Comparison of three short six-factor personality instruments

Abstract

© 2017 Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad, Serbia.All Rights Reserved. The aim of this research was to validate Serbian adaptations of three short six-factor model measures: 24 Questionnaire Big Six (24QB6), Mini-IPIP6, and Brief HEXACO Inventory (BHI). Besides these measures, HEXACO-100 was applied on a sample of 310 participants (41% of male) from the general population. The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed marginal fit indices for 24QB6, and satisfactory fit indices for Mini-IPIP6, but not for BHI. BHI also had the smallest Cronbach's alphas for the scales, but the highest correlations with matching HEXACO-100 scales, confirming its convergent and discriminant validity. Regarding 24QB6, it was noticeable that all scales were valid, except for Honesty/Propriety, which showed substantial relations with both Honesty-Humility and Conscientiousness. Scales from Mini-IPIP6 had the highest alphas, but also the highest mean inter-item correlation, indicating that they measured a narrower scope of the traits. Also, validity of the Agreeableness scale was limited. Taken together, all the measures had advantages and disadvantages, and authors should choose a short measure in line with the importance of either validity or reliability.