Psychometric properties of the Icelandic version of HEXACO-60: Cognitive interviews and confirmatory factor analysis

Abstract

HEXACO Personality Inventory (HEXACO-PI) is an instrument that assesses the six major dimensions of personality, honesty-humility (H), emotionality (E), extraversion (X), agreeableness (A), conscientiousness (C) and openness to experience (O). The aim of this research was to examine the structure of the 60 item Icelandic version of HEXACO (HEXACO-60-IS). This was accomplished through three studies. In Study I (N = 40) cognitive interviews were used to identify problem items. Items were categorized into themes depending on the issues that arose during interviews. A total of 17 items were changed and the answer options revised. In Study II (N = 375) an online questionnaire was administered to a probability-based panel using the revised HEXACO-60-IS and confirmatory factor analysis was used to analyze the data. Results showed good reliability but high correlation between several factors. The factor structure was not satisfactory, as six items had low factor loadings across factors. In Study III (N = 501) the revised HEXACO-60-IS was administered online to undergraduate students in the University of Iceland. Results showed good reliability and moderately low correlation between factors. The factor structure was mostly satisfactory, with three items having a low loading. Overall, the results indicate that there are still prevalent issues that need addressing and that the sample composition needs to be taken more into consideration. Further research is necessary on HEXACO-60-IS for the questionnaire to be reliable and trustworthy for all.