Factor analysis and scale revision.

This article reviews methodological issues that arise in the application of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to scale revision and refinement. The authors begin by discussing how the appropriate use of EFA in scale revision is influenced by both the hierarchical nature of psychological constructs and the motivations underlying the revision. Then they specifically address (a) important issues that arise prior to data collection (e.

Predicting medical students' academic performances by their cognitive abilities and personality characteristics.

Purpose: To utilize multiple regression analyses with both linear and quadratic models to explore and confirm the relationships among students' cognitive abilities, personality traits, and medical school performances at the University of Los Angeles, California, UCLA School of Medicine.

Method: Ninety-seven "not-disadvantaged" students' pre-medical grade-point averages (GPAs), Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores, and personality traits as measured by the Comrey Personality Scales (administered at their application to medical school in 1985) were used to predict their medical school performances according to several criteria. "Disadvantaged" students were excluded from the study because their poor performances on all criteria would confound the relationships of personality, cognitive ability, and performance.

A profile of personality for a Russian sample: as indicated by the Comrey Personality Scales.

The purpose of our study was to present a personality profile, based on data from the Comrey Personality Scales (CPS), for a diverse, Russian sample. The CPS was administered to 457 subjects drawn from convenience samples throughout St. Petersburg, Russia.

Factor Analysis of the Comrey Personality Scales in an Australian Sample.

The Comrey Personality Scales (CPS) were administered to a sample of 669 Australians. The 40 subscales that define the eight CPS factors were intercorrelated along with two validation scale scores, age and sex. This matrix of correlations was factor analyzed to determine if the same structure of personality traits previously found in other groups would also hold for Australians.

Eyseneck Personality Inventory Item Factor Structure.

The Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) was administered to a sample of 583 Australians. Responses to the 57 items were intercorrelated and factor analyzed by three different methods: (a) extract two principal factors and rotate them by varimax; (b) extract as many factors as possible by the minimum residual method, determine the correct number of factors using the Tandem Criteria method and then rotate that number of factors by the Tandem Criterion I method; (c) using ones in the diagonals, extract all factors with positive eigen values and rotate these factors by varimax. All three methods obtained major Neuroticism and Extraversion factors but the third method gave the poorest confirmation of the expected factor structure for these items.

Millon MCMI Scales Factor Analyzed and Correlated with MMPI and CPS Scales.

The Millon MCMI was administered in translation to 527 applicants for drivers' licenses in Israel who were required to undergo psychological screening. Three hundred of these subjects also took the Comrey Personality Scales (CPS) and the other 227 also took the MMPI. A factor analysis of the 20 MCMI scales was carried out and these scales were also correlated with the CPS and MMPI scales.

Personality characteristics of Hare Krishnas.

Personality characteristics of 132 males and 94 females of the Hare Krishna movement were assessed using the Comrey Personality Scales (CPS). Subjects were sampled from eight U.S.

Personality Factor Structure in Psychiatric Outpatients and Normals.

The Comrey Personality Scales (CPS) were administered to 394 psychiatric outpatients. The 40 subscales that define the eight CPS factors were intercorrelated and factor analyzed to determine if the same structure of personality traits fits beth normal and psychologically disturbed individuals. The factor structure in this study was very close to that found previously in six other widely different kinds of populations.

A Method for Removing Outliers to Improve Factor Analytic Results.

Bad data due to faked responses, errors, and other difficulties can distort correlations among variables leading to poor factor analytic results based on matrices of such correlations. A method of detecting potentially bad data cases, or outliers, is presented which is based on the average squared deviation of a given subject's cross product of standard scores from the average over all correlations in the matrix. Results of applying both this program and the BMD 10M outlier program to the same data examples are given.

Personality structure of Mexican Americans using the Comrey Personality Scales.

The Comrey Personality Scales (CPS) were used to examine the personality structure of 176 Mexican American college students. A majority of the eight factors maintained substantial loadings and corresponded closely with Comrey's normative sample as well as with Brazilian and New Zealand samples. Two factors, Conformity and Orderliness, showed the weakest fit across all four groups.

Distortions In A Commonly Used Factor Analytic Procedure.

A currently popular procedure in empirical factor analytic studies is to use unities in the main diagonal as communality estimates, extract all factors with eigenvalues of 1.0 or higher, and rotate these factors by varimax. This procedure and others are applied to several previously published correlation matrices and some artificial matrices.

An Empirical Comparison Of Two Minimum Residual Factor Extraction Methods.

Comrey and Harman & Jones have proposed different methods of factor analyzing a correlation matrix using on!y the off-diagonal elements. The purpose of such procedures is to avoid using the diagonal communality elements of the matrix theft are generally unknown and must be estimated. This study was undertaken to provide an empirical comparison of the two methods.

Detection Of Faking on the Comrey Personality Scales.

The ability of subjects to fake responses on personality tests under various experimental conditions has been established in several studies, including those involving the Comrey Personality Scales (CPS). Evidence is presented in this study regarding the potential of several techniques for detecting faked CPS test records, along with a further demonstration of the extent to which the CPS can be faked. Five groups of test records were used: four were from two sets of university student subjects, with one test record completed under normal conditions and the other under instructions to deliberately "fake good.

A CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON OF CERTAIN PERSONALITY FACT0R.S.

The 1970 version of the Comrey Personality Scales was administered to a analysis of the data confirmed that the basic structure of the scales was almost identical with that found in the American normative sample. It was suggested that further research was needed to explicate the relationship between the traits of orderliness and conformity. group of 179 New Zealand university and teachers' college students.

CONSTRUCT VALIDATION OF THE COMREY PERSONALITY SCALES.

To investigate the construct validity of the Comrey Personality Scales, this personality test and a biographical data inventory inquiring about past and present life circumstances were administered to 209 volunteer U.C.L.

ASSESSMENT OF A PROPOSED EXPANSION OF THE COMREY PERSONALITY FACTOR SYSTEM.

Six major factors of personality have been identified repeatedly in factor analytic studies by Comrey and his coworkers: Shyness, Dependence, Em- paths, Neuroticism, Compulsion, and Hostility. Analysis of the Guilford-Zimmerman test suggested that this system of six factors could be enlarged to include three additional factors : General Activity, Thoughtfulness, and Mas- culinity. An inventory designed to measure all these factors was administered to 259 volunteers, mostly from the general population.