Search

The factor structure of Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB) and their relationship to standardized measures of subjective well-being (SWB) were investigated. Two hundred seventy-seven participants ranging in age from 18 to 48 years were administered the Memorial University of Newfoundland Scale of Happiness (MUNSH), the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), and the SPWB. Results failed to support either the hypothesis that performing factor analytic procedures on the items of the SPWB should produce a six-factor solution, with scale-specific items loading most highly on their respective factors or the hypothesis that subjecting the sub-scales of the SPWB to factor analytic procedures along with standardized measures of SWB would produce one higher-order well-being factor. Instead, item loadings clustered around three major factors that could not be identified with the six scales proposed by Ryff. Moreover, the factor analysis of SPWB and SWB scale totals produced three, instead of one, higher-order factors. Implications of findings are discussed with respect to the relationship of the PWB construct to the SWB construct.

This study uses a sample of African adolescents to evaluate a psychological survey designed to measure social skills involved in AIDS-related behaviors. Findings indicate that less than half of the questions demonstrated differential item validity and that the questionnaire may not be a valid tool for international groups of adolescents.

Confirmatory factor analysis in two large samples (N=411 and N=1,235) was conducted to examine the convergent and discriminant validity of the 74-item (revised) and 41-item (reduced) versions of the substitutes for leadership scales recently developed by Podsakoff, Niehoff, MacKenzie, and Williams (1993), and Podsakoff, MacKenzie, and Fetter (1993). Following this, the reliabilities and subscale intercorrelations of the two versions of the scale were compared in order to determine how faithfully the 41-item version represents the 74-item scale. Next, the reliabilities of both versions were compared with the reliability of Kerr and Jermier's (1978) original scale, and their nomological validity was evaluated. The overall pattern of results indicated that both versions were reasonably reliable and valid, and both were better than Kerr and Jermier's original scale. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

We have developed a reliable and valid questionnaire to measure the psychological consequences of screening mammography. The questionnaire measures the effect of screening on an individual's functioning on emotional, social, and physical life domains. Content validity was ensured by extensive review of the relevant literature, discussion with professionals and interviews with attenders at a pilot Breast X-ray Screening Program in Melbourne, Australia. Discriminant validity was assessed by having expert judges sort items into dimensions which they appeared to be measuring. Acceptable levels of concordance (above 80%) with a priori classifications were found. Concurrent validity was demonstrated by comparison of subscale scores of 53 attenders at the Breast X-ray Program with an independent interview assessment of dysfunction on each of the emotional, social and physical dimensions. There was over 79% agreement between interview scores and questionnaire scores for each dimension. Construct validity was confirmed by showing that subscale scores varied in predicted ways. For women who were recalled for further investigation, scores on each subscale measuring negative consequences, were higher at the recall clinic than at screening clinic (emotional: t = - 7.28; df = 70; P < 0.001; physical: t = - 2.53; df = 70; P = 0.014; social: t = - 2.49; df = 70; P = 0.015). The internal consistency of all subscales was found to be acceptable. This questionnaire is potentially useful for assessing the psychological consequences of the screening process and should have wide application.

The validity of the Abbreviated Mental Test was demonstrated by comparison with final clinical diagnoses in a consecutive sample of 168 patients admitted with acute illness to a department of health care of the elderly. Fifty-eight (34%) had abnormal cognition. The best cut-off point was 8, with less than 8 suggesting abnormal cognitive function. A short version (the AMT7) of the AMT was developed. Its validity, internal consistency and coverage of domains was equivalent to the AMT but it had a slightly higher sensitivity (with acceptable specificity) than the original. This new short version may improve performance of junior doctors in clinical practice who appear to have difficulty remembering all 10 items of the AMT.

The Perceptions of Fair Interpersonal Treatment (PFIT) scale was designed to assess employees' perceptions of the interpersonal treatment in their work environment. Analyses of the factor structure and reliability of this new instrument indicate that the PFIT scale is a reliable instrument composed of 2 factors: supervisor treatment and coworker treatment. It was hypothesized that the PFIT scale would be positively correlated with job satisfaction variables and negatively correlated with work withdrawal, job withdrawal, experiences of sexual harassment, and an organization's tolerance of sexual harassment. Results based on 509 employees in a private-sector organization and 217 female faculty and staff members at a large midwestern university supported these hypotheses. Arguments that common method variance and employees' dispositions are responsible for the significant correlations between the PFIT scale and other job-related variables were eliminated. The implications of these results are discussed.

Among a representative sample of the Dutch population (Study 1: N = 690), career-oriented and team-oriented commitment were assessed, in addition to affective organizational commitment (Meyer & Allen, 1991). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the proposed distinction between the 2 specific forms of commitment at the measurement level. Furthermore, the construct validity of team-oriented and career-oriented commitment as well as their differential implications were corroborated by self-reports of work-related behavior 1 year later. The distinction between career-oriented and team-oriented commitment was then cross-validated in a 2nd study, among employees of a financial service organization in Belgium (N = 287), in which the constructs proved to be not only differentially related to self-reported behavior at work, but also predictive of performance ratings by superiors.

