ABSTRACT
In Strategies for Personality Research, Don Fiske wrote that “a theory ordinarily asserts more than the pattern of covariation among the construed elements. Item response theory (IRT) asserts precisely a pattern of covariation among the items comprising an instrument for psychological measurement—no more, no less. The Action Control scales include three subscales consisting of items designed to measure state or action orientation in response to failure, decisions, and performance, respectively. An analysis of the 20 items comprising the Failure subscale is used as first illustration of the application of IRT to problems in personality measurement. Measures of personality constructs often employ variants of Likert's 5-point response scale that ranged from strongly disapprove to strongly approve. In practice, Likert-type response formats may include as few as three, or as many as nine or more, response alternatives, representing a continuum from low to high endorsement or agreement with the item, and various response labels.
