Face validity of test and acceptance of generalized personality interpretations.

After students in different groups took one of four "personality tests" that varied in face validity, they received a generalized personality interpretation. Even though the test lowest in face validity merely required the subject to circle digits, judged accuracy of the interpretation (a) was high for all tests (76-87% of the ratings in the various test groups were good or excellent) and (b) was independent of type of test upon which the interpretation was purportedly derived. From 46-60% of the subjects in the various groups "definitely liked" or "liked" the interpretation; likability was independent of face validity of the test. Judged accuracy and likability of the interpretation correlated positively and significantly. The willingness of individuals to accept generalized statements about themselves is a researchable problem area suggested by the present research.     

Effects of "favorability" and type of assessment device upon acceptance of general personality interpretations

College students' acceptance of general personality interpretations was evaluated as a function of type of test and assessment device employed and interpretation favorability. Unlike previous studies, only interpretation favorability influenced acceptance. The effect of interpretation favorability upon acceptance, however, was shown to be due to the higher base-rate accuracy of favorable, relative to unfavorable, interpretations. It was concluded that the universal validity of general interpretations may supersede the effects of situational factors upon acceptance.     

Environmentalism as a trait: gauging people's prosocial personality in terms of environmental engagement

According to Hardin (1968), environmental deterioration stems from self-interest undermining people's resource conservation in the collective interest. Not surprisingly, selfless prosocial motives, such as personal feelings of moral obligation, have often been recognized as a key force behind people's environmentalism. In our research, we anticipated that environmentalists-people with an inclination for pro-environmental engagement-would possess a propensity to generally act prosocially. In an extension of previous work, we expected that a well-established self-report measure of past conservation behavior would predict people's active participation in a psychological experiment. Based on subjects' degree of environmental engagement, originally established in 2003, we re-contacted a sample of 502 persons in 2005. Of these 502 (68.5% low, 31.5% high in environmentalism), 131 showed up for the announced experiment. Among those participants, we found that environmentalists' prosocial personalities were additionally reflected in their social value orientations. Ninety percent of the environmentalists turned out to be prosocials, whereas only 65% of the less environmentally engaged subjects were prosocials. Overall, our findings lend credit to a notion of environmentalism as an indicator of even subtle quantitative differences in a person's prosocial trait level. By and large, environmentalists acted more prosocially even in mundane activities unrelated to environmental conservation. Additional evidence comes from the commons dilemma experiment in which the participants partook. There, we generally found comparatively more cooperation with others for the collective good from people high in environmentalism. Our findings represent circumstantial evidence for a prosocial propensity dimension along which people differ, and which is also reflected in people's pro-environmental behavioral performance. If, however, environmentalism has to be regarded as indicative of a prosocial trait rather than a state-like motive, high hopes for moral norms and other prosocial motives in environmental conservation do not seem warranted.     

Validity and student acceptance of a graphoanalytic approach to personality

Forty-eight handwriting specimens were rated by 6 handwriting analysts on 16 personality variables. Correlations of analysts ratings and personality inventory scores were nonsignificant. Analysis of variance shewed that there were significant differences between the analysts on their judgments of 10 of the 15 traits. Subjects were also given the reports prepared for them and a bogus report and asked to rate the analysts' assessments for accuracy. Subjects were able to choose 2 of the 15 traits with significant accuracy on the real report when considering individual traits. There were no significant differences between the accuracy ratings on the real and bogus reports on overall rating. It was concluded that the analysts could not accurately predict personality from handwriting.     

Rorschach score validation as a model for 21st-century personality assessment

Recent conceptual and methodological innovations have led to new strategies for documenting the construct validity of test scores, including performance-based test scores. These strategies have the potential to generate more definitive evidence regarding the validity of scores derived from the Rorschach Inkblot Method (RIM) and help resolve some long-standing controversies regarding the clinical utility of the Rorschach. After discussing the unique challenges in studying the Rorschach and why research in this area is important given current trends in scientific and applied psychology, I offer 3 overarching principles to maximize the construct validity of RIM scores, arguing that (a) the method that provides RIM validation measures plays a key role in generating outcome predictions; (b) RIM variables should be linked with findings from neighboring subfields; and (c) rigorous RIM score validation includes both process-focused and outcome-focused assessments. I describe a 4-step strategy for optimal RIM score derivation (formulating hypotheses, delineating process links, generating outcome predictions, and establishing limiting conditions); and a 4-component template for RIM score validation (establishing basic psychometrics, documenting outcome-focused validity, assessing process-focused validity, and integrating outcome- and process-focused validity data). The proposed framework not only has the potential to enhance the validity and utility of the RIM, but might ultimately enable the RIM to become a model of test score validation for 21st-century personality assessment.     

