The development and validation of an interactional emotional stability measure

Abstract

This study involved the development and validation of an interactional measure of emotional stability. The development phase included the establishment of a theoretical foundation and definition for the concept of emotional stability. The theoretical base was provided by Selye's (1936) General Adaptation Syndrome. Development of the measure required the delineation of both situations and modes of responses. In order to develop the situations, a taxonomy of stress producing situations was examined through several related investigtions. These investigations utilized multidimensional scaling analyses to determine the relevant underlying dimensions of stress producing situations. The situations were then designed to reflect the theoretical foundation of the General Adaptation Syndrome and to integrate the taxonomy established earlier. The modes of response were established based upon research from a number of related fields. The interactional measure was administered along with a large battery of cognitive and personality tests to a sample from the population for whom the measure was specifically designed. The interactional measure of emotional stability demonstrated strong convergent validity with the traditional emotional stability measure. The interactional measure, however, appeared to assess areas of emotional stability beyond those which the traditional measure assessed. In addition, although the patterns of correlations between the interactional measure and the cognitive, biographical, and other personality tests were similar to those of the traditional measure, the interactional measure exhibited improved divergent validity.