Evaluation of Ten Psychometric Criteria for Circumplex Structure

This study tested for sensitivity to circumplex structure in six existing and four new psychometric criteria that assess the circumplex properties of interstitiality, equal spacing, constant radius, and no preferred rotation. Simulations showed one criterion to be sensitive to equal versus unequal axes (Fisher Test) and four to be sensitive to interstitiality versus simple structure (Gap Test, Variance Test 2, Rotation Test, and Minkowski Test). Five criteria were ineffective (Squared Loadings Index, Gap* Test, Gap Difference Test, Cosine Difference Test, and Variance Test 1). Deviation scoring improved the effectiveness of most criteria and is thus recommended for assessing circumplex structure. This study provides new and effective means for discovering complex interrelations of variables where they exist. The circumplex, which falls in the middle of a hierarchy of models in degree of parsimony, may most accurately reflect a complex domain.