Psychometric Techniques in Assessing Environmentally Responsible

Behaviour: Profiling Professionals for Propensity to Deviant Behaviour

Agzamova Elena Yurievna

National University of Uzbekistan named after Mirzo Ulugbek, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Keywords: Adaptation of the Psychometric Technique, Psychology of Environmentally Responsible Behaviour, a

Tendency to Deviant Behaviour, Environmental Education, Specialist of the Extreme Profile, Reliability, the

Validity of the Test Questionnaire, Standardisation of the Test Questionnaire.

Abstract: The article explores the adaptation process of the psychometric methodology for assessing the inclination

towards deviant behaviour for the utilization by experts of the relevant category - extreme profile and

ecologically responsible behaviour. During the adaptation, a comprehensive examination of fundamental

characteristics of the psychometric technique, such as reliability and validity, is intricately detailed. The

particulars of the mechanism for translating the content of the psychometric technique into the Uzbek

language, followed by mathematical and statistical verification, are elucidated. Additionally, the

standardisation process is discussed to ascertain the norm for the target sample - specialists of the extreme

profile.

1 INTRODUCTION

As you are aware, the effective professional conduct

of specialists in an extreme profile demands the

maintenance of a proper level of official discipline,

socially responsible behaviour, moral and

psychological reliability, moral stability, high

competence, mutual assistance, and dedication.

Conversely, deviant actions and behaviour among

specialists pose a rather dangerous and destabilizing

factor, negatively impacting the quality of task

performance and the moral and psychological well-

being of professional teams. Addressing these

concerns necessitates systematic efforts to prevent

deviant behaviour, with the issue of psychodiagnosis

of the phenomenon becoming a predominant aspect,

requiring a reliable, valid, and standardized

psychometric technique.

An analysis of the scientific literature reveals that,

to date, a relatively small number of psychometric

techniques have been developed, typically applicable

only for the psychodiagnosis of individual

manifestations of deviant behaviour among

specialists in an extreme profile. Additionally, A.N.

Orel presents a test questionnaire for determining the

inclination towards deviant behaviour, offering an

integrated approach to psychodiagnosis, considering

the gender characteristics of the subjects - Kleyberg,

Yu. A. (2004). This tool covers a broad spectrum of

deviant behaviour manifestations through relevant

scales, featuring two sets of statements (98 statements

for males, 108 statements for females), detailed

instructions, an appropriate processing mechanism,

and result interpretation. To address the issue of

prevention of falsification, i.e., conscious or

unconscious distortion of psychodiagnostics results

by subjects, the author introduces a reliability scale in

the traditional form.

Despite the advantages of this test questionnaire,

as pointed out by M.A. Shamanaeva, L.A. Dudko,

D.S. Statsenko, the tool possesses several

shortcomings that significantly restrict its application

in psychological and pedagogical practice -

Shamanaeva, M. A, & et. al. (2018). These limitations

mainly stem from a weak differentiating and criterion

function of the provided statements, the absence of

suitable recommendations, and requirements for the

qualifications and training level of a specialist

conducting a psychodiagnostics examination. Given

these circumstances, there is a pertinent need for a

specific study to adapt the test questionnaire for

determining the tendency toward deviant behaviour

for use within the relevant category - specialists of an

extreme profile.

Yurievna, A.

Psychometric Techniques in Assessing Environmentally Responsible Behaviour: Proﬁling Professionals for Propensity to Deviant Behaviour.

DOI: 10.5220/0012957200003882

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 2nd Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies (PAMIR-2 2023), pages 1207-1211

ISBN: 978-989-758-723-8

1207

2 METHODS

To adapt the test questionnaire for determining the

tendency to deviant behaviour, an empirical study

was organized and conducted, which was

implemented taking into account three main steps.

They are due to both the requirements for

psychometric tools as a whole and the conditions for

the activities of specialists in an extreme profile:

The first step is the translation of the content of

the test questionnaire into Uzbek with subsequent

mathematical and statistical verification of the

acceptability of the translation.

The second step is to determine the reliability, and

validity of the test questionnaire in order to study the

stability, and accuracy of psychodiagnostics results

regarding the phenomenon under study.

