Hi,
I am writing a research proposal. I chose to study the relationship between cognitive flexibility (CF) and psychological flexibility(PF). To this day, the definitional overlaps between these two constructs make it uncertain whether they measure the same underlying factor or not. The theory I'd like to test is that cognitive flexibility is a component of psychological flexibility. My problem is that cognitive flexibility is measured by behavioral tasks, psychological flexibility by questionnaires. Is it still possible to compare the scores between the CF test and the PF questionnaire? If so, is it possible to demonstrate that CF is a component of PF? What kind of statistical test should be used for that?
Thank you for the responses.
There is no reason not to run correlations across the two measures; the fact that they originate with different measurement approaches is irrelevant. However, do be aware that self-reports frequently correlate only modestly with performance-based measures (look at the TAT literature & the IAT literature for examples), so don't be surprised if you obtain results in the r = .30 range. This is an interesting project! Update the thread when you've made some progress, okay? Just so we find out what happened.
Well, I appreciate Stephen's answer, but I would also note that "a component of" seems to entail something more than just a correlation. As it is phrased, it sounds like "psychological flexibility" (whatever it is) has a number of components, one of which is "cognitive flexibility". Perhaps PF could be characterized as a superordinate factor? Perhaps you could frame a structural equation model in which PF affects CF as well as other components, which are unrelated or only weakly related to one another?
In addition, a conceptual analysis of "flexibility" seems required. This term has been used in many ways. In case you are interested in this point, I would mention a paper from our lab, Article Which tasks measure what? Reflections on executive function ...
...and good luck with your project!
I believe cognitive flexibility is a part of psychological flexiblity and other components could be emotional flexibility and behavioral flexibility. You can differentiate them by their functions.
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