The psychometric investigation and development of a communication style instrument based on Jung's theory of psychological types

The research is a validation and instrument development study based upon the psychometric assessment of a popular but unvalidated measure of communication styles called the I Speak Your Language Survey of Personal Styles (the ISYL). The ISYL is based on the personality theory of the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. Since 1972, the instrument has been used extensively for such purposes including outplacement and career counseling, conflict resolution and communication skills training. However, there have been no studies of the validity and reliability of the instrument. The purpose of this research was to assess the construct validity of the ISYL through psychometric analyses and, if indicated, to revise the instrument accordingly.;The study was comprised of three phases. The first phase involved assessments of the ISYL's adherence to theory, followed by psychometric assessments of the instrument's validity and reliability. Analyses of factor structure, internal consistency, and other assessments of construct validity were performed using a sample of 367 participants. The results of those assessments suggested generally poor validity and reliability for the ISYL. These analyses indicated the need to develop a comprehensively revised version of the instrument.;The second phase of the study consisted of developing items for use in constructing a revised instrument. Items were developed by the researcher through a review of Jung's type theory, analysis of existing instruments, and items retained from the original instrument. Items were then analyzed for content validity by a panel of judges experienced in the application of type theory. This resulted in a pool of 120 items, which comprised the first iteration of the revised instrument (the ISYL-2).;During the third and final phase of the study assessments of construct validity were performed on the ISYL-2 using a sample of 404 participants. After establishing the initial factor structure of the revised instrument, repeated assessments of validity and reliability were conducted to refine the instrument and to improve its psychometric properties. The results of statistical analyses conducted on the ISYL-2 in this final phase of the study yielded support for the validity and reliability of the revised instrument.