Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire
The Sixteen Personality Factor (16PF) Questionnaire is composed of 105 to 187 choice items, requiring the test-taker to respond to a specific situation by selecting one among two or three options. Though it has no time limit, the assessment can be completed in 30 minutes to an hour. Based on Cattell’s sixteen-factor model of personality traits, 16PF is intended is for high school seniors and adults and is more suitable for “normal” population than for the “under-treatment” groups. Sample items for 16PF are as follows:
I make decisions based on:
a. feelings
b. feelings and reason equally
c. reason
Which of the following items is different from the others?
a. candle
b. star
c. light bulb
I find it hard to give a speech to strangers.
a. yes
b. somewhat
c. no
The 16PF indicates 16 attributes of personality plus four additional second-order attributes. Through the years, the assessment has been highly useful in career guidance, vocational training, and occupational testing. However, it has been criticized as limited and with diminished reliability, because the attributes are rooted on only a few items. Reliability correlations were low. But, the validity of this assessment has been positively established. Studies also support that results of this assessment are theory-consistent.
First factor is warmth that signifies being warm and outgoing. Second factor is intelligence referring to abstract thinking and third factor is emotional stability. Fourth factor is dominance with low scores being interpreted as conformity and submissiveness and high scores as dominance and assertiveness. The fifth factor is impulsivity signifying enthusiasm and cheerfulness. The next factors are conformity (or being moralistic), boldness (or being spontaneous), sensitivity (or being tender-minded), suspiciousness (or being opinionated), and imagination (or being unconventional). The assessment also discovers shrewdness (as opposed to being unpretentious), insecurity (as opposed to being confident), radicalism (as opposed to being conservative), self-sufficiency (as opposed to being group-oriented), self-discipline (as opposed to impulsivity), and tension (as opposed to tranquillity and calmness). The four second-order attributes are extraversion (against introversion), anxiety (against calmness), tough poise (against emotionalism), and independence (against dependence).