Age-neutrality of the NEO-PI-R: Potential Differential Item Functioning in Older Versus Younger Adults |
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Authors: | Joke Van den Broeck Gina Rossi Eva Dierckx Barbara De Clercq |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Clinical and Lifespan Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium 2. Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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Abstract: | Geriatric researchers and clinicians often have to deal with a lack of valid personality measures for older age groups (e.g., Mroczek, Hurt, & Berman, 1999; Zweig 2008), which hampers a reliable assessment of personality in later life. An age-neutral measurement system is one of the basic conditions for an accurate personality assessment across the lifespan, both longitudinally and cross-sectionally. In the present study, we empirically investigate the age-neutrality of one of the most widely used personality measures (i.e., the NEO PI-R (Costa & McCrae, 1992)), by examining potential Differential Item Functioning (DIF). Overall, results indicate that the vast majority (92.9?% at domain-level and 95?% at facet-level) of the NEO PI-R items was similarly endorsed by younger and older age groups with the same position on the personality trait of interest, corroborating the NEO PI-R??s age neutrality. However, Differential Test Functioning (DTF) analyses revealed large DTF for Extraversion, and facet A6 (Tender-Mindedness). Results are discussed in terms of their implications for using the current format of the NEO PI-R in older aged samples. |
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