The reliability of psychological instruments in community samples: A cautionary note

We examined whether the assumption of generalizability is warranted. We administered three commonly used psychological measures—the Behavioral Activation/Behavioral Inhibition Scale, the Regulatory Focus Questionnaire, and the Need for Cognition Scale—to a community sample (N = 332) with limited education. For the three instruments, five of seven scales/subscales had unsatisfactory reliabilities. Internal consistency was lowest among participants with less education. The results suggest that instruments normed on educated samples may not generalize to uneducated samples.

Source: Journal of Health Psychology - August 16, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Shepperd, J. A., Emanuel, A. S., Dodd, V. J., Logan, H. L. Tags: Articles Source Type: research