Definition
Ipsative measures, also known as forced-choice measures, are measures that force respondents to select from two or more equally socially desirable options.
Ipsative measures, as opposed to Likert scale measures in which respondents choose the degree to which they identify or agree with statements (e.g., 1, strongly disagree, to 5, strongly agree), force respondents to select from two or more equally socially desirable choices. Hicks (1970) differentiated three types of ipsative assessment. In a purely ipsative assessment situation (e.g., Edwards Personal Preference Schedule; EPPS; Edwards 1954), the sum of the scores obtained over the constructs assessed for each respondent is a constant. In other words, a purely ipsative measure is one that produces a mean across all of the scales, and that mean is the same for each person. Hicks (1970) defined a partially ipsative measure (e.g., Gordon Personal Profile; Gordon 1953) as a measure that does not precisely meet the criteria...
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References
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Kowalski, C.M., Schermer, J.A. (2019). Ipsative Measures of Personality. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_695-1
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