A Comparison of the Construct Validity of Three Measures of Negative Affectivity

This study assessed the construct validity of three measures of negative affectivity (NA) by examining their relationships with measures of job stressors, strains, and attitudes. The authors also examined the extent to which controlling for scores on NA attenuated relationships between job stressors and strains differently depending on the NA and strain measures examined. The authors hypothesized that (a) the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ-NEM) and the NEO Five Factor Inventory-Neuroticism subscale (NEO-FFI-N) would have higher correlations with measures of somatic, emotional, and psychological distress type strains than with the Strain-Free Negative Affectivity (SFNA) Scale and that (b) greater attenuation between scores on measures of job stressors and somatic, emotional, and psychological type strains would be observed when NA was controlled using scores on the MPQ-NEM and the NEO-FFI-N versus the SFNA Scale. Findings supported these hypotheses