The Chinese adaptation of four thematic scales of the personality research form

We aimed to begin a systematic investigation of thematic motivations by analyzing the construct validity of thematic scales from the Personality Research Form (PRF). One hundred and ninety-three Hong Kong college students completed a Chinese translation of the PRF-E scales Achievement, Affiliation, Dominance, and Nurturance, Gudykunst’s scale measuring independent and interdependent self-construal, the Sino-American Person Perception Scale (SAPPS) measuring Chinese traits, and the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) that provided 12,761 snapshots of daily positive and negative affect (PANA) and potency (feeling strong, active, and sharp) across social contexts. The PRF interscale correlations matched those of US college students except for an unexpectedly high correlation between Affiliation and Nurturance. The PRF scales had the predicted relationships with the other dispositional measures. Achievement predicted higher PA and lower NA in academic/ work activities, Affiliation higher PA in face-to-face communication, Dominance higher potency in extra-curricular activities. With the partial exception of Nurturance, the Chinese thematic PRF scales have strong construct validity.