1. Personality Structure: Identifying Basic Dimensions of Human Traits

2. 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.

3. Raymond B. Cattell ( )
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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

11. 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.

13. 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

14. 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

15. Sample items from the HEXACO-PI-R1
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.

16. 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