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The 16 Personality Factors
"Personality is that which
permits a prediction of what a person will do in a given situation."
Raymond B. Cattell
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Contents:
Overview of the 16 PF
 Raymond B. Cattell
The 16 PF is based on the 16 "source traits" put forth by Raymond B. Cattell in
the 1940's. Cattell was what we call a trait theorist. Using a fancy statistical
technique called Multiple Abstract Variance Analysis (MAVA), Cattell identified
clusters of "surface traits," consistent behavioral responses, and "temperament
and ability source traits," underlying variables that determine the surface
traits. The
Sixteen
Personality Factor Questionnaire
based on Cattell's theories was first published in 1949 and is now in its fifth
edition; it is published in 40 languages.
We administer the 16 PF, like the MBTI and the other measures, to all freshmen at
matriculation, as rising juniors, and during the spring
semester of their senior year. This gives us a view of changes in
the personality subscales over time.
The 16 primary factors are each weighted and combined with other relevant
factors into global factors. So... what are all these factors and what do they
mean?
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16 Primary Factors
and Five Global Factors
The Primary
Factors
The chart
below gives an overview of the 16 Primary Factors.
Source:
Conn, S. R., Rieke, M. L. ( 1994) The 16PF Fifth Edition Technical Manual.
Champagne, Illinois: Institute for Personality and Ability Testing, Inc.
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Descriptors of Low Range
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Primary Factor
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Descriptors of High Range
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Reserved, impersonal, distant, cool, reserved, impersonal, detached,
formal, aloof (Sizothymia) |
Warmth |
Warm, outgoing, attentive to others, kindly, easygoing, participating,
likes people (Affectothymia) |
|
Concrete-thinking, lower general mental capacity, less intelligent, unable
to handle abstract problems (Lower Scholastic Mental Capacity) |
Reasoning |
Abstract-thinking, more intelligent, bright, higher general mental
capacity, fast learner (Higher Scholastic Mental Capacity) |
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Reactive, emotionally changeable, affected by feelings, emotionally less
stable, easily upset (Lower Ego Strength) |
Emotional Stability |
Emotionally stable, adaptive, mature, faces reality, calm (Higher Ego
Strength) |
|
Deferential, cooperative, avoids conflict, submissive, humble, obedient,
easily led, docile, accommodating (Submissiveness) |
Dominance |
Dominant, forceful, assertive, aggressive, competitive, stubborn, bossy
(Dominance)
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Serious, restrained, prudent, taciturn, introspective, silent (Desurgency) |
Liveliness |
Lively, animated, spontaneous, enthusiastic, happy-go-lucky, cheerful,
expressive, impulsive (Surgency) |
|
Expedient, nonconforming, disregards rules, self-indulgent (Low
Superego Strength) |
Rule-Consciousness |
Rule-conscious, dutiful, conscientious, conforming, moralistic, staid,
rule-bound (High Superego Strength) |
|
Shy,
threat-sensitive, timid, hesitant, intimidated
(Threctia)
|
Social Boldness |
Socially bold, venturesome, thick-skinned, uninhibited, can take stress
(Parmia)
|
|
Utilitarian, objective, unsentimental, tough-minded, self-reliant,
no-nonsense, rough (Harria) |
Sensitivity |
Sensitive, aesthetic, sentimental, tender-minded, intuitive, refined (Premsia) |
|
Trusting, unsuspecting, accepting, unconditional, easy (Alaxia) |
Vigilance |
Vigilant, suspicious, skeptical, wary, distrustful, oppositional (Protension) |
|
Grounded, practical, prosaic, solution-oriented, steady, conventional
(Praxernia)
|
Abstractedness |
Abstracted, imaginative, absent-minded, impractical, absorbed in ideas
(Autia)
|
|
Forthright, genuine, artless, open, guileless, naive, unpretentious,
involved (Artlessness) |
Privateness |
Private, discreet, non-disclosing, shrewd, polished, worldly, astute,
astute, diplomatic (Shrewdness) |
|
Self-assured, unworried, complacent, secure, free of guilt, confident,
self-satisfied (Untroubled) |
Apprehension |
Apprehensive, self-doubting, worried, guilt-prone, insecure, worrying,
self-blaming (Guilt Proneness) |
|
Traditional, attached to familiar, conservative, respecting traditional
ideas (Conservatism) |
Openness to Change |
Open
to change, experimenting, liberal, analytical, critical, free-thinking,
flexibility (Radicalism) |
|
Group-oriented, affiliative, a joiner and follower, dependent (Group
Adherence) |
Self-Reliance |
Self-reliant, solitary, resourceful, individualistic, self-sufficient (Self-Sufficiency) |
|
Tolerates disorder, unexacting, flexible, undisciplined, lax,
self-conflict, impulsive, careless of social rules, uncontrolled (Low
Integration) |
Perfectionism |
Perfectionistic, organized, compulsive, self-disciplined, socially
precise, exacting will power, control, self-sentimental (High
Self-Concept Control) |
|
Relaxed, placid, tranquil, torpid, patient, composed, low drive (Low
Ergic Tension) |
Tension |
Tense, high energy, impatient, driven, frustrated, over-wrought, has high
drive, time-driven (High Ergic Tension) |
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The Global
Factors
The chart
below presents the global factors derived from the sixteen primary factors.
