title: Hierarchical Structure of the Eysenck Personality Inventory in a Large Population Sample: Goldberg's Trait-Tier Mapping Procedure.
abstract: The structure of the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) is poorly understood, and applications have mostly been confined to the broad Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Lie scales. Using a hierarchical factoring procedure, we mapped the sequential differentiation of EPI scales from broad, molar factors to more specific, molecular factors, in a UK population sample of over 6500 persons. Replicable facets at the lowest tier of Neuroticism included emotional fragility, mood lability, nervous tension, and rumination. The lowest order set of replicable Extraversion facets consisted of social dynamism, sociotropy, decisiveness, jocularity, social information seeking, and impulsivity. The Lie scale consisted of an interpersonal virtue and a behavioral diligence facet. Users of the EPI may be well served in some circumstances by considering its broad Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Lie scales as multifactorial, a feature that was explicitly incorporated into subsequent Eysenck inventories and is consistent with other hierarchical trait structures.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Personality and Development, Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center.
authors.forename: Benjamin P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences The University of Edinburgh.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Personality and Development, Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Duberstein