Promax rotation is characterized by:

• A. Being an orthogonal rotation method that preserves right angles.
• B. Being an oblique rotation that is faster than direct oblimin, useful for large data sets.
• C. Being a nonparametric transformation.
• D. Being identical to varimax rotation.

Answer: (B)

Promax rotation is an oblique rotation used in factor analysis to achieve a simple loading pattern while allowing factors to correlate. It differs from Varimax in that it does not preserve right angles; the resulting factors can be related to each other. The method typically starts with an initial orthogonal rotation (like Varimax) to obtain a clean structure, then raises each loading to a power to form a target matrix, and rotates toward that target. This produces a simple structure where strong loadings cluster on respective factors and cross-loadings are minimized, but the factors themselves may be correlated.

The practical advantage is speed, especially with large data sets, because Promax is computationally faster than a direct oblimin rotation while still yielding an oblique solution. It’s not a nonparametric transformation, and it is not identical to Varimax.