Two Psychometric Problems of the Firo-B Questionnaire

Abstract

Two psychometric problems of FIRO-B scales, namely, reliability and social desirability, were studied. Subjects were 152 women and 36 men from the introductory course in social psychology. They completed the FIRO-B questionnaire and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Three of the six coefficients of reproducibility were below a satisfactory level. All scalability coefficients were near the level usually required. Correlations among scores on all expressed needs scales and the social desirability scale were statistically significant. Also, wanted control was related to social desirability. We can doubt that the good reliability of FIRO-scales was based on acquiescence because reliability was not good enough just for those scales on which some items were reversed. The bias from social desirability in expressed needs was explained by the possibility that the subjects were more likely to see that the object of the measurement was themselves.