Behavior genetic analysis of mouse emotionality: II. Stability of factors across genotypes

Three emotionally divergent strains of mice (SWR/J, A/HeJ, and SJL/J) were mated to produce three populations: a pure strain population (N = 90), an F₁ population (N = 120), and an F₂ population (N = 96). All Ss were tested on a battery of measures of emotionality. Each population was factored separately by principal components factoring with varimax and promax rotations. Factorial invariance was assessed quantitatively by congruence coefficients. Eight of the resultant factors were found to be replicable across populations. These were autonomic balance, motor discharge, territorial marking, acrophobia, tunneling-1, tunneling-2, underwater swimming, and audiogenic reactivity. Of the eight factors, motor discharge was most distinct in each population and tunneling-1 was least distinct.