Validity of Social, Moral and Emotional Facets of Self-Description Questionnaire II

Abstract

Studies adopting a construct validity approach can be categorized into within- and between-network studies. Few studies have applied between-network approach and tested the correlations of the social (same-sex relations, opposite-sex relations, parent relations), moral (honesty-trustworthiness), and emotional (emotional stability) facets of the Self-Description Questionnaire II with external criteria. Using a sample of high school students (n = 628), the authors examined the relations of these 5 nonacademic self-concept facets with nonacademic external criteria (between-network studies) besides examining the factor structure of these five facets of self-concept (within-network studies). Results provided strong support for the convergent validity in that each predicted correlation was statistically significant. Also, the discriminant validity of the 5 nonacademic subscales was clearly demonstrated by showing that each external criterion was more highly correlated with the predicted (matching) Self-Description Questionnaire II subscale than any of the Self-Description Questionnaire II subscales. Hence, these facets of self-concept are 5 distinct factors.