Towards a mathematical model of within-session operant responding

Operant response rate changes within the course of a typical free-operant experimental session. These changes are orderly, and reliably demonstrated with subjects from different species, responding under different experimental conditions. Killeen (1995) postulated that the response rate changes are a function of the interplay between arousal and satiation and offered a mathematical model for this hypothesis. Here we analyze Killeen's model, demonstrating that, although solid in its principles, it presents some flaws in its implementation. Then, based on the same principles, we build and test a new model of within-session motivation dynamics. We also demonstrate that, by representing arousal as a variable that ranges between 0 and 1, we can obtain a surprisingly simple model of free-operant response rate.     

Detecting back irrelevant responding on the Personality Assessment Inventory in a psychiatric inpatient setting

The present studies focus on strategies for detecting back irrelevant responding (BIR) on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; L. C. Morey, 1991). Moderate BIR levels can greatly affect the clinical scales of the PAI. Further, the PAI's Inconsistency and Infrequency validity scales are less than optimal for detecting BIR. L. C. Morey and C. J. Hopwood (2004) developed an alternative strategy for detecting BIR that involves comparison of 2 scales from the PAI short-form with the same 2 scales from the PAI full-instrument. The present study examines how different BIR levels affect the clinical, treatment, and interpersonal scales of the PAI in 2 psychiatric inpatient samples. The effectiveness of various strategies for detecting BIR in an inpatient setting is also discussed. Consistent with previous research, moderate rates of BIR impacted several PAI scales in a meaningful way. The Inconsistency and Infrequency validity scales of the PAI were relatively ineffective for detecting low-to-moderate BIR levels. Conversely, the short-form full-instrument comparison strategy was much more sensitive to BIR. Finally, a new BIR detection indicator is presented that improves sensitivity rates for detecting all BIR levels in an acute setting. The implications of these results for detecting BIR in inpatient settings are discussed.     

Efficiency of a strategy for detecting back random responding on the personality assessment inventory

The efficiency of a new strategy to identify back random responding (BRR) on the Personality Assessment Inventory (L. C. Morey, 1991) was studied using random manipulations of item responses from community (904 adult nonpatients) and clinical (1,079 adult patients) respondents. The strategy involved a comparison of short-form and full-instrument T scores on 2 scales found to be particularly sensitive to BRR in a recent study. This strategy was found to be reasonably sensitive and specific to even relatively low levels of BRR.     

Surviving as a personality disorder service

Personality disorder services working along psychotherapeutic lines gained appeal with Health Care Commissioners following the publication of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for Borderline & Antisocial Personality Disorders and the emerging successful application of psychoanalytically derived approaches. In parallel to this creative development, the economic downturn has faced the National Health Service (NHS) with considerable challenges in its ongoing survival. The potential for creative pursuit often then sits in competition, juxtaposed with the need to survive. We examine the impact of this dynamic upon the therapeutic efforts of a newly established personality disorder service. We suggest that both conscious and unconscious aspects stirred up within such encounters are demanding of the need for development of a capacity within each to bear contact with unfamiliar experiences. Through attention to that development, both patient and clinician may further enliven and enrich individual and collective identities, such that the potential to survive creatively is actualized.     

Experimental evidence for the similarity of personality and attitude item responding

The process of responding to attitude items was broken down into a series of cognitive stages and a model offered. To test this model, subjects responded to attitude items varying in Extremity under two or five response alternative formats. By measuring response times, and applying Sternberg's (1969) additive factor method, the model was supported. The results were discussed in terms of previous process work involving personality items and sentence verification tasks.