Big Five personality traits 1284664 226086309 2008-07-16T19:37:28Z BrainMagMo 951516 {{Psychology (sidebar)}} In [[psychology]], the '''"Big Five" personality traits''' are five broad [[factor analysis|factors]] or dimensions of [[wikt:personality|personality]] discovered through [[empirical]] research.<ref>Goldberg, L. R. (1993). The structure of phenotypic personality traits. ''American Psychologist'', ''48'', 26-34.</ref> The first public mention of the model was in 1933, by [[L. L. Thurstone]] in his presidential address to the American Psychological Association. Thurstone's comments were published in ''Psychological Review'' the next year.<ref>Thurstone, L. L. (1934). The vectors of the mind. ''Psychological Review'', ''41'', 1-32.</ref> The five factors are [[Openness to experience|Openness]], [[Conscientiousness]], [[Extraversion]], [[Agreeableness]], and [[Neuroticism]] (OCEAN, or CANOE if rearranged). They are also referred to as the '''"Five Factor Model"''' (FFM). However, some discussion remains about how to interpret the Openness factor, which is sometimes called "Intellect." <ref>[http://personality-project.org/perproj/theory/Big5.table.html Personality Project]</ref> Each factor consists of a cluster of more specific traits that correlate together. For example, extraversion includes such related qualities as sociability, excitement seeking, impulsiveness, and positive emotions. The Five Factor Model is a purely descriptive [[scientific modelling|model]] of personality, but psychologists have developed a number of [[scientific theory|theories]] to account for the Big Five. ==Overview== The Big Five factors and their constituent traits can be summarized as follows: *'''Openness''' - appreciation for [[art]], [[emotion]], [[adventure]], unusual ideas, [[imagination]], [[curiosity]], and variety of experience. *'''Conscientiousness''' - a tendency to show [[self-discipline]], act [[duty|dutifully]], and aim for [[achievement]]; planned rather than spontaneous behaviour. *'''Extraversion''' - energy, positive emotions, [[surgency]], and the tendency to seek [[stimulation]] and the company of others. *'''Agreeableness''' - a tendency to be [[compassionate]] and [[cooperative]] rather than [[paranoia|suspicious]] and [[antagonistic]] towards others. *'''Neuroticism''' - a tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as [[anger]], [[anxiety]], [[depression (mood)|depression]], or [[vulnerability]]; sometimes called emotional instability. When scored for individual feedback, these traits are frequently presented as [[percentile]] scores. For example, a [[Conscientiousness]] rating in the 80th percentile indicates a relatively strong sense of [[Moral responsibility|responsibility]] and orderliness, whereas an Extraversion rating in the 5th percentile indicates an exceptional need for [[solitude]] and [[quiet]]. Although these trait clusters are statistical aggregates, exceptions may exist on individual personality profiles. On average, people who register high in [[Openness]] are intellectually curious, open to emotion, interested in art, and willing to try new things. A particular individual, however, may have a high overall Openness score and be interested in learning and exploring new cultures. Yet he or she might have no great interest in art or poetry. Situational influences also exist, as even extraverts may occasionally need time away from people. ==History== ===Early trait research=== [[Sir Francis Galton]] was the first scientist to recognize what is now known as the Lexical Hypothesis. This is the idea that the most salient and socially relevant [[personality]] differences in people’s lives will eventually become encoded into language. The hypothesis further suggests that by sampling language, it is possible to derive a comprehensive taxonomy of human personality traits. In 1936, [[Gordon Allport]] and H. S. Odbert put this hypothesis into practice.<ref>Allport, G. W. & Odbert, H. S. (1936). Trait names: A psycholexical study. ''Psychological Monographs'', ''47'', 211.</ref> They worked through two of the most comprehensive [[dictionary|dictionaries]] of the English language available at the time and extracted 17,953 personality-describing words. They then reduced this gigantic list to 4,504 adjectives which they believed were descriptive of observable and relatively permanent traits. [[Raymond Cattell]] obtained the Allport-Odbert list in the 1940s, added terms obtained from psychological research, and then eliminated synonyms to reduce the total to 171.<ref>Cattell, R. B. (1957). ''Personality and motivation: Structure and measurement''. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World. ''Journal of Personality Disorders'', ''19(1)'', 53-67.</ref> He then asked subjects to rate people whom they knew by the adjectives on the list and analyzed their ratings. Cattell identified 35 major clusters of personality traits which he referred to as the "personality sphere." He and his associates then constructed personality tests for these traits. The data they obtained from these tests were analyzed with the emerging technology of computers combined with the statistical method of [[factor analysis]]. This resulted in sixteen major personality factors, which led to the development of the [[16 Personality Factors|16PF Personality Questionnaire]]. In 1961, two Air Force researchers, Tupes and Christal analyzed personality data from eight large samples. Using Cattell's trait measures, they found five recurring factors.