Measuring the automatic negative self-schema: New evidence for the construct and criterion validity of the Depression Implicit Association

The construct and criterion validity of the Depression Implicit Association Test (Depression IAT) as a marker of an automatic negative self-schema was investigated. The Depression IAT and other measures were administered to a sample of 116 participants (72 females) aged 37.28 (SD = 15.69) that was composed by 56 patients with an history of suicide ideation (SI) and by 60 university students. Combining students and patients’ sub-samples, results revealed that the Depression IAT was significantly and positively correlated with self-report scales of depression and hopelessness as well as with implicit and explicit measures of death-life identification. On the contrary, it was negatively correlated with life satisfaction, optimism, and self-esteem scales. These results give new evidence for the construct validity of the Depression IAT. Moreover, considering only the patients’ sub-sample, significant correlations between Depression IAT scores and SI in the last year, month, and week, as well as in a follow-up observation two months later, were found. These correlations remain unchanged even when the Death IAT was controlled for, supporting the incremental validity of the Depression IAT. Overall, these results provide new evidence for the construct and criterion validity of the Depression IAT as a marker of an automatic negative self-schema.     

Moral disengagement moderates the predicted effect of trait self‐control on self‐reported aggression

An increasing number of studies reveal that self‐control is an important preventative factor for aggression. However, the involvement of potential explanatory variables has received less research attention. Drawing upon the feedback‐loop model of self‐control, the current research assumed that the preventing effect of trait self‐control on aggression may be moderated by moral disengagement. Self‐reported measures of trait self‐control, moral disengagement and aggression were administered to 946 Chinese university students. Results show that trait self‐control had a negative effect on physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger and hostility, whereas moral disengagement positively predicted each of these constructs. Of particular importance was a significant interaction between trait self‐control and moral disengagement for verbal aggression and hostility. Specifically, the preventing effect of trait self‐control on these two types of aggression was more pronounced in individuals with low rather than high moral disengagement. In conclusion, low conditional endorsement of transgressive acts and having high trait self‐control are both important individual‐difference variables that explain reduced aggression.     

On the existence and uniqueness of maximum-likelihood estimates in the Rasch model

Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of a solution of the so-called unconditional (UML) and the conditional (CML) maximum-likelihood estimation equations in the dichotomous Rasch model are given. The basic critical condition is essentially the same for UML and CML estimation. For complete data matricesA, it is formulated both as a structural property ofA and in terms of the sufficient marginal sums. In case of incomplete data, the condition is equivalent to complete connectedness of a certain directed graph. It is shown how to apply the results in practical uses of the Rasch model.Paper read at the European Meeting of the Psychometric Society, Groningen, June 19–21, 1980.Part of the research reported herein was done while the author was staying at the Pulmologisches Zentrum der Stadt Wien; he is indebted to Professor Dr. F. Muhar and Dr. R. Mutschlechner for providing excellent working conditions.     

Using Indirect Measurement Tasks to Assess the Self‐concept of Personality: A Systematic Review and Meta‐analyses

This systematic review presents the current state of research investigating the implicit self‐concept of personality. First, we present results on meta‐analyses estimating internal consistency, reliability coefficients, the implicit–explicit consistency and the single association predictive effect of implicit self‐concept of personality measures. To do this, studies were aggregated over personality domains. Second, for each of the Five Factor personality domains, different aspects of construct validity and predictive validity are reviewed in a narrative way. Results show that implicit self‐concept of personality measures are reliable, and there is evidence for the construct and predictive validity of these implicit measures, especially in the extraversion and agreeableness domains of personality. However, it must be kept in mind that clear evidence for publication bias was found for studies examining the single association predictive pattern. Finally, this systematic review identifies some achievable improvements that are needed in future research. Large cross‐lab efforts are important in this respect. Moreover, the implicit self‐concept of personality field must move from an ‘ad hoc’ to a ‘validation’ approach in developing new indirect measurement tasks. By adopting these research objectives, the information processing account of personality will increase its potential to become integrated into mainstream personality theory and research. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Bryant's Empathy Index for children and adolescents: psychometric properties in the Spanish language

The present study investigated the following issues: (1) the structure of Bryant's Empathy Index for children and adolescents in a Spanish sample of 408 boys and 424 girls (M age=14.4 yr.), and (2) sex differences, including effect sizes and internal consistency of the scale. A principal components factor analysis with oblimin rotation showed that 20 of the index's 22 items load on three robust factors, related to Feelings of Sadness, Understanding Feelings, and Tearful Reaction with regard to the emotions of others. The 3-factor structure obtained an adequate fit to the data in the confirmatory factor analysis. Coefficients alpha ranged between .72 and .78. The 3 factors accounted for 42% of variance. As expected, girls scored higher than boys. It was concluded that the Spanish version of Bryant's Empathy Index has an acceptable reliability and construct validity, making it useful for research.     

