Individual differences in the validity of a cognitive processing model for responses to personality inventories

Abstract

An individual difference hypothesis was tested with respect to the validity of a vector type cognitive processing model for inventory responses. The validity index may be also considered an index of the conformity of inventory responses to the meaning structure of the items. Three short adjective and sentence type inventories were used, two of them consisting of mixed sets of items and one consisting of positive sets. It was concluded from the only low positive intercorrelations of the validities that individual differences are minor. Furthermore, evidence was found for an effect of the order of presentation of the inventories and for an effect of the inventory composition (positive or mixed), but not for a higher validity of the model for adjective than for sentence types of inventories.