TY - JOUR

T1 - Simple measures and complex structures

T2 - Is it worth employing a more complex model of personality in Big Five inventories?

AU - Herrmann, Anne

AU - Pfister, Hans-Rüdiger

PY - 2013/10

Y1 - 2013/10

N2 - The poor performance of five-factor personality inventories in confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) prompted some to question their construct validity. Others doubted the CFA's suitability and suggested applying Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM). The question arises as to what impact the application of either method has on the construct validity of personality inventories. We addressed this question by applying ESEM and CFA to construct better-fitting, though more complex models based on data from two questionnaires (NEO PI-R and 16PF). Generally, scores derived from either method did not differ substantially. When applying ESEM, convergent validity declined but discriminant validity improved. When applying CFA, convergent and discriminant validity decreased. We conclude that using current personality questionnaires that utilize a simple structure is appropriate.

AB - The poor performance of five-factor personality inventories in confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) prompted some to question their construct validity. Others doubted the CFA's suitability and suggested applying Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM). The question arises as to what impact the application of either method has on the construct validity of personality inventories. We addressed this question by applying ESEM and CFA to construct better-fitting, though more complex models based on data from two questionnaires (NEO PI-R and 16PF). Generally, scores derived from either method did not differ substantially. When applying ESEM, convergent validity declined but discriminant validity improved. When applying CFA, convergent and discriminant validity decreased. We conclude that using current personality questionnaires that utilize a simple structure is appropriate.

KW - Psychology

KW - 16PF

KW - Big Five structure

KW - Confirmatory factor analysis

KW - Construct validity

KW - Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling

KW - Multitrait-multimethod

KW - NEO PI-R

KW - Personality

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84879455791&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jrp.2013.05.004

DO - 10.1016/j.jrp.2013.05.004

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:84879455791

VL - 47

SP - 599

EP - 608

JO - Journal of Research in Personality

JF - Journal of Research in Personality

SN - 0092-6566

IS - 5

ER -