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The Development of the Performance Inventory
1Department of Psychology, Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, CT, USA.
Psychological Reports
|July 29, 2026
Summary
The Performance Inventory (PI) effectively assesses performance anxiety and coping strategies. Factor analysis confirmed its structure, showing stable patterns across diverse groups, supporting its application.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Sports Psychology
- Psychometrics
Background:
- Performance anxiety is a significant concern for athletes and students.
- The Performance Inventory (PI) is an 80-item tool designed to evaluate factors contributing to performance anxiety and management strategies.
- Validating the PI's factor structure is crucial for its reliable application in research and clinical settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the factor structure of the Performance Inventory (PI) using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA).
- To compare the adequacy of different factor models for the PI.
- To assess the stability of the PI's factor patterns across various demographic groups and retesting.
Main Methods:
- The study utilized confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test a 14-factor model of the PI.
- An exploratory factor analysis based confirmatory factor analysis (ECFA) was also conducted, yielding a 12-factor solution.
- Participants included 261 individuals: psychology students and student-athletes from various sports teams (tennis, lacrosse, softball, football).
Main Results:
- Both CFA (14 factors) and ECFA (12 factors) solutions demonstrated statistical indistinguishability.
- Goodness-of-fit statistics slightly favored the CFA solution.
- Factor patterns for both analyses remained stable across retesting, gender, ethnicity, and student status (psychology student or student-athlete).
Conclusions:
- The factor structure of the Performance Inventory (PI) is robust and stable.
- The CFA solution is recommended for practical application due to its slightly better fit and alignment with established research practices.
- The PI is a reliable instrument for assessing performance anxiety and coping strategies in diverse populations.
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