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J. Rossier et al.:
Assessment
Validation
2007 Hogrefe
2007;
of Vol.
&
theHuber
French
23(2):125132
Publishers
HiPIC
Abstract. The study was designed to investigate the psychometric properties of the French version and the cross-language replicability
of the Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children (HiPIC). The HiPIC is an instrument to assess the five dimensions of the five-factor
model for children. Subjects were 552 children aged between 8 and 12 years, rated by one or both parents. At the domain level, reliability
ranged from .83 to .93 and at the facet level, reliability ranged from .69 to .89. Differences between genders were congruent with those
found in the Dutch sample. Girls scored higher on Benevolence and Conscientiousness. Age was negatively correlated with Extraversion
and Imagination. For girls, we also observed a decrease of Emotional Stability. A series of exploratory factor analyses confirmed the
overall five-factor structure for girls and boys. Targeted factor analyses and congruence coefficients revealed high cross-language replicability at the domain and at the facet levels. The results showed that the French version of the HiPIC is a reliable and valid instrument
for assessing personality with children and has a particularly high cross-language replicability.
Keywords: personality assessment, five-factor model, children, HiPIC, cross-language replicability
Introduction
The five-factor model (FFM) is currently the most common
dimensional approach to personality traits (Digman, 1990;
Rossier, Meyer de Stadelhofen, & Berthoud, 2004). According to this model, five broad and independent dimensions are sufficient to describe personality traits. These dimensions are Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness (McCrae
& Costa, 1999). The validity of this model has been assessed mainly with adults but also with younger age groups
(Asendorpf & van Aken, 2003; Lamb, Chuang, Wessels,
Broberg, & Hwang, 2002; Shiner & Caspi, 2003). However, there are few inventories that are specifically devoted
to assessing childrens personality according to the FFM.
Mervielde and De Fruyt (1999) developed the Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children (HiPIC) specifically for assessing the personality of children between 6
and 12 years. This inventory was developed using a bottom-up strategy (Mervielde & De Fruyt, 2002). This strategy was roughly based on the idea of analyzing the latent
structure of personality traits among individuals of the defined age group. An analysis of parental free-descriptors of
2007 Hogrefe & Huber Publishers
126
tern, increasing between 18 and 22, and decreasing thereafter. After age 30, Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness continue to decline slowly. There are conflicting results concerning the course of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness (Costa, Herbst, McCrae, & Siegler, 2000;
McCrae et al., 1999; Rossier, Wenger, & Berthoud, 2001).
All these studies suggest a personality development of
modest amplitude throughout the lifespan (usually an increase on Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, and a decline on Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness) and
large samples and well-constructed measures are needed in
order to detect them accurately.
The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the French version and more precisely the
structural validity of the HiPIC. Particular attention was
paid to structural invariance according to gender and language. Indeed, cross-language or cross-cultural replicability is an important validity indicator for measurements
based on models claiming to be universal such as the FFM
(Rossier, Dahourou, & McCrae, 2005). This research also
examined the effects of parent and child gender and age on
the mean level of higher and lower level personality traits.
127
Translation
All 144 HiPIC items were translated into French by a team
of experts in developmental, educational, or personality
psychology and checked by the authors of this inventory
who are fluent in French. Amendments were made and reviewed. This process continued until the authors agreed
with this French translation.
Procedure
The HiPIC was distributed in the classrooms by the teachers to the children, who had to bring this questionnaire to
their parents. Parents were asked to rate their children and
could return the questionnaire free of charge directly to the
University of Lausanne, in order to warranty an anonymous
participation. This research complied with the ethical rules
of the American Psychological Association (APA).
Method
Sample
Results
Measure
The French version of the HiPIC (Mervielde & De Fruyt,
1999) is made up of 144 items assessing 18 facets, eight
items per facet, hierarchically structured under five domains. Extraversion is made up of four facet scales: shyness
(E1), expressiveness (E2), optimism (E3), and energy (E4).
