RightPATH 6 Profile Validation

TM

Description The RightPATH 6 Profile measures six personality factors (Dominance, Extroversion, Compassion, Conscientiousness, Adventurousness, and Innovation). Words from these factors are presented in a forced choice format in which an individual is asked to choose the word that is most and least like him or her. Development The RightPATH 6 Profile is a forced choice variation of the Career Direct Personality Inventory (CDPI). (See attached info on CDPI.) In developing a forced choice inventory, the relationship of the items being compared in the forced choice set is very important. Hence, the first step in the development of the RightPATH 6 Profile involved the rating of the social desirability of the item words (personality traits) by sixty individuals. Next, the words of each factor were rank ordered according to the social desirability ratings. Words with the same rank order from each of the six factors were placed together and then split into three word groups. This was done in order to minimize the differences in the social desirability of the personality words. Care was taken to group each factor with the other factors a similar number of times. Normative sample The normative sample consists of 620 adults (310 males and 310 females) over age twenty-three with a mean age of thirty-eight. This sample was gathered from a variety of sources. Combined gender norms are used with separate gender norms available. Validity Rating study: The relationship of the RightPATH 6 factors with ratings by others was investigated. Two hundred (200) individuals completed the RightPATH 6 and had friends/spouses rank the personality factors in order of most descriptive to least descriptive of the participant. The average correlation between self ratings and friend/spouse rankings on a factor was .48. Friends/spouses were also asked to rate each personality factor and sub-factor on a continuum. The average correlation between self ratings and friend/spouse ratings was .39 for factors and .35 for sub-factors. These correlation indicate that the RightPATH 6 factors are significantly related to perceptions by others of the participants' personality. Relationship to other measures of personality: The RightPATH 6 factors were

moderately and significantly correlated with factors of the parent profile, the nonforced choice CDPI. Both formats (Likert-non-forced choice rating and forced choice rating) were administered to 330 individuals, with the correlation between corresponding factors ranging from .68 to .81. The average correlation was .73. Therefore, the RightPATH 6 factors are related to analogous factors on the nonforced choice CDPI. Reliability Test-retest: RightPATH 6 (the Forced Choice CDPI) was re-administered to 620 individuals of the normative sample from two to twenty weeks (average six weeks) after they had completed it originally. The average correlation of the factors over this interval was .86. This indicates that the forced choice factors have adequate reliability over time.

RightPATH 4 Profile Validation

TM

Description RightPATH 4 Profile measures four behavioral continua. Each factor is made up of 16 personality words or adjectives (enthusiastic, loyal, etc.). Groups of four words (one from each factor) are presented in a forced choice format. The individual is asked to rank the words from "4" to "1," with "4" representing the word that is most like him or her and "1" representing the word that is least like him or her. Factor scores are computed by summing the responses to the words for each factor. These raw factor scores are then converted to standardized scores with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10. There are 16 personality profiles or combinations of high, balanced, or low scores on the four traits or factors. These profiles are formed by different cut-off scores on the four personality factors. Normative Sample The normative sample consisted of 571 individuals ranging in age from 15 to 62. The mean age was 31.34 with a standard deviation of 11.22. The sample was 57 percent male and 43 percent female. Validity Overall, the correlation between the factors of the RightPATH 4 Profile and similar factors of another validated personality inventory the Life Pathways' Career DirectTM Personality Inventory (CDPI) provide evidence of convergent validity. This was shown in a study in which both the RightPATH 4 and the CDPI were administered to 571 individuals. The RightPATH 4 factors were correlated with the

factors of the CDPI. The CDPI assesses seven personality factors (Dominance, Extraversion, Compassion, Conscientiousness, Adventurous, Innovation, and Stress) using a 1 to 5 Likert or continuous scale. RightPATH 4's Factor 1 (Control/Agenda), Factor 2 (Interaction), Factor 3 (Conflict/Pace) and Factor 4 (Order/Detail) significantly correlated with the CDPI factors of Dominance, Extraversion, Compassion and Conscientiousness with correlation coefficients of .59, .64, .46, and . 52 respectively. Format differences between the personality inventories (forced choice vs. Likert scaling) along with differences in factor definitions have likely lowered the correlation between the factors of these inventories. MANOVA & Discriminant analysis Statistical analyses were done to demonstrate that the RightPATH 4 profiles describe different sets of personalities. First, a MANOVA analysis was conducted to determine whether the sixteen blended profiles were significantly different when compared to the CDPI factors. Significant differences did exist F(98,3215.47)=9.31, p < .001, Wilks lambda = .21. Next, a Discriminant Analysis was conducted in order to investigate and explain the differences among the profiles when compared to the CDPI personality factors. Results from the Discriminant Analysis provide some evidence that several groups of the RightPATH 4 profiles are distinct from other groups of profiles on relevant CDPI factors. For instance, the CDPI Extraversion factor separated highly interactive profiles such as Networker and Encourager from the highly reserved such as Cautious Thinker and Detailist, showing that these profiles are statistically different as well as intuitively different on the Communications factor. Summary The validation studies with Viewpoint Profile offer evidence of construct validity for the personality factors and the blended profiles. Reliability over time is indicated by test, retest correlations for the four factors ranging from .81 to .92.

