Premium
The objectivity and subjectivity of life events
Author(s) -
Stone Arthur A.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4679(198204)38:2<333::aid-jclp2270380219>3.0.co;2-g
Subject(s) - subjectivity , objectivity (philosophy) , psychology , event (particle physics) , epistemology , social psychology , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics
Life events have been considered objective or subjective depending on whether the events could be verified. This paper revises this concept (Verifiability) by requiring that the events actually be verified, and it presents two new types of objectivity‐subjectivity of life events, Item Selection and Event Quantification. Three issues that pertain to the design of life event studies are presented, and it is shown that these design issues interact with Verifiability and Event Quantification, which sometimes results in studies with serious threats to their validity. It is recommended that all three types of objectivity‐subjectivity be considered when one is designing life event studies.