A computerized adaptive test for enterprising personality assessment in youth

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Entrepreneurship Studies

Background:

• Specific personality traits predict enterprising personality better than broad traits.
• Existing instruments lack an adaptive format for assessing combined specific traits.
• There is a need for efficient tools to evaluate enterprising personality in youth.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a Computerized Adaptive Test (CAT) for assessing enterprising personality in young individuals.
• To create a brief, precise, and adaptive instrument for measuring key enterprising traits.

Main Methods:

• Developed an initial pool of 161 items.
• Administered the item pool to two student samples (n1=357, n2=2,693) using stratified sampling.
• Selected 107 items measuring achievement motivation, risk-taking, innovativeness, autonomy, self-efficacy, stress tolerance, internal locus of control, and optimism.

Main Results:

• Selected 107 items assessing core enterprising personality facets.
• The Computerized Adaptive Test (CAT) demonstrated high precision across a range of abilities.
• The CAT utilized a mean of 10 items with a low Standard Error (0.378).

Conclusions:

• A brief, valid, and precise instrument for assessing enterprising personality was developed.
• The CAT has significant implications for educational and entrepreneurial contexts.
• This adaptive test offers an efficient method for identifying enterprising potential in young people.