Item and scale factor analyses of the occupational personality questionnaire

Matthews, Gerald and Stanton, Neville (1994) Item and scale factor analyses of the occupational personality questionnaire. Personality and Individual Differences, 16 (5), 733-743. (doi:10.1016/0191-8869(94)90214-3).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The factor structure of Saville and Holdsworth Ltd.'s (SHL) Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ) was investigated in two samples of 1000 subjects each. Parallel analysis and computation of the minimum average partial were used to determine number of factors. Factor analysis of items suggested that a 21-factor solution may be preferable to 31- and 14-dimensional systems proposed by SHL. Further analysis of scales corresponding to the 21 factors showed that most had satisfactory internal consistency, factor validity and replicability across the two samples. Factor analysis of the 31 OPQ scales indicated that a 5- or 6-factor solution was optimal. Both factor models resembled the SHL Pentagon model. The 5-factor solution was equivalent to the ‘Big Five’ model of personality super-factors, to which the 6-factor solution added a further dimension of Activity. The 6-factor solution appeared to be more strongly replicable across samples, and was more useful in resolving the structural positions of factors related to work motivation. Some modifications to SHL's original structural models appear to be necessary, but the questionnaire provides the basis for a satisfactory system of primary and secondary trait factors in the occupational domain.

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