EXPLORING NONLINEAR MODELS IN PERSONALITY-ASSESSMENT - DEVELOPMENT AND PRELIMINARY VALIDATION OF A NEGATIVE EMOTIONALITY SCALE

In this article we discuss the applicability of several new measuremen t models to the construction of personality scales, and we contrast th ese models with more traditional approaches in common usage, such as t he principal factor analysis model. Our goal is to illustrate how nonl inear item-response models can be profitably used in personality resea rch. We describe the development of a 30-item Negative Emotionality sc ale that was constructed using nonlinear factor analysis and item-resp onse theory. We also show how traditional (linear) factor analysis can produce misleading results when it is applied to personality items wi th dichotomous response formats (e.g., true/false, agree/disagree). No formal training in modern measurement theory is assumed of the reader as we describe the nonlinear models that are used in this study in no ntechnical language with a minimum of mathematics.