The HIT (How I Think) questionnaire for the assessment of self serving cognitive distortions conducive to anti-social behaviours. A validation study with a sample of 1688 Italian students

Journal title RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA
Author/s Anna Emilia Berti, Luciano Arcuri, Massimiliano Pastore
Publishing Year 2017 Issue 2017/2
Language Italian Pages 29 P. 203-231 File size 350 KB
DOI 10.3280/RIP2017-002003
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The present study aims to contribute to the Italian validation of the How I think questionnaire (HIT) (Barriga et al., 2001). The questionnaire is designed to assess four Self serving cognitive distortions contributing to antisocial behaviours: Self-Centered, Blaming Others, Minimizing /Mislabelling, Assuming the Worst. Some of these distortions have characteristics in common with some of the Mechanisms of moral disengagement described by Bandura, Caprara and coworkers (e.g.: Bandura et al., 1996) and with the Techniques of neutralization identified by Sykes and Matza (1957) even before. What characterizes HIT is its link to a theory of moral development and the central role assigned to Self-Centered (a distortion not mentioned by previous authors). Participants were 1688 secondary school students from Northern and Southern Italy (F = 45%), attending 9th-to-13th grades. A subsample of 285 students also completed the DMC questionnaire (Caprara et al., 2006) and Schwartz (1992) Value Survey. A subsample of 587 students from 9th, 11th and 13th grades also completed the scales of selfreported deviant behaviour and deviant behaviour disapproval from Jessor Health Behaviour Questionnaire (Jessor et al., 1992). Confirmatory factor analyses highlighted factors matching the four cognitive distortions. Convergent validity of the instrument was confirmed by significant positive correlations between cognitive distortions factorial scores and DMC (.68 < rs < .70) and selfreported deviant behaviours (.58 < rs < .59), and by the significant negative correlation with disapproval of deviant behaviours (-.58 < rs < -.68). A coherent pattern of correlations with values also emerged. We found positive correlations with power (.35 < rs < .40), hedonism (.28 < rs < .31), stimulation (.27 < rs < .31) and achievement (.15 < rs < .17) and negative correlations with benevolence (-.18 < rs < -.20), universalism (all rs = .20) and conformity (-.21 < rs < -.28) and spirituality (-.16 < rs < -.17). Lastly, an interesting curvilinear relation between age and scores of cognitive distortions is described and tentatively explained.

Keywords: Questionnaire validation, selfserving cognitive distorsions, antisocial behaviour; secondary school students, confirmatory factor analysis.

