Factor analysis and initial validation of the Personal Values Inventory
Abstract
The study of values is central to the understanding of both individuals and cultures. Theorists in a number of fields have emphasized the importance of people's value priorities in understanding and predicting attitudinal and behavioral decisions. However, there is a lack of instruments specifically developed to measure core personal values. This study introduces the Personal Values Inventory (PVI). The PVI was designed to assess core personal values in adults in the area of moral conducts such as honesty, trust, commitment, discipline, forgiveness, sharing, and respecting. The sample for the investigation consisted of an archival sample of 860 respondents. A second independent sample with 221 respondents, was used for confirmatory factor analysis. Preliminary psychometric data based on 860 respondents show a meaningful factor structure. A 55 item purified version of the Personal Values Inventory was constructed based on results from exploratory factor analytic procedures. Exploratory factor analysis of the PVI revealed it has five subscales: Honesty and Responsibility, Trust and Fairness, Commitment and Discipline, and Sharing and Respecting. The total variance explained by the model was found to be 58% and accounted for reasonable amount of the proportion of the variance explained by the five factor model. An alpha coefficient for the purified scale was found to be 0.97. The factor structure displayed good internal consistency and construct validity. The confirmatory factor analysis from an independent sample adequately validated the factor structure found in sample 1. The comparison of descriptive statistics on the factor constructs showed no gender or age differences. Some of the educational categories were different for the ‘honesty and responsibility’ construct. The racial groups and salary levels were found to be significantly different on all value constructs except for ‘sharing and respecting others’. The years in the organization of a respondent had an effect on the constructs ‘commitment and discipline’ and ‘sharing and respecting others’. Value differences were also observed based on the level of the organization on all five value constructs.
Subject Area
Personality|Psychological tests
Recommended Citation
Ajanta Roy,
"Factor analysis and initial validation of the Personal Values Inventory"
(2003).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI3107463.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3107463