The DOI matches its Crossref record; 43 of the 44 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Constructing validity: Basic issues in objective scale development.
Abstract
A primary goal of scale development is to create a valid measure of an underlying construct. We discuss theoretical principles, practical issues, and pragmatic decisions to help developers maximize the construct validity of scales and subscales. First, it is essential to begin with a clear conceptualization of the target construct. Moreover, the content of the initial item pool should be overinclusive and item wording needs careful attention. Next, the item pool should be tested, along with variables that assess closely related constructs, on a heterogeneous sample representing the entire range of the target population. Finally, in selecting scale items, the goal is unidimensionality rather than internal consistency ; this means that virtually all interitem correlations should be moderate in magnitude. Factor analysis can play a crucial role in ensuring the unidimensionality and discriminant validity of scales.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Furthermore, the intercorrelation between the two factors is .5, which also suggests that the two factors represent the same construct (Clark & Watson, 1995).”
From Preliminary Psychometric Properties of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire–II: A Revised Measure of Psychological Inflexibility and Experiential Avoidance (2011) · cites this paper as Clark & Watson, 1995
In the citing paper
“All items achieved values above the recommended 0.20, which makes it possible, despite the lower Cronbach’s alpha indices compared to the original version, to consider the MIS-PL a tool with acceptable reliability (Clark and Watson, 1995).”
From Psychometric Evaluation of the Polish Version of the Mindfulness Inventory for Sport (MIS-PL) (2024) · cites this paper as Clark and Watson, 1995
In the citing paper
“An additional analysis of the item-total correlation matrix showed that all items achieved values above the recommended 0.20 (Clark and Watson, 1995).”
From Psychometric Evaluation of the Polish Version of the Mindfulness Inventory for Sport (MIS-PL) (2024) · cites this paper as Clark and Watson, 1995
In the citing paper
“As the process of writing items for any self-report questionnaire requires authors to define or conceptualize the construct they are attempting to measure (Clark & Watson, 1995)”
From Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness (2006) · cites this paper as Clark & Watson, 1995
In the citing paper
“The average inter-item correlation (0.20) was acceptable according to Clark and Watson (1995)”
From A psychometric analysis of the reading the mind in the eyes test: toward a brief form for research and applied settings (2015) · cites this paper as Clark and Watson (1995)
In the citing paper
“We chose these two tools, instead of traditional measures of internal consistency (i.e., Cronbach's Alpha [Cronbach, 1951] or KR-20 for dichotomous data [Kuder and Richardson, 1937]) because unlike traditional estimates which do not assess homogeneity (Cortina, 1993; Clark and Watson, 1995), omega and CFA, simultaneously provide estimates of both.”
From A psychometric analysis of the reading the mind in the eyes test: toward a brief form for research and applied settings (2015) · cites this paper as Clark and Watson, 1995
In the citing paper
“however the range of inter-item correlations (−0.07 to 0.36) still falls outside of their recommendations.”
From A psychometric analysis of the reading the mind in the eyes test: toward a brief form for research and applied settings (2015) · cites this paper as Clark and Watson (1995)
In the citing paper
“The average inter-item correlation, as well as the range of inter-item correlations, are outside the range recommended by Clark and Watson (1995) for sufficient internal consistency (recommended values range from 0.15 to 0.50).”
From A psychometric analysis of the reading the mind in the eyes test: toward a brief form for research and applied settings (2015) · cites this paper as Clark and Watson, 1995
In the citing paper
“however the range of inter-item correlations (-0.07 to 0.59) still falls outside of their recommendation.”
From A psychometric analysis of the reading the mind in the eyes test: toward a brief form for research and applied settings (2015) · cites this paper as Clark and Watson (1995)
In the citing paper
“The average inter-item correlation (0.18) is acceptable according to Clark and Watson (1995)”
From A psychometric analysis of the reading the mind in the eyes test: toward a brief form for research and applied settings (2015) · cites this paper as Clark and Watson (1995)
Citations
Cites
Coefficient Alpha and the Internal Structure of Tests
Cronbach, L. J. (1951) · Psychometrika · doi:10.1007/bf02310555 · Cited by 43,931
Psychometric theory (2nd ed.).
