IPAT - The 16PF® Questionnaire

The 16PF® Questionnaire

History and Overview

In 1949, Raymond Cattell published the first edition of his 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire. It was a revolutionary concept: measuring the whole of human personality using structure discovered through factor analysis. The 16PF Fifth Edition Questionnaire represents a controlled, natural evolution of the 16PF Questionnaire, enhanced and updated to reflect the changes in today's society. Read more...

What is the 16PF Questionnaire?

The 16PF Questionnaire is a self-report assessment instrument that measures the 16 normal adult personality dimensions discovered by Dr. Cattell in his landmark research. Using client responses to the questionnaire, standardized scores (stens) are derived for each of the sixteen personality factors. In addition, scores for five Global Factors (the original Five-Factor Model) are computed. These scores enable clients to formulate personality models useful in industrial/organizational applications, clinical settings, counseling, and research for predicting human behavior.

What does the 16PF Questionnaire measure?

Using dimensions discovered through factor analysis, the 16PF Questionnaire assesses the whole domain of human personality by measuring levels of:

The 16PF model is hierarchical. When the 16 primary traits were factor-analyzed, they revealed five Global Factors, which describe personality at a broader level. These Global Factors, which help to show the degree of relationships among the 16 primary scales, are:

• Extraversion
• Anxiety
• Tough-Mindedness
• Independence
• Self-Control 

An Essential Tool

The 16PF Fifth Edition Questionnaire is a valuable assessment tool for professionals in a wide range of settings. In business and industry, for example, it facilitates personnel selection and development by identifying personal qualities that influence behaviors in work settings, such as problem-solving style and interpersonal style. For clinical/counseling applications, IPAT offers 16PF reports with in-depth interpretation of normal personality factors from a clinical perspective, enabling the presenting problems to be placed in the context of the total personality.