********************************************************************************************

The Journal of Psychology, 1986, 121(6), 635-636.

Internal Inconsistency in the Eysenck Psychoticism Scale



JOHN J. RAY

School of Sociology, University of New South Wales, Australia

R. PEDERSEN

Department of Psychology, C. W. Post College

FOR SOME TIME, researchers have commented that the Eysenck Psychoticism (P) Scale is not factorially homogeneous (e.g., Stanley & Watkins, 1972). This makes it likely that the scale's reliability as measured by coefficient alpha is also low, because alpha is based on internal consistency. Alpha can in fact be calculated as a mean interitem correlation weighted by the number of items. It is no surprise, therefore, that Ray and Bozek (1981) found an alpha of only .68 for the 25-item P scale on an Australian sample. This is markedly less than what was found by Eysenck and Eysenck (1976) with their English samples. Because it could be argued that Australia is culturally less distant from Britain than the United States (e.g., Australia is also a monarchy), it is possible that if the scale works less well in Australia then it should work even less well in the United States.

The same questionnaire as that used by Ray and Bozek (1981) -- one in which the P Scale items were mixed in with those of several other scales -- was administered to a sample of respondents from Nassau County in New York State. Addressees for the survey were selected at random from the phone book. Two follow-up questionnaires were sent to non-respondents. Out of 500 initial addresses, a final total of 97 usable responses were received. Although the nonresponse effect ensured that the final sample was not random, the sample was probably more representative than the more usual sample of college students. The coefficient alpha observed for the scale was .48.

The Eysenck P Scale was designed for use with normals as well as with psychotics. Among normals it measures the politically relevant variable of tough-mindedness. The test of the P Scale on a general population sample was therefore a fair one. It failed the test strikingly: Shaw and Wright (1967) specified a reliability of .75 as the minimum acceptable in a research instrument. Because Nunnally (1967) argued that alpha is the best possible measure of reliability (better even than test-retest reliability) the finding of .48 did not even approach acceptable reliability. The problem becomes even more evident when we note that the mean interitem correlation for the P Scale was .04. The items, then, have very little in common. As far as U.S. respondents .are concerned, Eysenck's attempt to find a common personality factor underlying psychoticism is a failed experiment.

REFERENCES

Eysenck, H. J., & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1976). Psychoticism as a dimension of per sonality. London: Hodder.

Nunnally, J. C. (1967). Psychometric theory. New York: McGraw Hill.

Ray, J.J. & Bozek, R.S. (1981) Authoritarianism and Eysenck's 'P' scale. Journal of Social Psychology, 113, 231-234.

Shaw, M. E., & Wright, J. M. (1967). Scales for the measurement of attitudes. New York: McGraw Hill.

Stanley, G., & Watkins, D. (1972). A factorial study of Eysenck & Eysenck's Psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism scales. Australian Psychologist, 7, 26-32.




Go to Index page for this site

Go to John Ray's "Tongue Tied" blog (Backup here or here)
Go to John Ray's "Dissecting Leftism" blog (Backup here or here)
Go to John Ray's "Australian Politics" blog (Backup here or here)
Go to John Ray's "Gun Watch" blog (Backup here or here)
Go to John Ray's "Education Watch" blog (Backup here or here)
Go to John Ray's "Socialized Medicine" blog (Backup here or here)
Go to John Ray's "Political Correctness Watch" blog (Backup here or here)
Go to John Ray's "Greenie Watch" blog (Backup here or here)
Go to John Ray's "Food & Health Skeptic" blog (Backup here)
Go to John Ray's "Leftists as Elitists" blog (Not now regularly updated -- Backup here)
Go to John Ray's "Marx & Engels in their own words" blog (Not now regularly updated -- Backup here)
Go to John Ray's "A scripture blog" (Not now regularly updated -- Backup here)
Go to John Ray's recipe blog (Not now regularly updated -- Backup here)

Go to John Ray's Main academic menu
Go to Menu of recent writings
Go to John Ray's basic home page
Go to John Ray's pictorial Home Page (Backup here)
Go to Selected pictures from John Ray's blogs (Backup here)
Go to Another picture page (Best with broadband)