The road to the unconscious self not taken: Discrepancies between self‐ and observer‐inferences about implicit dispositions from nonverbal behavioural cues

To what extent can individuals gain insight into their own or another person's implicit dispositions' We investigated whether self‐perceivers versus neutral observers can detect implicit dispositions from nonverbal behavioural cues contained in video feedback (cue validity) and whether these cues are in turn used as a valid basis for explicit dispositional inferences (cue utilization). Across three studies in the domains of extraversion and anxiety we consistently obtained reliable cue validity and cue utilization for neutral observers but not for self‐perceivers. An additional measure of state inferences in Study 3 showed that one reason for the lack of mediation in self‐perceivers is their reluctance to use their state inferences as a basis for more general trait inferences. We conclude that people have a ‘blind spot’ with respect to the nonverbal behavioural manifestations of their unconscious selves, even though neutral observers may readily detect and utilize this information for dispositional inferences. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An extension of the dark triad and five‐factor model to three Asian societies

The aim of this study is to test the external validity of the short dark triad (SD3) and see whether the dark triad (DT) framework is replicable in Asian societies. In three independent studies involving 443 participants from South Korea, China, and the Philippines, we extend short measures of the DT and the big five framework as well as conduct confirmatory factor analysis to test various models of the SD3 in each country. We also test for measurement invariance, report intercorrelations, alpha coefficients, and gender differences within each sample. Except for Machiavellianism, all models failed configural invariance. Despite failing configural invariance across all three countries, males consistently reported higher means on all DT traits, with psychopathy the lowest, and DT constructs were significantly intercorrelated with each other across all three samples, demonstrating a pattern of consistency with previous DT literature and findings. As the DT continues to gain in popularity and is beginning to surface in cross‐cultural research, we contribute to discussions concerned with the construct's external validity. Our study's findings question what, if any, meaningful interpretations can be made from extending Western‐based personality instruments to Asian (foreign) societies. Limitations and contributions of this study are outlined, and recommendations for future research are summarized.     

How to find what's in a name: Scrutinizing the optimality of five scoring algorithms for the name‐letter task

Although the name‐letter task (NLT) has become an increasingly popular technique to measure implicit self‐esteem (ISE), researchers have relied on different algorithms to compute NLT scores and the psychometric properties of these differently computed scores have never been thoroughly investigated. Based on 18 independent samples, including 2690 participants, the current research examined the optimality of five scoring algorithms based on the following criteria: reliability; variability in reliability estimates across samples; types of systematic error variance controlled for; systematic production of outliers and shape of the distribution of scores. Overall, an ipsatized version of the original algorithm exhibited the most optimal psychometric properties, which is recommended for future research using the NLT. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Personality Inventory for DSM‐5

The DSM‐5 Section III proposes a hybrid dimensional‐categorical model of conceptualizing personality and its disorders that includes assessment of impairments in personality functioning (criterion A) and maladaptive personality traits (criterion B). The Personality Inventory for the DSM‐5 is a new dimensional tool, composed of 220 items organized into 25 facets that delineate five higher order domains of clinically relevant personality differences, and was developed to operationalize the DSM‐5 model of pathological personality traits. The current studies address the internal consistency (study 1), the test‐retest reliability (study 2) and the criterion validity (studies 3 and 4) of the Portuguese version of the PID‐5 in samples of native speaking psychology students. Results indicated good internal consistency reliabilities and good temporal stability reliabilities for the majority of the PID‐5 traits. The correlational pattern of the PID‐5 traits with two measures of personality was in accordance with theoretical expectations and showed its concurrent validity.     

On the explaining‐away phenomenon in multivariate latent variable models

Many probabilistic models for psychological and educational measurements contain latent variables. Well‐known examples are factor analysis, item response theory, and latent class model families. We discuss what is referred to as the ‘explaining‐away’ phenomenon in the context of such latent variable models. This phenomenon can occur when multiple latent variables are related to the same observed variable, and can elicit seemingly counterintuitive conditional dependencies between latent variables given observed variables. We illustrate the implications of explaining away for a number of well‐known latent variable models by using both theoretical and real data examples.     

