RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SELF-STATEMENT INVENTORIES - USE OF VALENCE, END-POINTS, FREQUENCY, AND RELATIVE FREQUENCY

Methodological confounds and Inconsistencies in evaluations of self-st atements hamper exploration of conceptual issues in cognitive assessme nt. Although many measures incorporate both positives and negatives, t here is confusion in reporting; raw frequencies, difference scores, pr oblematic ratios (positive/negative, negative/positive), and States-of -Mind (SOM) ratios are all used. Here, we examine methodological issue s in evaluations of valenced self-statements in two studies and formul ate empirically based guidelines for common usage. Our findings clearl y indicate that (a) valenced thought frequencies and SOM ratios yield different information (b) in SOM ratio calculations inventory scale en d points should always start at 0, (c) if scales do not start at 0, sc ores can be converted mathematically, and (d) the higher the SOM score , the better the individual's adaptation on various criterion measures ; this includes even extremely positive SOMs (0.91-1). Thus, SOMs are monotonic and can be used in statistical analyses without transformati on.