A total of 290 middle school students were administered the Self-Description Questionnaire-II (SDQ-II) and the Students' Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS). Three different approaches were employed to explore the discriminant validity of global self-esteem and global life satisfaction in children. Confirmatory factor analyses suggested that children differentiate the well-being constructs. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis provided further support for the incremental validity of the life satisfaction construct. Furthermore, global life satisfaction and global self-esteem scores demonstrated different correlates. Children's perception of their academic competence were more strongly related to their global self-esteem than their global life satisfaction whereas children's perceptions of the quality of their family relationships was the strongest correlate of their global life satisfaction. The findings were then replicated with a sample of 183 elementary school students (grades 3-5). Taken together, the findings provided strong support for the meaningfulness of the global life satisfaction construct with children as well as the multidimensionality of children's subjective well-being reports.

Quality of life for individuals and their communities is greatly affected by the degree of altruism expressed when misfortune occurs. The present study investigated the construct validity of an individual differences variable (i.e., unsupportive attributional style) linked to helping behaviour. Unsupportive attributional style (i.e., the tendency to view others' misfortunes as controllable by the victims) is assessed across a number of negative life outcomes of others using the Reasons for Misfortune Questionnaire (RMQ). Modest evidence of unsupportive attributional style at an intermediate level of situation specificity suggested an empirical examination of the situational referents (negative life outcomes of others) of the construct. The present study revealed large variation in the perceived causal controllability of the negative life outcomes on the RMQ. Confirmatory factor analysis of RMQ data (N = 705) revealed that an excellent fit was provided by an attributional style model that included controllable and uncontrollable situation-types. Thus, when perceived controllability of the negative life outcomes of others was included in the definition of unsupportive attributional style, the estimation of individual differences in controllability perceptions was refined considerably. By linking empirically the situational referents for unsupportive attributional style to the construct definition, the present findings demonstrated the ongoing nature of the process of construct validation. It is clear from the present findings that if systematic variation in the situational referents of attributional styles is unaccounted for in construct definition, individual differences in controllability perceptions (i.e., attributional style) will be underestimated.

The role of response stability in the measurement of coping is examined with a focus on the unique information that can be gleaned from low test-retest reliability ('inconsistency'). Data from two studies are presented in which a card sort measure of coping flexibility was used on people with three different chronic diseases and the elderly (n = 219). We begin by testing the hypothesis that the low stability reflects unreliability due to measurement artifacts, such as random error, low ecological validity, long test - retest interval, surrogate assistance, or error due to completing the questionnaire in multiple sittings. Our findings suggest that surrogate assistance in completing questionnaires was the only measurement artifact associated with low stability. We then tested the proposition that low stability reflects a genuine behavior pattern (i.e. inconsistency). Hierarchical modeling revealed that measurement artifact accounted for less than one percent of the variance in inconsistency in reported coping behavior and that an additional 21% of the variance could be explained by the behavioral factors, including neuropsychological problems (9%), psychological morbidity (4%), locus of control (3%) and eudaimonistic well-being (5%). Thus inconsistency in reported coping behavior was better explained by behavioral and psychosocial factors than by the tested measurement artifacts. We conclude that inconsistency in reported coping behavior does indeed reflect a meaningful behavior pattern, rather than simply measurement artifact.

Among a representative sample of the Dutch population (Study 1: N = 690), career-oriented and team-oriented commitment were assessed, in addition to affective organizational commitment (Meyer & Allen, 1991). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the proposed distinction between the 2 specific forms of commitment at the measurement level. Furthermore, the construct validity of team-oriented and career-oriented commitment as well as their differential implications were corroborated by self-reports of work-related behavior 1 year later. The distinction between career-oriented and team-oriented commitment was then cross-validated in a 2nd study, among employees of a financial service organization in Belgium (N = 287), in which the constructs proved to be not only differentially related to self-reported behavior at work, but also predictive of performance ratings by superiors.

The Perceptions of Fair Interpersonal Treatment (PFIT) scale was designed to assess employees' perceptions of the interpersonal treatment in their work environment. Analyses of the factor structure and reliability of this new instrument indicate that the PFIT scale is a reliable instrument composed of 2 factors: supervisor treatment and coworker treatment. It was hypothesized that the PFIT scale would be positively correlated with job satisfaction variables and negatively correlated with work withdrawal, job withdrawal, experiences of sexual harassment, and an organization's tolerance of sexual harassment. Results based on 509 employees in a private-sector organization and 217 female faculty and staff members at a large midwestern university supported these hypotheses. Arguments that common method variance and employees' dispositions are responsible for the significant correlations between the PFIT scale and other job-related variables were eliminated. The implications of these results are discussed.