Verbal Aggressiveness: Conceptualization and Measurement a Decade Later
Verbally aggressive messages attack an individual's self-concept to inflict psychological pain. Infante and Wigley developed a trait measure of Verbal Aggressiveness; however, the psychometric qualities and validity of the Verbal Aggressiveness scale were not fully explored. In Study I, 119 targets (Mage = 46.2, SDage = 14.1) and 238 observers (Mage = 42.9, SDage = 14.4) participated. In Study II, 112 targets (Mage = 39.9, SDage = 12.9) and 236 observers (Mage = 37.7, SDage = 11.1) participated. In Study III, 153 college students participated (M age = 25.9, SD = 4.6). In these studies, temporal stability over two months, criterion-related validity (target-observer agreement), discriminant validity (employing structural equation models), and construct validity (correlations with the facet and domain scales of the NEO-Personality Inventory-R) were investigated. The results justify considering Verbal Aggressiveness as a personality trait and the Verbal Aggressiveness scale as a valid measure