I am working on my first factor analysis and I have this question:
In my factor loading table I have two factors and some variables that
some of these variables have negative factor loadings...I don't know
how to interpret my result from these negative factor loadings ...
should I ignore those negative signs and count them as positive?
Thanks a lot.
A negative loading means that eople who score high on the factor will
tend to score low on the variable, and people who score low on the
factor will tend to score high on the variable.
The sign on the loading (-/+) refers to the way the item relates to the
factor. Basic text books generally cover this with clear examples.
For example, say you're doing factor analysis on personality and each
factor is a trait. On the factor 'introverted', an item like
'outgoing' would have a high negative loading such as -0.8 because this
item is in 'opposition' to the factor.
Does that clarify it a bit?