|
Descriptors of Low Range
|
Global Factors
|
Descriptors of High Range
|
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Introverted, socially inhibited |
Extraversion |
Extraverted, social participant |
|
Low
anxiety, unperturbable, adjustment |
Anxiety |
High
anxiety, perturbable, histrionic |
|
Receptive, open-minded, intuitive, emotionality, feeling (Pathemia) |
Tough-Mindedness |
Tough-minded, resolute, unempathetic, tough poise (Cortical Alertness) |
|
Accommodating, agreeable, selfless, subduedness |
Independence
|
Independence, persuasive, willful |
|
Unrestrained, impulsive, uncontrolled |
Self-Control |
Self-controlled, inhibitory of impulses |
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Response Style Indices
The concept
of the response style in test taking refers to the ways in which a
responent reacts to a test and the test-taking atmosphere. Respondents may
function during the test in ways which render the scores on the test suspect.
For example, one respondent may have a tendency to provide socially desirable
answers to items while another may answer with random responses, another may
wish to receive a pathological or undesirable profile, and still another may
perhaps wish to agree with any item placed in front of him or her (a faulty
response style known as acquiescence). One can see how this might occur if you
imagine yourself being screened for a job you really didn't want to begin with.
Perhaps you would provide extreme answers to test items simply to make yourself
appear an undesirable employee.
The 16 PF
is designed to reflect certain response tendencies by incorporating three
response-style indices: Impression Management (IM), Acquiescence (ACQ), and
Infrequency (INF). The table below explains these measures as well as the
meaning of the range of scores.
|
Low Score
Less socially desirable responding or less exaggeration of undesirable
qualities. Though it is difficult to select cutoff scores for every
situation, a score of 4 or below would cast some doubt on the
validity of the test for that respondent. |
Impression Management
(IM)
A
12-item index that measures the global construct of social desirability
(the wish to hide socially undesirable traits), specifically
self-deception (self-denial of attributes one finds psychologically
threatening) and other-deception (misrepresentation of self to others). |
High Score
More socially desirable responding or greater exaggeration of undesirable
qualities. Though it is difficult to set cutoff scores for every
situation, a score 19 or above would cast some doubt on the
validity of the test for that respondent. |
|
Low Score
A
balanced rate of endorsement of a set of items specifically designed to
measure acquiescence. A low need for approval or acceptance. A score on
acquiescence (ACQ) below 41 would place the respondent in a
statistically low group. Interpretation of a low score is difficult to
recommend and would depend on test-taking situation. |
Acquiescence (ACQ)
A
tendency to agree to personality items as self-descriptive regardless of
the content of those items. |
High Score
A
high rate of "true" selection to specific items for acquiescence. It may
indicate a high need for approval or acceptance by the respondent. A score
on acquiescence (ACQ) above 70 may be viewed as suspicious. |
|
Low Scores
There are no suspiciously low scores, since low means low rate of random
responding and is, thus, a good thing. |
Infrequency (INF)
A
measure of nonpurposive or random responding to items on the inventory.
In the 16PF the scale was developed empirically by comparing response
patterns against the typical response patterns of standardizing group of
test takers. The more responses to infrequent response alternatives, the
higher the infrequency score. |
High Score
A
high rate of random responding. Scores above 8 (the manual
recommends 7 as 95% accuracy rate) are above the 95th percentile and
indicate high level of random responding. |
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Copyright © 2005 Office of Institutional Research
University of Richmond
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