Effects of the testing situation on item responding: Cause for concern.

The effects of faking on personality test scores have been studied previously by comparing (a) experimental groups instructed to fake or answer honestly, (b) subgroups created from a single sample of applicants or nonapplicants by using impression management scores, and (c) job applicants and nonapplicants. In this investigation, the latter 2 methods were used to study the effects of faking on the functioning of the items and scales of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire. A variety of item response theory methods were used to detect differential item/test functioning, interpreted as evidence of faking. The presence of differential item/test functioning across testing situations suggests that faking adversely affects the construct validity of personality scales and that it is problematic to study faking by comparing groups defined by impression management scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on social desirability.

Comments on R. Hogan and R. A. Nicholson's (see record 1989-00097-001) article on construct validation in personality measurement and argues that social desirability (SD) is not simply an early theory of item response. SD explains item endorsement in terms of social normative processes and accounts for the lack of differential validity often observed among personality scales. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A model of personality test item response dissimulation.

Proposes and empirically evaluates a general model of faking on self-report personality test items. The model predicts that differential test item response latencies should be faster for schema-congruent test answers than for noncongruent responses. Thus, individuals faking good should take relatively longer to endorse socially undesirable test item content than desirable test item content. Conversely, individuals faking bad should endorse socially desirable test item content relatively slower than undesirable test item content. Support for the model was found to generalize across personality inventories and across populations of university students and maximum security prisoners. Conflicting results from previous research are viewed in terms of the model. Further testing of the model's generality and practical relevance is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The construct validity of differential response latencies in structured personality tests.

Shows that differential response latencies are a meaningful indicator of the presence of a trait. A total of 92 subjects responded to a series of microcomputerized personality test items reflecting 4 different traits on each of 4 occasions. Estimates of internal consistency, parallel forms reliability, and test–retest stability suggested that the reliability of the response latencies was modest. Differential response latencies showed excellent convergent validity for corresponding trait level measures and excellent discriminant validity for irrelevant trait level measures. Moreover, as predicted, the latencies for endorsing trait relevant items were negatively related to trait level measures whereas the latencies for rejecting items were positively related. Differential response latencies had no tendency to group together as a method factor. Rather, the pattern of convergent and discriminant relationships generalized across all 4 retest sessions. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Constructing personality scales under the assumptions of an ideal point response process: Toward increasing the flexibility of personality measures.

The main aim of this article is to explicate why a transition to ideal point methods of scale construction is needed to advance the field of personality assessment. The study empirically demonstrated the substantive benefits of ideal point methodology as compared with the dominance framework underlying traditional methods of scale construction. Specifically, using a large, heterogeneous pool of order items, the authors constructed scales using traditional classical test theory, dominance item response theory (IRT), and ideal point IRT methods. The merits of each method were examined in terms of item pool utilization, model-data fit, measurement precision, and construct and criterion-related validity. Results show that adoption of the ideal point approach provided a more flexible platform for creating future personality measures, and this transition did not adversely affect the validity of personality test scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relative efficacy of differential response latencies for detecting faking on a self-report measure of psychopathology.

Investigated whether differential response latencies for items on a structured self-report test of psychopathology could be used to detect faking in a sample of maximum security prison inmates. Test item response times were statistically adjusted to reflect item latencies in relation both to the person and to the item; discriminant function analysis indicated that such times could significantly differentiate among standard responding, faking good responses, and faking bad responses. Furthermore, classification hit rates with differential response latencies compared favorably with those rates found with more traditional response dissimulation scales. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Item subtlety and face validity in personality assessment.

Makes a distinction between the concepts of item subtlety and face validity. Face validity is viewed as the contextual relevance of personality test items, whereas item subtlety is conceptualized as the lack of an obvious substantive link between test item content and its underlying construct. An experiment with 193 college students is described; materials included 80 test items, 16 from each of the Abasement, Achievement, Affiliation, Autonomy, and Dominance scales of the Personality Research Form, Form E (D. N. Jackson, 1974). Greater face validity and lower levels of subtlety were associated empirically with higher item validity. Although trait differences in the relationship of item subtlety to criterion validity were found, these were not mediated by desirability. These results are viewed as supporting a rational strategy of test construction emphasizing the use of relevant test item content. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do Warnings of Response Verification Moderate the Relationship Between Personality and Cognitive Ability?

