A Manipulative Study of the Effect of Instructional Set on the Convergent and Discriminant Validity of Questionnaire Measures of Trait and State Anxiety

A Comparative Factor Analytic Approach

Bibliographic Data

ID20284928
AuthorsThomas Bartsch (0000-0003-0927-0683, Iowa State University, corresponding author), Thomas W Bartsch (Iowa State University)
Year1976
Volume36
Issue4
Pages885-898
Publication date1976-12-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEducational and Psychological Measurement (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-1644 • E-ISSN: 1552-3888
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/001316447603600411
OpenAlexW2016102645
LanguageEN
References cited6

Within the context of a manipulative, laboratory experiment, two hundred and forty-two college students completed an anxiety battery twice. Half the subjects were instructed to answer the trait ("as you feel generally") items differently than the state ("as you feel presently"). Half were given no differential instructions. Subjects were also randomly assigned to one of four treatments designed to simulate alterations in level of state anxiety. Separate factor analyses resulted in distinct trait and state factors under both instructional conditions. Analysis of variance of factor scores indicated that the simulations altered level of state anxiety but not level of trait anxiety. Results were interpreted as generally supporting the validity of the trait-state distinction, but continued refinement of existing measures was recommended

Anxiety · Context (archaeology) · Developmental psychology · Discriminant validity · Internal consistency · Psychiatry · Psychometrics · Set (abstract data type) · Trait · Trait anxiety · Behavioral and Psychological Studies · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Clinical Psychology · Computer Science · Psychology · Psychometric Methodologies and Testing

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