Naive versus sophisticated item-writers for the assessment of anxiety

This study reported data from a comparison of items from psychologically naive vs. psychologically sophisticated item-writers vs. a standardized test (Self-rating Anxiety Scale; Zung, 1971) (N = 552). Results supported Jackson's (1971) challenge with regard to non-empirically-produced items as equally valid as those generated by more traditional methods. Of major interest is the finding that, unlike previous studies, nonpsychologists with no formal definition of the construct they were to measure were able to write items that were as valid as those elicited from psychologists.