On Shortening the Expanded Attributional Style Questionnaire

Abstract

Whitley (in press) described a short form of the Expanded Attributional Style Questionnaire (EASQ). The EASQ was created to remedy the unsatisfactory psychometric properties of the Attributional Style Questionnaire; therefore, the benefits of a short form must be balanced with the possible costs, lower reliability and, hence, lower validity. Data from eight different samples using the EASQ (N = 963) suggest that the best items on the EASQ differ from sample to sample and from dimension to dimension. Further, reliabilities are reduced according to the predictions of the Spearman-Brown formula. Implications of these findings for attributional style research are discussed.