Assessing the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) among medical college students

Objective: The Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) was designed as a brief instrument of the Big Five personality traits. This study aimed to explore the internal consistency and structural validity of the Chinese version of TIPI (TIPI-C) in medical college students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 11 provinces of China. Spearman–Brown coefficient, standardized Cronbach’s α coefficient, and Cronbach’s α coefficient were applied to estimate the internal consistency. Spearman–Brown coefficient was applied to estimate split-half reliability. Principal components analysis (PCA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to identify the structural validity. Results: A total of 2223 medical college students recruited from different regions of China were included. The Spearman–Brown coefficients of TIPI-C ranged from 0.129 to 0.786 and the Cronbach’s α coefficients ranged from 0.119 to 0.785. The split-half reliability of the Spearman–Brown coefficient was 0.508. The latent structure of Extraversion, Emotional Stability, and Conscientiousness complied with the intended structure, and the internal consistency coefficients of these three traits were supported. However, the internal consistency coefficients of Agreeableness and Openness were low and the structural validity was not supported. Conclusion: TIPI-C primarily stands out as a feasible instrument for brief measurements of the Extraversion, Emotional Stability, and Conscientiousness domains. Further research is required to evaluate the concurrent validity and the test–retest reliability of TIPI-C in different populations and potentially modify the instrument to be more suitable for the Chinese population.