Short Form Scale of Descriptors of the Five Personality Factors: Pros and Cons

Authors

  • Jean Carlos Natividade PUCRS
  • Claudio Simon Hutz UFRGS

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-8623.2015.1.16901

Keywords:

Personality measures, Personality traits, Test construction, Test validity.

Abstract

The aims of this research were to seek evidence of validity and precision of a short scale to assess personality characteristics from the perspective of the Big Five factors. Two sequential studies were conducted. In the first, a 20-item scale was created, and structural adequacy was found. In Study 2, the relations between the short scale and a standardized test to assess personality in the big-five model were tested. Moderate correlations among the short scale factors and their counterparts in the standardized test were noted. Finally, two predictive models for life satisfaction were tested, one with personality factors from the short scale and another with factors from the standardized test. Both models showed the same factors as explanatory. Nevertheless, the short instrument explained only half of the variance explained by the standardized test. We discussed that, even if short scales have suitable psychometric properties, they may increase the odds of inferential errors.

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Published

2015-03-17

How to Cite

Natividade, J. C., & Hutz, C. S. (2015). Short Form Scale of Descriptors of the Five Personality Factors: Pros and Cons. Psico, 46(1), 79–89. https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-8623.2015.1.16901

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Articles