Personal Fear of Invalidity (PFI)

Thompson, M. M., Naccarato, M. E., Parker, K. C. H. & Moskowitz, G. (2001). The Personal Need for Structure (PNS) and Personal Fear of Invalidity (PFI) scales: Historical perspectives, present applications and future directions. In G. Moskowitz (Ed.), Cognitive social psychology: The Princeton symposium on the legacy and future of social cognition (pp. 19-39). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

See also Thompson et al.'s (2001) Personal Need for Structure as well as Webster and Kruglanski's (1994) Need for Cognitive Closure.

	Table of Contents
	Description
	History of Use
	References

Description:

Purpose		The PFI was designed to assess the extent to which individuals are concerned with the cost of committing errors. Individuals with a high PFI are preoccupied with perceived risks and consequences. They are more likely to be indecisive and to be upset with indications of error.
Questions		14 items using 6-point scales (1 = strongly disagree to 6 = strongly agree)
Sub-scales		N/A
Domain
Psychometrics
Sample items		I may struggle with a few decisions but not very often. (reverse scored) I tend to continue to evaluate recently made decisions.

References:

Scale:

Thompson, M. M., Naccarato, M. E., Parker, K. C. H., & Moskowitz, G. (2001). The Personal Need for Structure (PNS) and Personal Fear of Invalidity (PFI) scales: Historical perspectives, present applications and future directions. In G. Moskowitz (Ed.), Cognitive social psychology: The Princeton symposium on the legacy and future of social cognition (pp. 19-39). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

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