The Factor Structure of the Personality Research Form: A Cross-National Evaluation

ABSTRACT The present research examined the generalizability of the factor structure of the Personality Research Form (PRF) across various populations. A common methodology was used for factoring 18 data bases from largely differing samples (including data from one Asian and two European countries). In accordance with previous research results, five factors were rotated in every case and compared with two target factor solutions. A mean congruence coefficient of .93 as well as similar proportions of variance explained by the factors in the various populations indicated a large amount of generalizability for that structure. An alternative but similar structure, which had been interpreted in terms of the so-called "Big Five" factors of personality, proved to be only slightly less generalizable. It was concluded that the fairly abstract constructs of both PRF factor structures are useful for describing personality in the cultures under study, leaving room for the possibility of more subtle or specific differences between the populations.