The Assessment of Counterproductive Tendencies by Means of the California Psychological Inventory

The authors developed an 80-item scale to measure counterproductive tendencies, using items on the California Psychological Inventory (CPI), Form 434, and choosing items on the basis of their correlations, in a sample of 1,019 university undergraduates, with a self-report instrument measuring counterproductive behaviors. A factor analysis of this criterion instrument revealed nine underlying dimensions. Analyses of scores on the new scale revealed significant gender differences (males higher) and yielded separate-gender norms for four populations of interest. Internal-consistency and test-retest reliability estimates ranged between .80 and .90 across five samples. Correlations with standard CPI scales and domain and facet scales from the NEO PI-R provided evidence of construct validity. Estimated true criterion-related validity for the scale (a) averaged .60 in a student sample against the self-report counterproductive-behavior criterion, (b) was .35 against rated counterproductive job behavior in an employee sample, and (c) ranged as high as .36 against several other job-performance ratings in two additional workplace samples.