Effects of validity screening items on adolescent survey data

In 2 studies, we examined the use of validity screening items in adolescent survey data. In each study, adolescent respondents were asked whether they were telling the truth and paying attention in answering survey questions. In Study 1 (N = 7,801), the prevalence rates of student risk behaviors were significantly lower after inappropriate (invalid) responders were screened out of the sample. In addition, confirmatory and multigroup factor analyses demonstrated significant differences between the factor structures of school climate scales with valid versus invalid responders. In Study 2, student perceptions of school climate were correlated with teacher perceptions in 291 schools. A bootstrap resampling procedure compared the correlations obtained with valid versus invalid responding students in each school and found that valid responders had more positive views of school conditions and produced higher correlations with teacher perceptions. These findings support the value of validity screening items in improving the quality of adolescent survey data.     

The AB Identification Survey: Identifying Absolute versus Relative Determinants of Happiness

This article introduces a simple survey method to distinguish between two types of variables that affect happiness—type A, which exerts an absolute effect on happiness, and type B, which affects happiness only through social context. The authors validate the method by comparing its findings with the findings of a theoretically superior but less practical experimental method, and use the method to identify the AB nature of a variety of naturally-occurring variables among both college students and people with work experience. We conclude by discussing the limitation of this method as well as its potential to inform policymakers about where to invest resources in order to improve people’s happiness over time.     

Evolutionary psychology is compatible with equity feminism, but not with gender feminism: A reply to Eagly and Wood (2011)

I comment on Eagly and Wood's biosocial constructionist evolutionary theory (2011; DOI: 10.1007/s11199-011-9949-9). Although this gender feminist theory allows for evolved physical differences between men and women and evolved psychological similarities for men and women, it fails to consider evolutionary accounts of psychological sex differences. I hypothesize that gender feminists' reluctance to acknowledge that evolution has left different fingerprints on men's and women's bodies and brains stems from two common misunderstandings of evolutionary psychology: the myth of immutability and the naturalistic fallacy. I conclude that although evolutionary psychology is eminently compatible with equity feminism, evolutionary psychology and feminist psychology will conflict as long as the latter adheres to gender feminism and its unwillingness to acknowledge the evidence for evolved psychological sex differences. Gender feminism's dualistic view of evolution hinders the search for and understanding of the proximate and ultimate causes of inequality. Feminist psychology needs to evolve by embracing equity feminism, which has no a priori stance on the origin or existence of differences between the sexes.     

Is self-sacrificial competitive altruism primarily a male activity?

This study explored the basis of self-sacrificial prosocial behavior in small groups. Seventy-eight undergraduates (39M, 39F) filled out a thirty-item personality scale and then participated in a "group problem-solving study" in which the monetary success of a three-person group depended upon one of its members volunteering to endure pain (a cold stressor test) and inconvenience (being soaked in a dunk tank). There were 13 groups consisting of two females and one male, and 13 groups consisting of two males and one female. Across groups, the behavior of the altruist was judged to be more costly, challenging, and important and he/she was liked better, rewarded with more money, and preferred as a future experimental partner. Groups containing two males showed more evidence of competition to become altruists than groups containing two females, and personality traits were more effective predictors of altruistic behavior in males than in females. We conclude that competition between males and "showing off" are key factors in triggering self-sacrificial altruistic behavior.     

Locus of Control Beliefs Mediate the Relationship Between Religious Functioning and Psychological Health

Theistic and spiritually based beliefs and behaviors have been demonstrated to consistently predict physical and mental health, although the psychological processes underlying these relationships are unclear. This study investigated associative relationships and pathways of mediation between religious functioning, locus of control (LOC) and health. The sample consisted of 122 Christians (79 women, 43 men) who were predominately Catholic, ranging in age from 18 to 80 (M = 45.47, SD = 15.0). Participants were recruited from churches in the Western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, and completed a questionnaire package measuring (1) psychological and physical health, (2) the religious variables of awareness of God, instability and impression management, and (3) God, internal and external LOC domains. Results indicated that awareness of God and internal LOC were associated with better health, whereas external LOC and instability were associated with poorer health. God LOC and impression management were not significantly associated with health. Sobel tests were used to analyse mediation hypotheses. Internal LOC was found to mediate the relationship between awareness of God and better psychological health, and external LOC was found to mediate the relationship between instability and poorer psychological health. These findings are of considerable clinical significance.     

IRTs of the ABCs: children's letter name acquisition

We examined the developmental sequence of letter name knowledge acquisition by children from 2 to five years of age. Data from 2 samples representing diverse regions, ethnicity, and socioeconomic backgrounds (ns = 1074 and 500) were analyzed using item response theory (IRT) and differential item functioning techniques. Results from factor analyses indicated that letter name knowledge represented a unidimensional skill; IRT results yielded significant differences between letters in both difficulty and discrimination. Results also indicated an approximate developmental sequence in letter name learning for the simplest and most challenging to learn letters--but with no clear sequence between these extremes. Findings also suggested that children were most likely to first learn their first initial. We discuss implications for assessment and instruction.     

An IRT analysis of motive questionnaires: The Unified Motive Scales

Multiple inventories claiming to assess the same explicit motive (achievement, power, or affiliation) show only mediocre convergent validity. In three studies (N = 1685) the structure, nomological net, and content coverage of multiple existing motive scales was investigated with exploratory factor analyses. The analyses revealed four approach factors (achievement, power, affiliation, and intimacy) and a general avoidance factor with a facet structure. New scales (the Unified Motive Scales; UMS) were developed using IRT, reflecting these underlying dimensions. In comparison to existing questionnaires, the UMS have the highest measurement precision and provide short (six-item) and ultra-short (three-item) scales. In a fourth study (N = 96), the UMS demonstrated incremental validity over existing motive scales with respect to several outcome criteria.     

Performing well - Feeling bad? Effects of perfectionism under experimentally induced stress on tension and performance

The present study explored the influence of dispositional perfectionism (i.e. perfectionistic concerns and perfectionistic strivings) on tension and performance under low or high experimentally induced stress. Results support the moderating role of perfectionism concerning tension and indicate that stress-related processes underlie the vulnerability of perfectionistic concerns. In addition, buffering effects of perfectionistic strivings were found, supporting the 2 × 2 model of dispositional perfectionism by Gaudreau and Thompson (2010). No evidence was found for the moderating role of perfectionistic strivings concerning performance, but results provide evidence for positive effects of perfectionistic concerns on performance.