Survey of NEO-FFI Application for Measurement of Five Main Personality Factors in Iran

Many tools are developed in western countries for measurement of five-factor model which NEO-FFI is one of the most applicable tools. This test has acceptable popularity among Iranian researchers and it is used in many studies. For factor analysis, 1605 Iranian students were analyzed. Confirmatory heuristic factor analysis was used for data analysis. Ac-cording to scree diagram, 5 factors were identified. Meanwhile, these 5 extracted factors are different from 5 main personality factors. Only two factors (conscientiousness and psycho-affliction) in this analysis were regenerated at some extent. In addition, these 5 factors explain relatively low percent of test score distribution (32.32%). Heuristic factor analysis showed that model fitting indicators are so weak. Generally, these results indicate non-transparent and impure factor structure of this test in ap-plied sample and its functionality in Iran could be under question. Key Words: NEO-FFI, Personality, Five-factor model