State-trace analysis meets personality measurement: Why the Big Five tests are not based on five latent dimensions and how to fix them.

ABSTRACT: Unidimensionality is a fundamental yet often overlooked prerequisite for measurement. In the context of psychological measurement, the central question is whether a set of items can be logically reduced to a single latent factor. This study advocates for the application of state-trace analysis, an underutilized method from mathematical psychology, as a decisive tool to address this question. State-trace analysis provides a simple, general, and rigorous criterion for unidimensionality: monotonicity between item pairs. Identifying items within a factor that violate this criterion is straightforward, offering a practical approach to evaluating unidimensionality. This paper demonstrates the utility of state-trace analysis through exemplary applications within the framework of the five-factor m

SUBMITTER: Titz J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11838909 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature