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Our objective was to compare individuals' ability to intentionally make a positive impression when responding to a Five-Factor Model personality measure under adjective vs. statement and forced choice vs. Likert conditions. Participants were 1,798 high school students who were randomly assigned to either a condition receiving normal instructions or instructions to make a positive impression. We compared the groups' scores and validity estimates under the various conditions. Although impression management occurred on all item types, participants could more easily manipulate their responses to Likert items vs. forced choice items, and statements vs. adjectives. Item type made little difference in terms of convergent and discriminant validity and criterion-related validity for all outcomes but one, ACT scores, which suggests cognitive ability plays a role in impression management ability.

Background Intimate partner violence (IPV) is one of the most important challenges facing today's society. Health professionals, and nurses in particular, play a leading role in addressing this problem. Having an instrument to study Nursing students' perception of this type of violence may enable appropriate and necessary educational strategies for their pre-service training and help them identify and address IPV in their future careers. Objectives To adapt and validate the IPV scale of Beccaria et al. (2011) in order to study nursing students' perception of IPV. Method The original instrument (63 items) underwent back-translation. Statistical and metrical analysis in a sample of 1064 students of the four-year Nursing degree program at four public universities in Catalonia (Spain) were based on their responses to the Spanish version. Results The results of the exploratory factorial analysis and subsequent confirmatory analysis showed that the data had an adequate fit for a four-factor model. The reliability analysis showed adequate internal consistency for each subscale in the instrument: Education (0.83); Identification of the Victim (0.72); Nursing Role and Values (0.78), and Identification of the Perpetrator (0.66). Conclusion The translation, cultural adaptation and validation process of the original IPV scale resulted in a Spanish-language instrument (IPV scale Spanish version) with 32 items in four subscales. We concluded that the Spanish version of the instrument is reliable and valid, and that its implementation would enable the assessment of nursing students' perception of IPV situations

As social and emotional learning (SEL) continues to gain popularity, the need for high-quality social and emotional skill assessments also increases. We conducted two studies to develop and validate items to measure social and emotional skills in third, fourth, and fifth grade students. The Big Five personality framework served as an assessment framework for image-enhanced Likert items, situational judgment test items, and forced choice items. Results from Study 1 (n = 1047) provided promising reliability and validity evidence, as well as concrete recommendations for item revisions. Study 2 (n = 826) was conducted with a revised item pool and demonstrated improved reliability and validity. Taken together, results provided initial support that social and emotional skills can be validly and reliably measured in elementary-aged students using innovative item types.

O presente estudo testa o efeito preditor da qualidade da ligação a figuras significativas (professores, funcionários da escola e da instituição) no desenvolvimento do autoconceito dos jovens. Pretende-se ainda testar o efeito mediador da qualidade da ligação aos pares e o efeito moderador do tempo de acolhimento residencial nesta associação. A amostra é composta por 400 jovens em acolhimento residencial entre os 12 e 18 anos de ambos os sexos, em Portugal. Os resultados sublinham a importância da qualidade da ligação às figuras significativas de afeto para o de um autoconceito positivo. A ligação aos pares mostra-se relevante corroborando o papel mediador no desenvolvimento do autoconceito. O tempo de acolhimento residencial não se mostrou significativo na relação entre a qualidade da ligação estabelecida com os adultos significativos e o autoconceito. À luz da teoria da vinculação realça-se a importância das ligações seguras entre adultos e jovens.

Complex problem solving (CPS) has emerged over the past several decades as an important construct in education and in the workforce. We examine the relationship between CPS and general fluid ability (Gf) both conceptually and empirically. A review of definitions of the two factors, prototypical tasks, and the information processing analyses of performance on those tasks suggest considerable conceptual overlap. We review three definitions of CPS: a general definition emerging from the human problem solving literature; a more specialized definition from the “German School” emphasizing performance in many-variable microworlds, with high domain-knowledge requirements; and a third definition based on performance in Minimal Complex Systems (MCS), with fewer variables and reduced knowledge requirements. We find a correlation of 0.86 between expert ratings of the importance of CPS and Gf across 691 occupations in the O*NET database. We find evidence that employers value both Gf and CPS skills, but CPS skills more highly, even after controlling for the importance of domain knowledge. We suggest that this may be due to CPS requiring not just cognitive ability but additionally skill in applying that ability in domains. We suggest that a fruitful future direction is to explore the importance of domain knowledge in CPS.

