Daniel T. Rogers

Development and Validation of a Measure of Interpersonal Strengths: The Inventory of Interpersonal Strengths

An Inventory of Interpersonal Strengths (IIS) was developed and validated in a series of large college student samples. Based on interpersonal theory and associated methods, the IIS was designed to assess positive characteristics representing the full range of interpersonal domains, including those generally thought to have negative qualities (e.g., introversion, coldness, submissiveness). The 8 subscales (octants) of the 64-item IIS demonstrated good circumplex features and reliability. Tests comparing Big 5 interpersonal factors, Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP), Battery of Interpersonal Capabilities (BIC), and other interpersonal measures demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity and shared interpersonal structure. The IIS accounted for significant additional variance in life satisfaction and quality of personal relationships beyond the IIP and the BIC.

Further Validation of the Learning Alliance Inventory: The Roles of Working Alliance, Rapport, and Immediacy in Student Learning.

This study further examined the reliability and validity of the Learning Alliance Inventory (LAI), a self-report measure designed to assess the working alliance between a student and a teacher. The LAI was found to have good internal consistency and test–retest reliability, and it demonstrated the predicted convergence with measures of immediacy and rapport. The LAI enhanced the prediction of student learning beyond that which was possible only using measures of immediacy and rapport. Path analysis provided support for immediacy and rapport indirectly impacting student learning via their effects on the working alliance. Potential uses of the LAI in both research and applied contexts are discussed.

The IIS-32: a brief inventory of interpersonal strengths.

The Inventory of Interpersonal Strengths (IIS–64; Hatcher & Rogers, 2009) is a 64-item self-report measure based on the interpersonal circle (Pincus & Gurtman, 2006) with 8 subscales, or octants, that measure positive interpersonal characteristics covering the full range of the interpersonal circle. The IIS–64 is a valid and psychometrically robust measure of positive interpersonal features. However, because assessment time is precious in many contexts, briefer instruments might be of considerable value. We report the development of a brief version of the IIS–64 that retains the strong measurement characteristics of the original. Nonparametric item response theory methods were utilized in conjunction with factor-analytic item selection procedures in the original IIS–64 derivation sample of 1,377 to derive a 32-item version of the IIS that best represented a circumplex structure. Circumplex structure was confirmed in an additional college sample (N = 956) and in a clinical sample (N = 496). Convergence with the IIS–64 was confirmed, as were alpha and test–retest reliability. Convergent validity was demonstrated with measures of the Big Five factors. The IIS–32 should prove to be a useful and flexible measure of interpersonal strengths.

Development of the Teacher Control and Nurturance Scale: Assessing student perception of the underlying dimensions of teaching style.

The results of 3 studies (n1 = 498, n2 = 774, n3 = 299) are reported focusing on the development and validation of a brief, psychometrically sound measure of students’ perceptions of 2 dimensions that may underlie differences in teaching. This approach resulted from applying parenting style and interpersonal theories to a teaching context, specifically these theories’ emphasis on control and nurturance as dimensions that capture a wide range of behavior. Across exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the Teacher Control and Nurturance Scale (TCANS) items demonstrated a 2-factor structure corresponding to teacher control and nurturance. In addition to good internal consistency, the control and nurturance scales demonstrated initial concurrent and convergent validity. TCANS scores differed as predicted across the stylistic categories students selected as descriptive of their teachers, and TCANS scores from students within the same course corresponded to that teacher’s self-reported levels of control and nurturance. Control and nurturance were related to students’ perceptions of other teacher qualities and self-reported learning but not to objective measures of learning. The TCANS potential utility as an instrument in future research attempting to extend the parenting style construct to the classroom is discussed.