Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2003

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

College of Education and Human Services

Department

Counseling, Rehabilitation Counseling & Counseling Psychology

Committee Chair

Roy Tunick.

Abstract

Patience is a construct not directly studied in the literature. Studies in the psychological literature have typically spoken of patience only as the converse of impatience. The assumption of these studies is that patience exists in the absence of impatience. However, other research proposes a multidimensional model of patience based on qualitative studies. It follows from the multidimensional model that patience exists on a continuum with the potential for different levels or amounts of patience across different situations. The purpose of this study was to develop an objective measure of patience.;To develop a measure of patience an item pool was constructed and reviewed, and then 347 undergraduate students completed items. Factor analysis of this initial administration identified nine factors. A final measure was developed and administered to 312 undergraduate students. To assess validity of the patience scale, students completed the Boredom Proneness Scale, the Student Version of the Jenkins Activity Scale, and a modified version of the Questionnaire Measure of Emotional Empathy in addition to the patience measure. Forty undergraduate students completed the measures at a four-week interval to assess temporal stability. Factor analysis utilized the Scree test and Kaiser eigenvalue rule in determining the number of factors to retain. Equamax rotation was the orthogonal method of factor rotation.;A six-factor model of patience was found with strong reliability for the measure as a whole (alpha = .7993) and adequate for individual factors (alpha = .7334--.5226). The six factors explained 48.282 percent of the variance. Temporal stability was high (r = .893). Support was found for convergent validity. Factor labels are postponement, even-tempered, composure, time abundance, tolerance, and limits of patience.;The Patience Scale is discussed in comparison to a sociotemporal model of patience and the other measures used in the study. Future directions for the use of the scale are discussed.

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