Vaenulikkust hindava küsimustiku katsetamine ja kontrollimine

Abstract

The current seminar paper describes the psychometric properties of a new measure of hostility and reports on the measurement of hostility of people in different age groups. The sample consisted of 467 participants (mean age = 17.4, SD = 5.46) most of whom were schoolchildren. The self-report measure which consists of 18 items was therefore carried out in various schools in Estonia. Factor analysis extracted two factors, distrust and active negativne attidude towards others, which are the two subclasses of hostility. The results indicate that the scale has relatively high internal consistency reliability (α = .88) and acceptable test-retest reliability (r = .71). No gender differences were found in the sample, but the results revealed that with the increase in age there is a decrease in the level of hostility. Although the scale is reliable and it is easy to administer, it may still need some work to improve its construct validity. Key words: Hostility, distrust, active negative attitude towards others