Effect of personality item writing on psychometric properties of ideal-point and likert scales.

The present study was designed to investigate personality item-writing practices and their effect on the psychometric properties of personality items and scales. Personality items were developed based on ideal-point and dominance models, analyzed using the generalized graded unfolding model, and empirically classified as having an ideal-point or dominance form. Results suggested that writing dominance items were slightly easier (more successful) than writing ideal-point items, but this varied slightly by personality dimensions. Of 3 ideal-point item writing tactics, the "neutral" tactic was least successful; success writing "double-barreled" and "average" ideal-point items was comparable to that of dominance items. Three personality scales were then constructed using successful ideal-point and dominance items. Scales constructed using ideal-point items had substantially inferior psychometric properties, including lower score reliability, lower correlations with important criteria, and mixed test information results. However, lower predictive validity of ideal-point scale scores may be due to lower reliability of the scores. Practical and methodological implications were also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved). (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.