Eysenck personality inventory: impulsivity/neuroticism and social desirability response set

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Personality Psychology
• Psychometrics

Background:

• The Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) are widely used personality and anxiety assessment tools.
• The Lie scale within personality inventories assesses social desirability and response bias, potentially influencing other scale intercorrelations.
• Understanding response bias is crucial for accurate personality assessment, especially in cross-cultural contexts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the personality profiles of female Indian students scoring high versus low on the Lie scale.
• To examine the association of Lie scale scores with Impulsivity and Neuroticism intercorrelations.
• To assess the influence of the Lie scale on personality traits in the absence of faking motivation.

Main Methods:

• Administered Hindi versions of the Eysenck Personality Inventory and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory to 945 female Indian students.
• Analyzed personality traits, including Impulsivity, Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Trait Anxiety, in relation to Lie scale scores.
• Compared personality profiles between groups with low and high Lie scale scores.

Main Results:

• Students with low Lie scale scores showed lower Impulsivity and higher Neuroticism and Trait Anxiety compared to those with high Lie scores.
• No significant association was found between Lie scale scores and Extraversion.
• Lie scale scores demonstrated differential associations with Impulsivity and Neuroticism.

Conclusions:

• The Lie scale significantly differentiates personality profiles, particularly concerning Impulsivity and Neuroticism, in female Indian students.
• Findings underscore the importance of considering the Lie scale alongside other personality measures.
• Future research should account for response bias when interpreting personality assessments.