Factors of schizoid personality

The increasing use of schizoid personality scales with normals has led to a number of validation studies, but to date there are no published analyses of the factorial structure of these scales. This study presents results of factor analyses of schizoid personality scales in an initial attempt to delineate their factorial structure. Questionnaires were administered to 114 male and female undergraduates and factor analysed using Varimax, Quartimax, and Oblique rotations. A two-factor varimax solution yielded a first factor accounting for 49 per cent of total unrotated variance with high (0.70 to 0.91) loadings from Hallucinatory predisposition, Perceptual aberration, Schizophrenism, STA and STB scales, and was interpreted as reflecting a general factor of schizoid personality disorder. Psychoticism and Social anhedonia loaded on a second factor accounting for 20 per cent of the variance which was uncorrelated (r = 0.09) with factor 1. This factor solution was closely replicated using quartimax and oblimin rotation criteria. It is concluded that Social anhedonia and Psychoticism represent a separate dimension from other scales which reflect the more positive features of schizoid personality.