Necessity for developing new psychological scales published in the Japanese Journal of Psychology

Abstract

This paper reviewed articles published in the Japanese Journal of Psychology pertaining to the development of a new psychological scale and ascertained whether these articles supported the necessity to develop a new scale. In a period of 15 years, there were 112 articles related to the development of a scale found in the Japanese Journal of Psychology. Only about 30% (38 articles) describe the necessity related to the originality of the new scale. In addition, about 40% (48 articles) do not describe the definitions of the constructs. Based on these results, the following two points are proposed: the importance of specifying the definition of the new construct; and clarifying similarities and differences between the new scale and the existing scales.