This article presents the results of 2 studies that examine the effect of presenting a warning of response verification by others on the relationship between measures of personality and cognitive ability. In both a field study and a laboratory study, stronger correlations were generally found between measures of personality and cognitive ability when a warning of verification was present. The results from the studies also showed that the warning of verification was associated with slower item response latencies for certain personality scales, suggesting that exposure to the warning increased the complexity of the response decision. Results are discussed in terms of the effects of altering test instructions on the construct validity of personality measures used in applied settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of job familiarity and impression management on self-report measure scale scores and response latencies.

Two studies were conducted to examine the effects of job familiarity and impression management on response latencies and scale scores for measures of personality and situational judgment. In a laboratory study using university students and a field study using U.S. Border Patrol Agent applicants, impression management was generally associated with faster personality item responses when job familiarity was high and with slower responses when job familiarity was low. Both impression management and job familiarity were associated with personality item responses that were more likely to lead to a job offer. The field study revealed a similar pattern of results for situational judgment scale response latencies, although only impression management was associated with item responses that were more likely to lead to a job offer. The implications for using response latencies to detect impression management on self-report measures are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do response time limitations counteract the effect of faking on personality inventory validity?

Different models of lying on personality scales make discrepant predictions on the association between faking and item response time. The current research investigated response time restriction as a method for reducing the influence of faking on personality scale validity. In 3 assessment simulations involving 540 university undergraduates responding to 2 common, psychometrically strong personality inventories, no evidence emerged to indicate that limiting respondents' answering time can attenuate the effects of faking on validity. Results were interpreted as failing to support a simple model of personality test item response dissimulation that predicts that lying takes time. Findings were consistent with models implying that lying involves primitive cognitive processing or that lying may be associated with complex processing that includes both primitive responding and cognitive overrides. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Complete automation of the MMPI and a study of its response latencies.

Examined the feasibility of computerizing the administration, scoring, and interpretation of the MMPI and comparing its response latencies with other MMPI item characteristics. 26 scales were successfully scored for 77 undergraduates, and an interpretive report was typed by the program. With respect to item response latency, stepwise regression analysis indicate that item length accounted for 48-58% of the variance, while item ambiguity, social desirability, and social desirability dispersion accounted for only 3-8%. For the 38 MMPI critical items, "deviant" response latencies were longer than "nondeviant" latencies. Replication results with 56 Ss were almost identical. Thus, excepting subtests of personality items, latency may not have the psychological significance often attributed to it. (26 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Computerized adaptive personality testing: A review and illustration with the MMPI-2 computerized adaptive version.

Computerized adaptive testing in personality assessment can improve efficiency by significantly reducing the number of items administered to answer an assessment question. Two approaches have been explored for adaptive testing in computerized personality assessment: item response theory and the countdown method. In this article, the authors review the literature on each and report the results of an investigation designed to explore the utility, in terms of item and time savings, and validity, in terms of correlations with external criterion measures, of an expanded countdown method-based research version of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), the MMPI-2 Computerized Adaptive Version (MMPI-2-CA). Participants were 433 undergraduate college students (170 men and 263 women). Results indicated considerable item savings and corresponding time savings for the adaptive testing modalities compared with a conventional computerized MMPI-2 administration. Furthermore, computerized adaptive administration yielded comparable results to computerized conventional administration of the MMPI-2 in terms of both test scores and their validity. Future directions for computerized adaptive personality testing are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On shutting one's eyes to face validity.

The present author reasserts the primacy of convergent and discriminant validity in construct validation. In response to the observations of J. G. Nicholls et al (see record 1983-04770-001) concerning the dangers of personality questionnaires, the present author defends a certain amount of item similarity across measures in terms of the broad process of construct validation. As an illustration, it is argued that the Affective Communication Test presents no danger to theory construction. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development, psychometric analysis, and validation of an error-choice test to measure attitudes toward persons with epilepsy.

Describes the development of the Test Of Knowledge About Epilepsy (TKAE) as an indirect measure of attitudes toward persons with epilepsy. In Study 1, 406 university students responded to a TKAE test that had 20 items of general knowledge about epilepsy interspersed with the error-choice items. Results indicate satisfactory item characteristics, adequate reliability and homogeneity, and preliminary support for the measure's construct validity. In Study 2, administration of the TKAE was the same as in Study 1, and the direct measure used was the Scale of Attitudes Toward Persons with Epilepsy. 323 students provided data that substantiated both the adequacy of the instrument's psychometric characteristics and its construct validity. However, additional validity investigations are needed to relate TKAE to Ss' sociodemographic, experiential, and personality characteristics, as well as behavioral indicators of attitudes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond group-mean differences: The concept of item bias.

Describes item bias analysis in attitude and personality measurement using the techniques of item response theory (IRT). Data from 179 male and 119 female college students on the Mosher Forced-Choice Sex Guilt Inventory illustrate the procedures developed to distinguish true group differences in a psychologically meaningful construct from artifactual differences due to some aspect of the test construction process. This analysis suggests that the sex difference in scores on this inventory reflects the item composition of the measure rather than a true group difference on a global guilt continuum. Recommendations for the application of IRT item analysis are presented. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Postnatal maturation of renal cortical peritubular fibroblasts in the rat

Differences in Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) response latencies between groups instructed to respond honestly or fake were explored. There were 120 undergraduate students who completed a computer administered MMPI-2 with instructions to either respond honestly, to underreport psychopathology, or to overreport psychopathology. Results showed that subjects required significantly more time to respond in a manner that was inconsistent with their response set when pattern of endorsement (acceptance vs. rejection) was considered and less time when pattern of endorsement was not considered. The differential response of subjects across groups suggests that response latencies are related to response styles and that future research may indicate a methodology for utilizing response latencies in assessing response validity.     

Substance versus style: A new look at social desirability in motivating contexts.

Although there is an emerging consensus that social desirability does not meaningfully affect criterion-related validity, several researchers have reaffirmed the argument that social desirability degrades the construct validity of personality measures. Yet, most research demonstrating the adverse consequences of faking for construct validity uses a fake-good instruction set. The consequence of such a manipulation is to exacerbate the effects of response distortion beyond what would be expected under realistic circumstances (e.g., an applicant setting). The research reported in this article was designed to assess these issues by using real-world contexts not influenced by artificial instructions. Results suggest that response distortion has little impact on the construct validity of personality measures used in selection contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-report assessment of the DSM-IV personality disorders. Measurement of trait and distress characteristics: the ADP-IV

BACKGROUND: Self-report instruments assessing the DSM personality disorders are characterized by overdiagnosis due to their emphasis on the measurement of personality traits rather than the impairment and distress associated with the criteria. METHODS: The ADP-IV, a Dutch questionnaire, introduces an alternative assessment method: each test item assesses 'Trait' as well as 'Distress/impairment' characteristics of a DSM-IV criterion. This item format allows dimensional as well as categorical diagnostic evaluations. The present study explores the validity of the ADP-IV in a sample of 659 subjects of the Flemish population. RESULTS: The dimensional personality disorder subscales, measuring Trait characteristics, are internally consistent and display a good concurrent validity with the Wisconsin Personality Disorders Inventory. Factor analysis at the item-level resulted in 11 orthogonal factors, describing personality dimensions such as psychopathy, social anxiety and avoidance, negative affect and self-image. Factor analysis at the subscale-level identified two basic dimensions, reflecting hostile (DSM-IV Cluster B) and anxious (DSM-IV Cluster C) interpersonal attitudes. Categorical ADP-IV diagnoses are obtained using scoring algorithms, which emphasize the Trait or the Distress concepts in the diagnostic evaluation. Prevalences of ADP-IV diagnoses of any personality disorder according to these algorithms vary between 2.28 and 20.64%. CONCLUSIONS: Although further research in clinical samples is required, the present results support the validity of the ADP-IV and the potential of the measurement of trait and distress characteristics as a method for assessing personality pathology.     

Use of log-linear models for assessing differential item functioning in a measure of psychological functioning.

Log-linear models are used to investigate contingency tables that cross-classify respondents according to item response, mental health status (MHS), and the background variables of ethnicity and gender. Specifically, log-linear models are used to examine item validity, defined as an item response by MHS interaction, and differential item functioning (DIF), defined as an interaction between item response and a background variable. The investigation focused on a set of items that measure subjective well-being and coping behavior. Female (n?=?627) and male (n?=?338) respondents represented 3 ethnic groups: African American, Anglo-American, and Hispanic/Latino. Strong evidence of item validity and some evidence of DIF was found. Most of the interaction between item response and either ethnicity or gender occurred among Ss with diminished mental health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)