The transitional impact scale: Assessing the material and psychological impact of life transitions

Abstract

The Transitional Impact Scale (TIS) advances the measurement of event cognition into the real world. The TIS was created to provide a measure of change for important life transitions, including an index of their transitional properties and magnitude. Pilot work prior to Study 1 led to the creation of a 95-item version (TIS-95). A principal components analysis of TIS-95 (n = 215) resulted in two dimensions that we rotated to a Varimax criterion and interpreted as (1) material change (e.g., "This event changed where I live") and (2) psychological change (e.g., "This event changed the way I think about things"). TIS-95 was reduced to 25 items. In Study 2, the structure of TIS-25 was replicated (n = 531) using the same method. The best 12 items were retained. TIS-12 was evaluated in two random split-half samples (n = 557 and n = 553). These samples produced essentially identical results, as assessed through factor comparison. The cumulative scales formed from items constituting each factor demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha ranged from .79 to .86).

Assessing the Impact of “The Collapse” on the Organization and Content of Autobiographical Memory in the Former Soviet Union

“…Finally, participants completed the 12‐item TIS (Svob et al., ) composed of the following 12 statements: (1) This event has changed the places where I hang out. (2) This event has changed the things I own.…”

“…These predictions followed from the observation that the Collapse was a major historical event, as well as from the assumptions that (1) major historical events should have a marked and enduring impact on the lives of people who experience them, and that (2) as a consequence, such events are likely to affect the contents and organization of autobiographical memory. We used the Transitional Impact Scale ( TIS ; Svob et al., ; see below) to assess the accuracy of the first assumption. The TIS identifies those aspects of a person's life that have changed following the occurrence of a potentially important event and indexes the magnitude of those changes.…”

“…This required them to identify the most important events in their lives; to indicate when the events occurred and whether they were positive or negative (Assink & Schroots, ; deVries, ; Kronik & Akhmerov, ; Nourkova & Bernstein, ; Rappaport, Eurich, & Wilson, ; Schroots, Van Dijkum, & Assink, ). Finally, each participant answered a set of questions concerning the psychological and material consequences of the Collapse (Svob, Brown, Reddon, Uzer, & Lee, ). The dating protocols (Task 1) and the lifeline data (Task 2) were collected because they provide indirect indices of the Collapse on the organization of autobiographical memory and the contents of the life narrative; transitional impact ratings (Task 3) were collected as a way of testing the idea that autobiographical memory and historical memory become entwined only when public events alter the fabric of daily life in a profound and enduring manner.…”

Intergenerational transmission of historical memories and social-distance attitudes in post-war second-generation Croatians

“…According to transition theory, memory is organized by events that signal or cause marked changes in the ordinary circumstances of daily life; such events are called transitions. As such, a life transition can be operationalized as an event that produces high degrees of material and psychological change (Svob, Brown, Reddon, Uzer, & Lee, 2014). In particular, Brown and colleagues have examined the impact of public, historical events on autobiographical memory and have observed a Living-in-History (LiH) effect (Brown et al, 2009).…”

Living in history and living by the cultural life script: How older Germans date their autobiographical memories

“…DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2015 20 Furthermore, it is important to note that neither the present nor earlier studies on the Living-in-History effect measured the actual impact of the event on the daily lives of the participants. Future studies may measure this impact with the recently developed Transitional Impact Scale (Svob, Brown, Reddon, Uzer, & Lee, 2014).…”