South African Personality Inventory: The development of an investigation into the psychometric properties of the intellect cluster A. Labuschagne, HonsBCom Mini-dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Magister Commercii in Industrial Psychology at the North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus) Supervisor: Dr. C. Hill Assistant supervisor: Dr. A. Nel Final edit: Mr. W. Cloete October 2010 Potchefstroo COMMENTS The reader should keep the following in mind: The editorial style as well as the references referred to in this mini-dissertation follow the th format prescribed by the Publication Manual (6 edition) of the American Psychological Association (APA). This practice is in line with the policy of the Programme in Industrial Psychology of the North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, to use the APA style in all scientific documents as of January 1999. The mini-dissertation is submitted in the form of a research article. The editorial style specified by the South African Journal of Industrial Psychology (which agrees largely with the APA style) is used, but the APA guidelines were followed in constructing tables. i DECLARATION I, Antoinette Labuschagne, hereby declare that “South African Personality Inventory: The development of an investigation into the psychometric properties of the intellect cluster” is my own work and that views and opinions expressed in this work are those of the author and relevant literature references as shown in the references. I further declare that the content of this research will not be handed in for any other qualification at any other tertiary institution. ANTOINETTE LABUSCHAGNE OCTOBER 2010 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” Hellen Keller It has been a privilege to be part of the South African Personality Inventory project. I hope my “something” will contribute to the bigger picture of how we view and understand personality in South Africa. I would like to thank the following individuals who supported me throughout: Our Heavenly Father My husband, Hennie Bierman My parents, Henk and Carien Labuschagne My sister, Carlia Labuschagne My two brothers, Rossouw and Louis Labuschagne My grandmother, Corrie Burgers My mentor and supervisor, Dr. Carin Marais My assistant supervisor, Dr. Alewyn Nel iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of appendixes vi List of tables vii Abstract ix Opsomming xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Problem statement 1 1.2 Research objectives 10 1.2.1 General objective 10 1.2.2 Specific objective 10 1.3 Paradigm perspective of the research 11 1.3.1 The intellectual climate 11 1.3.2. Meta-theoretical assumptions 12 1.3.2.1 Literature review 12 1.3.2.2 Empirical study 13 1.3.3 The market of intellectual resources 13 1.3.3.1 Theoretical beliefs 13 1.3.3.2 Methodological beliefs 15 1.4 Research method 16 1.4.1 Literature review 16 1.4.2 Empirical study 16 1.4.2.1 Research design 16 1.4.2.2 Participants and procedure 16 1.4.2.3 Measuring battery 17 1.4.2.4 Statistical analysis 18 1.4.2.5 Ethical considerations 19 1.5 Chapter division 19 iv 1.6 Chapter summary 20 Reference 21 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH ARTICLE 28 CHAPTER 3: CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 3.1 Conclusions 74 3.2 Limitations of this research 78 3.3 Recommendations 79 3.3.1 Recommendations to solve the research problems 79 3.3.2 Recommendations for future research of the SAPI 79 References 81 v LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix Description Page Appendix A Response-derived definitions of the 14 facets of the Intellect cluster 83 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Description Page Table 1 Characteristics of participants (N = 524) 42 Table 2 Descriptive statistics of the 202 items of the Intellect cluster 48 Table 3 Item correlations with facets 53 Table 4 Descriptive statistics, skewness, kurtosis and Cronbach alpha 55 coefficients Table 5 Eigenvalues of the intercorrelation matrix for the Intellect cluster 56 Table 6 Oblique factor pattern matrix of the 14 facets of the Intellect cluster 57 Table 7 Intercorrelations of the first-order factors of the Intellect cluster 58 Table 8 Hierarchical Schmid-Leiman factor solution for the 14 facets of the 58 Intellect cluster Table 9 Factor pattern matrices for White (n = 287) and African groups 60 (n=196) vii LIST OF FIGURES Table Description Page Figure 1 The factor solution of the Intellect cluster. 33 Figure 2. Scree plot and parallel analysis for the Intellect cluster. 57 Figure 3. The revised factor solution of the Intellect cluster 75 . viii ABSTRACT Title: South African Personality Inventory: The development of an investigation into the psychometric properties of the intellect cluster. Key terms: South African Personality Inventory; Personality; Personality measure; Intellect; Race. The Employment Equity Act, 55 of 1998, Section 8 (Government Gazette, 1998) provides clear guidelines for psychometric testing in South Africa. Due to the cultural complexity of the South African population, personality tests in particular do not always comply with these specifications. Most personality tests used in South Africa have been developed in and imported from other countries, and are consequently not always appropriate for all cultural groups. Also, the majority of indigenous personality tests were developed and standardised specifically for the white population. Today a major challenge in personality assessment development is to develop and standardise inventories for the 11 official language groups in South Africa. The objectives of this study were to develop valid and reliable items for an Intellect-measuring instrument that will form part of a larger personality inventory, to investigate the factor solution of this Intellect cluster, and to compare the factor solutions of the white and African race groups respectively. An Intellect questionnaire consisting of 202 items was developed based on the qualitative phase of the South African Personality Inventory (SAPI). This research served as a pilot study. The sample consisted of (N=524) students from tertiary institutions in the Gauteng and the North West Provinces of South Africa. A quantitative design with an exploratory approach was used to collect data. Statistical analysis was used to analyse the data. The results indicated that only 18 of the original 202 items proved to be unreliable. Acceptable reliability levels for all facets were found. First-order factor analysis produced two sub-clusters: Aesthetics and Intellect. The Aesthetics sub-cluster consisted of the Artistic, Concrete work and Creative facets, and the Intellect sub-cluster consisted of the Intellect, Knowledgeable, Logical, Self-insight, Articulate, Competent, Enterprising, Perceptive, Social Intellect and Understanding facets. Second-order factor analysis indicated a single-order factor for the Intellect cluster with two second-order factors: Aesthetics and Intellect. Support was found to discard the Musical and ix