The measurement of individual differences in Behavioural Inhibition and Behavioural Activation Systems: a comparison of personality scales

The measurement of anxiety and impulsivity dimensions is one of the main problems that Grayʹs model faces in human research. Contrary to most personality models, Grayʹs model has no standard way to assess the personality dimensions that arise from the theory. Multiple measurement strategies have been used, some of them introducing conceptual errors and difficult outcome comparisons. In this paper, scales most used in anxiety and impulsivity assessment are studied and compared in order to provide some empirical clues that could help in the decision on which scale to use for the assessment of individual differences in anxiety and impulsivity dimensions. Some validity criteria are proposed as convergence with other measures, orthogonality, and correlations with the Extraversion and Neuroticism scales. From the analyses performed with 538 university students, a high homogeneity in anxiety measures is observed, being the Sensitivity to Punishment and Harm Avoidance scales which best fits in validity criteria. A lesser homogeneity is observed across impulsivity scales; in this case the Sensitivity to Reward and I7 scales showed the best results.