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The structure of temperament questionnaire (STQ): results from a U.S. sample
Person. indiuid. D#
Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 485-487, 1993
0191-8869/93 $6.00+ 0.00 Copyright 0 1993Pergamon Press Ltd
Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved
The Structure of Temperament
Questionnaire
(STQ): results from a U.S. sample
DAVID BISHOP, HEATHER JACKS and SARA BETH TANDY Department
of Psychology,
Luther College, Decorah, IA 52101, U.S.A.
(Received
19 June 1992)
Summary-An English language version of the Structure of Temperament Questionnaire (STQ) has recently been proposed by Rusalov (1989; Personality and Individual D@rences, 14817-827). This version was administered to a U.S. sample. The U.S. data demonstrate that the English language translation of STQ has a factor structure similar to the Russian language version and possesses satisfactory reliability.
INTRODUIXION A new theoretical model of human temperament has recently been proposed by Rusalov (1989). Following the Pavlovian tradition of linking individual differences to basic biological properties of the central nervous system, a contemporary conception of temperament has been suggested that incorporates Anokhin’s (1968, as cited in Rusalov, 1989) functionalsystems approach to brain functioning. Instead of viewing temperament as a direct manifestation of certain invariant biological properties at the behavioral level, temperament is a generalized and qualitatively new system of stable properties that emerges when basic biological properties are restructured and reorganized by various kinds of activity. These emergent properties are to be considered content free, formal dimensions of individual behavior. Consequently, temperament is to be considered a psychobiological constrnct comprising the formal aspects of behavior, whereas personality is to be considered a sociopsychological construct comprising the content characteristics of human behavior. Rusalov derived four fundamental parameters or dimensions of individuality from this model of temperament. The dimension of Ergonicity refers to the width of afferent synthesis (the breadth of one’s sphere of activity). The dimension of Plasticity refers to the degree of ease in switching behavioral programs. The third formal dimension, Tempo, refers to the quickness of program execution. Fourth, the dimension of Emotionality refers to one’s sensitivity to the discrepancy between anticipated action and actual results. Finally, a consideration of the specific sphere of activity (with the world of things or in the social world) yields an object- and social-related aspect for each dimension. Consequently, the hypothesized model of human temperament consists of eight dimensions (see Fig. 1). The Structure of Temperament Questionnaire (STQ; Rusalov, 1989, 1990) was devised to measure these eight dimensions. Although the original Russian language version of the STQ has demonstrated satisfactory psychometric characteristics with a Russian sample (Rusalov, 1989), the English language version of the STQ proposed by Rusalov has been tested in only one country. Stough, Brebner and Cooper (1991) administered the English language version of the STQ to an Australian sample and found good agreement between the two samples. The purpose of the present study was to compare the results of an STQ administration to a U.S. sample with the Russian results to further clarify the psychometric properties of the English language edition. METHOD The English language version of the STQ was group administered to 104 (49 males and 55 females) general psychology students at Luther College. The mean age of the sample was 19.12. All Ss reported English as their first language. RRSULTSANDDISCUSSlON To determine the factor structure of the English language version of the STQ, a series of eight factor analyses (with orthogonal rotations) was conducted. Figure 2 depicts the results of these analyses. While only the first three factors had eigen values greater than one, the final factor solution yielded the expected nine (eight temperament scales and one lie scale) factors. This series of analyses was largely in agreement with the latent structure analysis of the Russian language edition
Object-related
sod .al-related
Objectrelated Ergonicity (Er)
Objectrelated Plasticity (PI
Objectrelated Tempo (T)
Objectrelated Emotionality (Em)
Social Ergonicity (SEr)
Social Plasticity (SP)
Social Tempo (ST)
Social Emotionality (Sha)
Fig.1. The eight dimensions of temperament.
