Stability of Personality Trait Rating Factors Obtained Under Diverse Conditions

Abstract : Peer ratings by officer candidates on specific personality traits have been shown to be predictive of later officer performance. The present study investigated personality trait ratings to determine their factorial structure and the extent to which the factors remained constant in spite of differences in samples, raters, lengths of acquaintanceship, and rating situation. Six intercorrelation matrices were factored and the resulting factors rotated to orthogonal simple structure. Five clearly defined personality factors were found in each analysis which remained relatively invariant through all analyses. The factors were identified as Surgency, Agreeableness, Dependability, Emotional Stability, and Culture. It was concluded that the factor structure of personality trait ratings is sufficiently invariant that such trait ratings may be regarded as adequate criteria for the study of personality differences and for test development purposes.