Measuring Strong, Skillful, Good and Transpersonal Will: The development of the Multidimensional Will Scale

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

This cross-sectional study aimed to provide a scale to assess different aspects of the will based on Roberto Assagioli's theory.

METHODS AND RESULTS

The scale development followed three steps. Step 1 focused on operationalizing the construct and developing the items. It was carried out through several phases of item generation and refinement, resulting in a pool of 38 items. At Step 2 we tested the psychometric properties of the initial 38-item scale with the goal of excluding the items that weakened the structural validity and reliability of the scale. Descriptive, internal consistency, and exploratory factor analyses statistics were computed on a large sample (Sample 1: N = 587; age: M = 21.55, SD = 4.14, 66% female) and they led to a five-dimension model (Strong, Skillful, Good toward Self and Other, and Transpersonal Will) and the exclusion of 15 items. Analyses conducted at Step 3 on a different sample (Sample 2: N = 683; age: M = 34.09, SD = 16.27, 54% female) allowed for further refinement of the scale. Confirmatory factor analysis conducted on the resulting 19-item scale showed a good fit for the five-factor model (χ2 (142) = 507.63, p< .001, TLI = .91; CFI = .93; RMSEA = .06 [90%CI: .06‒.07]), and evidence of its invariance across genders and ages was provided. Reliability indices (internal consistency and intraclass correlation coefficients) were adequate (ranging from .66 to .83) and correlations with measures of related constructs supported the external validity of the scale.

CONCLUSION

This study provides researchers, therapists, and counselors with an efficient measurement tool to assess Assagioli's construct of will.

The state-trait model of cheerfulness: Tests of measurement invariance and latent mean differences in European and Chinese Canadian students

The State-Trait Cheerfulness Inventory (STCI) assesses latent traits and states of cheerfulness, seriousness, and bad mood to represent the temperamental basis of humor. The present study (1) tested the generalizability of the three-factor model in both state and trait versions of the STCI across European Canadian (N = 489) and first generation Chinese Canadian (N = 147) participants completing the English version of the STCI and (2) compared latent mean differences. Results indicated the confirmatory factor analyses of the three-factor model for European White participants born in Canada and Chinese participants born in China showed adequate fit for both trait and state measures. Furthermore, substantial equivalence of factor model parameters and partial scalar invariance were found for both the state and trait STCI measures. In examining latent mean differences, European White Canadian participants reported significantly higher trait cheerfulness, z = 3.30, p < .001, d = 0.84, and lower trait bad mood z = 3.25, p < .01, d = 0.80 compared to the Chinese Canadian groups. European White Canadian participants reported significantly lower state bad mood, z = 3.59, p < .001, d = 1.15, compared to the Chinese Canadian groups. Limitations and future directions based on study findings are discussed.

Measuring Statistics Attitudes at the Student and Instructor Levels: A Multilevel Construct Validity Study of the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics

Numerous studies have been conducted using the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics-36 (SATS-36). Recently, large-scale assessment studies have begun to examine the extent to which students vary in their statistics attitudes across instructors. Yet, empirical evidence linking student responses to the SATS items to instructor-level constructs is still lacking. Using multilevel confirmatory factor analysis, we investigated the factor structure underlying the measure of students’ statistics attitudes at both the student and instructor levels. Results from 13,507 college students taught by 160 introductory statistics instructors support a correlated six-factor model at each level. Additionally, there is evidence for the structural validity of a shared teacher–student attitude impacts construct that may capture meaningful patterns of teaching characteristics and competencies tied to student development of statistics attitudes. These findings provide empirical support for the use of the SATS-36 in studying contextual variables in relation to statistics instructors. Implications for educational practice are discussed.

Development and Linguistic Cue Analysis of the State-Trait Cheerfulness Inventory-Short Form

The present study derived a short form of the State-Trait Cheerfulness Inventory-Trait Version (STCI-T30) using an item response theory framework. Latent trait test-retest correlations and reliability across the latent continuum in the STCI-T30 remained high. Moreover, the STCI-T30 showed external validity with criterion variables (e.g., playfulness) and a short writing task completed by these participants was rated by unacquainted judges to infer the author's cheerfulness, seriousness, and bad-mood. Results suggested significant self-other and inter-judge agreement of cheerfulness, seriousness, and bad-mood and linguistic cues analysis suggested cheerfulness and bad-mood manifested through writing in tone, social processes, and affect.