The Number of Factors in the 16PF: A Review of the Evidence with Special Emphasis on Methodological Problems

Abstract

Critics have occasionally asserted that the number of factors in the 16PF family of tests is too large and that a more parsimonious number of factors adequately explains human personality. This paper discusses areas of misunderstanding with regard to factor-analytic methodology that account for much of this disagreement. It then reviews more than 50 published studies concerned with the dimensionality of the 16PF series of personality instruments. The conclusion is reached that the number of important primaries encapsulated in the 16PF series is no fewer than the stated number. That conclusion is bolstered by new evidence presented that is based on the independent, statistical logic of the maximum likelihood test.