Informant reports lose validity when the trait being rated is hard to observe

Evidence

Unlike the I-CG, the I-AB showed less evidence for convergent and discriminant validity. Convergent validity support was only found with the positive correlations between I-AB and RWA across informant and self reports. Similarly, the only source of discriminant validity was the lack of correlation between the I-AB and FS/FH. The lack of interobserver agreement with the I-AB was a surprise, considering the robust correlations found with the I-CG and the two other fears. However, researchers have found that in cases in which the psychological attributes are difficult to discern and are unavailable for observation, informant reports become less valid (Funder & Dobroth, 1987; Kenny, 1991; Letzring, Wells, & Funder, 2006; McCrae et al., 1998), which may have been the case for I-AB. — Sherman A. Lee, Chelsea A. Reid, Stephen D. Short, Jeffrey A. Gibbons, Ruth Yeh, and Matthew L. Campbell, Fear of Muslims, 114

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to general psychometrics literature on observer agreement and trait visibility (Funder, Kenny, McCrae) — a durable methods principle, not a one-off finding.