Evidence for an Interpersonal Knowledge Factor: The Reliability and Factor Structure of Tests of Interpersonal Knowledge and General Cognitive Ability.
Abstract
Many aptitude scales measure general or academic knowledge and utilize a forced choice response format in which answers are scored as either correct or incorrect. In contrast to this traditional scoring procedure, quantifying performance on scales developed to measure interpersonal skills requires the opinions of multiple experts, and individual responses cannot be easily or unambiguously evaluated. Given this type of uncertain knowledge domain, a Likert procedure was modified to measure expertise based on the distance between expert and subject ratings of the relative strengths of a set of probabilistic relationships. In Phase 1, data were collected and indicate that an improvement in the reliability of an existing measure of leadership could be traditional forced choice format. In Phase 2, data were collected with the leadership scale and two additional interpersonal knowledge scales using Air Force recruits for whom Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) data were available. Confirmatory factor analyses indicate that the factor structure of the 13-test battery (ASVAB plus the experimental scales) could be best explained by hypothesizing the existence of a separate interpersonal knowledge factor in addition to the four factors that are typically extracted from the ASVAB. These results demonstrate (1) the applicability of the Likert response format to efficiently measure individual differences in nontraditional knowledge domains such as interpersonal skills, and (2) the existence of a separate first-order factor that is labeled Interpersonal Knowledge.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADA299659
Entities
People
- Frances C. Grafton
- Peter J. Legree
Organizations
- U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences