A confirmatory factor analysis of the Myers-Briggs type indicator.

Abstract The 95×95 covariance matrix of the Italian edition of the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Form F was subjected to a series of three maximum likelihood confirmatory factor analyses using EQS 3.0 ( Bentler, 1989 ) on a sample of 1798 subjects. The purpose was to try to test the fit of three plausible correlated non-nested factor models: the traditional four-factor model assumed by the 4 MBTI scales (Model 1), a three-factor model (Model 2) corresponding, respectively, to the MBTI EI scale (Factor 1), to the MBTI TF scale (Factor 2) and to the MBTI SN and JP scales (Factor 3), as suggested in a study by Saggino and Kline (1996b) (The location of the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator in personality factor space. Personality and Individual Differences , 21, 591–597) and a five-factor model (Model 3) based on the exploratory work of Saggino and Kline (1995) (Item factor analysis of the Italian version of the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator. Personality and Individual Differences , 19, 243–249) who found five factors. All the three models converged satisfactorily. Model 3 had the best fit to the data, even if its NFI and chi-square/df ratio are lower than one would normally expect.

[1]  P. Bentler,et al.  Significance Tests and Goodness of Fit in the Analysis of Covariance Structures , 1980 .

[2]  O C Tzeng,et al.  Item validity of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. , 1984, Journal of personality assessment.

[3]  P. Bentler.  Comparative Fit Indices in Structural Models , 1990 .

[4]  Christopher P. Parker,et al.  A Comparison of Competing Models Underlying Responses to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator , 1996 .

[5]  M. Browne,et al.  Cross-Validation Of Covariance Structures. , 1983, Multivariate behavioral research.

[6]  C. Schriesheim.  Causal Analysis: Assumptions, Models, and Data , 1982 .

[7]  I. B. Myers.  Manual: A Guide to the Development and Use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator , 1985 .

[8]  P. Kline,et al.  Item factor analysis of the seventy-one experimental items of the Italian version of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator , 1996 .

[9]  P. Costa,et al.  Reinterpreting the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator from the perspective of the five-factor model of personality. , 1989, Journal of personality.

[10]  M. Carlyn,et al.  An assessment of the Myers-Briggs Type indicator. , 1977, Journal of personality assessment.

[11]  J. B. Murray.  Review of Research on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator , 1990 .

[12]  Robert J. Harvey,et al.  Unresolved Issues in the Dimensionality of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator , 1995 .

[13]  Aristide Saggino,et al.  The location of the Myers-Briggs type indicator in personality factor space , 1996 .

[14]  J. G. Carlson.  Recent assessments of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. , 1985, Journal of personality assessment.

[15]  Aristide Saggino,et al.  Item factor analysis of the Italian version of the Myers-Briggs type indicator , 1995 .

[16]  Stephen G. West,et al.  Structural equation models with non-normal variables: Problems and remedies , 1995 .

[17]  B. Muthén.  A general structural equation model with dichotomous, ordered categorical, and continuous latent variable indicators , 1984 .

[18]  Ralph A. Alexander,et al.  Item Analysis of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator , 1985 .

[19]  P. Bentler,et al.  Comparative fit indexes in structural models. , 1990, Psychological bulletin.

[20]  Raymond B. Cattell,et al.  The Radial Parcel Double Factoring Design: A Solution to the Item-Vs-Parcel Controversy , 1975 .

[21]  B. Thompson,et al.  Construct Validity of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator , 1986 .