Measures of mental health and a five factor theory of personality

Abstract

Principal components analyses were calculated with intercorrelations of scores on scales measuring mental health and the five-factor model of personality on a sample of 296 university students. Mental health was measured with Affect Balance scale, Happiness Measure, Satisfaction with Life scale, Life Orientation test, Short Index of Self-actualization, Social Interest scale, and the Self-control Schedule, along with subscales from Scales of Psychological Well-being, Openness to Experience scale, and the Perceived Self Questionnaire. The five-factor model was measured with the Interpersonal Adjective Scale Revised-B5. Separate analyses for both the traditional five-factor model and the expanded interpersonal circumplex model of personality gave six-factor solutions. Scores on scales measuring subjective well-being, openness, and social interest loaded on the same factors as Neuroticism, Openness to Experience, and Agreeableness, respectively. Scales that measured autonomy and self-actualization formed a factor that was separate from the five-factor model.