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Machiavellianism, forced‐choice formats and the validity of the F scale: A rejoinder to Bloom
Author(s) -
Ray John J.
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(198210)38:4<779::aid-jclp2270380414>3.0.co;2-n
Subject(s) - machiavellianism , psychology , scale (ratio) , social psychology , personality , big five personality traits , physics , quantum mechanics
Bloom has defended the forced‐choice form of the Machiavellianism scale from observations by Ray that such scales have intrinsic validity problems— particularly with social desirability. Bloom also has shown that the failure of the F scale to predict authoritarian behavior does not necessarily deprive it of all claims to validity. It is pointed out that Bloom's observations contain nothing new and ignore important considerations. The validity problems of forced‐choice format are elaborated by means of examples, and it is pointed out that Bloom appears to lack criteria for ever allowing the F scale to be shown as invalid.