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16 personality factors

Cognitive Psychology (Southern New Hampshire University)

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16 Personality Factor

Southern New Hampshire University

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16 Personality Factor

Abstract

The 16PF entails a comprehensive questionnaire measure of standard behavioral range.

Even though the measure was not established to evaluate psychopathology, it has been applied

effectively and comprehensively in various clinical settings because if its capacity to produce an

integrated, in-depth picture of the whole individual comprising both distinct weaknesses and

strengths. In different real-life circumstances, the 16PF Questionnaire can be utilized to ascertain

forms of behavior. For instance, its application may help to understand a person’s capability for

empathy, coping patters, self-esteem, interpersonal needs, prospective attitude concerning

authority and power, occupational preference, and cognitive processing pattern. Due to this

extensive scope, the results of 16PF have been applied widely in various settings such as career

development, counseling, clinical, industrial, and research.

Introduction

The 16PF was developed by Dr. Heather Cattell, Dr. Raymond Cattell, and Karen Cattell

and was initially released in the year 1949. The Questionnaire is a personality-testing tool, which

was designed to examine the sixteen personality qualities for any person of over 16 years. The

methodology has several other versions, which consist of the 16PFcouples counseling

questionnaire, 16PF Adolescent, Personality Questionnaire, and finally, the Spanish-American

Questionnaire. The 16PF can be predominantly efficient in managed care backgrounds in which

psychotherapists do not have adequate time to come up with an understanding of the underlying

personality structure of their clients. The test is significant in determining which treatment

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patterns are suitable for various clients. This paper aims at discussing the concept of 16PF and its

importance and reliability to determine the personality traits of individuals.

Description and development of 16PF

The personality test was developed from an unfamiliar standpoint among personality

checks. Many tests of personality are created to evaluate the pre-convinced characters that

various theorists find of importance (Yang, Liu, Hou, & Guo, 2016). The major contributor to the

16PF, Raymond Cattell, aimed at developing the Questionnaire to establish the nature and

number of the significant behaviors of human personality and to initiate an approach of

measuring these dimensions. According to Raymond, the creation of the test was attempting to

develop measures of T –data (information from objective criteria), which was adequate. Cattel

worked with other scientists like Charles Spearman, who was creating a factor analysis to assist

in his search to ascertain the fundamental factors of human capacity. Cattell reasoned that the

personalities of humans must have universal, underlying, and necessary dimensions, just as the

world has fundamental structural blocks. Raymond thought that if these fundamental elements of

human personality could be revealed and assessed, the concept of human behavior would thus

become more predictable and understandable.

The tool is a powerful medium of gauging a person's work strengths and styles to

separate the best talent to assist in achieving organizational goals. Many peer-reviewed articles

have embraced this technique. As a measure of personality traits that evaluates how people

interact with others, the 16 attributes have been grouped into five global factors that outline the

overview of personality to encompass self-control, anxiety, tough-mindedness, extraversion, and

independence. The sixteen assessment measures consist of;

Warmth Liveliness Vigilance

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Dominance Emotional stability Self-reliance

Reasoning Abstractness Apprehensiveness

Rule-consciousness Openness to change Tension

Social boldness Perfectionism

Sensitivity Privateness

The Questionnaire enables individuals to dig deeper for insights. All the mentioned 16 factors

establish a firm foundation of information for forecasting future performance and behavior.

Uses and applications

Due to the strong scientific setting, the Questionnaire has been applied in a widespread

setting from clinical, industrial, educational, and research. The 16PF is a powerful technique for

employee selection, coaching, promotion, and development due to its capability of producing

objective and comprehensive information in an effective way. Although the method is a measure

personality normal-range, it can be utilized in various clinical settings to give an integrated, in-

depth depiction of an individual. Thus, numerous experts have encouraged the use of 16PF in

medical environments as the technique has assisted clients in developing self-awareness,

identifying suitable therapeutic plans, ascertaining appropriate adjustment issues, and planning

developmental objectives.

What 16PF measures

This technique measures normal personalities and has been utilized by health experts,

including psychologists, as a clinical tool to assist in diagnosing psychiatric disorders, therapy

planning, and prognosis (Hart, 2018). The 16PF gives medical professionals with a normal range

assessment of emotional stability, anxiety, adjustment, and behavioral issues. In addition, the tool

can be maximized in other disciplines of psychology like occupational selection and career.

