Item Factor Structure of the Personality Adjective Check List

This study reports on a principal-components analysis of the Personality Adjective Check List (PACL) at the item level. Data came from a national sample of normal adults and included the responses-of 1,058 men and 1,194 women (N = 2,252). Analyses were conducted separately for men and women, and for the sexes combined. The scree test was applied to decide on the number of factors to extract. Retained factors were rotated by varimax and direct oblimin procedures. Results were very similar for each analysis, with coefficients of congruence for the five orthogonal factors obtained from men and women separately being .95, .92, .94, .94, and .92. The five unipolar personality dimensions isolated were interpreted as Aggressive/Dominant, Neurotic, Conscientious, Detached/Introverted, and Surgent/Extraverted. These were compared to item factors of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-I), MCMI-II, Adjective Check List (ACL), and to Norman's Big Five dimensions.     

Factor structure of items from the personality Adjective Check List in a sample of normal adolescents

We present the results of a principal-components analysis of the Personality Adjective Check List (PACL) at the item level, rather than at the scale level. The PACL was constructed by Strack (1987) to evaluate the personality scales proposed by Millon (1981). Data were obtained from a sample of normal adolescents. A scree test was applied to determine the number of factors to be extracted, and the retained factors were then rotated using a varimax procedure. Using the data from this second analysis, congruence coefficients were calculated by correlating the factor weights from the two analyses of men and women. Results reveal the existence in the whole sample of five unipolar personality factors, which we have called: Aggressive, Conscientious, Inhibited, Impulsive and Gregarious. These are not similar to those obtained from a sample of normal adults.     

Three Approaches to Interpersonal Behavior and Their Common Factors

This study examined the factor dimensions common to three different approaches to interpersonal behavior- the interpersonal circle, Millon's theory of personality, and a factor analytic (FA) approach. These were compared with the Norman (1963) "Big Five" factors. Measures employed were the revised Wiggins (1979) Interpersonal Adjective Scales, Strack's Personality Adjective Check List (1990), and the short form of the Lorr (1986) Interpersonal Style Inventory. Subjects were 146 college students (83 men and 63 women). A principal components analysis with varimax rotation revealed four distinct factors, based on a scree test, that accounted for 55.4% of the variance: Dominance-Submission, Extraversion-Introversion, Conscientiousness, and Agreeable-Disagreeable. Each of the models measured the circumplex axes of dominance and affiliation, but only the Millon (1969/1983) and FA approaches measured more than these elements, with the FA paradigm most sufficiently addressing all four. Dominance-Submission, the largest factor, was not explicit in the Big Five. Results suggest that earlier studies isolating five factors of personality may not have adequately represented this dimension.     

Profile clusters for men and women on the personality adjective check list

This study examined the major personality profiles found for men and women on the Personality Adjective Check List (Strack, 1991b). Subjects were 1,058 men and 1,194 women from a number of samples of normal adults (Strack, 1991b). Ward's (1963) agglomerative hierarchical procedure yielded five clusters for men and four for women that were replicated in subsequent K-means nonhierarchical analyses. Correlates of cluster membership obtained from subgroups of subjects on four personality measures provided strong evidence for the classification.     

Profile Clusters for Men and Women on the Personality Adjective Check List

This study examined the major personality profiles found for men and women on the Personality Adjective Check List (Strack, 1991b). Subjects were 1,058 men and 1,194 women from a number of samples of normal adults (Strack, 1991b). Ward's (1963) agglomerative hierarchical procedure yielded five clusters for men and four for women that were replicated in subsequent K-means nonhierarchical analyses. Correlates of cluster membership obtained from subgroups of subjects on four personality measures provided strong evidence for the classification.     

Factor analysis of MCMI-II and PACL basic personality scales in a college sample

This study examined factor dimensions common to the eight basic personality scales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II; Millon, 1987) and Personality Adjective Check List (PACL; Strack, 1987, 1990). Subjects were 140 college students (65 men and 75 women). MCMI-II weighted raw scores (WRS) and WRS corrected for number of items endorsed true by regression were employed for analysis along with PACL T-scores. Principal components analyses with varimax and direct oblimin rotations were carried out separately on the two sets of MCMI-II and PACL scores. MCMI-II and PACL scales measuring the same personalities were usually correlated most highly with each other, although some divergences were noted. WRS yielded three bipolar dimensions and a fourth unipolar method factor that loaded only the five MCMI-II scales that were strongly correlated with number of items endorsed true. Residual scores yielded a more meaningful set of three bipolar dimensions labeled Social Introversion-Extraversion, Emotionality-Restraint, and Social Dominance-Submissiveness, without the method factor, that were very similar to personality dimensions found separately in the two tests. More research is needed to clarify the response bias issue in the MCMI-II and to further explicate similarities and differences between the MCMI-II and the PACL.     

