Abstract
Autotelic personality is a constellation of dispositional attributes that facilitate engagement and enjoyment in daily activities. However, there is no existing measurement directly capturing the attributes of autotelic personality that are identified in the literature. In the three studies reported here (total N = 900), we developed an Autotelic Personality Questionnaire (APQ) and evaluated its reliability and validity. Results from the studies provide support for adequate internal consistency, longitudinal invariance, and test–retest reliability (Study 1 and Study 2). Furthermore, APQ scores were significantly correlated with measures of conscientiousness, openness to experience, extraversion, neuroticism, and internal locus of control. In addition, APQ scores predicted flow proneness and satisfaction with life (Study 2). These results provide support for construct and criterion validity. Finally, people high in autotelic personality experienced more flow state than those low in autotelic personality during a word unscrambling task (Study 3), indicating good criterion validity of the APQ scores. Limitations, future research, and implications are discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 88-101 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Journal of Personality Assessment |
| Volume | 102 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 5 Sept 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 5 Sept 2018 |
Funding
All data have been made publicly available via the Open Science Framework and can be accessed at osf.io/cs4xj. A portion of this article was presented at the Western Psychological Association Convention, April 2017, Sacramento, CA. The authors acknowledge the invaluable comments on an earlier version of this article made by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Jeanne Nakamura, Jason T. Siegel, Kathryn Doiron, and Mark Rinella.
Keywords
- autotelic personality
- questionnaire
- development
- validation
- flow state
- unscrambling task