The third step is the standardization of the test

questionnaire to determine the norm regarding the

target sample, i.e. specialists of an extreme profile.

Thus, as part of the first step of the empirical

study, the instructions and statements of the test

questionnaire were translated into the Uzbek

language, which specialist philologists and

psychologists conducted. This process was focused

not on the literal but mainly on the semantic

translation. Further, to confirm the adequacy of the

translation, a psychological examination was

conducted on a test questionnaire on a bilingual

sample (n = 87) of both female (n = 43) and male (n

= 44) sex, aged 20 to 42 years (average age - 26.7

years). That is, first, respondents (specialists of the

extreme profile) were asked to answer the

questionnaire questions in Uzbek and then in Russian

language (original language) (Fig. 1)."

Figure 1: Empirical Study: Quantitative Analysis of Test

Questionnaire Translation Adequacy for Deviant

Behaviour Tendency in Uzbek, by Gender (n=87).

To enhance the reliability of the adequacy test for the

translation, a re-examination in the Russian language

was conducted after 6-7 days, minimizing the

likelihood of respondents memorizing the statements

of the test questionnaire. A specially designed answer

form and stencil-type processing key were employed

to streamline the examination procedure and initial

result processing.

The confirmation of the adequacy of the translation

relied on correlation analysis of the obtained results

(in raw scores) from the survey conducted in Uzbek

and Russian languages. Preliminary analysis, based

on the non-parametric Kolmogorov-Smirnov

criterion, revealed that the empirical data

significantly deviated from normal distribution.

Consequently, correlation analysis was performed

using the nonparametric Spearman criterion through

the SPSS software package.

Moving to the second step of the empirical study,

retest reliability for the test questionnaire assessing

the tendency toward deviant behaviour was explored

on the same sample of extreme profile specialists

during a second examination (after 7-8 days). A

correlation analysis was then conducted on the

obtained indicators. This phase involved 191

specialists of the extreme profile, comprising both

female (n = 87) and male (n = 104) participants, aged

20 to 44 years (average age - 26.9 years). Among the

total respondents, 98 individuals took the survey in

Uzbek, and 93 in the Russian language. Similar to the

previous stage, preliminary analysis, according to the

non-parametric Kolmogorov-Smirnov criterion,

indicated a statistically significant departure from

normal distribution. Therefore, correlation analysis

was performed using the nonparametric Spearman

criterion with the assistance of the SPSS software

package (Fig. 2).

Figure 2: Quantitative characteristics of the sample of the

empirical study of the retest reliability of the test

questionnaire for determining the tendency to deviant

behaviour on the basis of sex (n = 191).

In the second step of the empirical research, the next

key indicator studied was the validity of the test

questionnaire. This crucial aspect was assessed by

comparing the results of the survey (the second round

with n = 191 for reliability) with the outcomes of

expert evaluations regarding the participants'

inclination towards deviant behaviour. The

assessment aligned with the specific feature,

mirroring the scales of the test questionnaire. This

alignment facilitated

the subsequent analysis to

determine the empirical validity coefficient.

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Sixty-four psychologists, comprising both female

(n = 34) and male (n = 30) practitioners with hands-

on experience working with extreme profile

specialists, participated in the expert evaluation. The

peer-review utilized a well-established form to assess

tendencies toward deviant behaviour in extreme

profiles. This form provided suitable evaluation

criteria, a ten-point rating scale, and a standardized

mechanism for processing the obtained results.

Preliminary analysis of the survey and expert

evaluation results, according to the non-parametric

Kolmogorov-Smirnov criterion, revealed a

statistically significant deviation from normal

distribution. Subsequent correlation analysis

employed the nonparametric Spearman criterion

using the SPSS software package. As mentioned

earlier, the final phase of the empirical study, the third

step, focused on standardizing the test questionnaire

based on survey results from 976 extreme profile

specialists. This group included both female (n = 427)

and male (n = 549) participants, aged 20 to 45 years

(average age - 26.6 years) (Fig. 3).

Figure 3: Standardization of Deviant Behaviour Test Ques-

tionnaire: Quantitative Analysis by Sex in a Sample of 976.