Reliability of implicit self‐esteem measures revisited

This study investigated the internal consistencies and temporal stabilities of different implicit self‐esteem measures. Participants (N = 101) responded twice—with a time lag of 4 weeks—to five different tasks: the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the Brief Implicit Association Test (BIAT), the Affective Priming Task (APT), the Identification‐Extrinsic Affective Simon Task (ID‐EAST) and the Name‐Letter Task (NLT). As expected, the highest reliability coefficients were obtained for the self‐esteem IAT. Importantly, the internal consistencies and the temporal stabilities of the APT, the ID‐EAST, and the NLT were substantially improved by using material, structural, and analytic innovations. In particular, the use of the adaptive response‐window procedure for the APT, the computation of error scores for the ID‐EAST, and the computation of a double corrected scoring algorithm for the NLT yielded reliability coefficients comparable to those of the established IAT. Implications for the indirect assessment of self‐esteem are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A study of the psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory‐II,the Montgomery and Åsberg Depression Rating Scale,and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in a sample from a healthy population

The objective of this study is to evaluate internal consistency and psychometric properties of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Beck Depression inventory‐II (BDI‐II) and the Montgomery and Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) for screening for major depressive episode (MDE) in a selected sample from a healthy population. Participants answered the BDI‐II and the HADS questionnaires and were interviewed with MADRS. The Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)‐IV Axis I Disorders‐Clinician Version (SCID‐CV) was used to diagnose MDE. Current MDE was diagnosed in 20 (6%) of the 357 participants. All three scales including the depression sub‐scale for HADS had high area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) (AUC) (0.84–0.87), and internal consistency was also high for all scales (0.75–0.89). Optimal cut‐off for MDE was ≥ 12 for BDI‐II, MADRS ≥ 8, HADS total ≥ 9, and HADS‐D ≥ 4, which all resulted in sensitivities = 85% and specificities > 78%. Diagnostic accuracy was low on all depression scales (Cohen's kappa = 0.20–0.40). Reports of the properties of depression scales in a healthy population are limited. We found BDI‐II, HADS and MADRS to be acceptable as screening instruments for MDE in a selected sample from healthy population with recommend cut‐offs as mentioned above.     

Predicting Self‐Confident Behaviour with Implicit and Explicit Self‐Esteem Measures

The present research compared the validity of popular direct and indirect measures of self‐esteem in predicting self‐confident behaviour in different social situations. In line with behavioural dual‐process models, both implicit and explicit self‐esteem were hypothesized to be related to appearing self‐confident to unacquainted others. A total of 127 participants responded to the Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale, the Multidimensional Self‐Esteem Scale, and an adjective scale for measuring explicit self‐esteem (ESE). Participants' implicit self‐esteem (ISE) was assessed with four indirect measures: the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the name‐letter task (NLT), and two variants of an affective priming task, the reaction‐time affective priming task (RT‐APT) and the error‐based affective priming task (EB‐APT). Self‐confident behaviour was observed in four different social situations: (i) self‐introduction to a group; (ii) an ostracism experience; (iii) an interview about the ostracism experience; and (iv) an interview about one's personal life. In general, appearing self‐confident to unknown others was independently predicted by ESE and ISE. The indirect measures of self‐esteem were, as expected, not correlated, and only the self‐esteem APTs—but not the self‐esteem IAT or the NLT—predicted self‐confident behaviours. It is important to note that in particular the predictive power of the self‐esteem EB‐APT pertained to all four criteria and was incremental to the ESE measures. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Psychometric properties of the Bermond‐Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire in Japanese

The aim of this research is to investigate the psychometric properties of the Japanese version of the Bermond‐Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire (BVAQ‐J), by testing a sample of 514 undergraduates. Explanatory factor analysis of 40 items of the BVAQ‐J had a similar result to the original BVAQ ( Vorst & Bermond, 2001 ), but 10 items displayed low factor loadings (items 14, 15, 19, 25, 29, 34, 35, 36, 37, and 39); these results were slightly different from the original BVAQ. The validity and reliability of the BVAQ‐30J was suggested by a significant correlation with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale‐20 and estimates of test‐retest and internal consistency. These results suggest that this 30‐item version may be reasonably suitable for Japanese populations.     

On the Validity of Idiographic and Generic Self‐Concept Implicit Association Tests: A Core‐Concept Model

We present a core‐concept model (CCM) suggesting that stimulus centrality is an important factor in category representations in implicit measures. We tested the hypothesis that idiographic stimuli (first name, birthday) are more central and therefore assess self‐concept in Implicit Association Tests (IATs) more validly than generic and nonspecific stimuli (me, you). Superior validity of the idiographic variant emerged across three different domains of self‐concept. First, an idiographic self‐esteem IAT displayed higher correlations than a generic IAT with self‐assessments and observer‐assessments of self‐esteem. Second, an idiographic body scheme‐IAT predicted subjective ratings of body image and objective body‐mass index. Third, an idiographic aggressiveness‐IAT had higher incremental validity for unprovoked aggression when interacting with explicit measures of aggressiveness. We conclude that idiographic stimuli focus participants' attention on the core features of the self, hence, tapping into self‐related associations to a stronger degree than generic stimuli. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The equivalence of two methods of parameter estimation for the rasch model

Two methods of estimating parameters in the Rasch model are compared. It is shown that estimates for a certain loglinear model for the score × item × response table are equivalent to the unconditional maximum likelihood estimates for the Rasch model.