FACTOR STRUCTURE AND PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE INTERNATIONAL PERSONALITY ITEM POOL-NEO (IPIP-NEO) THAI VERSION

Abstract

Objective : The aim of this study was to examine the factor structure and psychometric properties of the IPIP-NEO in the Thai language.

Material and Method: This descriptive research recruited internet users who aged over 18 years old. Participants were asked to complete the IPIP-NEO online. Data was collected from April until November 2014. Descriptive statistics, internal consistency, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis  were  analyzed.  This  study  was  approved  by  the  ethical  committees  of  the  Department  of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London.

Results: Mean age of 309 participants (118 male, 191 female) who took part in this study was 27.48 (SD= 6.2). An initial confirmatory factor analysis showed poor model fit with the a priori five-factor model. Exploratory factor analysis was then conducted to investigate factor structure. This result led to a proposed 30 item version of the IPIP-NEO for Thai, with acceptable fit for the five-factor model χ2 (295) 547.955, p < 0.0001, RMSEA = 0.053, CFI = 0.905 SRMR = 0.037). This 30 item version showed acceptable to good internal consistency (Cronbach’s Alpha for N = .83, E = .76, O = .67, A = .37, C = .73). The 30-item Thai version comprises of 8 items for Neuroticism, 3 items for Extraversion, 5 items for Agreeableness, 6 items for Openness and 8 items for Consciousness.

Conclusion: The original 50-item Thai version of the IPIP-NEO had poor model fit for the a priori five-factor model. Further exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis led to a 30 item version of the IPIP-NEO in the Thai language with acceptable fit with the five-factor model.