Inconsistency of self-estimation, estimation of the world and estimation of other people as a psychological construct: development and validation of a cognitive beliefs inconsistency study method

Abstract

Although traditional psychodiagnostics is based on the demand for consistency and stability as a measure of reliability inconsistency and variability in people’s responses and behavior may be of great prognostic importance. The aim of the study is to develop an instrument that allows differentiating inconsistency of self-estimation, estimation of the world and estimation of other people based on estimations of opposite adjectives. On the sample of adults (N = 79) it was shown that this method could be used in diagnostics of two different types of inconsistency (both due to a conciliatory style of responses and related to instability of responses). Positive self-estimation, estimation of the world and estimation of other people is determined by different constructs; and only positive self-estimations correlate significantly with psychological well-being. Inconsistency of self-estimations, estimation of the world and estimation of other people could not be reduced to positivity of these estimations. Inconsistency of self-estimations is related to lesser psychological well-being. Two alternative forms of the method are proposed. Functional, scale and conceptual equivalence of these forms is demonstrated.