Sex-Free and Sex-Related Components of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) Neuroticism Scale among Finnish and Turkish Students

Timo Lajunen

doi:10.3390/socsci7030038

Abstract

Previous studies have suggested that the Neuroticism scale (N) of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) reflects two different dimensions, of which the first is sex-related (N-S) and the second sex-free (N-A). The N-S component is characterized by social sensitivity and worry while N-A reflects moodiness, irritability and boredom. The purpose of this study was to investigate the internal structure of the N scale in samples of 320 Finnish and 230 Turkish students. The bi-dimensional structure suggested by Francis had an acceptable fit to data in the Finnish and Turkish samples. Higher N-S and N scores correlated with being a woman in the Turkish sample. Neither N nor N-S scores were related to sex in the Finnish sample. ANOVA results showed the main effect of sex on N and N-S scores and the main effect of culture (Finnish vs. Turkish) on N and N-A. Turkish women scored higher in N and N-S scales than the other groups. The possible cultural and social reasons for the sex differences on the N scale score were discussed.

Highlights

The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) is one of the most widely used personality inventories: a PsycInfo search conducted in 28/09/2017 returned 2820 studies in which “EysenckPersonality Questionnaire” or “EPQ” were mentioned in the abstract
The international studies of the EPQ factor structure have generally supported the homogeneity of the scales (Barrett and Eysenck 1984; Eysenck 1983; Goh et al 1982), some studies have suggested that the N scale could measure two identifiable components of neuroticism
The two-factor structure based on neuroticism scales contain both a sex-related (N-S) and N-A components (Francis 1993) was tested with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) by using the structural equation modelling tool of the STATA

Summary

Introduction

The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) is one of the most widely used personality inventories: a PsycInfo search conducted in 28/09/2017 returned 2820 studies in which “EysenckPersonality Questionnaire” or “EPQ” were mentioned in the abstract. The most recent EPQ (re)validation studies confirming the EPQ factor structure have been conducted in Portugal (Almiro et al 2016), in. Some studies have called into question the four-factor structure of the EPQ and suggested that some of the EPQ scales could be bi-dimensional rather than unidimensional (Francis 1993; Lajunen and Scherler 1999; Roger and Morris 1991). Neuroticism (N) refers to emotional instability which is characterized by high levels of negative affect such as depression, anxiety, worry and tenseness (Eysenck and Eysenck 1975). The international studies of the EPQ factor structure have generally supported the homogeneity of the scales (Barrett and Eysenck 1984; Eysenck 1983; Goh et al 1982), some studies have suggested that the N scale could measure two identifiable components of neuroticism. In their study of the internal structure of the EPQ, Roger and Morris (1991) extracted

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