Measures of the trait of confidence

This chapter reviews the item content, intended use, and psychometric properties of two main kinds of assessments that have been employed in studies of individual differences in confidence: Self-report questionnaires assessing one's own beliefs to accomplish different tasks; and online, on-task confidence judgments of performance accuracy. First, we review six self-report measures that assess either cognitive (academic and vocational tasks) or physical (sports) confidence. We then briefly describe the use of confidence measures in studies of self-efficacy, outlining their differences and similarities with broader on-task measures of confidence. Finally, we focus on the online, performance-based, assessment of confidence and consider different indices of confidence calibration with accuracy. To date, online on-task measures have demonstrated the sound psychometric properties. This includes demonstrations of the greatest predictive validity for a range of outcomes such as educational achievement and decision-making behavior. Currently, no evidence exists relating self-report and online measures of confidence. Directions for future studies are offered for both types of assessments