study used the revised scale, demonstrating improved validity and reliability. The scale also had acceptable predictive validity with reference to insanity defense verdicts.     

Avoidance and depression: the construction of the cognitive-behavioral avoidance scale

Previous research has demonstrated a relationship between avoidance and depression, although the nature of this relationship has been confused by inconsistent definitions of avoidance. Following a review of the construct of avoidance and an examination of past research, a new multidimensional measure of avoidance was developed and validated using an undergraduate student sample (245 females and 146 males). Four reliable factors reflecting combinations of cognitive/behavioral and social/nonsocial dimensions of avoidance were obtained from the factor analysis of the new scale, entitled the "Cognitive-Behavioral Avoidance Scale" (CBAS). The scale showed the predicted relationships with convergent and divergent measures used for construct validation. As predicted, subscales of the CBAS, as well as the overall scale score, were significantly related to the depression and anxiety criterion measures. The findings from this study suggest that avoidance may be an important construct in the psychosocial conceptualization of depression. In addition, this integrated measure of avoidance has potential utility for depression researchers. Suggestions for further scale development and research are provided.