A closer look at the frame-of-reference effect in personality scale scores and validity

• Main Authors: LIEVENS, Filip, DE CORTE, Wifiried, SCHOLLAERT, Eveline
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2008
• Subjects: Frame of reference; personality scales; criterion-related validity; reliability; item responding; Industrial and Organizational Psychology; Organizational Behavior and Theory
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/5599; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/6598/viewcontent/FOR.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This article contributes to the understanding of why the use of a frame-of-reference leads to increased criterion-related validity of personality inventories. Two competing explanations are described and tested. A between-subjects (N = 337) and a within-subject (N = 105) study are conducted to test the hypothesized effects of use of a frame of reference on reliability and validity. Regarding the effects on reliability, use of a frame of reference reduces within-person inconsistency (instead of between-person variability) in responding to generic items. Use of a frame of reference further leads to higher validity as a result of the reduction of between-person variability and within-person inconsistency. Yet, reducing these inconsistencies is not enough. It is also important to use a frame of reference that is conceptually relevant to the criterion. Besides implications for contextualized personality inventories, these results provide an explanation for the moderate validities of generic personality inventories.