UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale

Technical Manual

Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Created: January 28, 2013

Last Modified: January 27, 2023 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC

Background

This script implements the UPPS-P impulsive behavior scale made available by Dr. Lynam on:

Https://www1.psych.purdue.edu/~dlynam/uppspage.htm

The original UPPS was based on 4 facets of impulsivity and was originally described in: Whiteside, S. P., & Lynam, D. R. (2001). The Five Factor Model and impulsivity: using a structural model of personality to understand impulsivity. Personality and Individual Differences, 30(4), 669-689.

The edited version UPPS-P adds a fifth personality facet to the construct of impulsivity.

Duration

5 minutes

Overview

59 4-point Likert Questions regarding impulsive behavior

Scoring

original 4 facets:
1) Negative Urgency (NURG): 2 (R), 67(R), 12 (R), 17 (R), 22 (R), 29 (R), 34 (R), 39 (R), 44 (R), 51 (R), 54, 58 (R)
"measures an individual’s tendency to act “impulsively” under conditions of negative affect" *

2) (lack of) Premeditation (PREM): 1, 6, 11, 16, 21, 28, 33, 38, 43, 48, 49.
"assesses an individual’s tendency to act without consideration of the potential consequences of the behavior" *

3) (lack of) Perseverance (PERS): 4, 9 (R), 14, 19, 24, 27, 32, 37, 42, 47 (R)
"assesses an individual’s tendency to give up in the face of boredom, fatigue, or frustration." *

4) Sensation Seeking (SS): 3 (R), 8 (R), 13 (R), 18 (R), 23 (R), 26 (R), 31 (R), 36 (R), 41 (R), 46 (R), 52 (R), 56 (R)
"refers to an individual’s interest in and tendency to pursue activities that are exciting and novel" *

added facet:
5) Positive Urgency (PURG): 5 (R), 10 (R), 15 (R), 20 (R), 25 (R), 30 (R), 35 (R), 40 (R), 45 (R), 50 (R), 53 (R), 55 (R), 57 (R), 59 (R)
"Positive Urgency, assesses an individual’s tendency to give in to impulses under conditions of high positive affect." *

(R) = reversed scoring
• = see web site above

Summary Data

File Name: upps_p_summary*.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
inquisit.version Inquisit version number
computer.platform Device platform: win | mac |ios | android
startDate Date the session was run
startTime Time the session was run
subjectId Participant ID
groupId Group number
sessionId Session number
elapsedTime Session duration in ms
completed 0 = Test was not completed
1 = Test was completed

Raw Data

File Name: upps.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
date Date the session was run
time Time the session was run
subject, group, session With the current subject/groupnumber/session id
build Inquisit version number
q*_response Response given (in assigned values)
Scale: 1 (strongly agree) - 4 (disagree strongly)
R = automatically reversed scored questions
q*_latency How much time (in ms) the participant spent on the surveyPage with this particular
question (the last time this particular surveyPage was visited)