How was factor analysis used during the development of the Big Five Model?

What will be an ideal response?


Answer: Factor analysis is a way of analyzing words that are correlated with each other to see which items form clusters of adjectives. This statistical technique was used by researchers to determine the Big Five traits. The development of the Big Five was guided by the lexical hypothesis, which is the idea that traits important for survival and reproduction became embedded in our language as single words. The more of these trait words, the more important the trait should be. Researchers recorded all of the adjectives in the English-language dictionary that could be used to describe people. They screened out words referring to temporary stages or social evaluations. They then had people rate themselves on these adjectives. Using factor analysis, they analyzed which words correlated with each other and formed clusters of adjectives—hence the Big Five.

Psychology

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