EFFECTS OF VARIABLE SELECTION ON THE FACTOR STRUCTURE OF PERSON DESCRIPTORS

Previous factor-analytic studies of lexical person descriptors have pr oduced some recurrent patterns of results, but their integration has b een hampered by divergences in variable sampling, such as disparate cr iteria for what is considered a personality descriptor. To isolate eff ects of variable selection on factor structures, 500 of the most famil iar English person descriptors were identified. Fifteen judges provide d reliable classifications of these adjectives as disposition, state, social evaluation, or physical-appearance terms. Analyses of adult sel f-ratings (N = 700) and acquaintance ratings (N = 201) led to a stable Big Five structure when disposition terms, or combined disposition an d state terms, were analyzed, Including a wider range of terms led to two additional stable factors: Attractiveness and a factor resembling Big Seven Negative Valence. A stable 3-factor solution was relatively impervious to variable-selection effects.