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Strengths

The test requires less time to administer and interpret the results, and its options for five

distinct reports provide additional test utility in an extensive diversity of settings. The couple’s is

counselling report comprises of a narrative summary that is easy to understand for the purpose of

sharing. The test increases awareness and confidence by evaluating the strengths of an individual

and making the appropriate selection decisions and establishing investments because of the

detailed scope of insight and authentication (Williamson, & Lounsbury, 2016). Thus, the tool is

significant is our daily lives as it tells us what to do and delivers an objective evaluation of

personality traits that enables us to choose and nature the individuals who will assist our

organizations succeed and thrive in today’s business world.

Weaknesses

Since the association between the traits measured and test items is not clear, it becomes

problematic for the user to modify responses to attain desired results purposely. There is some

evidence of cultural and language disadvantages in the latest version of the tool that may limit

user experience. Any candidate wishing to take the test must prepare. This tool is also prone to

fake information during the interviews that may later give wrong results. As much as the tool has

been encouraged for clinical use, more questions still arise regarding the validity and reliability

of the test results.

Reliability and validity

Reliability ratings that range from good to moderate have been stated for the 16PF. A

study conducted founded on a sample of 10,261 people, the results on the internal uniformity

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consistencies for the principal scales average 0.76, plus for all 16 scales, a range between 0.68

and 0.87. For the international scale, the estimates for internal consistencies are not right due to

the diverse nature as weighted aggregates of major scales. Nonetheless, the latest developed

calculations for estimating internal consistency in diverse aggregates were used, and a mean of

0.87 above five universal scales obtained. Research studies have also supported construct

validity, with tests applicable to career development, counseling, clinical problems, and

personality assessment that have been recommended (Bartel, 2017). One primary validity source

for the test has been factor-analytic research of the organization of the primary and international

behaviors across varied samples of individuals. These researches have applied confirmatory and

descriptive factor analysis to ascertain the independence, number, and identity of the principal

factors; and to determine the status, quantity, and principal factor make-up of the universal

elements. Thus, the validity and reliability of the 16PF has been established based on correlations

with scales on other tools and has been supported with rigorous research studies.

Administration

The administration of the 16PF tests takes around 35 – 50 minutes for the version of

paper and pencil. For the computer version, it takes 30 minutes. The instruction of the test is

straightforward and simple, and there is no time restriction while undertaking the test. The test is

self-administrable and can be taken as a group or individual depending on preference. There are

other tests for younger generations as this 16PF test was meant for adults above sixteen years of

age. 16PF has been translated into other languages to enhance administration across various

dialects (Franke, 2017). The 16PF has been adapted culturally in multiple countries with

consistency data been locally obtained and presented in distinct manuals.

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Conclusion

The 16PF has been seen as a wide-ranging and broadly applied test of personalities of

individuals that was developed from a factor analysis study into fundamental structural

components of personality. Now in its 5th edition, the methodology is founded on Cattell’s theory

of multi-level personality and examines sixteen principal factors. Summaries from the test

reliability and validity indicate that the 16PF provides reliable information for effective use in

various contexts. Therefore, the 16PF proves to be an effective tool that assists individuals in

understanding their behaviors and building confidence concerning behavioral issues, which is

vital in helping in dealing with various situations in life.

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References

Bartel, J. D. (2017). An Examination of the 16PF Demographic Variables as Predictors of the

Scale For Accurate Personality Prediction (SAPP).

Franke, K. (2017). Multidimensional Adaptive Personality Assessment: A Real-data

Demonstration Using the 16PF Questionnaire. Illinois Institute of Technology.

Hart, M. C. (2018). 16PF Couples Counseling Report: Predictors of Marital Satisfaction,

Personality Similarity, and Relationship Adjustment of Females in Marital Therapy.

Williamson, J. M., & Lounsbury, J. W. (2016). Distinctive 16 PF personality traits of

librarians. Journal of Library Administration, 56(2), 124-143.

Yang, L., Liu, J., Hou, X., & Guo, X. (2016). Evaluation of sixteen-personality factor

questionnaire to establish Personality Characteristics Questionnaire and post personality

model of nurses. Chinese Journal of Practical Nursing, 32(17), 1289-1293.

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Southern New Hampshire University pg. 9

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