Correlates of the Ausburg Multidimensional Personality Instrument (AMPI) Among College Students: The Big Five, Vocational Interests, Approach to the Academic Environment, and Creativity William E. Kelly To examine correlates of the newly developed Ausburg Multidimensional Personality Instrument (AMPI), 128 college students completed the AMPI along with measures of the Big Five personality factors, vocational interests, approach to the academic environment, and creativity traits. The results revealed conceptually meaningful relationships between the AMPI scales and the other instruments used in this study. Most notably, numerous correlations were found between AMPI scales and neuroticism. These findings supported the convergent validity of the AMPI and provide a starting point for interpreting AMPI scores.
The Ausburg Multidimensional Per sonality Instrument (AMPI; Kelly, 2012a, 2012b) was developed primarily as a peda gogical tool. It was intended as a means to expose advanced undergraduate psychology students to the process of administering and interpreting a brief personality test with domains similar to those of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and its subsequent revisions (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham,Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989; Hathaway & McKinley, 1943; Tellegen & Ben-Porath, 2008). It also holds promise as a broad spectrum research instrument. The AMPI includes three validity scales (Kelly, 2012b): Virtuousness (socially de sirable responding), Unlikeliness (unusual responses suggesting feigned pathology), and Guardedness (denial of common, unpleas ant experiences). The AMPI protocol also includes 10 clinical scales (Kelly, 2012a): Somatization (focus on bodily discomfort), Dysphoria (sadness and lack of personal meaning),Hy stericality (responsibility avoid-
ance, low insight, and desire to be liked), Psychodeviance (disobedience and a lack of concern for others), Feminine Interests (interests associated with the feminine gender role),Paranoia (suspiciousness),Anxiousness (anxious reactions to stressors), Schizotypic (odd beliefs and perceptions), Hypomania (high energy levels and associated phenom ena), and Introversion (social avoidance). Given its recent development, little is known about the correlates of the AMPI. Having a network of correlates is necessary to understand the meaning of the scales and for their validation (Anastasi, 1988). There fore, the purpose of the current study was to examine correlates of the AMPI scales across domains that might assist in their valida tion and in conceptualizing undergraduate students - vocational interests , approach to the academic environment, the Big Five personality factors (Norman, 1963), and cre ative traits. Based on previous findings using the MMPI (Sellbom, Ben-Porath, & Bagby, 2008), it was expected that the AMPI clinical scales reflecting a neurotic temperament (i .e., Somatization, Dysphoria, and Anxiousness) would correlate with variables from other scales that also reflect neuroticism. It was also expected that scales reflecting a healthy, open nature (i.e., Feminine Interests) would
William E Kelly, Department of Social Sci ences, Robert Morris University. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to William E. Kelly at
[email protected]. 10
AMPI Correlates. . / 11
correlate with variables that reflect openness to experience (Costa, Busch, Zonderman, & McCrae, 1986). Paranoia and Psychodevi ance were expected to negatively relate to agreeableness and positively to mistrust (Sellbom et al.). Method Participants and Procedure After obtaining informed consent, 128 (95 female) college students enrolled in un dergraduate psychology courses at a small university in the United States completed the instruments described below as part of a larger study on personality. The average age of the sample was 28.39 years (52)= 10.17) with a median of 24.5. As can be noted by the median age of the sample, several students were non-traditional in nature. Instruments Ausburg Multidimensional Personality Instrument (AMPI). The primary interest of this study was to examine correlates of the AMPI clinical scales. Hence, the valid ity scales were not used; only the 40-items of the AMPI clinical scales (Kelly, 2012a) were included. There are 10 clinical scales (see descriptions above) consisting of four items each. Kelly (2012a) reported adequate internal consistencies (alphas = .70 - .86) and factorial validity of the 10 clinical scales. Par ticipants responded to items using a 5-point scale ranging from l=”strongly disagree” to 5=”strongly agree.” Big-F ive M ini-M arkers ( BFMM). Saucier’s (1994) 40-item BFMM was used to measure the Big Five, also known as the Five Factor Model of Personality. The Big Five include neuroticism (emotional instabil ity), extraversion (outgoing and energetic), agreeableness (friendliness and compassion), openness to experience (intellectual curiosity and being open to new ideas), and conscien tiousness (hard working, efficient, and orga nized) . Participants responded by ranking the accuracy of each item for themselves using
a 9-point scale (1 =”extremely inaccurate” to 9=”extremely accurate”). Saucier found that the Mini-Markers adequately assessed the big five and had acceptable internal consistencies (alphas = .78 -.86). Vocational Preference Inventory (VPIC). Vocational interests were measured using the 30-item Vocational Preference Inventory, Form C (Holland, 1985; Lowman & Schurman, 1982). The VPI-C includes a list of occupational titles, five for each of Holland’s (1973) six vocational clusters: realistic (prefer practical work with objects and machines), investigative (prefer to observe, learn, and an alyze), artistic (prefer unstructured activities that allow imagination and creativity), social (prefer to work with people and help others), enterprising (prefer to persuade, lead, and manage), and conventional (prefer to work with data and numbers or do detailed tasks). Participants in this study responded to VPI-C items using a 7-point scale (1 - ‘strongly dis interested,” 7 - ‘strongly interested”) to rate their interest in each occupation. Adequate validity and internal consistencies (alphas = .65 - .84) have been reported (Holland, 1985). Survey o f Academic Orientations (SAO). The 36-item SAO (Davidson, Beck, & Silver, 1999) assess individual differences in six academic orientations: reading for pleasure (reading outside of class), academic apathy (indifference towards classwork), academic self-efficacy (beliefs one can do well aca demically), mistrust of instructors (beliefs that instructors are uncaring and unfair), creative expression (enjoyment of creative assignments that allow individual expres sion), and structure dependence (preference for clear expectations and tasks). Participants responded using a 5-point scale ranging from 1- ‘strongly disagree” to 5=“strongly agree.” Satisfactory reliability (4 month test-retest from .63 - .86) and validity have been reported (Davidson et al.). Scale o f Creative Attributes and Behav iors (SCAB). The 20-item SCAB (K. Kelly, 2004) assess five hypothesized elements of
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creativity: creative engagement (routinely engaging in creative activities), creative cognitive style (divergent thinking style), spontaneity (impulsivity and excitement seeking), tolerance (flexibility and openness to others’ideas), and fantasy (imagination and daydreaming). Participants responded using a 7-point scale ranging from 1= “strongly disagree” to 7=”strongly agree.” Adequate factorial val idity, internal consistency (alpha = .82), and test-retest reliability (.80, one month) have been reported (K. Kelly, 2004). Results Table 1presents correlations between the AMPI clinical scales and the BFMM, VPIC, SAO, and SCAB. Numerous statistically significant correlations in generally in pre dictable directions were observed. Analysis of these results will be reported separately for each AMPI clinical scale. Somatization (Sn). Sn was significantly positively related to neuroticism and nega tively related to openness to experience. Sn was negatively correlated with creative cog nitive style and positively related to realistic vocational interests. Sn was also negatively related to academic self-efficacy. Dysphoria (D).This scale was positively related to neuroticism and negatively related to extraversion, agreeableness, and consci entiousness. Similar to its relation with low agreeableness, D was negatively related to tolerance on the SCAB. D was positively related to realistic vocational interests. D was positively related to academic apathy and negatively related to academic selfefficacy, creative engagement, and structure dependence of the SAO. Hystericality (Hy). Of the AMPI scales, Hy had the strongest positive correlation with neuroticism. It was significantly negatively correlated with extraversion and conscien tiousness. Hy was negatively related to the SCAB tolerance scale. It was not significantly related to any VPI-C scales. However, there was a trend for a relationship with higher
