Description
The ILP assesses how often students feel confident in their academic abilities across six domains: Reading and
Writing, Hard Information Technology (Hard IT), Numeracy, Time Management, Speaking, and Easy Information
Technology (Easy IT) assessed with 12, 5, 8, 6, 4, and 5 self-report items respectively. The complete scale consists of
40 items scored on a 4-point rating scale (1 5never ;25sometimes ;35mostly ; and 4 5always ). Scores are summed
across items in each domain and higher scores are indicative of greater self-perceived confidence.
Sample
Although the ILP was constructed using a sample of 3003 first-year undergraduate students, means were only
reported for 53 undergraduate students completing the ILP in their first and second year of university. These
means are reproduced below.
ILP SUBSCALE MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS
1st Year 2nd Year
Mean SD Mean SD
Reading and writing 33.56 4.13 34.97 5.14
Hard IT skills 12.07 3.95 14.77 3.84
Numeracy skills 21.99 4.61 21.83 5.80
Time management 17.38 2.56 16.53 3.27
Speaking 10.00 2.32 9.08 2.02
Easy IT skills 17.23 2.78 18.91 1.77
Students were significantly more confident in their IT skills, and significantly less confident in their Speaking
and Time-management ability, in their second year than their first. Furthermore, males were significantly more
confident in their Speaking ability than females.
Reliability
Internal Consistency
Cronbach alpha coefficients for each domain ranged from: .88, .87, .93, .74, .74, and .80, respectively ( Pulford &
Sohal, 2006 ). Alpha coefficients for each domain were almost identical in a follow up study with 130 first and
second year undergraduate students ( Pulford & Sohal, 2006 ).
Test/C0Retest
One year test /C0retest coefficients for 53 undergraduate students were as follows ( Pulford & Sohal, 2006 ):
Reading and Writing 5.61; Hard IT Skills 5.50; Numeracy Skills 5.73; Time Management 5.67; Speaking 5
.75; and Easy IT Skills 5.49.
Validity
Convergent/Concurrent
The only Convergent/Concurrent validity findings available for the ILP must be derived from regression analyses
conducted by Pulford and Sohal (2006) . These are discussed in detail in the Predictive validity section below. After
controlling for a range of self-report variables, it is possible to conclude that the following related positively: Reading
and Writing with Openness and Conscientiousness; Numeracy Skills with Agreeableness; Time Management with
Conscientiousness, Extraversion and Organization; and Speaking with Conscientiousness and Extraversion.
Divergent/Discriminant
The only Divergent/Discriminant validity findings available for the ILP must be derived from regression analyses
conducted by Pulford and Sohal (2006) . These are discussed in detail in the Predictive validity section below. After164 7. MEASURES OF THE TRAIT OF CONFIDENCE
II. EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONS