Impostor Self-Concept Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents – ISF-KJ (English Version) - Cognitive Pretest

Abstract:

The Impostor Self-Concept Questionnaire (ISF; Rohrmann et al., 2020 ) is used to measure the im-postor self-concept. In a cooperation project between Prof. Dr. Sonja Rohrmann, Dr. Mona Leonhardt (both Goethe University Frankfurt am Main) and Prof. Dr. Beatrice Rammstedt (GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences & University of Mannheim), the ISF is to be adapted for children and adolescents aged between 8 and 14 years (ISF-KJ). The aim of the pretest was to use cognitive interviews to check whether the adapted items of the ISF-KJ are (uniformly) understood by the target group and whether younger children in particular can cope with answering the questionnaire.
The items were tested by means of personal or video-based cognitive interviews.

*Note: The items were tested in German. The items documented here are English translations of the original German wordings.*

Key Results:

The key results of the cognitive interviews are presented in chapter 5 of the pretest report (see downloads). Overall, the children and adolescents coped well with the questionnaire and immediately understood how to complete it. When problems arose, these were mainly related to the labeling of the response scale, the use of an inappropriate presupposition (“Although I have often received good grades...”) or the misinterpretation of individual terms or an entire item.

Citation:

Lenzner, T., Hadler, P. & Neuert, C. (2023): Impostor Self-Concept Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents – ISF-KJ (English Version). Cognitive Pretest. GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences

DOI:

10.17173/pretest148

Number of Participants:

10

Selection of Target Population/Quotas:

Quota sampling.
The target group for the pretest were children and adolescents aged between 8 and 14. The sample was recruited based on the following independent quotas:

• At least four people aged between 8 and 10 and between 11 and 14
• At least four people who attend an elementary school and a secondary school
• At least three girls and three boys

The intended quotas were largely achieved, with one exception: instead of the planned four elementary school pupils, only three were interviewed.

Test Date:

11/2023 - 12/2023

Number of cognitive interviewers:

1

Survey mode:

PAPI or CAWI

Pretest mode:

CAPI or Remote-CAPI

Procedure:

The cognitive interviews were conducted in person or by video telephony and audio recorded. The questionnaire to be tested was presented to the respondents either in paper form (CAPI) or visually via screen sharing (Remote-CAPI). The respondents were first asked to read through and answer the questions. The cognitive follow-up questions were asked directly after answering the individual questions (Concurrent Probing).

Incentive for respondents:

10 Euro

Project Description:

The Impostor Self-Concept Questionnaire (ISF; Rohrmann et al., 2020 ) is used to measure the im-postor self-concept. The ISF is a short, one-dimensional self-assessment questionnaire with 15 items. People with a high level of this personality trait have doubts about their competence despite objective successes and attribute their successes to external factors. The ISF is suitable for people aged 16 and older.
In a cooperation project between Prof. Dr. Sonja Rohrmann, Dr. Mona Leonhardt (both Goethe University Frankfurt am Main) and Prof. Dr. Beatrice Rammstedt (GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences & University of Mannheim), the ISF is to be adapted for children and adolescents aged between 8 and 14 years (ISF-KJ). The aim of the pretest was to use cognitive interviews to check whether the adapted items of the ISF-KJ are (uniformly) understood by the target group and whether younger children in particular can cope with answering the questionnaire.

Literature:
Rohrmann, S., Leonhardt, M., & Klug, K. (2020). ISF Impostor-Selbstkonzept-Fragebogen. Wien: Hogrefe.

Client:

Goethe Uni Frankfurt a.M., GESIS
Prof. Dr. Sonja Rohrmann