Indicators and Latent Variables

[sagarghimire]

Dear All,

I am using Big Five (NEOFFI3) which has 60 indicators for the 5 latent variables (12 each) and I am planning to use SmartPLS for the SEM. I have heard that this 60 indicators is too many for 5 variables.

Is there any such restriction on number of indicators per latent variable while using smart PLS?

Thanks

[jmbecker]

No. From a methodological point of view the more the better (if you assume reflective measurement). This will increase precision and reliability of the estimated construct scores.

However, asking many questions to respondents can be strenuous and make them less attentive to the questions, which may reduce the quality of the answers you get.

So this is a practical trade-off, but the method does not restrict the number of indicators.
I think there are also short versions of the Big Five that you could consider if you think that 60 indicators might be too much.