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Neuroticism and well-being inventories: measuring traits or states?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

J. Ormel*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Psychiatry, University Hospital, Groningen, The Netherlands
*
1Address for correspondence Dr J. Ormel, Department of Social Psychiatry, University Hospital. Oostersingel 59, 9700 RB Groningen. The Netherlands. The author is currently also a member of the Department of Sociology of the State University of Groningen.

Synopsis

Inventories designed to measure neuroticism are similar in form and content to inventories used to measure symptoms or subjective well-being. In addition, it is not clear to what extent traits as well as a person's present state explain the variance of such measures. Three inventories – the Neuroticism Scale from Wilde's Amsterdamse Biografische Vragenlijst, Bradburn's Affect Balance Scale and a Symptom Measure – were administered three times in order to study their reliability, stability and relation with psychosocial stress and life events. Major differences between inventories were not found. The results favoured the trait position.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

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