Examining the factor structure and differential functioning of the Eysenck personality questionnaire revised - Abbreviated

The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised - Abbreviated (EPQR-A). Francis, Brown, and Philipchalk [Francis, L. J., Brown, L. B., & Philipchalk, R. (1992). The development of an abbreviated form of the Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQR-A): its use among students in England, Canada, the USA and Australia. Personality and Individual Differences, 13, 443-449] have presented preliminary data on the reliability of the EPQR-A, however the factor structure has not been evaluated using factor analytic procedures. Also, previous work by Francis [Francis, L. J. (1993). The dual nature of the Eysenckian neuroticism scales: a question of sex differences. Personality and Individual Differences, 15, 43-59] with various forms of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire found significant gender effects on the Neuroticism subscale, however the methodology employed was limited. The present study extends this previous work through the use of structural equation modelling procedures to examine the dimensionality of the EPQR-A in terms of the underlying latent factors and to provide information regarding gender bias at both a latent factor and individual item level. Data from 383 Northern Irish undergraduate university students were examined. Using confirmatory factor analysis, evidence was found for the unidimensionality of the four EPQR-A subscales of Extraversion, Neuroticism, Psychoticism and the Lie Scale. In addition, consistent with previous research findings significant gender effects were found on the Neuroticism, Psychoticism and Lie factors. Males were significantly higher in terms of the Psychoticism factor, and females significantly higher on the Neuroticism and Lie factors. The results are discussed and the implications considered in terms of the benefits of using structural equation modelling over traditional correlational methods for testing factor structure and analysing differential functioning.