Career Direct Personality Inventory (CDPI) Validation

TM

The CDPI is a personality inventory appropriate for vocational counseling, consisting of six general personality scales with multiple subscales. It is included in this discussion because it is the parent personality profile to RightPATH 6 Profile, which came out of it. The difference is that the CDPI is not a forced-choice scoring (Likert), whereas the RightPATH 6 Profile is a forced-choice scoring system. Additional scales cover Life Stress, Financial Management, and Indebtedness. This measure of personality is designed to be more specific than the "Big Five" and to capture the important dimensions of personality relevant for vocational counseling. Design Both a rational approach and a principal components factor analytic approach were used to develop the scales for the inventory.

Scale development began with all known traits used to describe personality. After defining all trait dimensions, items were written to rationally measure those dimensions. Six different samples (N = 4,105) were used in revising and refining the CDPI. Standardized scores were derived from an adult sample (N = 1,048), which was selected on the basis of self-satisfaction and relative success in a field in which the person had been for at least three years. Youth standardized scores for the CDPI were derived from a group of young people (N = 572, 23 years of age and younger) who were primarily college freshmen from 26 colleges and universities representing all regions of the country. Principal components analysis and rational scaling procedures were used to revise the CDPI. Both item level and dimension level analyses were used. Format The inventory consists of 116 adjectives that are self-rated on a scale: "Not at all like me" to "Very much like me." The Financial Scales are composed of 14 statements.

General Scales PERSONALITY FACTORS 1. DOMINANCE Motivation to be in control of situations and people in the environment. Subfactors are ASSERTIVE, INDEPENDENT, and BLUNT 2. EXTROVERSION Social energy and motivation to interact with others. Subfactors are ENTHUSIASTIC, SOCIAL, and VERBAL. 3. COMPASSION The tendency to be caring, understanding, and accepting. Subfactors are SYMPATHETIC, SUPPORTIVE, and

TOLERANT. 4. CONSCIENTIOUSNESS Motivation to be accurate, structured, and thorough. Subfactors are PRECISE, ORGANIZED, and ACHIEVING. 5. ADVENTUROUSNESS The tendency to be pioneering and competitive. Subfactors are DARING, and AMBITIOUS. 6. INNOVATION The tendency to quickly envision new ideas. Subfactors are IMAGINATIVE, and CLEVER. OTHER FACTORS 7. STRESS The inner tension an individual is feeling at the time of testing. It will tend to be more transient or situational than the other factors. 8. INDEBTEDNESS Reflects an individual's likelihood of having debt management problems 9. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT Reflects the soundness of a person's money management practices. Validity Evidence To provide evidence of construct validity, the instrument was correlated with Hogan's (1986) Personality Inventory and Costa and McCrae's (1985) measure of the "Big Five," the NEO-PI. Extroversion strongly related to the NEO-PI's measure of extraversion (r = .82, p < .0001) and moderately correlated with Hogan's measures of sociability (r = .63, p < .0001) and ambition (r =.52, p <.0001). Conscientiousness correlated highly with the NEO-PI's measure of conscientiousness (r = .78, p < .0001) and moderately with the Hogan's measure of prudence (r = .44, p < .0001). Compassion moderately correlated with the NEO-PI's agreeableness (r = .57, p < .0001) and the Hogan's likeability scale

(r = .61, p < .0001). Adventurousness correlated moderately with the NEO-PI's extraversion (r = .51, p < .0001) and the Hogan's ambition scale (r =.55, p <.0001). Dominance correlated moderately with the NEO-PI's extraversion (r =.33, p <.0001) and conscientiousness (r = .36, p < .0001). It further correlated moderately with Hogan's ambition scale (r = .54, p < .0001). Innovation correlated moderately with the NEO-PI's openness (r = .47, p < .0001) and with the Hogan's intellectance scale (r = .55, p < .0001). Stress strongly correlated with the NEO-PI's measure of neuroticism (r = .81, p < .0001) and the Hogan's adjustment scale (r = .74, p < .0001). Social Desirability. Additional tests were conducted to determine if the CDPI scales were susceptible to inflated ratings due to social desirability. The CDPI Extroversion, Conscientiousness, Adventurousness, Dominance, and Innovation scales had very low correlations with the Marlowe-Crowne scale of social desirability, (r = .05 to r = . 19). Compassion (r = .30, p < .0001) and Stress (r = -.32, p < . 0001) correlated somewhat higher with social desirability. However, these correlations were still acceptable and lower than the correlations between the NEO-PI scales and the Hogan scales with social desirability. Therefore, the CDPI scales were less subject to social desirability inflation than two of the leading personality inventories. Financial Management assesses the degree of financial planning, saving, and investing of money by the individual. Indebtedness assesses the degree of financial indebtedness and impulsive buying behaviors of the individual. Reliability Evidence Internal Consistency (Cronbach Alphas) ranged from .76 to .95 for

the general scales. Test-retest Reliability over a two week period ranged from .82 to . 95 for the general scales.