My Personality Scale:

Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis

PSY137 – Personality 2
Confirmatory Factor Analysis
• It is used to test whether measures of
a construct are consistent with a researcher's
understanding of the nature of that construct
(or factor).

• the objective of confirmatory factor analysis is

to test whether the data fit a hypothesized
measurement model.
Confirmatory Factor Analysis
• the researcher first develops a
hypothesis about what factors s/he believes
are underlying the measures s/he has used.

• If you intend to come up with a scale on

personality dispositions, and you hypothesize
that there are 3 unrelated concepts under
this, then you can create a model to show this.
Steps
1. Choose a model / theory

• Choose a theory or a hypothesis within that

theory as the basis for coming up with your
scale.
Steps
2. Come up with statements that would
correspond to each domain of that construct.

• E.g. Moving Toward People – I feel the need to

be approved of constantly.
• Moving Against People – I feel the need to
criticize every person I meet.
• Moving Away from people – I don’t like being
too close to people.
Steps
3. Come up with 100 statements all in all.

• If you have 4 domains under that construct, then

you should come up with 25 items per domain.
• It would be helpful to have equal items for all
domains.
• This would ensure that the test encompasses the
construct being measured.
• Make sure the test will have a likert scale format.
Steps
4. Have the test with the items validated by an
expert.

• Prepare a short description of the theory you

are using.
• Define each domain you intend to measure in
your personality test.
• The validator will suggest revisions on how to
develop your scale better.
Steps
5. After revising the test according to the
validator’s specifications, administer it to no less
than 200 participants.

• Make sure the participants are representative

of your intended population.
• Having 200 participants will have a better
chance of arriving at significance.
Steps
6. After pilot testing, plot the scores on excel.
Steps
7. Create a covariance matrix for your data on
excel.
- get the mean scores per domain.
- click data analysis
- click covariance
- type ‘Means’, ‘Std. Dev.’, ‘Cases” (how many
participants), and ‘Matrix’ (4)
Highlight only the values, not the case
numbers (first column), then click ok.
 SOCIAL PHYSICAL EMOTIONAL ACADEMIC
SOCIAL 0.154221203
PHYSICAL 0.086914231 0.15630654
EMOTIONAL0.089233513 0.07328899 0.13642979
ACADEMIC 0.099344836 0.08183363 0.08541742 0.2304841
Means
Std. Dev.
Cases 445
Matrix 4
Steps
8. Subject your covariance matrix to statistica.
Open the file (covariance matrix)
Click on case names for column and
rows, then click ok.
Click “statistics”, then Advanced Linear/NonLinear
models, then structural equation modeling
Click “path wizards”
Click “confirmatory factor analysis”
then click “ok”.
Type your latent variables then click on “vars” then
choose 1 domain in “select manifest variables”
until all domains are placed.
After all domains are included in
manifest variables, click OK.
Click “append this model to existing
program” then click ok.
It should look like this. Click “ok (run
model)
It should appear this way. Click “ok”
It should look like this. Then click
“summary”.
It should look like this.Click “structural
equation below (indicated).
Click “advanced”
Click on “Goodness-Of-Fit Indices” then click
“non-centrality-based indices”
Evaluating Model Fit
• several statistical tests are used to determine
how well the model fits to the data.

• Note that a good fit between the model and

the data does not mean that the model is
“correct”, or even that it explains a large
proportion of the covariance.

• A “good model fit” only indicates that the

model is plausible.
Cronbach Alpha
• coefficient of internal consistency.
– It measures whether several items that propose to
measure the same general construct produce similar
scores.

– For example, if a respondent expressed agreement

with the statements "I like to ride bicycles" and "I've
enjoyed riding bicycles in the past", and disagreement
with the statement "I hate bicycles", this would be
indicative of good internal consistency of the test.

• It is commonly used as an estimate of

the reliability of a psychometric test for a sample
of examinees.
Steps
9. Compute for the Cronbach Alpha.
Click statistics, then “multivariate exploratory
analysis”, then “reliability/item analysis”/
Click “variables”, then click “select all”,
then click “ok”
Click “ok”
Clicl “summary: item-total statistics”
Check the cronbach alpha. If it is .80
and higher, it means the scale you
developed is reliable and consistent.
Requirements
1. Background of the Theory
2. Definition of Construct and sub-variables you
intend to measure.
3. 1st draft of the test (prior to validation)
4. Validated test instrument
5. Excel sheet of score
6. Statistica printscreen of CFA
7. Statistica printscreen of Cronbach Alpha