Orthogonal Procrustes Rotation Maximizing Congruence

Abstract

Procedures for assessing the invariance of factors found in data sets using different subjects and the same variables are often using the least squares criterion, which appears to be too restrictive for comparing factors. Tucker's coefficient of congruence, on the other hand, is more closely related to the human interpretation of factorial invariance than the least squares criterion. A method maximizing simultaneously the sum of coefficients of congruence between two matrices of factor loadings, using orthogonal rotation of one matrix is presented. As shown in examples, the sum of coefficients of congruence obtained using the presented rotation procedure is slightly higher than the sum of coefficients of congruence using Orthogonal Procrustes Rotation based on the least squares criterion.