Senior psychologists who practiced in the late 90s may have a boxed copy in their archives. If you are a licensed professional, post on professional forums (e.g., SARM, Division 5 of APA) asking if anyone has a "retired" copy they are willing to donate to a research archive.
The questionnaire uses a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree). The items cluster into six subscales:
The Emotional Stability Questionnaire was designed as a personality assessment tool intended to measure an individual's resilience, temperament, and likelihood of experiencing emotional volatility. Senior psychologists who practiced in the late 90s
Publisher: Psycom Services (A psychological test publisher known for vocational and clinical instruments, often distributing to clinics and HR departments). Date: Circa 1995. Format: Traditional paper-and-pencil format (Scantron or self-scoring).
While modern psychology now relies heavily on the "Big Five" personality traits (specifically Neuroticism vs. Emotional Stability), assessments in the 90s often used specific terminology like "Emotional Stability" to screen candidates for high-stress professions. Even experienced clinicians make reverse-scoring errors
| Aspect | 1995 ESQ | Modern Standards (e.g., Big Five, Eysenck) | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Norms | Outdated. Based exclusively on 1994-95 Northeastern US workers. Not representative of global or 2025 populations. | Continuous re-norming (every 5-10 years) | | Diversity Validity | Unknown. No validation on non-white, non-US, or LGBTQ+ populations. | Required by EEOC and APA standards | | Internal Consistency | Reported as alpha = 0.82 in manual. | Acceptable, but modern tests aim for >0.85 | | Test-Retest Reliability | 3-week interval r = 0.79. | Modern short-forms (e.g., BF-10) achieve r > 0.85. | | Scale Drift | No digital item response theory (IRT) applied. | All modern tests use IRT for bias detection. |
Verdict: The 1995 ESQ is acceptable for coaching, team building, or personal insight but is not defensible for clinical diagnosis (DSM-5/ICD-11) or high-stakes employment decisions (e.g., police, pilot screening). post on professional forums (e.g.
Even experienced clinicians make reverse-scoring errors. Use a spreadsheet or double-score manually.
Example of reverse-scoring rule (from the 1995 key): If Item 4 (e.g., "I stay calm in arguments") is scored 5 (Strongly Agree), it becomes a 1 in raw scoring. Always refer to the key.
Do not email the PDF. Instead: