the PsyMax Solutions methodology

The PsyMax Solutions Work Style AssessmentSM inventory was developed, analyzed and tested over a period of years, using widely accepted psychometric principles and standards.


History

The Work Style AssessmentSM inventory was initially developed in 2000 and has gone through five psychometric revisions and updates since that date. Development steps followed the principles presented in the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (1999). The initial technical development of the Work Style AssessmentSM inventory was directed by a leading Ph. D. professor at Texas A&M University. Subsequent research has been conducted by PsyMax Solutions Research Staff.


Item Format

The Work Style AssessmentSM inventory consists of 200 six-point Likert-type items that require approximately 30 to 45 minutes to complete. 


Work Style Scales

The Work Style AssessmentSM inventory measures 15 primary work style scales and 11 supplemental scales that can be incorporated in customized solutions. Scale scores are presented as percentiles.  Raw scores are compared with a normative sample of over 7000 working adults and then converted to percentiles.


Scale Development

The following strategy was used to develop the PsyMax Solutions Work Style AssessmentSM inventory scales:

  • Retain items that do not correlate significantly (< .20) with age, race, sex, and education. This strategy reduces item bias.
  • Retain items that do not correlate significantly with social desirability. This strategy reduces the impact of social desirability on scores.
  • Select items that maximize internal consistency estimates. This strategy yields scales that measure clearly defined work style constructs.
  • Select items so that scales are not highly intercorrelated. This strategy increases the discriminant power of each scale.
  • Select items and scales that remain stable over time. An average test-retest reliability estimate of .81 was achieved over a 30 day period.
  • The construct validity of each scale was evaluated by comparing the Work Style AssessmentSM inventory with other instruments that measure related work style constructs.

For Further Information

For a more detailed information about the technical development of the WSA inventory, please e-mail us at research@psymaxsolutions.com or call our research department at 1-866-774-2273, and we will send you a technical development manual.