| Summary: | The object of this study was to develop a valid and reliable measuring instrument for the
Relationship Harmony personality cluster as part of the overall SAPI project, a project that aims
to develop a valid, reliable, fair and unbiased personality measuring instrument that can be used
within the South African context. Due to the large item pool (i.e. 400 items) two questionnaire
versions were developed, namely RH–1 and RH–2. A pilot study was conducted with both
versions on participating students from tertiary institutions within the North West and Gauteng
Provinces (RH–1: n = 507; RH–2: N = 475). Items indicating unacceptable kurtosis were
excluded from further analyses due to their unsuitability for factor analysis. Principal component
analyses indicated that 31 items from RH–1 and 24 items from RH–2 shared less than 5% of their
variance with the total score. These items were thus excluded from further analyses. Principal
component analyses were also conducted to determine the correlations between the 23 facets and
their relating items. This procedure resulted in another 3 items being removed due to loadings <
0.20. First–order unstructured factor analysis techniques (scree plot, eigenvalues and parallel
analysis) indicated that three factors should be retained for RH–1 and two factors for RH–2.
Oblique rotations produced factor correlation matrices for both sets of data. Maximum
likelihood was used to analyse the factor structure of the Relationship Harmony cluster in both
data sets. The data sets were then subjected to higher order factor analysis. A hierarchical
Schmid–Leiman factor solution produced a three factor solution for RH–1 (Negative Relational
Behaviour, Positive Relational Behaviour and Approachability) and a two factor solution for
RH–2 (Positive Relational Behaviour and Negative Relational Behaviour). Construct
equivalence across the White and African groups was evaluated by comparing the factor pattern
matrices. For RH–1, all facets except for Tolerant loaded on the same factors for both race groups. RH–2’s factors were represented by the same facets irrespective of the race groups.
Recommendations were made for future research. === Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.
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