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The structure of oppositionality: response dispositions and situational aspects
Author(s) -
Hoffenaar Peter J.,
Hoeksma Jan B.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/1469-7610.00028
Subject(s) - psychology , situational ethics , developmental psychology , context (archaeology) , confirmatory factor analysis , interpersonal communication , test (biology) , psychometrics , social psychology , structural equation modeling , statistics , paleontology , mathematics , biology
Background: The Amsterdam Scale of Oppositionality (ASO) is a recently developed self‐report instrument to measure the full range of oppositionality. It was used to test the assumption that oppositionality can best be conceptualized as a combination of emotions and behaviors varying across contexts, i.e., with parents, peers and authority figures. Method: The sample consisted of 560 boys and 598 girls, aged 8 to 12 years. The thirty items of the ASO, grouped in item parcels, were analyzed using confirmatory factor analyses. Results: Results confirmed the main hypothesis. The best fitting models contained strongly related emotional and behavioral factors and three mutually related situational factors. Oppositionality appeared to be to a large extent situation‐specific. Girls are more affected by the situation than boys and show less oppositionality only outside the family context. Conclusions: Results are discussed with respect to the concept of oppositionality, varying expectations for interpersonal consequences, and implications for clinical assessment and studies of inter‐informant reliability.