Assessment of the Mate Retention Inventory-Short Form Using Item Response Theory.

The mate retention inventory (MRI) has been a valuable tool in the field of evolutionary psychology for the past 30 years. The goal of the current research is to subject the MRI to rigorous psychometric analysis using item response theory to answer three broad questions. Do the individual items of the MRI fit the scale well? Does the overall function of the MRI match what is predicted? Finally, do men and women respond similarly to the MRI? Using a graded response model, it was found that all but two of the items fit acceptable model patterns. Test information function analysis found that the scale acceptably captures individual differences for participants with a high degree of mate retention but the scale is lacking in capturing information from participants with a low degree of mate retention. Finally, discriminate item function analysis reveals that the MRI is better at assessing male than female participants, indicating that the scale may not be the best indicator of female behavior in a relationship. Overall, we conclude that the MRI is a good scale, especially for assessing male behavior, but it could be improved for assessing female behavior and individuals lower on overall mate retention behavior. It is suggested that this paper be used as a framework for how the newest psychometrics techniques can be applied in order to create more robust and valid measures in the field of evolutionary psychology.

Applying Item Response Theory to the Development of a Screening Adaptation of the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation-Second Edition.

Purpose: Item response theory (IRT) is a psychometric approach to measurement that uses latent trait abilities (e.g., speech sound production skills) to model performance on individual items that vary by difficulty and discrimination. An IRT analysis was applied to preschoolers' productions of the words on the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation-Second Edition (GFTA-2) to identify candidates for a screening measure of speech sound production skills. Method: The phoneme accuracies from 154 preschoolers, with speech skills on the GFTA-2 ranging from the 1st to above the 90th percentile, were analyzed with a 2-parameter logistic model. Results: A total of 108 of the 232 phonemes from stimuli in the sounds-in-words subtest fit the IRT model. These phonemes, and subgroups of the most difficult of these phonemes, correlated significantly with the children's overall percentile scores on the GFTA-2. Regression equations calculated for the 5 and 10 most difficult phonemes predicted overall percentile score at levels commensurate with other screening measures. Conclusions: These results suggest that speech production accuracy can be screened effectively with a small number of sounds. They motivate further research toward the development of a screening measure of children's speech sound production skills whose stimuli consist of a limited number of difficult phonemes.

Would you work if you won the lottery? Tracking changes in the American work ethic.

Although many social scientists and political commentators have speculated that the American work ethic is in decline, the last longitudinal study of this issue was conducted by Vecchio (1980) on data collected over 30 years ago. Vecchio examined whether workers would wish to continue working even if it were not financially necessary (i.e., the so-called lottery question from the National Opinion Research Center survey) and concluded that there had been a significant decline in work ethic since the 1950s. In the current study, the authors used an updated data set that included data from 1980 through 2006 and found evidence for a declining trend since Vecchio's study, although the decline seems to be leveling out. Demographic characteristics do not account for this apparent decline in shared sentiments about the importance of work for a productive life. The authors caution against drawing definitive conclusions, given the limitations of the lottery item as a measure of work ethic.

A history of the early days of personality testing in American industry: an obsession with adjustment.

Objective personality testing began with Woodworth's Personal Data Sheet in 1917. That test was developed to identify soldiers prone to nervous breakdowns during enemy bombardment in World War I (WWI). Soon after, many competing personality tests were developed for use in industry. Many of these tests, like Woodworth's, focused on the construct of employee maladjustment and were deemed important in screening out applicants who would create workplace disturbances. In this article, the authors review the history of these early personality tests, especially the Bernreuter Personality Inventory and the Humm-Wadsworth Temperament Scale, and discuss the implications of personality testers' obsession with the construct of employee maladjustment. In addition, the authors discuss the industry's obsession with emotional maladjustment and how this obsession coincided with a cultural shift in norms relating to cultural expression.

A cluster analysis investigation of workaholism as a syndrome.

Workaholism has been conceptualized as a syndrome although there have been few tests that explicitly consider its syndrome status. The authors analyzed a three-dimensional scale of workaholism developed by Spence and Robbins (1992) using cluster analysis. The authors identified three clusters of individuals, one of which corresponded to Spence and Robbins's profile of the workaholic (high work involvement, high drive to work, low work enjoyment). Consistent with previously conjectured relations with workaholism, individuals in the workaholic cluster were more likely to label themselves as workaholics, more likely to have acquaintances label them as workaholics, and more likely to have lower life satisfaction and higher work-life imbalance. The importance of considering workaholism as a syndrome and the implications for effective interventions are discussed.

Personality trait inferences about organizations: development of a measure and assessment of construct validity.

The authors conducted 4 studies to construct a multidimensional measure of perceptions of organization personality. Results of the first 2 studies suggest that (a) 5 broad factors are sufficient to capture the structure of organization personality perceptions, (b) real-world organizations differ on personality profiles, and (c) personality trait inferences are related to organizational attraction. Results of a 3rd study suggest that personality trait inferences assessed in 1 sample are related lo ratings of organizational attractiveness by a 2nd sample. Finally, results of a 4th study suggest that the measure is sensitive to experimental manipulations of organizational descriptions. Implications and suggestions for the use of this measure in future research are discussed.

Remembering Arthur Kornhauser: industrial psychology's advocate for worker well-being.

Arthur Kornhauser was an early industrial psychologist whose contributions have been neglected in written histories of applied psychology. Throughout his career, he was a staunch advocate for an industrial psychology that concentrated on improving workers' lives. This article describes his contributions to improving worker well-being in the research areas of testing, employee attitude surveying, labor unions, and mental health of workers. His most enduring quality was his outspoken advocacy for an industrial psychology that addressed workers' issues instead of management's prerogatives. On the basis of Kornhauser's accomplishments, a case can be made for him as one of industrial and organizational psychology's most important early figures.