The General Factor of Personality and Evaluation

2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 292-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Pettersson ◽  
Eric Turkheimer ◽  
Erin E. Horn ◽  
Andrew R. Menatti

According to the proposal of the general factor of personality (GFP), socially desirable personality traits have been selected for throughout evolution because they increase fitness. However, it remains unknown whether people high on this factor actually behave in socially desirable ways or whether they simply endorse traits of positive valence. We separated these two sources of variance by having 619 participants respond to 120 personality adjectives organised into 30 quadruples balanced for content and valence (e.g. unambitious, easy–going, driven and workaholic tapped the trait achievement–striving). An exploratory six–factor solution fit well, and the factors resembled the Big Five. We subsequently extracted a higher–order factor from this solution, which appeared similar to the GFP. A Schmid–Leiman transformation of the higher–order factor, however, revealed that it clustered items of similar valence but opposite content (e.g. at the negative pole, unambitious and workaholic), rendering it an implausible description of evolved adaptive behaviour. Isolating this evaluative factor using exploratory structural equation modelling generated factors consisting of items of similar descriptive content but different valence (e.g. driven and workaholic), and the correlations among these factors were of small magnitude, indicating that the putative GFP capitalises primarily on evaluative rather than descriptive variance. Implications are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 258-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rainer Riemann ◽  
Christian Kandler

We describe a behavioural genetic extension of the classic multitrait‐multimethod study design that allows estimating genetic and environmental influences on method effects in twin studies (MTMM‐T). Genetic effects and effects of the environment shared by siblings are interpreted as indicators of convergent validity. In an application of the MTMM study design, we used self‐ and peer report data to examine the higher‐order structure of the NEO‐PI‐R. Structural equation modelling did not support a general factor of personality in multimethod data. The higher‐order factor Stability turns out to be, at most, a weak trait factor. Genetic effects on method factors indicate that especially self‐reports but also peer reports show convergent validity between twins but not between methods. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Assessment ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Lac ◽  
Candice D. Donaldson

The Drinking Motives Questionnaire, previously postulated and documented to exhibit a measurement structure of four correlated factors (social, enhancement, conformity, and coping), is a widely administered assessment of reasons for consuming alcohol. In the current study ( N = 552), confirmatory factor analyses tested the plausibility of several theoretically relevant factor structures. Fit indices corroborated the original four-factor model, and also supported a higher-order factor model involving a superordinate motives factor that explicated four subordinate factors. A bifactor model that permitted items to double load on valence type (positive or negative reinforcement) and source type (external or internal) generated mixed results, suggesting that this 2 × 2 motivation paradigm was not entirely tenable. Optimal fit was obtained for a bifactor model depicting a general factor and four specific factors of motives. Latent factors derived from this structure exhibited criterion validity in predicting frequency and quantity of alcohol usage in a structural equation model. Findings are interpreted in the context of theoretical implications of the instrument, alternative factor structures of drinking motives, and assessment applications.


Assessment ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 107319111988096
Author(s):  
Dirk H. M. Pelt ◽  
Dimitri Van der Linden ◽  
Curtis S. Dunkel ◽  
Marise Ph. Born

Socially desirable responding may affect the factor structure of personality questionnaires and may be one of the reasons for the common variance among personality traits. In this study, we test this hypothesis by investigating the influence of the motivational test-taking context (development vs. selection) and the opportunity to distort responses (forced-choice vs. Likert response format) on personality questionnaire scores. Data from real selection and assessment candidates (total N = 3,980) matched on gender, age, and educational level were used. Mean score differences were found between the selection and development groups, with smaller differences for the FC version. Yet, exploratory structural equation models showed that the overall factor structures as well as the general factor were highly similar across the four groups. Thus, although socially desirable responding may affect mean scores on personality traits, it does not appear to affect factor structures. This study further suggests that the common variance in personality questionnaires is consistent and appears to be little influenced by motivational pressures for response distortion.


Assessment ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 540-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan J. McGill ◽  
Angelia R. Spurgin

Higher order factor structure of the Luria interpretive scheme on the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children–Second Edition (KABC-II) for the 7- to 12-year and the 13- to 18-year age groups in the KABC-II normative sample ( N = 2,025) is reported. Using exploratory factor analysis, multiple factor extraction criteria, and hierarchical exploratory factor analysis not included in the KABC-II manual, two-, three-, and four-factor extractions were analyzed to assess the hierarchical factor structure by sequentially partitioning variance appropriately to higher order and lower order dimensions as recommended by Carroll. No evidence for a four-factor solution was found. Results showed that the largest portions of total and common variance were accounted for by the second-order general factor and that interpretation should focus primarily, if not exclusively, at that level of measurement.


1997 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 1079-1089 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara J. Bensur ◽  
John Eliot ◽  
Laxmin Hegde

240 children (60 each at ages 4, 6, 8, and 10 years) were administered Dennis' (1987) Five Drawing Tasks and five additional developmental tasks. Three hypotheses were tested: that object recognition and working memory would be related to increasing complexity, that both would load on separate factors, and that higher-order analyses would indicate an underlying second-order spatial factor. Analysis included very strong zero-order correlations with age. When age was partialed out, three first-order factors were obtained. Higher-order analyses yielded one second-order factor which appeared related to a general factor of spatial intelligence.


Author(s):  
Andreas Demetriou ◽  
George Spanoudis ◽  
Mislav Stjepan Žebec ◽  
Maria Andreou ◽  
Hudson Golino ◽  
...  

