A self-concept test : Internal consistency and normative data

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the internal ecmsistency of a Self-Concept Test and to provide normative data for its use. The subjects consisted of 259 stutonts attending classes in mathematics, education, psychology, technology, and nursing at the University of Houston, Houston, Texas; and 155 college students attending Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. These subjects were divided Into three groups. Group I consisted of 115 females ranging in age from sixteen, to twenty, with a mean of 18.40. Group II contained 114 males also ranging in age from sixteen to twenty, with a mean of 18.38. Group III contained 165 males who ranged In age from twenty-one to forty-five, with a mean of 29.08. The groups were given a Self-Concept Test which measures five personality factors or source traits of Social Adaptability, Emotional Control, Conformity, Inquiring Intellect, and Confident Self-Expression. The test consisted of one humired cards with statements expressing ten positive and ten negative descriptions of each trait. The subjects were required to sort the cards into eight piles ranging from most characteristic to least characteristic of themselves. The instructions specified that each pile was to contain a certain number of cards so as to obtain a platykurtic normal distribution curve. The score for each of the traits was the arithmetic total of the pile scores assigned to the twenty statements descriptive of each trait. Internal consistency data included item validities, split-half reliabilities of the factors, and interrcorrelations between the factors. The following results were obtained: 1) Using Kelley's technique of obtaining product-mon^nt correlations, the item validities ranged between .21 and .87. 2) Using the Spearman-Brown prophecy formula, split-half reliabilities were .92 for Social Adaptability, .92 for Emotional Control, .89 for Conformity, .87 for Inquiring Intellect, and .89 for Confident Self Expression. 3) The intercorrelations between the factors ranged from -.06 between Inquiring Intellect and Social Adaptability to .48 between Inquiring Intellect and Confident Self Expression and between Emotional Control and Conformity. Normative data included comparisons between the different age and sex groups and the calculation of standard scores for these groups. The following results were obtained: 1) Reliable differences between sexes on Social Adaptability, Conformity, and Inquiring Intellect. The female group had a higher mean score on the first two factors and the male group had higher mean scores on the next factor. 2) Reliable differences between the sixteen to twenty male group and the twenty-one to thirty male group on Social Adaptability, Emotional Control, Conformity, and Inquiring Intelleet. The younger age group had a higher mean score on the first factor and the older age group had higher mean scores on the next three factors. 3) Standard scores with an assusied mean of 100 and a standard deviation of ten were calculated for raw scores from 61 to 145 for the different age and sex groups. This was done so that individuals could be compared with their own age and sex group and so that the different factors could be compared on a profile. These data indicate a high internal consistency for the test with comparatively little overlap between factors. The reliable differences between age and sex groups are in the direction that would be predicted from theories of personality development.Psychology, Department o