Simultaneously, the standardization sample

formation was carried out randomly, employing a

generated table of random numbers. These steps

ensured a normal distribution of the acquired

psychodiagnostics data, confirmed through the

utilization of the non-parametric Kolmogorov-

Smirnov criterion. For the standardization process,

the widely adopted Stan scale, specifically the

Standard Tens proposed by R.B. Cattell - Nasledov,

A. (2004) - Sidorenko E. V. (1996), was employed.

Two versions of this scale were used - the original

version and an altered version where the ten-point

scale proposed by R.B. Cattell was transformed into

a four-point scale. Throughout the standardization

process, various mathematical derivatives such as the

mean (M), standard deviation (σ), asymmetry

indicators (A), excess (E), etc., were computed. These

calculations facilitated the graphical distribution of

raw scores according to standard estimates.

During the initial phase of the empirical study, the

outcomes of the correlation analysis substantiate a

noteworthy positive correlation in the examination

results across all diagnostic scales, including

sincerity. The mean statistical coefficient for

translation adequacy, applicable to both female and

male versions, stands at 0.83 with p < 0.05, a level we

find entirely acceptable, affirming the respondent's

accurate understanding of the translated instructions

and statements in the test questionnaire (Table No. 1).

Table 1: Average statistical coefficient of translation adequacy for both the female and male versions is 0.83 at p <0.05.

№ Names of comparison scales

Correlation

coefficients

<0.05

female

version

male

version

Scale of sincerity (in Uzbek) & Scale of sincerity (in Russian)

0.87 0.85

Scale of propensity to overcome norms and rules (in Uzbek) & Scale of propensity to

overcome norms and rules (in Russian)

0.84 0.86

Scale of tendency to addictive behaviour (in Uzbek) & Scale of tendency to addictive

ehaviour (in Russian)

0.83 0.82

Scale of propensity for self-damaging and self-destructive behaviour (in Uzbek) & Scale

of propensity for self-damaging and self-destructive behaviour (in English)

0.74 0.75

Scale of propensity for aggression and violence (in Uzbek) & Scale of propensity for

aggression and violence (in English)

0.92 0.9

Scale of volitional control of emotional reactions (in Uzbek) & Scale of volitional control

of emotional reactions (in Russian)

0.88 0.9

Scale of propensity for tort behaviour (in Uzbek) & Scale of propensity for tort behaviour

(in Russian)

0.7 0.7

Scale of acceptance of the female social role (for women) (in Uzbek) & Scale of

acceptance of the female social role (for women) (in English)

0.84 0.86

Psychometric Techniques in Assessing Environmentally Responsible Behaviour: Proﬁling Professionals for Propensity to Deviant Behaviour

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In the second phase of the empirical study, the results of the

correlation analysis provide clear confirmation that the

coefficient of retest reliability for the considered test

questionnaire averages 0.78 at p < 0.05. This includes the

female version in both Uzbek and Russian languages with

a reliability coefficient of 0.8 and the male version in both

Uzbek and Russian languages with a reliability coefficient

of 0.76. These figures represent acceptable indicators for

the reliability of the test questionnaire in question (Table

No. 2).

Furthermore, the results of the correlation analysis

between the survey results on the test questionnaire

and expert evaluation indicate that the average

coefficient of empirical validity for the test

questionnaire is 0.8 at p < 0.05. This indicator

strongly confirms the satisfactory accuracy of the

survey results, making it an acceptable measure of the

validity of the test questionnaire in question (Table

No. 3).

Table 2: Results of correlation analysis of the results of the survey on the test questionnaire for determining the tendency to

deviant behaviour (n = 191).

№

Names of comparison scales

Correlation

coefficients at

<0.05

in Uzbek language

n Russian languag

Female

version

Male

version

Female

version

Male

version

First Examination - Sincerity Scale & Second Survey - Sincerity Scale 0.82 0.79 0.81 0.8

