College of Natural Sciences
 
FAQs
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General FAQ #10: Negative factor loadings

Question:

What do negative factor loadings signify?

Answer:

A factor loading is the standardized regression coefficient for a factor in the multiple regression equation regressing the variable on the factors. Thus if the factor structure is orthogonal, then the loading is just the correlation between a variable and a factor.

So for an orthogonal set of factors, a negative loading (for a variable on a factor) indicates that scores on the factor tend to be associated with variable scores of the opposite sign.

If you have further questions, send E-mail to stats@ssc.utexas.edu.