Benevolence is made up of five facet scales: egocentrism
(B1), irritability (B2), compliance (B3), dominance (B4),
and altruism (B5). Conscientiousness is made up of four
facet scales: achievement striving (C1), order (C2), concentration (C3), and perseverance (C4). Emotional Stability is made up of two facets: anxiety (S1) and self-confidence (S2). Finally, Imagination is made up of three facets:
creativity (I1), curiosity (I2), and intellect (I3). Responses
2007 Hogrefe & Huber Publishers
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Table 1. Domain and facet scale s, means, SD, and correlations with age by child gender and , kurtosis, and skewness
coefficients
Girls
Boys
HiPIC
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Extraversion
.86
3.62
.48
.17**
.89
3.61
.55
.18**
.88
K
.59
S
.43
E1: Shyness
.76
2.44
.70
.12*
.80
2.46
.77
.12
.78
.21
.41
E2: Expressiveness
.70
3.57
.67
.17**
.78
3.35
.76
.14*
.75
.33
.22
E3: Optimism
.75
4.03
.54
.07
.84
4.00
.65
.13*
.80
.61
.66
E4: Energy
.77
3.34
.73
.12
.77
3.56
.74
.14*
.77
.30
.07
.09
.55
Benevolence
.91
3.59
.51
.91
3.49
.54
.03
.91
.28
B1: Egocentrism
.68
2.42
.60
.13*
.70
2.46
.65
.02
.69
.16
.52
B2: Irritability
.87
2.56
.87
.14*
.88
2.73
.95
.08
.88
.68
.32
B3: Compliance
.82
3.59
.68
.84
3.50
.73
.02
.83
.11
.29
.09
B4: Dominance
.78
2.76
.74
.07
.71
2.73
.68
.08
.75
.02
.39
B5: Altruism
.87
4.08
.67
.05
.88
3.89
.72
.10
.88
.42
.71
Conscientiousness
.93
3.48
.64
.05
.93
3.26
.66
.11
.93
.32
.11
.79
3.58
.72
.03
.81
3.45
.76
.19**
.80
.27
.26
C2: Order
.86
3.32
.84
.05
.85
2.97
.89
.05
.86
.67
.01
C3: Concentration
.85
3.66
.79
.02
.83
3.42
.80
.04
.84
.65
.17
C4: Perseverance
.77
3.37
.70
.06
.79
3.19
.75
.07
.79
.23
.14
.17
Emotional Stability
.85
3.17
.66
.13*
.86
3.19
.69
.05
.86
.54
S1: Anxiety
.83
2.94
.85
.10
.83
2.87
.84
.03
.83
.71
.01
S2: Self-confidence
.70
3.28
.64
.14*
.73
3.25
.68
.15*
.72
.23
.32
Imagination
.92
3.94
.59
.17**
.91
3.94
.60
.18**
.91
.49
.61
I1: Creativity
.84
3.89
.73
.17**
.85
3.79
.82
.10
.84
.19
.53
I2: Curiosity
.84
4.00
.65
.13*
.87
4.11
.68
.16**
.86
.15
.58
I3: Intellect
*p < .05** p< .01
.89
3.92
.76
.13*
.88
3.92
.77
.16**
.89
.31
.53
sion domain, that Factor 4 correlated well with the two facets of the Emotional Stability domain, and that Factor 5
correlated well with all the facets of the Imagination domain. All facets loaded primarily on the intended factors.
However, five facets had secondary loadings higher than
.40. A very close association was observed between the
five factors obtained from the principal factor analysis with
varimax rotation and the five domain scale scores of the
HiPIC. Factor 1 was associated with Conscientiousness (r
= .94), Factor 2 with Benevolence (r = .92), Factor 3 with
Extraversion (r = .90), Factor 4 with Emotional Stability (r
= .92), and Factor 5 with Imagination (r = .88).
Two independent principal component analyses with
varimax rotation were carried out and five factors were extracted in order to compare the factorial structure with the
theoretical structure for girls and boys. For girls, the five
factors explained 71.96% of the total variance. The first six
eigenvalues were 6.03, 2.88, 1.84, 1.29, .92, and .73. A
very close association was observed between the five factors and the five domains of the HiPIC. Factor 1 was associated with Conscientiousness (r = .94), Factor 2 with Benevolence (r = .90), Factor 3 with Imagination (r = .80),
and Factor 4 with Emotional Stability (r = .92). However,
the correlation between Factor 5 and Extraversion was
Structural Validity
129
Table 2. Results of the principal component analyses with Varimax rotation of the French version of the HiPIC for the
total sample and by gender, and congruence coefficients after targeted factor analyses
Total sample
F1
E1
.06
F2
.08
Girls
F3
F4
F5
CC
F1
.71
.41
.02
.98
.03
F2
.00
Boys
F3
F4
F5
CC
F1
.07
.51
.66
.99
.06
F2
.13
F3
F4
F5
CC
.70
.40
.09
.97
E2
.03
.18
.71
.10
.25
.99
.01
.28
.28
.23
.67
.96
.00
.13
.70
.10
.37
.99
E3
.22
.27
.64
.30
.21
.97
.25
.25
.38
.31
.53
.95
.17
.30
.64
.35
.20
.99
E4
.19
.31
.58
.02
.20
.92
.24
.25
.62
.12
.26
.64
.12
.28
.71
.10
.00