  1. Achenbach, T.M., (1991). Manual for the Youth selfreport for ages 11-18. Bur-lington, VT University of Vermont Department of Psychiatry.
  2. Bacchini, D., Affuso, G., Amodeo, A.L., & Aquilar, S. (2011). Valori e condotte morali. In G.V. Caprara, E. Scabini, P. Seca, & S. H. Schwartz (Eds.), I valori nell’Italia contemporanea (pp. 133-158). Milano: FrancoAngeli.
  3. Bacchini, D., deAngeli, G., Affuso, G., & Brugman, D. (2015). The Structure of Self-Serving Cognitive Distortions: A Validation of the “How I Think” Questionnaire in a Sample of Italian Adolescents. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 1-18. DOI: 10.1177/0748175615596779
  4. Ball, R.A. (1966). En empirical exploration of neutralization theory. Criminology, 4, 22-32.
  5. Bandura, A. (1991). Social cognitive theory of moral thought and action. In W. M. Kurtines & J.L. Gewirtz (Eds.), Handbook of moral behavior and development (Vol. 1, pp. 45-103). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
  6. Bandura, A. (2002). Selective Moral Disengagement in the Exercise of Moral Agency. Journal of Moral Education. 31(2), 101-119. DOI: 10.1080/0305724022014322
  7. Bandura, A., Barbaranelli, C., Caprara, G.V., & Pastorelli, C. (1996). Mechanisms of moral disengagement in the exercise of moral agency. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71(2), 364-374.
  8. Barabanti, P. (2015). Il nodo dell’apprendimento. Una comparazione fra studenti italiani. In M. Santagati & V. Ongini (Eds.), Alunni con cittadinanza non italiana. Tra difficoltà e successi stranieri di prima e di seconda generazione. Quaderni ISMU, 81-96.
  9. Barriga, A.Q., & Gibbs J.C. (1996). Measuring Cognitive Distortion in Antisocial Youth: Development and Preliminary Validation of the “How I Think” Questionnaire. Aggressive Behavior, 22, 333-343.
  10. Barriga, A.Q., Gibbs J.C., Potter G.B., & Liau A.K. (2001). How I Think (HIT) Questionnaire Manual. Champaign; IL: Research Press.
  11. Barriga, A.Q., Hawkins M.A., & Camelia C.R.T. (2008). Specificity of cognitive distortions to antisocial behaviours Criminal. Behaviour and Mental Health, 18, 104-116.
  12. Barriga, A.Q., Landau, J.R., Stinson, B.L., Liau, A.K., & Gibbs, J.C. (2000). Cognitive distortion and problem behaviors in adolescents. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 27(1), 36-56. DOI: 10.1177/0093854800027001003
  13. Blasi, A. (1980). Bridging moral cognition and moral action: a critical review of the literature. Psychological Bulletin, 88, 1-45.
  14. Bonino, S., Cattelino, E., Ciairano, S., & Jessor, R. (2003). Adolescenti e rischio: comportamenti, funzioni e fattori di protezione. Firenze: Giunti.
  15. Caprara, G.V., Barbaranelli, C., Pastorelli, C., Iafrate, C., Berretta, M., & Bandura, A. (2006). La misura del disimpegno morale nel contesto delle trasgressioni dell’agire quotidiano. Giornale Italiano di Psicologia, 33(1), 83-105.
  16. Caprara, G.V., Fida, R., Vecchione, M., Tramontano, M., & Barbaranelli, C. (2009). Assessing civic moral disengagement: Dimensionality and construct validity. Personality and Individual Differences, 47, 504-509.
  17. Caravita, S.C., Sijtsema, J.J., Rambaran, A.J., & Gini, G. (2014). Peer influence on moral disengagement in late childhood and early adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43, 193-207. DOI 10.1007/s10964-013-9953-1.
  18. Casacci, S., & Pareto, A. (2015). Methods for quantifying ordinal variables: a comparative study. Quality & Quantity, 49, 1859-1872.
  19. Chabrol, H., Van Leeuwen, N., Rodgers, R.F., & Gibbs, J.C. (2011). Relations between selfserving cognitive distortions, psychopathic traits, and antisocial behavior in a non-clinical sample of adolescents. Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 887-892.
  20. Defoe, I.N., Farrington, D.P., & Loeber, R. (2013). Disentangling the relationship between delinquency and hyperactivity, low achievement, depression, and low socioeconomic status: Analysis of repeated longitudinal data. Journal of Criminal Justice, 41, 100-107.
  21. Dodge, K.A. (1993). Social-Cognitive Mechanisms in the Development of Conduct Disorder and Depression. Annual Review of Psychology, 44, 559-584.
  22. Elliot, D.S., & Ageton, S.S. (1980). Reconciling race and class differences in selfreported and official estimates of delinquency. American Sociological Review, 45, 95-110.
  23. Farrell, A.D., Sullivan, T.N., Esposito, L.E., Aleta, L., & Meyer, A.L. (2005). A Latent Growth Curve Analysis of the Structure of Aggression, Drug Use, and Delinquent Behaviors and Their Interrelations Over Time in Urban and Rural Adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 15(2), 179-204.
  24. Fernández, M.E.P., Rodríguez, J.M.A., Barriga, A.Q., & Gibbs, J.C. (2013). Psychometrical properties of the “How I Think” Questionnaire (HIT-Q) in adolescents. Psicothema, 25(4), 542-548.
  25. Flora, D.B., & Curran, P.J. (2004). An empirical evaluation of alternative methods of estimation for confirmatory factor analysis with ordinal data. Psychological methods, 9, 466.
  26. Freud, A. (1936). The ego and the mechanisms of defence. London: The Hogarth Press. Trad. it.: L’io e meccanismi difesa. Firenze: Martinelli 1967.
  27. Fritsche, I. (2005). Predicting deviant behavior by neutralization: Myths and fondings. Deviant Behavior, 26, 483-510.
  28. Gibbs, J.C. (2013). Moral development and reality: Beyond the theories of Kohlberg, Hoffman and Haidt. Third edition. Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage.
