Validation of the French version of Brandtstädter and Renner's Tenacious Goal Pursuit (TGP) and Flexible Goal Adjustment (FGA) scales

• Published in: Revue européenne de psychologie appliquée 2012-01, Vol.62 (1), p.29-35
• Main Authors: Bailly, N, Hervé, C, Joulain, M, Alaphilippe, D
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accommodation-flexibilité; Assimilation-ténacité; Assimilative and accommodative processes; Biological and medical sciences; Elderly; Flexible Goal Adjustment; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Internal Medicine; Personality. Affectivity; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychometrics; Tenacious Goal Pursuit; Validation; Âge
• ISSN: 1162-9088; 1878-3457
• DOI: 10.1016/j.erap.2011.09.005

Abstract Introduction Despite the potential usefulness of the TGP/FGA scales ( Brandtstädter and Renner, 1990 ) for studying the way people adapt with age, there is little psychometric evidence supporting the validity of the construct of either scale. Objective The aim of the study was to develop a French version of Brandtstädter's TGP/FGA scales in order to provide a self-report measure for French people in the field of gerontology. Method Two studies involving 677 participants were conducted to evaluate the construct validity, reliability and convergence validity of these scales. Results In accordance with Brandtstädter, two factors emerged from the exploratory factorial analysis (study 1): tenacious goal pursuit and flexible goal adjustment. However, 10 items were removed because of factorial loadings. A confirmatory factor analysis (study 2) of the 20 remaining items corroborated a two-factor uncorrelated model of the TGP/FGA scales. The simplified subscales showed good internal consistency. As expected, higher scores on the TGP/FGA scales were correlated with good life satisfaction, greater control and less depression. Finally, the TGP scale was negatively related to age, but the FGA was not. Conclusion The French adaptation of the TGP/FGA scales was shown to possess satisfactory psychometric properties and may therefore be a valuable instrument for researchers and clinicians who are interested in exploring adaptive processes in the maintenance and promotion of personal well-being.