Sociotropy and autonomy: Preliminary evidence for construct validity usingTAT narratives

In this investigation, we evaluated the construct validity of sociotropy an d autonomy as assessed by the revised Personal Style Inventory (PSI; Robins et al., 1994). Stories given to 6 cards of the Thematic Apperception Test (Murray, 1943) were coded for need for Achievement (McClelland, Atkinson, C lark, & Lowell, 1953) and need for Affiliation (Heyns, Veroff, & Atkinson, 1958). These scores were correlated with PSI Sociotropy and Autonomy, along with their component subscales. The construct validity of Sociotropy, Auto nomy, and 5 of 6 component subscales were supported as hypothesized. Consis tent with past research, there was no support for the construct validity of the Perfectionism/Self-Criticism subscale of Autonomy. In addition, separa te analyses by gender suggested that the construct validity of sociotropy m ay be greater for women than for men. The results represent an important fi nding in that nonquestionnaire measures of interpersonal and achievement-re lated concerns were found to support the validity of the PSI, a need identi fied by the questionnaire's authors.