Cross-cultural second order factor structures of the 16PF

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Cross-cultural psychology
• Personality research

Background:

• Cross-cultural personality research investigates individual differences across diverse cultures.
• Cattell's 16PF is a widely used instrument in this field.
• A key question is the cross-cultural equivalence of underlying personality structures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the second-order factor structure of Cattell's 16PF in European and Japanese ancestry groups.
• To determine if the personality structure measured by the 16PF is equivalent across these cultures.

Main Methods:

• The study analyzed the second-order factor structure of Cattell's 16PF.
• Participants included 101 subjects of European ancestry and 117 subjects of Japanese ancestry.
• Factor analysis was used to compare the personality structures.

Main Results:

• The second-order factor structure of the 16PF differed significantly between the Japanese and Caucasian groups.
• The Caucasian results were consistent with previous findings by Cattell and associates.
• The Japanese group exhibited a distinct personality factor structure.

Conclusions:

• The findings suggest that Cattell's 16PF may not have equivalent personality structure across different cultural groups, specifically between Japanese and European ancestries.
• Implications for personality theory and the use of cross-cultural personality assessments were discussed.