Internet TechNote March 26, 2006
To describe a hypothesis of personality structure where the dimensions derived by factor analysis can be interpreted in dual cognitive and motivational context.
Comparing the descriptions of the four drives (4D) with the dimensions of some well known personality models reveals a more complex structure than the simple two dimensional tables shows. The novelty is to interpret in two contexts: cognition and motivation, some dimensions appear to be referenced in a cognitive manner, others in motivational manner and the remaining seem mixed or rotated between the two.
Personality models have either dimensions or types with intuitive descriptions or interpretations of their scores. Such tables show intuitive similarities and parallels between the dimensions and types. Examples of 3/4/5 column tables are
here,
here and
here. Our four dimensional motivational model could be added to any of the tables as is and it will show similarities with other models, but if a (cognitive divide) is added then a slightly more complex structure will emerge. The 4D motivational dimensions are scales of four types of insecurities, the cognitive divide suggests internalizing-externalizing characteristics, reflecting either fear in protecting the internal object of the insecurity or aggression in order to remove the external threat. When projecting the cognitive divide on the 4D dimensions parallels with other models show finer details than the tables. For example, the Myers-Briggs four types seem very similar to the 4D cognitive divides and four of the five factors of the FFM/B5 model show slight rotation, the fifth dimension, emotional stability, seems like a sum of all 4D insecurity scores. These are not conclusions but observations and assertions suited to formulate hypothesis to be tested empirically.
