This study examined the reliability, factor structure, and convergent validity of the Dutch version of C. S. Carver and T. L. White’s (1994) Behavioral Approach System and Behavioral Inhibition System Scales (BIS/BAS Scales). For this purpose, the BIS/BAS Scales, a shortened version of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), and the Dickman Impulsivity Inventory (DII) were administered to 246 undergraduate students in The Netherlands. The internal consistency of the BIS/BAS Scales was sufficient. Further, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis showed that the Dutch BIS/BAS Scales have a factor structure similar to the English version. Finally, BIS/BAS Scales were found to correlate in a theoretically meaningful way with extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism, and impulsivity.
References
Avila, C. (2001). Distinguishing BIS-mediated and BAS-mediated disinhibition mechanisms: A comparison of disinhibition models of Gray (1981, 1987) and of Patterson and Newman (1993). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 311–324.
Carver, C. S., & White, T. L. (1994). Behavioral inhibition, behavioral activation, and affective responses to impending reward and punishment: The BIS/BAS Scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 319–333.
Claes, L., Vertommen, H., & Braspenning, N. (2000). Psychometric properties of the Dickman Impulsivity Inventory. Personality and Individual Differences, 29, 27–35.
Corr, P. J. (2001). Testing problems in J. A. Gray’s personality theory: A commentary on Matthews and Gilliland (1999). Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 333–352.
Depue, R. A., & Collins, P. F. (1999). Neurobiology of the structure of personality: Dopamine, facilitation of incentive motivation, and extraversion. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22, 491–517.
Dickman, S. (1990). Functional and dysfunctional impulsivity: Personality and cognitive correlates. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 95–102.
Eysenck, H. J., & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1975). The manual of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Eysenck, H. J., & Eysenck, S. G. B. (1964). Eysenck Personality Inventory. London: University of London Press.
Eysenck, S. B. G., Eysenck, H. J., & Barrett, P. A. (1995). A revised version of the psychoticism scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 6, 21–29.
Franken, I. H. A. (2002). Behavioral approach system (BAS) sensitivity predicts alcohol craving. Personality and Individual Differences, 32, 349–355.
Gray, J. A. (1972). The structure of the emotions and the limbic system. Ciba Foundation Symposium, 8, 87–120.
Gray, J. A. (1973). Causal theories of personality and how to test them. In J. R. Royce (Ed.), Multivariate analysis to psychological theory. New York: Academic Press.
Gray, J. A. (1993). Framework for a taxonomy of psychiatric disorder. In S. van Gozen, N. van de Poll, & J. A. Sergeant (Eds.), Emotions: Essays on emotion theory (pp. 29–59). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum .
Hair, J. F., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L., & Black, W. C. (1995). Multivariate data analysis (4th edn.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Heubeck, B. G., Wilkinson, R. B., & Cologon, J. (1998). A second look at Carver and White’s (1994) BIS/BAS Scales. Personality and Individual Differences, 25, 785–800.
Johnson, S. L., Turner, R. J., & Iwata, N. (2003). BIS/BAS levels and psychiatric disorder: An epidemiological study. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 25, 25–36.
Jorm, A. F., Christensen, H., Henderson, A. S., Jacomb, P. A., Korten, A. E., & Rodgers, B. (1999). Using the BIS/BAS Scales to measure behavioural inhibition and behavioural activation: Factor structure, validity and norms in a large community sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 26, 49–58.
Konorski, J. (1967). Integrative activity of the brain: An interdisciplinary approach. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lang, P. J., Bradley, M. M., & Cuthbert, B. N. (1992). A motivational analysis of emotion: Reflex’ cortex connections. Psychological Science, 3, 44–49.
Lang, P. J., Bradley, M. M., & Cuthbert, B. N. (1998). Emotion, motivation, and anxiety: Brain mechanisms and psychophysiology. Biological Psychiatry, 44, 1248–1263.
Patterson, C. M., & Newman, J. P. (1993). Reflectivity and learning from aversive events: Toward a psychological mechanism for the syndromes of disinhibition. Psychological Review, 100, 716–736.
Quilty, L. C., & Oakman, J. M. (2004). The assessment of behavioural activation—the relationship between impulsivity and behavioural activation. Personality and Individual Differences, 37, 429–442.
Sanderman, R., Arrindell, W. A., Ranchor, A. V., Eysenck, H. J., & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1991). Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). Groningen, The Netherlands: Noordelijk Centrum voor Gezondheidsvraagstukken.
van Honk, J., Hermans, E. J., Putman, P., Montagne, B., & Schutter, D. J. (2002). Defective somatic markers in sub-clinical psychopathy. Neuroreport, 13, 1025–1027.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Franken, I.H.A., Muris, P. & Rassin, E. Psychometric Properties of the Dutch BIS/BAS Scales. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 27, 25–30 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-005-3262-2
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-005-3262-2