The dimensionality of defense-mechanism parcels in the Defense Style Questionnaire-40

The Defense Style Questionnaire-40 (DSQ-40; Andrews, Singh, & Bond, 1993) uses pairs of items to measure 20 individual defense mechanisms. In a statistical sense, these item pairs represent parcels and are subject to the standards of unidimensionality demanded of parcels in general. Using a 2-fa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPsychological assessment Vol. 27; no. 1; p. 326
Main Authors Wilkinson, Wayne W, Ritchie, Timothy D
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.03.2015
Subjects
Adult
Defense Mechanisms
Female
Humans
Male
Psychometrics - instrumentation
Surveys and Questionnaires - standards
Young Adult
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Summary:The Defense Style Questionnaire-40 (DSQ-40; Andrews, Singh, & Bond, 1993) uses pairs of items to measure 20 individual defense mechanisms. In a statistical sense, these item pairs represent parcels and are subject to the standards of unidimensionality demanded of parcels in general. Using a 2-facet modeling approach (N = 672), the present study examined the dimensionality of the defense-mechanism parcels in the DSQ-40 and found that the majority of the parcels did not satisfy the criteria for unidimensionality. In addition, the original 3-factor model of defense styles was not tenable with the present data. Overall, the results suggest caution when attempting to assess individual defense mechanisms using the DSQ-40.
ISSN:1939-134X
DOI:10.1037/pas0000051