Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS)

A good example theoretical strategy used in psychometric tests.

—EPPS -best-known and earliest .

—By Allen Edward in 1960s

—the EPPS is not actually a test in the strictest sense of the word because there are no right or wrong answers.

—Theoretical basis – the need system of Murray (1938)

—15 needs include the need to accomplish (achievement), the need to conform (deference), and the need for attention (exhibition)

—Having selected items based on theory, Edwards could avoid the blind, subjective, and atheoretical approaches of other strategies.

—Epps faced the perpetual problems of response styles and biases. don’t have lie scale like MPPI

—To overcome this – formed pairs of items roughly comparable in social desirability and required subjects to select the item in the pair that was more characteristic of their likes or feelings

—forced choice, objective, non-projective personality inventory.

—ages of 16-85 and takes about 45 minutes to complete

—Subjects make a choice, they select between one of two needs.

—Ipsative scores (forced choice unlike likert scale)compare the individual against himself or herself and produce data that reflect the relative strength of each need for that person;

—Each person thus provides his or her own frame of reference (Popper, 1997).

—Identical choice can be converted to a percentile based on normative data

—1500 college men and women and approximately 9000 adults from the general population selected from urban and rural areas in 48 states.

—Not impressive, split-half reliabilities

—15 scales of Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS)

• • 1.Achievement : A need to accomplish tasks well
  • 2.Deference: A need to conform to customs and defer to others
  • 3.Order: A need to plan well and be organized
  • 4.Exhibition: A need to be the center of attention in a group
  • 5.Autonomy: A need to be free of responsibilities and obligations
  • 6.Affiliation: A need to form strong friendships and attachments
  • 7.Intraception: A need to analyze behaviors and feelings of others
  • 8.Succorance: A need to receive support and attention from others
  • 9.Dominance: A need to be a leader and influence others
  • 10.Abasement: A need to accept blame for problems and confess errors to others
  • 11.Nurturance: A need to be of assistance to others
  • 12.Change: A need to seek new experiences and avoid routine
  • 13.Endurance: A need to follow through on tasks and complete assignments
  • 14.Heterosexuality: A need to be associated with and attractive to members of the opposite sex
  • 15.Aggression: A need to express one’s opinion and be critical of others

consists of 225 pairs of statements in which items from each of the 15 scales are paired with items from the other 14 plus the other fifteen pairs of items for the optional consistency check