We present three studies which investigated the relations between cognition and personality from 7 to 20 years of age. All three studies showed that general cognitive ability and the general factor of personality are significantly related throughout this age span. This relation was expressed in several ways across studies. The first investigated developmental relations between three reasoning domains (inductive, deductive, and scientific) and Eysenck’s four personality dimensions in a longitudinal-sequential design where 260 participants received the cognitive tests three and the personality test two times, covering the span from 9-16 years. It was found that initial social likeability significantly shapes developmental momentum in cognition and vice-versa, especially in the 9 to 11 years period. The second study involved 438 participants from 7 to 17 years, tested twice on attention control, working memory, reasoning in different domains, and once by a Big Five Factors inventory. Extending the findings of the first, this study showed that progression in reasoning is affected negatively by conscientiousness and positively by openness, on top of attention control and working memory influences. The third study tested the relations between reasoning in several domains, the ability to evaluate one’s own cognitive performance, self-representation about the reasoning, the Big Five, and several aspects of emotional intelligence, from 9 to 20 years of age (N=247). Network, Hierarchical Network, and Structural Equation modeling showed that cognition and personality are mediated by the ability of self-knowing. Emotional intelligence was not an autonomous dimension. All dimensions but emotional intelligence influenced academic performance. A developmental model for mind-personality relations is proposed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Bäckström ◽  
Fredrik Björklund ◽  
Rebecka Persson ◽  
Ariela Costa

This research examines whether the items of some of the most well-established five-factor inventories refer to competence. Results reveal that both experts and laymen can distinguish between items that refer to how competently a behavior is performed and items that do not (Study 1). Responses to items that refer to competence create a higher-order factor in the personality inventories (Study 2), and the variability in responses to competence-related items in personality self-ratings is best modeled as a general factor rather than as also tied to the specific Big Five factors (Studies 3 and 4). We suggest that a focused debate on what personality items should refer to is likely to have considerable positive consequences for both theory and measurement of personality.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0258042X2110189
Author(s):  
Kamini Rai ◽  
Abha Gupta ◽  
Anshu Tyagi

In today’s scenario, investors’ preferences towards different investment avenues depend upon their risk tolerance level and return associated with investment plan. The tolerance level of investors for risk is influenced by many demographic and psychological factors. Personality traits (PTs) are one of the important factors that impact the tolerance levels of investors for risk. Thus, the existing study focuses on whether (a) the direct effect of Big Five PTs on financial risk tolerance (FRT) or (b) PTs as a second-order (higher-order) factor leads to FRT. Data are cross-sectional in nature, which were collected from 599 investors who invested through Angel Broking Co. (Securities co.) in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) by using online structured questionnaire. To examine the strength of the relationship between variables’ correlation and regression tests were applied using the structural equation modelling approach. The study found that among Big Five personality dimensions, only agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness are significantly associated with FRT, whereas PTs as a second-order (higher-order) factor have a strong association with FRT of investors. Thus, the PT as a second order is the preferred model. JEL Code: G02


2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 749-764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Corral-Verdugo ◽  
Fernanda I. García ◽  
Cesar Tapia-Fonllem ◽  
Blanca Fraijo-Sing

This study was aimed at exploring one potential psychological benefit of sustainable behaviors: the perceived psychological restoration (PR) associated to engaging in pro-environmental activities at both the physical and social levels. PR involves the recovery of lost psychological resources (attention, positive mood states, psychological wellbeing) mostly caused by attentional fatigue and stress, while sustainable behavior constitutes a set of actions aimed at the protection of natural and social resources. One-hundred- and thirtyseven individuals living in a Northern Mexican city participated in a study assessing four instances of sustainable behavior: altruistic, proecological, frugal, and equitable actions. In addition, four dimensions of a construct related to the perceived psychological restorative effects of sustainable behaviors were measured: being away, fascination, extent and compatibility, assumedly resulting from pro-environmental and pro-socialactions. Using structural equation modeling, the first four constructs were aggregated into a higher-order factor (sustainable behavior), while the rest of the constructs constituted a second higher-order factor (perceived restoration). These two higher-order factors resulted highly and significantly associated, indicating that practicing actions of environmental and social conservation might likely result in the restoration of lost psychological functions. These results reinforce the idea that sustainable behavior produces positive psychological consequences.


2021 ◽  
pp. 003329412110252
Author(s):  
Amanda Cromhout ◽  
Lusilda Schutte ◽  
Marié P. Wissing

The Basic Psychological Needs Scale (BPNS) is still being used but validation studies that applied confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed that the scale has inadequate psychometric properties. CFA is based upon restrictive statistical assumptions that may result in biased parameter estimates. There are statistical developments that overcome these limitations. This study explored the factorial validity of the scale in three South African student samples who completed the English ( n = 326), Afrikaans ( n = 478), or Setswana ( n = 260) version of the BPNS. CFA, bifactor CFA, exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM) and bifactor ESEM were applied to the data. The three-factor bifactor ESEM model yielded the best fit, but model fit was inadequate for the English and Setswana versions, and almost adequate for the Afrikaans version. After removal of problematic items based on substantive reasons, high modification indices, and high expected parameter change values, reduced bifactor ESEM models displayed adequate fit. The general factor showed sufficient reliability scores for all language versions. Subscales exhibited insufficient reliability scores, except for the Competence and Relatedness subscales of the BPNS-Afrikaans. A reduced three-factor bifactor ESEM model was partially metric invariant for the English and Afrikaans groups. The BPNS-Afrikaans showed potential for use, but alternative measures of basic psychological needs should be considered for the English and Setswana groups in the current context. The cross-cultural application of basic psychological needs in a South African context is questioned. An emic approach to exploring and conceptualising basic psychological needs in African contexts is recommended.


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