.97
B1
.17
.80
.23
.23
.02
.99
.13
.78
.03
.25
.28
.99
.18
.81
.17
.24
.02
.99
B2
.31
.68
.08
.41
.03
.99
.30
.73
.01
.34
.07
.99
.29
.63
.19
.47
.01
.98
B3
.55
.64
.07
.02
.04
.99
.59
.57
.10
.01
.23
.98
.49
.69
.01
.06
.04
.99
B4
.12
.74
.34
.21
.01
.99
.06
.78
.08
.22
.26
.97
.17
.71
.36
.21
.07
.99
B5
.21
.46
.63
.21
.11
.98
.16
.32
.14
.19
.74
.98
.19
.56
.56
.17
.20
.98
C1
.80
.15
.24
.08
.29
.99
.77
.14
.33
.03
.23
.99
.83
.12
.25
.11
.24
.98
C2
.81
.19
.09
.00
.03
.99
.79
.17
.01
.01
.10
.96
.80
.23
.09
.01
.09
.99
C3
.82
.20
.02
.26
.15
.99
.85
.14
.12
.21
.06
.98
.79
.25
.08
.32
.10
.98
C4
.71
.32
.15
.25
.23
.94
.73
.22
.24
.30
.12
.89
.66
.43
.10
.23
.23
.94
S1
.02
.18
.06
.89
.06
.99
.03
.22
.05
.88
.03
.99
.03
.13
.03
.89
.05
.99
S2
.28
.06
.31
.75
.19
.99
.30
.08
.24
.75
.21
.99
.26
.04
.30
.78
.19
.99
I1
.04
.08
.13
.07
.85
.99
.21
.11
.79
.05
.06
.99
.06
.07
.09
.08
.85
.99
I2
.27
.05
.33
.06
.74
.99
.36
.05
.75
.09
.19
.99
.29
.00
.32
.03
.74
.99
I3
.43
.06
.19
.37
.53
.99
.49
.02
.48
.37
.21
.95
.45
.10
.12
.35
.52
.99
CC
.98
.99
.99
.99
.97 .98
.97
.99
.95
.97
.90 .96
.98
.98
.99
.99
.99 .98
Note. E1: Shyness; E2: Expressiveness; E3: Optimism; E4: Energy; B1: Egocentrism; B2: Irritability; B3: Compliance; B4: Dominance; B5:
Altruism; C1: Achievement Striving; C2: Order; C3: Concentration; C4: Perseverance; S1: Anxiety; S2: Self-confidence; I1: Creativity; I2:
Curiosity; I3: Intellect; CC: Congruence coefficients. The correlations above .40 in absolute magnitude are in bold. All congruence coefficients
are in italics.
2007 Hogrefe & Huber Publishers
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Paunonen, 1996). The total congruence coefficient between girls and boys was .97. The congruence coefficients
were .97, .99, .98, .98, and .89 for Extraversion, Benevolence, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Imagination, respectively. At facet level, variable congruence coefficients ranged from .67 to 1.00 (Mdn = .98). Only the
facet E4 had a coefficient lower than .90. Note that coefficients above .90 indicate replicability (Mulaik, 1972).
Cross-Language Stability
To assess cross-language replicability, the structure matrices obtained in our French-speaking sample were subjected
to an orthogonal Procrustes rotation using the Flemish
structure matrices as the target (Mervielde & De Fruyt,
2002, p. 140). For the global-structure matrix the total congruence coefficient was .98. The congruence coefficients
were .99, .99, .98, .99, and .97 for Extraversion, Benevolence, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Imagination, respectively (see Table 2). At facet level, congruence coefficients ranged from .92 to .99 (Mdn = .99). Thus,
all domains and facets were associated to a coefficient
higher than .90.
To assess cross-language replicability for girls and boys,
two independent orthogonal Procrustes rotations were carried out using the Flemish structure matrices as the target.
For girls, the total congruence coefficient was .96. The congruence coefficients were .95, .99, .97, .97, and .90 for Extraversion, Benevolence, Conscientiousness, Emotional
Stability, and Imagination, respectively. At facet level, congruence coefficients ranged from .64 to .99 (Mdn = .98).
Only two facets had a coefficient lower than .90: E4 with
a coefficient of .64 and C4 with a coefficient of .89. For
boys, the total congruence coefficient was .98. The congruence coefficients were .99, .98, .98, .99, and .99 for Extraversion, Benevolence, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Imagination, respectively. At facet level, congruence coefficients ranged from .94 to .99 (Mdn = .99). Thus,
all domains and facets had a coefficient higher than .90.
Discussion
Acknowledgments
We thank Filip De Fruyt and Barbara De Clercq for correcting the French translation of the HiPIC. We also thank
all teachers and parents who participated in this study.
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Jrme Rossier
Institute of Psychology
University of Lausanne
Anthropole-3127
CH-1015 Lausanne
Switzerland
Tel. +41 21 692 32 72
Fax +41 21 692 32 65
E-mail Jerome.Rossier@unil.ch