Comrey Personality Scales

The Comrey Personality Scales (CPS), developed by factor analysis, is a personality inventory of 180 multiple-choice items. Each item uses one of two possible 7-choice answer scales. Scale X has the following possible answers: 7 (always), 6 (very frequently), 5 (frequently), 4 (occasionally), 3 (rarely), 2 (very rarely), and 1 (never). Scale Y has the following possible answers: 7 (definitely), 6 (very probably), 5 (probably), 4 (possibly), 3 (probably not), 2 (very probably not), and 1 (definitely not). A sample item using the X scale is “I love to work long hours.” The CPS is published by the Educational and Industrial Testing Service (www.edits.net).

The CPS measures eight major factors of personality that were identified through a unique set of factor analytic methods and procedures. First, a collection of factored homogeneous item dimensions (FHIDs) was developed by culling ideas for important personality variables from many existing personality inventories and other sources. Then, each personality concept was defined in clear terms. Next, multiple-choice items were written that were deemed possible measures of each construct. Seven-choice items were chosen because seven proved to be optimal for giving good item response distributions and reliable items while not demanding too much from a respondent. Each FHID consisted of two items that were positively stated and two items that were negatively stated with respect to the construct dimension. This process was carried out for a large number of potentially useful constructs.

Next, item factor analyses were conducted in which the variables were items from six or more possibly useful constructs. If a factor was identified by the items measuring a given hypothesized construct, and no other, the items identifying that factor were considered an FHID and a way of measuring that dimension. Many factor analyses were conducted, and items and dimensions were refined, culled, discarded, and replaced until a substantial number of FHIDs were selected. In these analyses, great care was exercised to make sure that each FHID was conceptually distinct from each other FHID in the analysis.

The number of factors that emerged in analyses of conceptually distinct FHIDs was found to be strictly limited. In fact, the author's extensive empirical investigations succeeded in turning up only eight major factors. These eight factors constitute the personality taxonomy on which the CPS is based. They are as follows: trust versus defensiveness (T), orderliness versus lack of compulsion (O), social conformity versus rebelliousness (C), activity versus lack of energy (A), emotional stability versus neuroticism (S), extraversion versus introversion (E), mental toughness versus sensitivity (M), and empathy versus egocentrism (P). Each of these major personality factors has been identified in previous studies under one name or another. CPS is unique because of the particular combination of factors that makes up its taxonomy and because each factor has been identified by a compelling rationale.

The CPS taxonomy has been validated with various kinds of samples in many different cultural settings. Factorial validity has been extensively documented for the eight CPS factors. These factors have been shown to be useful for predicting outcomes with respect to a number of different practical criteria. The clinical significance of CPS scores, particularly extreme scores, high and low, has been well documented. Brief descriptions and summaries of relevant published articles are given in the Manual and Handbook of Interpretations referenced below. A description of the factor analytic procedures used in developing the CPS is given in A First Course in Factor Analysis.

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