Development of emotional stability scale

BACKGROUND: Emotional stability remains the central theme in personality studies. The concept of stable emotional behavior at any level is that which reflects the fruits of normal emotional development. The study aims at development of an emotional stability scale. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Based on available literature the components of emotional stability were identified and 250 items were developed, covering each component. Two-stage elimination of items was carried out, i.e. through judges’ opinions and item analysis. RESULTS: Fifty items with highest ‘t’ values covering 5 dimensions of emotional stability viz pessimism vs. optimism, anxiety vs. calm, aggression vs. tolerance., dependence vs. autonomy., apathy vs. empathy were retained in the final scale. Reliability as checked by Cronbach's alpha was .81 and by split half method it was .79. Content validity and construct validity were checked. Norms are given in the form of cumulative percentages. CONCLUSION: Based on the psychometric principles a 50 item, self-administered 5 point Lickert type rating scale was developed for measurement of emotional stability.