An investigation of the factor structure of the 16PF, Version 5: A confirmatory factor and invariance analysis.

In order to examine its higher-order factor structure, we applied confirmatory factor and invariance analysis to item level data from the US standardization sample of the 16PF5, divided into a calibration sample (N = 5130) and a validation sample (N = 5131). Using standard assessments of model fit, all primary factors displayed good to excellent model fit, thus suggesting the scales to be broadly unidimensional. Results indicated a drop in model fit in both the structural and configurally invariant second order models, suggesting some level of misspecification in the global scales of Extraversion, Anxiety, Tough Mindedness, Independence and Self-Control. However, the degree of misspecification was slight. Overall, the analyses generally supported the proposed structure of the 16PF5.