486
NOTES AND
SHORTER
OF
NUMBER
2
3
4
Er SEr-P-P P SP T ST
Er
Er
COMMUNICATIONS
FACTORS
5
6
Er
Er
7
-
-P-P T ST
T ST
8
Er
-
T ST
SEr SP ST
SEr SP ST
-
Er
-
Er
-
ST
T
P
P-P
ST
T
T-T
ST -
9
SEr ST -
SEr-
SP
SP
-
-
ST
SEr-
SP
SEr-
SP
SEr -
SP
Em
Em
Em
Em
Em
Em
SEm
SCm
SEm
SEm
SEm
SEm
K ST
-K
-K
-K
-K
-K
ST
Fig. 2. Factor
structure
of English
language
version
of STQ
using a Russian sample (Rusalov, 1989) and a factor analysis of the English language edition using the Australian sample @tough et al.. 1991). The scale statistics (means, standard deviations, and Cronbach coefficients) for the English language version and the Russian language version of the STQ are presented in Table 1. In general, the American sample yielded higher means but a lower degree of scale variation. Our findings were similar to the results obtained with the Australian sample (Stough et al., 1991). Given somewhat different scale means and standard deviations, the proposed Russian language norm of 6 + 2 (B + 2/3SD) may not be appropriate to define high and low values of each trait on the English language version. Finally, the internal consistency indices (alpha) for each scale were similar to the Russian and the Australian samples. The item-total correlations for the U.S. sample are presented in Table 2. While the item-total correlations for the English language version are generally similar to those of the Russian language version, an inspection of the table reveals that several of the items have low (relative to the corresponding Russian language items) item-total correlations. In particular, English language items 13, 17, 50, and 59 are not as strongly correlated with the respective scales as the analogous Russian language items. The author of the STQ may wish to revise these items on future editions of the English language version.
Table I. Means (a,. standard
deviations
(SD) and Cronbach’s STQ wales
reliability
statistic (a) for the Russian (N = 118)
U.S. (N = 104) SC&
K
SD
a
R
SD
a
Ergonicity, object-related (Er) Ergonicity, social (SEr) Plasticity, object-related (P) Plasticity, social (SP) Tempo, object-related (T) Tempo, social (ST) Emotion&y, object-related (Em) Emotionality, social (SEm)
7.3 9.0 9.1 6.5 8.2 8.2 5.3 7.2
2.4 2.5 2.6 3.0 2.7 2.8 3.1 2.2
0.65 0.76 0.79 0.78 0.71 0.75 0.81 0.59
7.4 7.5 5.7 4.7 7.9 6.8 6.4 6.4
3.4 3.9 3.1 2.8 3.2 2.9 3.5 2.8
0.83 0.76 0.77 0.72 0.80 0.73 0.84 0.71
Table 2. The correlation Er N, 4 8 15 22 27 42 50 58 64 83 98 103
P
SEr i-
No
r
33’ 34 48 37 56 46 I4 67 78 66 36 52
3 II 30 34 57 62 67 74 78 86 90 I05
45 31 64 59 59 53 51 35 53 61 57 56
*Zeros and points are omitted.
-No 20 25 35 38 47 54 59 66 71 76 IO1 104
(r) of each item (No.) with the STQ scales SP
T
ST
Em
SEm
r
No
r
No
r
No
r
No
r
No
I
42 67 44 46 53 68 22 67 51 80 57 48
2 9 I8 26 31 45 68 81 85 87 93 99
45 58 30 46 59 48 70 75 44 74 52 40
I 13 I9 29 33 43 46 49 55 70 77 94
63 22 52 37 52 50 32 48 52 58 56 66
5 IO I6 24 37 39 51 56 72 92 96 102
54 45 62 50 60 47 43 45 51 70 47 49
14 I7 28 40 60 61 69 79 88 91 95 97
53 22 53 49 61 57 54 62 67 57 65 65
6 7 21 36 41 48 53 63 75 80 84 100
31 38 46 53 52 34 37 48 45 35 58 32
NOlTS
AND SHORTER COMMUNICATIONS
487
In general, the psychometric characteristics of the English language version of the STQ are similar to that obtained with the original version. With some relatively minor adjustments, the proposed English language edition of the STQ may emerge as a viable analog to the original STQ. REFERENCES
Rusalov, V. M. (1989). Object-related and communicative aspects of human temperament: a new questionnaire of the structure of temperament. Personality and Individual Drfirences, 10, 817-827. Rusalov, V. M. (1990). Sfrucrure of Temperament Questionnaire (STQ): A short manual. Moscow: Institute of Psychology, Russian Academy of Sciences. Stough, C., Brebner, J. & Cooper, C. (1991). The Rusalov Structure of Temperament Questionnaire (STQ): results from an Australian sample. Personality and Individual Diferences, 12, 1355-1357.
Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 485-487, 1993
0191-8869/93 $6.00+ 0.00 Copyright 0 1993Pergamon Press Ltd
Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved
The Structure of Temperament
Questionnaire
(STQ): results from a U.S. sample
DAVID BISHOP, HEATHER JACKS and SARA BETH TANDY Department
of Psychology,
Luther College, Decorah, IA 52101, U.S.A.
(Received
19 June 1992)
Summary-An English language version of the Structure of Temperament Questionnaire (STQ) has recently been proposed by Rusalov (1989; Personality and Individual D@rences, 14817-827). This version was administered to a U.S. sample. The U.S. data demonstrate that the English language translation of STQ has a factor structure similar to the Russian language version and possesses satisfactory reliability.
INTRODUIXION A new theoretical model of human temperament has recently been proposed by Rusalov (1989). Following the Pavlovian tradition of linking individual differences to basic biological properties of the central nervous system, a contemporary conception of temperament has been suggested that incorporates Anokhin’s (1968, as cited in Rusalov, 1989) functionalsystems approach to brain functioning. Instead of viewing temperament as a direct manifestation of certain invariant biological properties at the behavioral level, temperament is a generalized and qualitatively new system of stable properties that emerges when basic biological properties are restructured and reorganized by various kinds of activity. These emergent properties are to be considered content free, formal dimensions of individual behavior. Consequently, temperament is to be considered a psychobiological constrnct comprising the formal aspects of behavior, whereas personality is to be considered a sociopsychological construct comprising the content characteristics of human behavior. Rusalov derived four fundamental parameters or dimensions of individuality from this model of temperament. The dimension of Ergonicity refers to the width of afferent synthesis (the breadth of one’s sphere of activity). The dimension of Plasticity refers to the degree of ease in switching behavioral programs. The third formal dimension, Tempo, refers to the quickness of program execution. Fourth, the dimension of Emotionality refers to one’s sensitivity to the discrepancy between anticipated action and actual results. Finally, a consideration of the specific sphere of activity (with the world of things or in the social world) yields an object- and social-related aspect for each dimension. Consequently, the hypothesized model of human temperament consists of eight dimensions (see Fig. 1). The Structure of Temperament Questionnaire (STQ; Rusalov, 1989, 1990) was devised to measure these eight dimensions. Although the original Russian language version of the STQ has demonstrated satisfactory psychometric characteristics with a Russian sample (Rusalov, 1989), the English language version of the STQ proposed by Rusalov has been tested in only one country. Stough, Brebner and Cooper (1991) administered the English language version of the STQ to an Australian sample and found good agreement between the two samples. The purpose of the present study was to compare the results of an STQ administration to a U.S. sample with the Russian results to further clarify the psychometric properties of the English language edition. METHOD The English language version of the STQ was group administered to 104 (49 males and 55 females) general psychology students at Luther College. The mean age of the sample was 19.12. All Ss reported English as their first language. RRSULTSANDDISCUSSlON To determine the factor structure of the English language version of the STQ, a series of eight factor analyses (with orthogonal rotations) was conducted. Figure 2 depicts the results of these analyses. While only the first three factors had eigen values greater than one, the final factor solution yielded the expected nine (eight temperament scales and one lie scale) factors. This series of analyses was largely in agreement with the latent structure analysis of the Russian language edition
Object-related
sod .al-related
Objectrelated Ergonicity (Er)
Objectrelated Plasticity (PI
Objectrelated Tempo (T)
Objectrelated Emotionality (Em)
Social Ergonicity (SEr)
Social Plasticity (SP)
Social Tempo (ST)
Social Emotionality (Sha)
Fig.1. The eight dimensions of temperament.
