Temperament styles in Zimbabwean early adolescents: A Rasch measurement model analysis

The structure of temperament styles was investigated using Rasch analysis methods with data from 397 (46% males) Zimbabwean early adolescents. The students completed the Student Styles Questionnaire (SSQ), a 69 item children's self-report measure of temperament styles that uses a forced choice item format. Each item was scored as a dichotomous Rasch scale variable. Principal component analysis of the standardized residuals yielded unidimensional latent temperament variables for extroversion-introversion (EI), practical-imaginative (PM), thinking-feeling (TF), and organized-flexible (OL) styles. Higher endorsements were found for extroversion (E) than introversion (I) styles, for practical (P) than imaginative (M) styles, for feeling (F) than thinking (T) styles, and for organized (O) than flexible (L) styles. TF style indicators seemingly were targeted more appropriately to the Zimbabwean adolescents than were EI, OL, and PM styles. Rasch modelling methods appear to have merit when constructing and using interval scale measures of temperament styles from forced choice data.