Factor Analysis of MCMI-II and PACL Basic Personality Scales in a College Sample

This study examined factor dimensions common to the eight basic personality scales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxiat Inventory-II (MCMI-II; Millon, 1987) and Personality Adjective Check List (PACL; Strack, 1987, 1990). Subjects were 140 college students (65 men and 75 women). MCMI-II weighted raw scores (WRS) and WRS corrected for number of items endorsed true by regression were employed for analysis along with PACL T-scores. Principal components analyses with varimax and direct oblimin rotations were carried out separately on the two sets of MCMI-II and PACL scores. MCMI-II and PACL scales measuring the same personalities were usually correlated most highly with each other, although some divergences were noted. WRS yielded three bipolar dimensions and a fourth unipolar method factor that loaded only the five MCMI-II scales that were strongly correlated with number of items endorsed true. Residual scores yielded a more meaningful set of three bipolar dimensions labeled Social IntroversionExtraversion, Emotionality-Restraint, and Social Dominance-Submissiveness, without the method factor, that were very similar to personality dimensions found separately in the two tests. More research is needed to clarify the response bias issue in the MCMI-II and to further explicate similarities and differences between the MCMI-II and the PACL.     

Dimensionality of the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List-Revised: A comparison of factor analytic procedures

The purpose of the study was to determine the factor structure of the revised Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL-R). The data from 307 undergraduate students who completed the MAACL-R were factor analyzed using both principal-components and principal-axis techniques. Based upon research with the original MAACL, two- and five-factor solutions to the MAACL-R factor structure were examined. The principal-components and principal-axis techniques yielded similar item loadings for each solution and the results of both techniques indicated the superiority of the two-factor solution. The two identified factors could be best characterized as representing independent dimensions of negative and positive affect. These findings are interpreted as providing support for the use of the MAACL-R summary scores of Dysphoria and PASS (Positive Affect and Sensation Seeking) rather than for the use of the five MAACL-R subscales.     

Assessing Personality and Mood With Adjective Check List Methodology: A Review

This article addresses the benefits and problems in using adjective check list methodology to assess personality. Recent developments in this assessment method are reviewed, emphasizing seminal adjective-based personality tests (Gough's Adjective Check List), mood tests (Lubin's Depressive Adjective Test, Multiple Affect Adjective Check List), applications to the Five-Factor Model (Goldberg's "markers"; Wiggins's Interpersonal Adjective Test–Revised), and more recent use of this methodology in personality assessment (Strack's Personality Adjective Check List). Strengths and issues in using this methodology in personality assessment, including issues in international applications, are discussed.     

Relationship between Psychological Needs and the Five-Factor Model of Personality Classification

The relationship between psychological needs, operationalized by the Adjective Check List (ACL), and the Five-Factor model of personality classification, operationalized by the NEO-PI-R, was evaluated in 147 (101 women and 46 men) psychology graduate students. We found presence of the Five Factors in the ACL in that 30 of 37 ACL scales correlated greater than 40 with at least one of the NEO-PI-R factors. This replicates and extends previous findings and is further evidence of construct validity of the five-factor model, as it pertains to personality classification.     

Convergent and discriminant validity of selected masculinity and femininity scales

Using Campbell and Fiske's (1959) multitrait-multimethod matrix technique and Jackson's (1975) multimethod factor analysis, convergent and discriminant validity were investigated for masculinity and femininity scales from the Adjective Check List, Bem Sex Role Inventory, and PRF ANDRO Scale as compared with measures of dominance and nurturance. Results indicated very good convergent and discriminant validity for the masculinity and femininity scales from the Adjective Check List and Bem Inventory, but not for the PRF ANDRO Scale. Implications of these results for research on sex roles and psychological androgyny are discussed.     

The Adjective Check List as a predictor of lifelong learning in the human service professions

The purpose of this study was to identify personality characteristics, using The Adjective Check List, that could be used to predict lifelong learners in the human service professions. 143 professionals responded to The Adjective Check List and a demographic form. 23 of the scales were subjected to principal factor analysis followed by a varimax rotation. Multiple regression was applied to the extracted factors to predict the average number of hours spent in learning activities per month. Characteristics identified were insufficient to develop a profile of lifelong learners. Only one factor-Organized-significantly correlated with the amount of time human service professionals spent in learning activities over the past year.     

The Adjective Check List Applied to Older Institutionalized Men

The assessment of the personality of the institutionalized aged presents many difficulties, since not all are capable of responding to the usual inventories. The Adjective Check List (ACL) has been considered a simple, flexible technique overcoming these difficulties. Seventy older men were evaluated on the ACL through self-reports and reports of their supervisors. Residents with disciplinary problems were described on a number of dimensions including aggression and need for change. Intelligence-personality relationships were found that were consistent with those found in children. The method appears capable of eliciting the negative self-perceptions of those who have early institutionalization.     

