Summary: A new study confirms impulsivity as a stable and measurable personality trait. Using data from 1,676 participants, researchers identified a general impulsivity factor, I, which effectively predicts impulsive behaviors.
They developed the Adjustable Impulsivity Scale (AIMS) for precise measurement. Findings enhance understanding and measurement of impulsivity.
Key Facts:
- Study confirms impulsivity as a stable, measurable trait.
- Researchers identified a general impulsivity factor, I, from 1,676 participants.
- Developed the Adjustable Impulsivity Scale (AIMS) for precise measurement.
Source: Chinese Academy of Science
We can all act on an impulse, with some seemingly doing it more often and others less. Psychologists have been studying impulsivity as a personality trait since the 1930s and have linked impulsivity to a variety of harmful behaviors, such as violence and excessive use of social media, as well as mental disorders, such as bipolar disorder and substance use disorder.
A study by a research team led by Dr. LUAN Shenghua from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has provided comprehensive evidence that impulsivity is a stable, measurable, and predictive personality trait.
The study, one of the largest in the field, disagrees with the pessimistic view that research on impulsivity is fraught with problems, including inconsistencies in its definition and a lack of reliable measurement tools.
It was published online in PNAS on June 3.
A total of 1,676 participants took part in the study. Each completed 48 impulsivity measures derived from 10 self-report scales and 10 behavioral tasks. The participants also reported the frequency of seven impulsivity-related behaviors, such as impulsive buying and social media use.
Using advanced psychometric methods, the researchers found a general factor of impulsivity, I, in this large-scale data. Factor I is similar to the general factor g in intelligence and represents the common component shared by a wide range of impulsivity measures.
According to the researchers, factor I was stable over time—in fact, it was the most stable of all measures over a three-month interval—and was good at predicting impulsivity-related behaviors, as evidenced by analysis using machine learning algorithms.
Based on their data and modeling results, the researchers further developed a new scale, the Adjustable Impulsivity Scale (AIMS), to measure impulsivity. AIMS has excellent psychometric properties that are largely retained in shorter versions and is quite effective with only 10 measurement items.
“These results show that impulsivity is a valid and useful psychological construct for differentiating people. To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the death of impulsivity may have been greatly exaggerated, and this construct is still very much alive,” said Dr. LUAN, corresponding author of the study.
The discovery of the general impulsivity factor I and the development of the new AIMS scale are the two most notable contributions of this study. They significantly advance the conceptualization and measurement of impulsivity and facilitate the application of impulsivity as a personality trait in both clinical and non-clinical contexts.
Funding: The study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Institute of Psychology of CAS.
About this impulsivity and personality research news
Author: LIU Chen
Source: Chinese Academy of Science
Contact: LIU Chen – Chinese Academy of Science
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Impulsivity is a stable, measurable, and predictive psychological trait” by LUAN Shenghua et al. PNAS
Abstract
Impulsivity is a stable, measurable, and predictive psychological trait
Impulsivity is a personality construct frequently employed to explain and predict important human behaviors. Major inconsistencies in its definition and measurement, however, have led some researchers to call for an outright rejection of impulsivity as a psychological construct.
We address this highly unsatisfactory state with a large-scale, preregistered study (N = 1,676) in which each participant completed 48 measures of impulsivity derived from 10 self-report scales and 10 behavioral tasks and reported frequencies of seven impulsivity-related behaviors (e.g., impulsive buying and social media usage); a subsample (N = 196) then completed a retest session 3 mo later.
We found that correlations between self-report measures were substantially higher than those between behavioral tasks and between self-report measures and behavioral tasks.
Bifactor analysis of these measures exacted one general factor of impulsivity I, akin to the general intelligence factor g, and six specific factors. Factor I was related mainly to self-report measures, had high test–retest reliability, and could predict impulsivity-related behaviors better than existing measures.
We further developed a scale named the adjustable impulsivity scale (AIMS) to measure I. AIMS possesses excellent psychometric properties that are largely retained in shorter versions and could predict impulsivity-related behaviors equally well as I.
These findings collectively support impulsivity as a stable, measurable, and predictive trait, indicating that it may be too early to reject it as a valid and useful psychological construct.
The bifactorial structure of impulsivity and AIMS, meanwhile, significantly advance the conceptualization and measurement of construct impulsivity.
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