A Confirmatory Approach to the Factor Structure of the Boredom Proneness Scale: Evidence for a Two-Factor Short Form

• Published in: Journal of personality assessment Vol. 85; no. 3; pp. 295 - 303
• Main Authors: Vodanovich, Stephen J., Wallace, J. Craig, Kass, Steven J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc 01-12-2005; Taylor & Francis; Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Boredom; Confirmatory factor analysis; Exploratory factor analysis; Female; Gender differences; Humans; Lifestyles; Male; Medical sciences; Models, Psychological; Personality; Personality Assessment; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Scales; Short forms; Susceptibility; Techniques and methods; United States; United States; Abbreviated form; Human; Personality test; Factor analysis; Structural equation modeling; Evaluation scale; Sex; Psychometrics; Boredom Proneness Scale; Test validation; Sociodemographic factor; Predisposition; Confirmatory factor analysis; Boredom; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0022-3891; 1532-7752
• DOI: 10.1207/s15327752jpa8503_05

We analyzed previous exploratory factor analytic structures on the Boredom Proneness Scale (BPS; Farmer & Sundberg, 1986) using confirmatory factor analysis in structural equation modeling in LISREL 8 (Joreskog & Sorbom, 1993). These analyses indicated that 2 factors were generally consistent across 6 exploratory models. Items that had significant loadings on these two factors (N = 12; 6 for each factor) indicated a lack of Internal Stimulation and External Stimulation. In further analysis on these 12 items using LISREL, we found a much improved fit and provided support for a short form version of the original BPS. We also found the shortened version to be invariant across gender. We discuss implications for the more precise measurement of boredom proneness and the use of the scale in applied settings.