Development of Forman Malingering Scale

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to develop a valid and reliable scale to assess malingering. The scale was developed using one of the contemporary models of scale construction. The study was completed in three phases. Item generation was phase I, which was completed in two steps; conducting interview of clinical psychologists having experience with both clinical and forensic clients, and step two was extracting items from existing scales after a thorough review. Initially item pool was reviewed by researcher for initial cleansing. Content validity was established in the second phase of the study through content validity ratio (CVR). In phase III of the study, the scale was administered on clinical and forensic sample using purposive sampling technique. The scale along with demographic questionnaire was administered on clinical (N=123) and forensic (N=19) sample. The mean age of the 142 participants was 32.7 (10.9) years. The construct validity of the scale was established through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) which resulted in 37 items distributed in three factors. Factor one was named as Perceptual Inconsistency and reliability established through Cronbach’s alpha was 0.93. Factor 2 was named as Imagined Inconsistency and reliability calculated to be 0.95. Factor 3 was named Cognitive Inconsistency. The internal consistency of the scale showed the reliability 0.97.