486
NOTES AND
SHORTER
OF
NUMBER
2
3
4
Er SEr-P-P P SP T ST
Er
Er
COMMUNICATIONS
FACTORS
5
6
Er
Er
7
-
-P-P T ST
T ST
8
Er
-
T ST
SEr SP ST
SEr SP ST
-
Er
-
Er
-
ST
T
P
P-P
ST
T
T-T
ST -
9
SEr ST -
SEr-
SP
SP
-
-
ST
SEr-
SP
SEr-
SP
SEr -
SP
Em
Em
Em
Em
Em
Em
SEm
SCm
SEm
SEm
SEm
SEm
K ST
-K
-K
-K
-K
-K
ST
Fig. 2. Factor
structure
of English
language
version
of STQ
using a Russian sample (Rusalov, 1989) and a factor analysis of the English language edition using the Australian sample @tough et al.. 1991). The scale statistics (means, standard deviations, and Cronbach coefficients) for the English language version and the Russian language version of the STQ are presented in Table 1. In general, the American sample yielded higher means but a lower degree of scale variation. Our findings were similar to the results obtained with the Australian sample (Stough et al., 1991). Given somewhat different scale means and standard deviations, the proposed Russian language norm of 6 + 2 (B + 2/3SD) may not be appropriate to define high and low values of each trait on the English language version. Finally, the internal consistency indices (alpha) for each scale were similar to the Russian and the Australian samples. The item-total correlations for the U.S. sample are presented in Table 2. While the item-total correlations for the English language version are generally similar to those of the Russian language version, an inspection of the table reveals that several of the items have low (relative to the corresponding Russian language items) item-total correlations. In particular, English language items 13, 17, 50, and 59 are not as strongly correlated with the respective scales as the analogous Russian language items. The author of the STQ may wish to revise these items on future editions of the English language version.
Table I. Means (a,. standard
deviations
(SD) and Cronbach’s STQ wales
reliability
statistic (a) for the Russian (N = 118)
U.S. (N = 104) SC&
K
SD
a
R
SD
a
Ergonicity, object-related (Er) Ergonicity, social (SEr) Plasticity, object-related (P) Plasticity, social (SP) Tempo, object-related (T) Tempo, social (ST) Emotion&y, object-related (Em) Emotionality, social (SEm)
7.3 9.0 9.1 6.5 8.2 8.2 5.3 7.2
2.4 2.5 2.6 3.0 2.7 2.8 3.1 2.2
0.65 0.76 0.79 0.78 0.71 0.75 0.81 0.59
7.4 7.5 5.7 4.7 7.9 6.8 6.4 6.4
3.4 3.9 3.1 2.8 3.2 2.9 3.5 2.8
0.83 0.76 0.77 0.72 0.80 0.73 0.84 0.71
Table 2. The correlation Er N, 4 8 15 22 27 42 50 58 64 83 98 103
P
SEr i-
No
r
33’ 34 48 37 56 46 I4 67 78 66 36 52
3 II 30 34 57 62 67 74 78 86 90 I05
45 31 64 59 59 53 51 35 53 61 57 56
*Zeros and points are omitted.
-No 20 25 35 38 47 54 59 66 71 76 IO1 104
(r) of each item (No.) with the STQ scales SP
T
ST
Em
SEm
r
No
r
No
r
No
r
No
r
No
I
42 67 44 46 53 68 22 67 51 80 57 48
2 9 I8 26 31 45 68 81 85 87 93 99
45 58 30 46 59 48 70 75 44 74 52 40
I 13 I9 29 33 43 46 49 55 70 77 94
63 22 52 37 52 50 32 48 52 58 56 66
5 IO I6 24 37 39 51 56 72 92 96 102
54 45 62 50 60 47 43 45 51 70 47 49
14 I7 28 40 60 61 69 79 88 91 95 97
53 22 53 49 61 57 54 62 67 57 65 65
6 7 21 36 41 48 53 63 75 80 84 100
31 38 46 53 52 34 37 48 45 35 58 32
NOlTS
AND SHORTER COMMUNICATIONS
487
In general, the psychometric characteristics of the English language version of the STQ are similar to that obtained with the original version. With some relatively minor adjustments, the proposed English language edition of the STQ may emerge as a viable analog to the original STQ. REFERENCES
Rusalov, V. M. (1989). Object-related and communicative aspects of human temperament: a new questionnaire of the structure of temperament. Personality and Individual Drfirences, 10, 817-827. Rusalov, V. M. (1990). Sfrucrure of Temperament Questionnaire (STQ): A short manual. Moscow: Institute of Psychology, Russian Academy of Sciences. Stough, C., Brebner, J. & Cooper, C. (1991). The Rusalov Structure of Temperament Questionnaire (STQ): results from an Australian sample. Personality and Individual Diferences, 12, 1355-1357.