Educational Aspirations: The Contribution of Personality, Self-Efficacy, and Interests

In a sample of 365 college students, the authors examined the incremental role of personality, self-efficacy, and interests in explaining level of educational aspirations. Measures were the Adjective Check List (ACL) (Gough & Heilbrun, 1983), the Skills Confidence Inventory (Betz, Borgen, & Harmon, 1996), and the six General Occupational Themes (GOTs) of the Strong Interest Inventory (Harmon, Hansen, Borgen, & Hammer, 1994). The Big Five personality dimensions were estimated from the ACL using John's (1990) method. The authors predicted that each of these domains would make independent contributions to explaining level of educational aspirations (1= bachelor's, 2= master's, and 3= doctorate). Sequentially, following Lent, Brown, and Hackett's (1994) social cognitive career theory, blocks of the Big Five, six General Conference Themes, and six GOTs were entered into a hierarchical regression predicting educational level. With the addition of each block, R² rose from .10, to .26, to .29 for the total sample; similar incremental predictions were obtained separately for women (.13, .29, and .32) and men (.13, .30, and .37).     

Personality characteristics of dyslexic and nondyslexic adults

Dyslexic persons have developmental abnormalities in reading, writing, speech, or more than one area. To study differences in personality characteristics 25 each dyslexic and nondyslexic men and women, ranging in age from 21 to 73 years, completed the 300-word Adjective Check List. Analysis indicated significant differences between the two groups on 15 of 37 adjectives. Dyslexic men scored significantly lower than nondyslexic men on the Favorable Adjectives checked, Achievement, Dominance, Intraception, Heterosexuality, Self-confidence, Personal Adjustment, Ideal Self, and Military Leadership scales, and they scored significantly higher than nondyslexic men on the Adapted Child scale. Nondyslexic women scored significantly higher than dyslexic women on the Counseling Readiness and the High Origence/High Intellectence scales and significantly lower on the Nurturance, Nurturing Parent, and Feminine Attributes scales.     

Additional study of the Youth-Depression Adjective Check List

Replicated and extended aspects of determinations of reliability and validity for the State version of the Youth-Depression Adjective Check List. Students from Grades 9 through 12 (64 girls and 41 boys) completed the State version and the Adolescent Activities Checklist on each of 12 consecutive days and completed the Trait version, the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale, the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List--Revised Grade 6, and the Adolescent Activities Checklist at the beginning and the end of the study. Good reliability and validity of the State version were confirmed and extended, and preliminary information on characteristics of the Trait version of the Youth-Depression Adjective Check List also was presented. The State version seems suitable for use in research with adolescents and preadolescents. More study of the Trait version is recommended.     

Three narcissism scales for the California Q-set.

Three observer-based narcissism scales were developed from factor scores based on a California Q-set (CAQ) narcissism prototype. Each of the three scales--Willfulness, Hypersensitivity, and Autonomy--correlated with observer and self-report narcissism measures in the derivation sample of 105 women and a cross-validation sample of 175 men and 175 women. California Psychological Inventory (CPI), Adjective Check List (ACL), and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) correlates and partner ACL ratings suggested that the Willfulness scale represents self-assuredness, rebelliousness, and exhibitionism characteristic of overt or phallic narcissism. The correlates of the Hypersensitivity scale included depression and introversion along with rebelliousness and hostility, indicative of covert narcissism. The Autonomy scale was correlated positively with creativity, empathy, achievement-orientation, and individualism, and thus assesses a healthy variant of narcissism.     

Personality Characteristics of Achieving and Underachieving High Ability Senior Women

This study utilized the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) and the Gough Adjective Check List (ACL) in an investigation of the relationship between personality characteristics and academic achievement in gifted university women. Several scales of the CPI differentiated achievers from underachievers. In addition, achieving and underachieving women described themselves differently on the ACL. As defined in this study, the achieving women were more highly socialized than the underachieving women.     

中国人人格结构的确认与形容词评定结果

中西方的人格结构既存在相似性,又有明显的差异性。该研究根据杨国枢和王登峰探讨中国人人格结构的“大七”模型时所用的中文人格特质形容词表,经过化简,由410个形容词压缩为273个;并扩大了被试量,由原来的733人（项目与人数比为1:1.8）扩大为1511人（项目与人数比为1:5.5）。采用相同的评定方法、评定程序和统计方法,得到了完全相同的人格结构。采用另外的样本进行的验证性因素分析也确认了中国人人格的七因素结构。由此揭示了中国人的人格结构及其与西方理论的差异,为系统研究中国人的人格特点和编制测量量表奠定了扎实的基础。文中还比较了大学生被试和社会人士在各个因素上的分数差异。