A psychometric evaluation of behavioral inhibition and approach self-report measures

Despite the putative applicability and unquestioned heuristic value of capturing individual variation in behavioral inhibition (BIS) and approach system (BAS) sensitivities, the field has yet to achieve widespread agreement regarding a self-report instrument of choice. The current study evaluates perhaps the two strongest candidates, the BIS/BAS scales (Carver & White, 1994) and the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ; Torrubia, Avila, Molto, & Caseras, 2001). Using both confirmatory and exploratory factor analytic techniques in two university samples, we determined that neither measure achieved adequate fit to our data set, and both contain multiple items we deemed to be problematic. Models trimmed of the poor items achieved better fit than the full models. However, even after trimming the data, model fit was marginal at best. Caution is urged in the continued use of both measures on conceptual and psychometric grounds.