Divergent validity is used to measure what?

Divergent validity is indeed associated with measuring different traits or constructs. It is a crucial aspect of construct validity, which assesses whether a test or measurement is truly measuring what it claims to measure. Specifically, divergent validity ensures that a measure does not correlate too highly with measures of different constructs or traits, which would indicate that they are capturing distinct and separate concepts.

For instance, if a new measure of emotional intelligence shows low correlation with a measure of intelligence quotients, that would support its divergent validity. This demonstrates that the new measure is assessing a different construct rather than overlapping with other established measures.

The other concepts listed relate to different forms of validity or measurement properties. Consistency over time refers to test-retest reliability, while similarity between different measures pertains more closely to convergent validity. Measuring the same traits within a population would indicate some form of internal consistency or reliability, rather than divergent validity. Hence, the emphasis on different traits or constructs is what makes this answer correct.