Self-report ratings of emotional intelligence (EI) can be faked in high-stakes situations. Although forced-choice administration can prevent response distortion, it produces ipsative scores when scored conventionally. This study ( n = 486) develops an 18-item EI rating scale assessing emotion perception, understanding, and management. We compare validity evidence for: (a) a single-stimulus rating scale; and (b) a forced-choice assessment scored with conventional methods versus item response theory (IRT) methods. The single-stimulus items showed acceptable fit to a three-factor solution, and the forced-choice items showed acceptable fit to the IRT solution. Correlations with criterion variables (ability and self-reported EI, Big Five personality, loneliness, life satisfaction, and GPA) were obtained for 283 participants. Correlations were in the expected direction for the single-stimulus and the IRT-based forced-choice scores. In contrast, the conventionally scored forced-choice test showed the expected correlations for emotion management, but not for emotion perception nor understanding. Results suggest that IRT-based methods for scoring forced-choice assessments produce equivalent validity to single-stimulus rating scales. As such, IRT-based scores on forced-choice assessments may allow EI tests to be used for high-stakes applications, where faking is a concern.

This article proposes a model-based procedure, intended for personality measures, for exploiting the auxiliary information provided by the certainty with which individuals answer every item (response certainty). This information is used to (a) obtain more accurate estimates of individual trait levels, and (b) provide a more detailed assessment of the consistency with which the individual responds to the test. The basis model consists of 2 submodels: an item response theory submodel for the responses, and a linear-in-the-coefficients submodel that describes the response certainties. The latter is based on the distance-difficulty hypothesis, and is parameterized as a factor-analytic model. Procedures for (a) estimating the structural parameters, (b) assessing model–data fit, (c) estimating the individual parameters, and (d) assessing individual fit are discussed. The proposal was used in an empirical study. Model–data fit was acceptable and estimates were meaningful. Furthermore, the precision of the indivi...

This article proposes a two-stage procedure aimed at identifying faking in personality tests. The procedure, which can be considered as an extension and refinement of previous item response theory (IRT)-based proposals, combines the information provided by a structural equation model (SEM) in the first stage with that provided by an IRT-based optimal person-fit procedure in the second. In this article, the procedure is presented in its most basic form, which means that it is intended for a two-group or a two-wave SEM and for binary-response IRT models. Then, its functioning is assessed by means of an empirical study based on an instructed-faking design. The results suggest that the effectiveness of the procedure is higher than that of previous related proposals. The usefulness of the proposal in real settings, its limitations, and further extensions are discussed.

Although change scores in a measure administered under neutral and faking-motivating conditions have become a main choice to operationalize faking, there are still some non-resolved issues on the results they provide. The present study uses a two-wave two-group design with a control group to assess three of these issues: (a) the role of individual differences in the amount of faking-induced change, (b) the relation between Impression Management (IM) scores under neutral conditions and change scores, and (c) the convergent validity of change scores as a requisite to view them as measures of an individual-difference variable. A Spanish translation of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised was administered twice to 489 undergraduate students under standard–standard instructions (N = 215) and under standard-faking-good instructions (N = 274). For the P, N, and Lie scales, the results showed that the role of individual differences was very relevant and that the only common variable underlying the scores was a general factor of faking-induced change. However, the IM scores were unable to predict effective change.

This article proposes a comprehensive approach based on structural equation modeling for assessing the amount of trait-level change derived from faking-motivating situations. The model is intended for a mixed 2-wave 2-group design, and assesses change at both the group and the individual level. Theoretically the model adopts an integrative approach that relates the 2 main current conceptualizations of faking, and models the amount of trait change as an individual-differences variable. The model and procedures are used in an empirical study based on 512 participants. Some of the results are interesting and warrant further research. Overall, the methodology that is proposed provides new resources for the theoretical and applied assessment of faking. In particular, it provides the practitioner with new tools for clearly assessing faking at the individual level.