First survey - scale of inclination to overcome norms and rules & Second

survey - scale of propensity to overcome norms and rules

0.77 0.76 0.79 0.76

First Survey - Addictive Behaviour Propensity Scale & Second Survey -

Addictive Behaviour Tendency Scale

0.79 0.76 0.77 0.76

The first survey is a scale of propensity for self-harming and self-destructiv

behaviours & The second survey is a scale of propensity for self-harming

and self-destructive поведению

0.75 0.72 0.75 0.71

First examination - scale of propensity for aggression and violence &

Second survey - scale of propensity for aggression and violence

0.84 0.82 0.83 0.83

The first examination - the scale of volitional control of emotional reactions

& the second survey - the scale of volitional control of emotional reactions

0.82 0.8 0.83 0.82

The first survey is a scale of propensity for delinquent behaviour & the

second survey is a scale of propensity for delinquent behaviou

0.8 0.71 0.8 0.7

The first survey is the scale of acceptance of the female social role (for

women) and the second survey is the scale of acceptance of the female

social role (for women).

0.79 0.72 0.77 0.71

Table 3: Results of correlation analysis of the results of the survey on the test questionnaire for determining the tendency to

deviant behaviour and expert assessment (n = 191).

№ Names of comparison scales

Correlation

coefficients at

<0.05

Examination by means of a test questionnaire - a scale of inclination to overcome norms

and rules & Ex

ert assessment - a tendenc

to overcome norms and rules

0.78

Test Questionnaire Examination - Addictive Behaviour Propensity Scale & Peer Review

- Tendenc

to Addictive Behaviou

0.79

Test Questionnaire Examination

–

Self-Damaging and Self-Destructive Behaviour Scale

& Peer Review

–

Pro

ensit

for Self-Dama

and Self-Destructive Behaviou

0.77

Examination by means of a test questionnaire - a scale of p

opensity for aggression and

violence & Ex

ert assessment - tendencies to a

ression and violence

0.83

Examination with the help of a test questionnaire - a scale of volitional control of

emotional reactions & Ex

ert assessment - volitional control of emotional reactions

0.8

Survey with a test questionnaire - a scale of propensity for delinquent behaviour &

ert assessment - a tendenc

to tort behaviou

0.8

Survey by means of a test questionnaire - a scale of acceptance of the female social role

(for women) & Expert assessment - acceptance of the female social role (for women)

0.83

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During the final, third step of the empirical study,

tables were devised to translate raw scores on the test

questionnaire into a standardized scale and interpret

the results, considering all available

psychodiagnostics scales. Significantly, the

standardization process resulted in the development

of two options for interpreting the obtained results.

The first option (the conventional standardized scale),

primarily for psychological support, involves

interpreting the examination results on

psychodiagnostics scales. This means translating raw

scores into a standardized scale and interpreting them

based on the severity of the trait, considering each

psychodiagnostics scale. The second option

(modified stan scale), primarily for psychological

selection or the selection of specialists, entails

interpreting the survey results on the test

questionnaire as a whole. In this case, raw scores are

translated into a standardized scale, considering each

psychodiagnostics scale, allowing the formation of

one of four profiles that correspond to specific group

recommendations.

3 CONCLUSIONS

Hence, the systematically organized and executed

empirical study, aimed at adapting the test

questionnaire for determining the tendency to deviant

behaviour, essentially resulted in the creation of a

bilingual psychometric toolkit with satisfactory

reliability and validity. This toolkit provides two

standardized options for interpreting the obtained

results, deemed acceptable for practical application in

the ongoing efforts to prevent deviant behaviour

among specialists of an extreme profile.

Simultaneously, various studies advocate the

combined use of such methods with other

psychodiagnostics tools and techniques. This

collaborative approach not only yields a more reliable

and scientifically grounded outcome but also

significantly diminishes the risk of erroneous

conclusions while fostering the development of more

effective practical recommendations.

REFERENCES

Kleyberg, Yu. A. (2004). Social psychology of deviant

behavior: A textbook for universities. Moscow, Russia.

Nasledov, A. (2004). Mathematical methods of

psychological research. Analysis and interpretation of

data. Tutorial. Saint Petersburg, Russia: Rech.

Sidorenko, E. V. (1996). Methods of mathematical

processing in psychology. Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Shamanaeva, M. A., Dudko, L. A., & Statsenko, D. S.

(2018). To the question of the quality of diagnostic

tools for identifying a tendency to deviant behaviour

(on the example of the analysis of the textbook).

Scientific journal "PEM: Psychology. Educology.

Medicine", 3, 123-139.

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