Personality Structure: Identifying Basic Dimensions of Human Traits

The lexical approach The lexical hypothesis is generally defined by two postulates. The first states that those personality characteristics that are most important in peoples' lives will eventually become a part of their language. The second follows from the first, stating that more important personality characteristics are more likely to be encoded into language as a single word. (Wikipedia) Allport and Odbert (1936) searched the Webster's New International Dictionary for trait terms and eventually compiled a list of 4500 words that seemed to describe human traits.

Raymond B. Cattell (1905-1998) Changed his plans of becoming a chemist and enrolled in graduate study in psychology at the University of London Worked with Charles Spearman, who taught him to use factor analysis Came to the US to work with E.L. Thorndike at Columbia Worked at Clark University until Allport invited him to join the faculty at Harvard

Key concepts introduced by Cattell The idea that factor analysis, which had previously been used to study different forms of intelligence, could be used to identify source traits The notion that source traits are the fundamental dimensions of human personality The development of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16 PF): Warmth, Reasoning, Emotional Stability, Dominance, Liveliness, Rule-Consciousness, Social Boldness, Sensitivity, Vigilance, Abstractedness, Privateness, Apprehension, Openness to Change, Self-Reliance, Perfectionism, and Tension

Historical identification of the Big Five personality dimensions Investigator(s) Factor I Factor 2 Factor 3 Factor 4 Factor 5 Fiske (1949) Confident self-expression Social adaptability Conformity Emotional control Inquiring intellect Tupes & Christal (1961) Surgency Agreeableness Dependability Emotional stability Culture Norman (1963) Conscientiousness Borgatta (1964) Assertiveness Likeability Task interest Emotionality Intelligence Digman & Take-moto-Chock (1981) Extraversion Friendly compliance Will to achieve Ego strength (Anxiety) Intellect Goldberg (1981, 1989) McCrae & Costa (1985) Neuroticism Openness to experience Conley (1985) Social extraversion Impulse control Intellectual interests Botwin & Buss (1989) Dominant-assured Intellectance-culture Peabody & Goldberg (1989) Power Love Work Affect

The Big Five personality factors Characteristics Extraversion Sociable versus retiring, fun-loving versus sober, affectionate versus reserved Agreeableness Softhearted versus ruthless, trusting versus suspicious, helpful versus uncooperative Conscientiousness Well-organized versus disorganized, careful versus careless, self-disciplined versus weak-willed Neuroticism Worried versus calm, insecure versus secure, self-pitying versus self-satisfied Openness Imaginative versus down-to-earth, preference for variety versus preference for routine, independent versus conforming

Criticisms and limitations of the Big Five model There is some debate about what the five factors mean. There is some disagreement about the number of personality factors that should be regarded as fundamental. The set of trait terms from which the Big Five model was derived did not include evaluative ones, such as worthy or immoral. There are small variations among the Big Five models proposed by different theorists that critics find troublesome but most Big Five theorists do not. The Big Five model is often criticized for being atheoretical. However, the same criticism could have been applied to the periodic table of elements in chemistry, in the days before chemical processes were well understood.

The NEO Personality Inventory Revised (NEO-PI-R) (Costa and McCrae, 1992b) Neuroticism Agreeableness Openness to Experience Anxiety Trust Openness to fantasy Angry hostility Straightforwardness Openness to aesthetics Depression Altruism Openness to feelings Self-consciousness Compliance Openness to actions Impulsiveness Modesty Openness to ideas Vulnerability Tender-mindedness Openness to values Extraversion Conscientiousness Warmth Competence Gregariousness Order Assertiveness Dutifulness Activity Achievement striving Excitement seeking Self-discipline Positive emotions Deliberation

The HEXACO Personality Inventory‒Revised (HEXACO-PI-R) (Lee and Ashton, 2006a) Honesty-Humility Emotionality eXtraversion Sincerity Fearfulness Social self-esteem Fairness Anxiety Social boldness Greed avoidance Dependence Sociability Modesty Sentimentality Liveliness Agreeableness Conscientiousness Openness to Experience Forgiveness Organization Aesthetic appreciation Gentleness Diligence Inquisitiveness Flexibility Perfectionism Creativity Patience Prudence Unconventionality

Sample items from the HEXACO-PI-R 1   I would be quite bored by a visit to an art gallery. 2 I plan ahead and organize things, to avoid scrambling at the last minute. 3 I rarely hold a grudge, even against people who have badly wronged me. 4 I feel reasonably satisfied with myself overall. 5 I would feel afraid if I had to travel in bad weather conditions. 6 I wouldn't use flattery to get a raise or promotion at work, even if I thought it would succeed. 7 I'm interested in learning about the history and politics of other countries. 8 I often push myself very hard when trying to achieve a goal. 9 People sometimes tell me that I am too critical of others. 10 I rarely express my opinions in group meetings. 11 I sometimes can't help worrying about little things. 12 If I knew that I could never get caught, I would be willing to steal a million dollars.

Application of the Big Five model in the workplace Of the Big Five dimensions, conscientiousness is the best overall predictor of work performance across many different types of occupations. Depending on the job description, other Big Five dimensions may also emerge as good predictors of performance: Extraversion Agreeableness Openness to experience Emotional stability