levels of artistic interests. Hy was positively related with academic apathy and negatively related with reading for pleasure and aca demic self-efficacy. Psychodeviance (Pd). Though it was not a strong relationship, Pd was signifi cantly positively related to neuroticism. It was negatively related to agreeableness and conscientiousness. From the SCAB, Pd was positively related to spontaneity and negatively with tolerance. Pd was positively related to realistic and artistic vocational interests. The scales was also negatively related to academic structure dependence and positively related to academic apathy and mistrust of instructors. Feminine Interests (Fi). Fi was the only AMPI scale to have a negative relationship with neuroticism .Although there were trends for positive relationships to extraversion, openness, and agreeableness, these relation ships were not statistically significant. Fi was significantly positively related to total SCAB scores along with creative engagement, and spontaneity.This scale was positively related to artistic and social vocational interests. Fi was positively related to reading for pleasure and creative expression from the SAO and negatively related to academic apathy. Paranoia (Pa). This scale was positively related with neuroticism and negatively re lated to extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness of the Big Five. Similar to its relationship with agreeableness, Pa was also negatively related to tolerance from the SCAB. Pa was positively related to realistic and artistic vocational interests. The only SAO scales found to significantly relate to Pa were academic apathy (positive) and academic self-efficacy (negative). Anxiousness (A). This scale had the second highest positive relationship with neuroticism. It also had negative relationships with extra version, openness, and conscien tiousness. A was also negatively related to divergent cognitive style and tolerance from the SCAB.There were no statistically signifi-
AMPI Correlates. . / 13
Table 1 Correlations between AMPI Scales and Personality, Vocational, and Academic Variables S c a le
Sn
D
Hy
Pd
.22*
Fi
Pa
A
Sc
Ha
I
24**
.11
44**
BFM M N
.28**
.42**
.56**
E
-.16
-.21*
-.18*
0
_ 24**
-.09
-.05
-.18*
.40**
.50**
-.08
.16
-.28**
-.24**
-.15
.10
-.64**
-.06
.12
-.03
-.21*
-.12
.12
-.12
A
-.10
-.24**
-.06
-.39**
.15
_ 29**
.01
_ 33**
C
-.12
-.34**
-.26**
_ 39**
-.03
-.19*
-.19*
_ 27**
-.12
-.25**
-.13
-.09
VPI-C R
.18*
.24**
-.01
.23**
-.11
.21*
-.05
.35**
.25**
.03
1
.09
.15
-.02
.11
.01
.10
-.05
93**
.15
.09
A
-.05
.15
.14
.18*
.30*
.14
.24**
40**
-.14
S
.03
-.12
-.06
-.04
.21* 31**
.05
-.11
E
.04
.15
-.07
.09
-.09
C
.11
.16
-.09
RP
-.07
-.06
AA
.06
.37**
-.08
.05
-.02
-.04
.16
-.13
29**
28**
.04
.07
.15
-.07
.15
.14
.06
-.21*
-.11
.35**
-.07
-.06
-.03
.01
-.11
.30**
.52**
-.19*
SAO
ASE
-.18*
-.25**
_ 37**
Ml
-.05
.15
.15
CE
-.14
-.19*
-.11
SD
-.01
-.18*
.14
Total
-.17
-.02
.04
CE
-.12
-.01
.07
CS
-.19*
-.09
-.11
S
-.07
.15
.17
T
-.15
-.19*
F
-.02
.01
23**
.21*
.09
-.07
.01
-.23*
.09
.03
.09
.04
-.19*
_ 49**
.27**
-.10
.14
.07
-.15
.34**
-.03
-.08
.07
-.24**
-.01
.07
.15
-.22*
.13
.25**
.01
-.12
-.13
.11
.23**
.07
-.07
-.15
.23**
.21* -.10
.11
-.32** -.02
SCAB 33**
-.25**
.19*
.12
-.02
.07
.14
.01
-.19*
.05
.36**
-.16
.30**
.20*
.01
-.04
.16
.43**
-.25**
-.23**
-.19*
.11
-.21*
-.18*
-.08
.07
-.36**
.15
.04
.10
.08
.09
.03
.04
-.09
Note: N = 128. AMPI scales: Sn = Somatization; D = Dysphoria; Hy = Hystericality; Pd = Psychodeviance; Fi = Feminine Interests; Pa = Paranoia; A = Anxiousness; Sc = Schizotypic; Ha = Hypomania; I = Introversion. BFMM scales: N = Neuroticism; E = Extraversion; O = Openness to Experience; A = Agreeableness; C = Conscientiousness. VPI-C scales: R = Realistic; I = Investigative; A = Artistic; S = Social; E = Enterprising; C = Conventional. SAO scales: RP = Reading for Pleasure; AA = Academic Apathy; ASE = Academic Self-Efficacy; MI = Mistrust of Instructors; CE = Creative Expression; SD = Structure Dependence. SCAB scales: CE = Creative Engagement; CS = Cognitive Style; S = Spontaneity; T = Tolerance; F = Fantasy. *p
