Steven P. Reise

An Empirical Comparison of Acculturation Models

The unidirectional and bidirectional models of acculturation were compared in a sample of 291 Asian Americans. Both models produced good predictions of Asian preferences, cultural knowledge, ethnic identification, and generational status. The bidirectional model, however, failed to demonstrate its reputed independence across home culture and host culture orientations. The unidirectional model is recommended as an economical proxy measure of acculturation, the bidirectional model is recommended for full theoretical investigations of acculturation, and a speculative tridirectional model is proposed to clarify the distinction between acculturation and ethnogenesis (the creation of a new ethnicity).

Traitedness and the assessment of response pattern scalability

Scalability statistics are used to measure the degree to which an examinees item responses to a self-report measure conform to a specified pattern. This article proposes that a scalability index based on item response theory, called Z L , offers promise for detecting individual differences in traitedness. The Z L index is described and applied to data from 1,000 Ss who were administered the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (A. Tellegen, 1982). Low split-half reliabilities were found for Z L index scores computed within 11 personality scales. However, further data scrutiny revealed that valuable information about an individuals trait structure can still be gleaned from a scalability analysis

A California Q-set alexithymia prototype and its relationship to ego-control and ego-resiliency

The primary purposes of the present study were to use the Q-sort method to develop a measure of alexithymia and to locate the construct within a two-dimensional (ego-control and ego-resiliency) model of personality. Thirteen professional judges described the characteristics of the alexithymic personality with the 100-item California Q-set. Scores from the sorts were aggregated to form the Alexithymia Prototype, which had a Spearman-Brown reliability of 0.99. Alexithymic people were described as having difficulties experiencing and expressing emotion, lacking imagination, and being literal, socially conforming, and utilitarian; they lack insight, are humorless, and experience meaninglessness; and anxiety and tension find outlet in bodily symptoms. This description is consistent, for the most part, with modern formulations of the alexithymia construct. In the language of the two-dimensional personality model, alexithymic individuals appear to be overcontrolling and lacking ego-resiliency (i.e., constricted, anxious, rigid, and withdrawn). We, therefore, compared the Alexithymia Prototype with two independently developed prototypes, Overcontrol and Ego-Resiliency. The Q-correlations between alexithymia and overcontrol and between alexithymia and ego-resiliency were 0.45 and -0.70, respectively. Although item analyses confirmed moderate overlap between alexithymia and overcontrol and considerable overlap between alexithymia and lacking ego-resiliency (ego-brittle), item differences suggest that alexithymia, indeed, is a unique personality construct.

Scoring method and the detection of person misfit in a personality assessment context

The purpose of this research was to explore psycho metric issues pertinent to the application of an IRT based person-fit (response aberrancy) detection statistic in the personality measurement domain. Monte carlo data analyses were conducted to address issues regarding the l z person-fit statistic. The major issues explored were characteristics of the null distribution of l z and its power to identify nonfitting response patterns under different scoring strategies. There were two main results. First, the l z index null distribution was not well standardized when item parameters of personality scales were used; the l z null distribution variance was significantly less than the hypothesized value of 1.0 under several conditions. Second, the power of l z to detect response misfit was affected by the scoring method. Detection power was optimal when a biweight estimator of θ was used. Recommendations are made regarding proper implementation of person-fit statistics in personality measurement.

Personality dimensions and measures potentially relevant to health: A focus on hostility

Although it is clear that chronic, negative socioemotional patterns are associated with poor health and premature death, various overlapping concepts and measures are currently used, making research planning difficult and limiting attempts at theoretical development. This article reviews current issues and reports a study of 36 theoretically interesting and commonly-used personality scales that were administered to 454 undergraduates. The scales included the Cook-Medley scale, Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory, the Spielberger scales, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, hardiness/alienation scales, NEO Personality Inventory, locus of control, Life Orientation Test, Jenkins Activity Survey, and the Beck Depression Inventory. While research and theory refine the best concepts and measures, studies predicting health from chronic negative patterns may want to include at least four measures: (a) aggressive overt hostility, (b) alienated bitterness, (c) introversion, and(d) anxiety/depression. A measure of conscientiousness is also useful.

Genetic and environmental influences on item response pattern scalability

Numerous studies have examined how genetic and environmental factors determine individual differences on multi-item personality scales. Few studies, however, have examined how genes and the environment influence the route by which individuals obtain their scores on these scales. Specifically, on a multi-item test, dozens of item response patterns result in equivalent total scores, though some response patterns are more likely to be observed than others. For many scales it may be of interest to determine the genetic and environmental influences on the item responsepatterns, as well as the sum of the item responses. We discuss a latent trait measure of item response pattern scalability, called Zl (Levine and Drasgow, 1982), and investigate the properties of this index from a behavioral genetics perspective. Using a large sample of identical and fraternal twins from the Minnesota Twin Registry (Lykkenet al., 1990), item response pattern scalability is shown to be moderately heritable. On the four scales of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (Tellegen, 1982) that were investigated, approximately 20% of the variation in scalability was due to genetic diversity between subjects of our sample. Follow-up analyses, using a factor-analytically based, genotype-environment model of item response behavior, indicated that specific genetic and environmental factors play a substantial role in determining item response pattern variation.