  29. Gibbs, J.C., Basinger, K.S., & Fuller, D. (1992). Moral maturity: Measuring the development of sociomoral reflection. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
  30. Gini, G., & Pozzoli, T. (2013). Measuring selfserving cognitive distortions: A meta-analysis of the psychometric properties of the How I Think Questionnaire (HIT). European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 10(4), 510-517.
  31. Sykes, G., & Matza., D. (1957). Techniques of Neutralization: A Theory of Delinquency. American Sociological Review, 22, 664-70.
  32. Grive, R., & Panebianco, L. (2013). Assessing the role of aggression, empathy, and selfserving cognitive distortions in trait emotional manipulation. Australian Journal of Psychology, 65, 79-88.
  33. Harden, K.P., Quinn, P.D., & Tucker-Drob, E.M. (2012). Genetically influenced change in sensation seeking drives the rise of delinquent behavior during adolescence. Developmental Science, 15(1), 150-163.
  34. Helmond, P., Overbeek, G., Brugman, D., & C. Gibbs, J.C. (2014). A meta-analysis on cognitive distortions and externalizing problem behavior: associations, moderators, and treatment effectiveness. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 21(4), 330-346, DOI: 10.1080/1068316X.2014.989164
  35. Hu, L.T., & Bentler, P.M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for t indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1-55.
  36. Jamieson, S. (2004). Likert scales: how to (ab)use them. Medical education, 38, 1217-1218.
  37. Jessor, R., Donovan, J.E., & Costa, F.M. (1992). Health behavior questionnaire. University of Colorado. Unpublished manuscript.
  38. Kohlberg, L., & Hersh, R.H. (1977). Moral development: A review of the theory. Theory into Practice, 16(2), 53-59.
  39. Lardén, M., Melin, L., Holst, U., & Långtröm, N. (2006) Moral judgement, cognitive distortions and empathy in incarcerated delinquent and community control adolescents. Psychology, Crime & Law, 12, 453-462.
  40. Maruna, S., & Copes, H. (2005). What Have We Learned from Five Decades of Neutralization Research? Crime and Justice, 32, 221-320.
  41. Moffitt, T.E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and lifecocurse persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100(4), 674-701.
  42. Nas, C.N., Brugman D., & Koops, W. (2008). Measuring Self-Serving Cognitive Distortions with the “How I Think” Questionnaire. European Journal of Psychological Assessmen, 24(3):181-189. DOI 10.1027/1015-5759.24.3.181.
  43. Paciello, M., Fida, R., Tramontano, C., Lupinetti, C., & Caprara, G.V., (2008). Stability and change of moral disengagement and its impact on aggression and violence in late adolescence. Child Development, 79(5), 1288-1309.
  44. Piaget, J. (1932). Le Jugement morale chez l’enfant. Paris: PUF. Trad. it.: Il giudizio morale nel fanciullo. Firenze: Giunti-Barbera, 1972.
  45. Plante, N., Daigle, M.S., Gaumont, C., Charbonneau, L., Gibbs, J.C., & Barriga, A.Q. (2012). Validation of the ‘How I Think Questionnaire’ in a Population of French-speaking Adolescents with Externalizing Behaviors. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 30, 196-210.
  46. Ribeau, D., & Eisner, M. (2010). Are moral disengagement, neutralization techniques, and selfserving cognitive distortions the same? Developing a unified scale of moral neutralization of aggression. International Journal of Conflict and Violence, 4(2), 298-315.
  47. Shields, I.W., & Whitehall, G.C. (1994). Neutralization and delinquency among teenagers. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 21, 223-235.
  48. Schwartz, S.H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 25, 1-65
  49. Stams, G.J., Brugman, D., Dekovi´c, M., van Rosmalen, L., van der Laan, P., & Gibbs, J.C. (2006). The moral judgment of juvenile delinquents: A meta-analysis. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34, 697-713.
  50. Steinberg, L (2009). Should the Science of Adolescent Brain Development Inform Public Policy? American Psychologist, 64(8), 739- 750.
  51. van Leeuwen, N.K., Chauchard, E., Chabrol, H., & Gibbs, J. (2013). L’encéfale, 39, 401-407.
  52. Wallinius, M., Johansson, P., Larden, M., & Dernevik, M. (2011). Selfserving cognitive distortions and antisocial behavior among adults and adolescents. Criminal Justice And Behavior, 38(3), 286-301, 2011. DOI: 10.1177/0093854810396139
  53. Yang-Wallentin, F., Jöreskog, K.G., & Luo, H. (2010). Confirmatory factor analysis of ordinal variables with misspecified models. Structural Equation Modeling, 17, 392-423.

  • Emotional and cognitive correlates of hating among adolescents: An exploratory study Ugo Pace, Alessia Passanisi, Giulio D'Urso, in Journal of Adolescence /2018 pp.159
    DOI: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2018.08.002
  • Hating Adolescents Test (HAT): a preliminary development of a measure to assess hating among adolescents Ugo Pace, Giulio D’Urso, Carla Zappulla, in Psychiatry, Psychology and Law /2020 pp.234
    DOI: 10.1080/13218719.2020.1719374

Anna Emilia Berti, Luciano Arcuri, Massimiliano Pastore, Il questionario HIT (How I Think) per la misurazione delle distorsioni cognitive che favoriscono il comportamento antisociale. Una validazione su 1688 studenti italiani in "RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA " 2/2017, pp 203-231, DOI: 10.3280/RIP2017-002003