Factor analysis and principal component analysis are usually followed
by simple structure rotations of the loadings. These rotations optimiz
e a certain criterion (e.g., varimax, oblimin), designed to measure th
e degree of simple structure of the pattern matrix. Simple structure c
an be considered optimal if a (usually large) number of pattern elemen
ts is exactly zero. In the present paper, a class of oblique rotation
procedures is proposed to rotate a pattern matrix such that it optimal
ly resembles a matrix which has an exact simple pattern. It is demonst
rated that this method can recover relatively complex simple structure
s where other well-known simple structure rotation techniques fail.