The Behavioral Inhibition System/Behavioral Activation System Scales: Measurement Invariance Across Gender in Chinese University Students.

Ming Xu,Jinyu Wang,Sizhu Huyang,Daxing Wu,Lu Xia,Qiaoping Lian,Zhishuai Jin

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.681753

Abstract

Objectives: To identify the optimal factor structure of the behavioral inhibition system/behavioral activation system (BIS/BAS) scales and to examine measurement invariance (MI) of the scales across gender among a sample of Chinese undergraduate students.Methods: Convenience sampling was employed to recruit 1,085 subjects. Participants completed the Chinese version of the BIS/BAS scales. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of competing models was conducted to determine the optimal factor model, followed by a test of MI across gender based on the optimal model.Results: A single-group CFA indicated that the modified four-factor structure fits best in the total sample. Multiple-group CFAs demonstrated that configural invariance, weak invariance, strong invariance, and strict invariance models of the four-factor structure of the BIS/BAS scales were all acceptable.Conclusion: The four-factor structure of the Chinese version of the BIS/BAS scales possesses MI across gender.

Highlights

The reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST), postulated by Gray (1982, 1987), theorizes that there are two primary mechanisms that regulate and control emotions and behaviors
According to the Mardia test, standardized multivariate kurtosis = 62.03 > 3, so the data did not conform to a multivariate normal distribution (Bentler, 2006)
The current study identified the optimal factor structure and tested measurement invariance (MI) of the Chinese version of the behavioral inhibition system (BIS)/behavioral activation system (BAS) scales across gender for the first time in a sample of Chinese university students

Summary

Introduction

The reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST), postulated by Gray (1982, 1987), theorizes that there are two primary mechanisms that regulate and control emotions and behaviors. The behavioral activation system (BAS) responds to reward and non-punishment stimuli. Since empirical evidence to support the orthogonality of the two systems is limited, the joint subsystem hypothesis postulates that under normal circumstances, BIS and BAS may be interdependent and have a joint influence on behavior (Corr, 2002). Consistent with this hypothesis, BIS and BAS scores were interrelated in community samples (Muris et al, 2005; Bjørnebekk, 2008). Gray’s RST presumes stable individual differences in BIS/BAS reactivity to punishment and reinforcement stimuli. RST is often employed as a framework to study a broad range of psychopathologies

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion