How does the IDI know WHY I responded a certain way to a particular question? For example, how does it know whether I disagree with a statement because of the statement itself, or because I reject the entire premise of making such judgments? And how does this affect my results?
Part of developing a psychometric instrument is the process of validating the items in terms of what they measure and the consistency of respondents’ answers. Asking respondents questions around how they place their judgment towards other cultural communities (for example, in the statement "My culture works harder than other cultures") is to determine either a Polarization orientation or the rejection of a Polarization orientation depending upon whether they agree or disagree with the content of such items. For example, selecting "disagree" in response to the statement "My culture works harder than other cultures" indicates a recognition of the judgmental, over-generalization characterization of one's own cultural community compared to other communities.
For one's answers to accurately reflect their Developmental Orientation towards cultural difference, it is important that when they complete the IDI assessment, they follow the instructions, which say:
Thus, answering with a "protest" response is not completing the IDI in a way that consistently measures one's Developmental Orientation towards cultural difference. If a respondent answers the items with more than a couple protest answers then they should retake the IDI using the instructions provided.
The IDI, like all psychometric instruments, cannot produce a valid profile if the items are not responded to in terms of the intent and meaning of each of the items consistent with the instructions.