 Factor loading

A factor loading is the coefficient of latent factor $F_j$ in observed variable $X_i$. In the orthogonal factor model, $\mathrm{Cov}(X_i,F_j)=L_{ij}$. If $X_i$ has variance one, this is also its correlation with the variance-one factor. Its sign and size depend on the factor-coordinate convention; factor rotation preserves the implied covariance while changing individual loadings.