Factor analysis of the personality dimensions of sales associates in the finance and insurance sector

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to ascertain the factors of a sample containing 1000 people from the finance and insurance sector via the shortened version of the California Psychological Inventory probing the respective personality dimensions. The additional objectives include the comparison of previously identified results and factors obtained on a standardised Hungarian sample. In light of the above, I forward the following hypothesis H1): The number and content of the factors explored by the S-CPI (principal component analysis) on the present sample significantly differs from that of the number and content of factors identified and arrived at during the 1985 standardisation process, mainly due to the impact of the following dimensions: Sociability, Social presence, Dominance, and Self-Control. The practical application of the respective research results indicates a difference between the personality of the average Hungarian citizen and that of the average sales associates in the given sectors.