Sitgreaves, R. (1979) · Contemporary Psychology · doi:10.1037/018882 · Cited by 14,384
Construct validity in psychological tests.
Cronbach, L. J., & Meehl, P. E. (1955) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/h0040957 · Cited by 11,195
What is coefficient alpha? An examination of theory and applications
Cortina, J. M. (1993) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.78.1.98 · Cited by 8,810
Negative affectivity: the disposition to experience aversive emotional states
Watson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1984) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.96.3.465 · Cited by 4,636
Self-citationHandbook of Personality : Theory and Research
Pervin, L. A. (1992) · Cited by 4,543
Factor analysis in the development and refinement of clinical assessment instruments.
Floyd, F. J., & Widaman, K. F. (1995) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/1040-3590.7.3.286 · Cited by 3,970
Fundamentals of item response theory
(1992) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.29-4185 · Cited by 3,420
Relation of sample size to the stability of component patterns.
Guadagnoli, E., & Velicer, W. F. (1988) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.103.2.265 · Cited by 2,880
Content validity in psychological assessment: A functional approach to concepts and methods.
Haynes, S. N., Richard, D. C. S., & Kubany, E. S. (1995) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037//1040-3590.7.3.238 · Cited by 2,387
The role of factor analysis in the development and evaluation of personality scales
Briggs, S. R., & Cheek, J. M. (1986) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1986.tb00391.x · Cited by 2,365
The theory of the estimation of test reliability
Kuder, G. F., & Richardson, M. W. (1937) · Psychometrika · doi:10.1007/bf02288391 · Cited by 1,953
Objective Tests as Instruments of Psychological Theory
Loevinger, J. (1957) · Psychological Reports · doi:10.2466/pr0.1957.3.3.635 · Cited by 1,476
(1990) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 1,350
Reise, S. P., Widaman, K. F., & Pugh, R. H. (1993) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.114.3.552 · Cited by 1,252
Factor-analytic methods of scale development in personality and clinical psychology
Comrey, A. L. (1988) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.56.5.754 · Cited by 1,154
Turner, S. M., Beidel, D. C., Dancu, C. V., & Stanley, M. A. (1989) · Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/1040-3590.1.1.35 · Cited by 887
Structures of personality and their relevance to psychopathology.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Harkness, A. R. (1994) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.103.1.18 · Cited by 812
Self-citation(1983) · PubMed · Cited by 734
Handbook of research methods in clinical psychology
(2003) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.41-2486 · Cited by 701
A Handbook of Test Construction: Introduction to Psychometric Design
Kline, P. (1987) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 626
Current topics in clinical and community psychology
Spielberger, C. D. (1969) · Academic Press eBooks · Cited by 579
Limitations of Coefficient Alpha as an Index of Test Unidimensionality1
Green, S. B., Lissitz, R. W., & Mulaik, S. A. (1977) · Educational and Psychological Measurement · doi:10.1177/001316447703700403 · Cited by 522
Does item homogeneity indicate internal consistency or item redundancy in psychometric scales?
Boyle, G. J. (1991) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/0191-8869(91)90115-r · Cited by 495
A Sequential System for Personality Scale Development
Jackson, D. N. (1970) · Current topics in clinical and community psychology · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-153502-5.50008-4 · Cited by 492
Clark, L. A., Watson, D., & Reynolds, S. (1995) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.46.020195.001005 · Cited by 458
Self-citationMeasurement error masks bipolarity in affect ratings.
GREEN, D. P., Goldman, S. L., & Salovey, P. (1993) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.64.6.1029 · Cited by 437
The dynamics of “structured” personality tests
Meehl, P. E. (2000) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/(sici)1097-4679(200003)56:3 · Cited by 366
Component analysis versus common factor analysis: A Monte Carlo study.
Snook, S. C., & Gorsuch, R. L. (1989) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.106.1.148 · Cited by 354
Methodological considerations in the refinement of clinical assessment instruments.
Smith, G. T., & McCarthy, D. M. (1995) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/1040-3590.7.3.300 · Cited by 311
Carver, C. S. (1989) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.56.4.577 · Cited by 289
Personality Assessment via Questionnaires
Angleitner, A., & Wiggins, J. S. (1986) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-70751-3 · Cited by 239
The attenuation paradox in test theory.
Loevinger, J. (1954) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/h0058543 · Cited by 212
Factor structure and construct validity of the Block Child Rearing Practices Report (CRPR).
Deković, M., Janssens, J., & Gerris, J. (1991) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/1040-3590.3.2.182 · Cited by 171
Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP)
Vanderbleek, E. N., & Clark, L. A. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_9008 · Cited by 160
Self-citationTraitedness and the assessment of response pattern scalability.
Reise, S. P., & Waller, N. G. (1993) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.65.1.143 · Cited by 114
Semantic Space is (Approximately) Bipolar
Bentler, P. M. (1969) · The Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1080/00223980.1969.10543067 · Cited by 112
Assessing psychopathology using structured test-item response latencies.
Holden, R. R., Fekken, G. C., & Cotton, D. H. G. (1991) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/1040-3590.3.1.111 · Cited by 107
Green, B. F. (1978) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.33.7.664 · Cited by 78
Maximizing the Discriminating Power of a Multiple-Score Test
Loevinger, J., Gleser, G. C., & DuBois, P. H. (1953) · Psychometrika · doi:10.1007/bf02289266 · Cited by 58
Taxonomic analysis redux: Some statistical considerations for testing a latent class model.
Gangestad, S. W., & Snyder, M. (1991) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.61.1.141 · Cited by 56
King, D. W., King, L. A., Fairbank, J. A., Schlenger, W. E., & Surface, C. R. (1993) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/1040-3590.5.4.457 · Cited by 44
The Cocaine Expectancy Questionnaire (CEQ): Construction and predictive utility.
Jaffé, A., & Kilbey, M. M. (1994) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/1040-3590.6.1.18 · Cited by 40
Cited by
Sorted by citations
A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling
Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2015) · Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · doi:10.1007/s11747-014-0403-8 · Cited by 38,459
Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness
Baer, R. A., Smith, G. T., Hopkins, J., Krietemeyer, J., & Toney, L. (2006) · Assessment · doi:10.1177/1073191105283504 · Cited by 7,511
Boateng, G. O., Neilands, T. B., Frongillo, E. A., Melgar-Quiñonez, H. R., & Young, S. L. (2018) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2018.00149 · Cited by 5,925
Blevins, C. A., Weathers, F. W., Davis, M. T., Witte, T. K., & Domino, J. L. (2015) · Journal of Traumatic Stress · doi:10.1002/jts.22059 · Cited by 5,233
The meaning in life questionnaire: assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life
Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M. (2006) · Journal of Counseling Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-0167.53.1.80 · Cited by 4,843
Metadata
- Authors
- Clark, L. A., & Watson, D.
- Affiliations
- University of Iowa (US)
- University of Notre Dame (US)
- Venue
- Psychological Assessment
- Published
- 1995-09
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 309-319
- ISSN
- 1040-3590 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-134X
- OpenAlex
- W2005364767
- Cited by
- 6,567
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 393 · 2025: 319 · 2024: 313 · 2023: 343 · 2022: 337 · 2021: 455 · 2020: 420 · 2019: 404 · 2018: 432 · 2017: 359 · 2016: 357 · 2015: 352 · 2014: 353 · 2013: 269 · 2012: 248
- FWCI
- 18.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Assessment (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Research and Theory › Health Education and Validation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Psychological Testing and Assessment
- Keywords
- construct validity, scale development, item pool, item wording, unidimensionality, internal consistency, factor analysis, discriminant validity, subscales, construct conceptualization
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review