Personality Construct Similarity in Israel and the United States

Abstract

A translated version of the Comrey Personality Scales was administered to 185 male applicants for motor vehicle operator's license in Israel after special measures were taken to reduce response distortion. Total scores were computed for these subjects over each of the 40 homogeneous item subgroups that define the eight personality factors in the taxonomy underlying the Comrey Personality Scales. Factor analysis of the intercorrelations among these 40 subvariables resulted in substantial confirmation of seven of the eight hypothesized factors. Failure of the eighth factor to emerge may have been due to higher average scores and lower standard deviations for the item groups defining this particular factor, possibly caused by the special conditions under which the subjects were tested. The overall results of this study provide further evidence confirming the robustness of the taxonomy of personality traits underlying the Comrey Personality Scales across language and cultural boundaries.

Socially desirable responding and its elusive effects on the validity of personality assessments.

“…The second strategy for dealing with desirability bias involves addressing the context of the assessment. That notion is to minimize the motivation to engage in SDR by urging people to respond honestly for ethical reasons, for example, or by telling them that the test materials include validity scales that can detect faking (e.g., Montag & Comrey, 1982). The problem with this strategy is that it might not be effective in conditions where the motivation to misrepresent self is exceptionally strong (e.g., job-related assessments) 2…”

Comparison of Factor Analytic Results with Two-Choice and Seven-Choice Personality Item Formats

“…In a previously reported study (Montag & Comrey, 1982), a translated version of the Comrey Personality Scales (Comrey, 1970) was administered to 185 male applicants for a motor vehicle operator's license in Israel, after special measures were taken to reduce response distortion. Total scores were computed for these individuals over each of the 40 homogeneous item subgroups (1~1=IfDs) that define the eight personality factors in the taxonomy underlying the Comrey Personality Scales (CPS).…”

“…A new sample of 159 males was selected from the same population as that used for the previous study (Montag & Comrey, 1982). The analysis was repeated as before, factor analyzing the 40 x 40 matrix of intercorrelations among item subgroups defining the eight factors in the taxonomy underlying the CPS.…”

Styles of Thinking Related to Accident Causation and Personality Characteristics

“…Some evidence has been obtained indicating that this procedure was at least partially successful (e.g., Birenbaum and Montag, 1986;Levin and Montag, 1987;Montag and Comrey, 1982). Experience with what the CPS scales appear to measure and an analysis of the literature in which the I-E scale has been related to other personality variables led to the prediction that the I-E and the DE (which measure externality as generalized expectation and as a specific expectation regarding driving respectively) should be negatively correlated with R, T, O, C, A, S, Ε and P. Evidence for what should be expected with the Μ scale was insufficiently clear to make a definite prediction.…”