Response sets and factor loadings on sixty-one personality scales

Abstract

Intercorrelations between 58 MMPI and 3 other personality scales, based upon the scores of 151 students, were factor analyzed and the factors rotated orthogonally. Loadings of the scales on the 1st factor correlated .90 with the proportion of items keyed for socially desirable responses and .98 with the zero-order correlations of the scales with the Social Desirability (SD) scale. The proportion of keyed True items correlated .82 with the loadings of the scales on the 2nd factor. The Lie and 3 other scales similar to the Lie scale had substantial loadings on the 3rd factor. The 1st factor is interpreted as reflecting the tendency to acquiesce, and the 3rd as reflecting the tendency to falsify answers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)