The AQ Profile® has been tested extensively and shows no age, gender, or ethnicity bias.
It is the most robust instrument in existence for measuring resilience.
For more detailed technical information, download a PDF file.
Technical Overview for the AQ Profile
Reliability and validity
The AQ Profile (8.1) is an oppositional, scale-based, forced-choice questionnaire designed to gauge an individual’s resilience — that is, their capacity to respond constructively to difficulties — by eliciting their hardwired response pattern to a broad range of adverse events (Stoltz, 1997).
Applied across cultures. The AQ Profile has been tested across respondents from 51 countries, and has demonstrated strong universality and applicability across cultures.
Normative scale. The AQ Profile is normative, meaning higher scores are generally superior, reflecting greater overall resilience and effectiveness.
Highly reliable. In studies conducted by an independent psychometrician trained at Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the U.S., the AQ Profile and each of its CORE dimensions have been shown to be highly reliable. Reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) can range from zero to one. In repeated, independent studies conducted by ETS (the producer of the SAT), the AQ Profile and each of its CORE dimensions have been shown to be highly reliable, or consistent. The Profile has an overall reliability of .91, higher than most popularly accepted psychological instruments and achievement tests.
Norms
AQ scores are presently available from a diverse sample of 500,000 employees and students in 37 different companies and educational institutions worldwide. The distribution of their AQ scores provides norms against which anyone taking the AQ Profile can compare his or her score.
Mean and Range
AQ scores range from 40 to 200, with a global mean of 154.5. When measured, most groups reflect a fairly broad range of two or more standard deviations in either direction from the mean, as well as a standard bell curve distribution of AQ scores. AQ means vary from group to group based on occupation and industry. A general finding is that those in what are stereotypically the adversity-rich occupations tend to have the highest average AQs. Conversely, groups in the most stable occupations often score below the global mean, validating the notion that people tend to select occupations based on their AQ.
