SENSE OF DIRECTION AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH GEOGRAPHICAL ORIENTATION, PERSONALITY TRAITS AND MENTAL ABILITY

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to construct Sense of Direction Questionnaire-Short Form (SDQ-S), and investigate its relationship with geographical orientation, personality traits and mental ability. 532 undergraduate students (female 373, male 159) were administered SDQ-S, and the results were factor-analyzed using the principal factor method and varimax rotation. Two factors, i.e., awareness of orientation Factor I, and memory for usual spatial behavior Factor II, could be identified from 17 items (9 items to Factor I and 8 items to Factor II). The reliability of the questionnaire was tested on the same subjects using internal consistency and split-half methods. The relations between sense of direction and geographical orientation based on 70 subjects suggested the concurrent validity of SDQ-S. Also, 47 subjects (female only) helped examining the influence of personality traits and mental ability on sense of direction.