The present study aims to shed some light on an old controversy about the joint impact of acquiescence and social desirability on item responses. There are two main hypotheses: (a) of the two biases, social desirability is by far the prime determinant, and (b) acquiescence operates in all sorts of items, including those impacted by social desirability. A new methodology is harnessed to assess these hypotheses in an empirical study based on two well known social desirability scales: the Marlowe–Crowne social desirability scale and the Lie scale of Eysenck’s questionnaires. In both scales, the results suggest that even items which primarily measure social desirability can also be impacted to some extent by acquiescence.

This article proposes a model-based multiple-group procedure for assessing the impact of faking on personality measures and the scores derived from these measures. The assessment is at the item level and the base model, which is intended for binary items, can be parameterized both as an Item Response Theory (IRT) model and as an Item Factor-Analytic (FA) model. The specific solution proposed is bidimensional, and the propensity to fake is specifically modeled as a second factor. The approach we propose allows (a) previous separate results obtained either from IRT-based or from FA-based studies to be related and (b) some hypotheses on measurement invariance and structural changes to be assessed in more detail. The procedure was used in a study based on 2 personality scales that were administered in 1 group under standard instructions and in another group under faking-good instructions. For both scales, results suggested that strong measurement invariance was attained. Also, for both scales substantial mean changes were obtained in the propensity-to-fake factor but not in the content factors. The implications of the results and future research directions are discussed.

This study proposes and assesses a model-based general hypothesis on the interpretation of the EPQ Lie scores when obtained under standard conditions and under instructed faking. The base model is a multiple-group item-response-theory (IRT) model that is parameterized here as a factor-analytic model. A Spanish translation of the Lie scale was administered to a total group of 762 undergraduate students under standard instructions (401 respondents) and under faking-good instructions (361 respondents). Preliminary results at the total-score level were in agreement with previously reported evidence. Results obtained with the model-based analysis agreed with the general hypothesis, and suggested, among other things, that: (a) the Lie scores measure a common unitary factor under both types of conditions, (b) the measurement characteristics of the items remain essentially invariant in both conditions, and (c) the factor means change substantially in the expected direction. Limitations of the study, implications of the results, and future lines of research are discussed.

In recent years, change scores obtained under neutral conditions and under faking-inducing conditions have become one of the main alternatives for operationalizing faking. A pending issue regarding these measures is the relevance of individual differences under similar conditions of pressure. This study proposes a simple approach based on the classic test theory that allows the issue to be rigorously assessed. The approach, from which three indices are derived, is based on a pre-test post-test design with a control group, and models the amount of change as an individual parameter. The proposal is applied to an empirical study in personality, and some interesting initial results are obtained.

This study assessed the functioning and measurement properties of Rotter's Locus of Control Scale in its Spanish version by using a new approach based on Item Response Theory. Our procedure allows us: (a) to detect the impact of response biases (acquiescence and social desirability); (b) to evaluate clearly the test dimensionality and structure; (c) to evaluate and understand the causes of some items' inefficiency; and (d) to increase measurement precision. Globally, the results do not contradict those obtained in previous research, but allow some of the criticisms the scale had received to be qualified. Some recommendations for use are proposed.

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in indirect aggression as the most common aggressive behaviour in adulthood. Despite this interest, there are not a great many instruments for measuring this behaviour in adults. The aim of our study was to develop the Spanish adaptation of one of the few instruments that does exist: the Indirect Aggression Scale, in its aggressor and target versions. The analysis of these scales in a sample of 935 university students showed that the aggressor and target versions of the scales had good reliabilities, but that a one-factor structure seemed more feasible than the three-factor structure initially proposed. Taking this one-dimensionality, we developed short versions of the scales, which also showed good reliabilities. The aggressor version presented good convergent validity with direct aggression and impulsivity measures. Finally, none of the scales showed differences associated with sex.

This study has two main purposes: (a) to assess the functioning of the Geriatric Depression Scale in its Spanish version in old visually-impaired people, and (b) to assess the relevance of measuring depressive symptoms within a comprehensive assessment of psychological adjustment related to vision impairment in that population. Respondents were 329 people affiliated to the ONCE who were a representative sample of the target population. The assessment of the first goal let us to establish two cut-off points, and led to new methodological developments that combine Item Response Theory and Classical Test Theory. The results indicated that the scale is particularly useful in the target population and that it is very relevant in the assessment of psychological adjustment related to visual impairment in old people.