Intellectual Contribution by Subin Im

Contribution Title

Exploring the Dimensionality of the Originality Sub-Scale of the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory

Publication

Psychological Reports

Co-author

Michael Hu and Rex Toh

Year

2003

Description

The Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory (KAI), which is a widely used measures of innovative (as opposed to adaptive) cognitive individual style, is believed to have three dimensions: Sufficiency of Originality (SO), Efficiency, and Rule/Group Conformity. Several studies have raised concerns regarding the construct validity of KAI - specifically with respect to the SO sub-scale. Within this sub-scale, exploratory factor analysis identified two distinct sub-dimensions: Idea Generation and Preference for Change. In this study, we used a sample of 356 household participants (with an average age of 56, average income of $39,700, and average of 15 years of education) from the Arkansas Household Research Panel. We then employed Bollen and Grandjean's (1981) approach based on confirmatory factor analysis to determine whether there are actually two distinct sub-dimensions instead of one. Our study shows that within the SO sub-scale, there are indeed two distinct sub-dimensions: Idea Generation and Preference for Change. Further analyses indicate that dropping double-loaded items identified through exploratory factor analysis significantly improves the fit statistics. Also, allowing for correlated errors for the measurement items that belong to the same sub-dimension can also significantly improve the overall fit of the model based on chi-square statistics.

Complete Citation

IM, Subin, Michael Hu and Rex Toh (2003), "Exploring the Dimensionality of the Originality Sub-Scale of the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory," Psychological Reports, 93, 883-894.

Website

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