<ref>Tupes, E. C., & Christal, R. E. (1961). Recurrent personality factors based on trait ratings. USAF ASD Tech. Rep. No. 61-97, Lackland Airforce Base, TX: U. S. Air Force.</ref> This work was replicated by Norman, who also found that five major factors were sufficient to account for a large set of personality data. Norman named these factors Surgency, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Culture.<ref>Norman, W. T. (1963). Toward an adequate taxonomy of personality attributes: Replicated factor structure in peer nomination personality ratings. ''Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology'', ''66'', 574-583.</ref> ===Hiatus in research=== For the next two decades, the changing [[zeitgeist]] made publication of personality research difficult. In his 1968 book ''Personality and Assessment'', [[Walter Mischel]] asserted that personality tests could not predict behavior with a correlation of more than 0.3. [[social psychology (psychology)|Social psychologists]] like Mischel argued that attitudes and behavior were not stable, but varied with the situation. Predicting behavior by personality tests was considered to be impossible. Radical [[Situationism (psychology)|situationists]] in the 1970s went so far as to argue that personality is merely a perceived construct that people impose on others in order to maintain an illusion of consistency in the world. Emerging methodologies challenged this point of view during the 1980s. Instead of trying to predict single instances of behavior, which was unreliable, researchers found that they could predict patterns of behavior by aggregating large numbers of observations. As a result correlations between personality and behavior increased substantially, and it was clear that “personality” did in fact exist. Personality and social psychologists now generally agree that both personal and situational variables are needed to account for human behavior. Trait theories became justified, and there was a resurgence of interest in this area. By 1980, the pioneering research by Tupes, Christal, and Norman had been largely forgotten by psychologists. Lewis Goldberg started his own lexical project, independently found the five factors once again, and gradually brought them back to the attention of psychologists.<ref>Goldberg, L. R. (1981). Language and individual differences: The search for universals in personality lexicons. In Wheeler (Ed.), ''Review of Personality and social psychology'', ''Vol. 1'', 141-165. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.</ref> He later coined the term "Big Five" as a label for the factors. ===Consensus on the Big Five=== In a 1981 symposium in [[Honolulu]], four prominent researchers, [[Lewis Goldberg]], [[Naomi Takemoto-Chock]], Andrew Comrey, and John M. Digman, reviewed the available personality tests of the day. They concluded that the tests which held the most promise measured a subset of five common factors, just as Norman had discovered in 1963. This event was followed by widespread acceptance of the five factor model among personality researchers during the 1980s, as well as the publication of the [[NEO PI-R]] five-factor personality inventory by Costa and McCrae in 1985. One of the most significant advances of the five-factor model was the establishment of a common [[taxonomy]] that demonstrates order in a previously scattered and disorganized field. What separates the five-factor model of personality from all others is that it is not based on the theory of any one particular psychologist, but rather on language, the natural system that people use to communicate their understanding of one another. A number of [[meta-analysis|meta-analyses]] have confirmed the predictive value of the Big Five across a wide range of behaviors. Saulsman and Page examined the relationships between the Big Five personality dimensions and each of the 10 [[personality disorder]] categories in the ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (DSM-IV). Across 15 independent samples, the researchers found that each disorder displayed a unique and predictable five-factor profile. The most prominent and consistent personality predictors underlying the disorders were positive associations with Neuroticism and negative associations with Agreeableness.<ref>Saulsman, L. M. & Page, A. C. (2004). The five-factor model and personality disorder empirical literature: A meta-analytic review. ''Clinical Psychology Review'', ''23'', 1055-1085.</ref> In the area of job performance, Barrick and Mount reviewed 117 studies utilizing 162 samples with 23,994 participants. They found that conscientiousness showed consistent relations with all performance criteria for all occupational groups. Extraversion was a valid predictor for occupations involving social interaction (e.g. management and sales). Furthermore, extraversion and openness to experience were valid predictors of training proficiency criteria.<ref>Barrick, M. R., & Mount M. K. (1991). The Big Five Personality Dimensions and Job Performance: A Meta-Analysis. ''Personnel Psychology'', ''44'', 1-26.</ref> <ref>Mount, M. K. & Barrick, M. R. (1998). Five reasons why the "Big Five" article has been frequently cited. ''Personnel Psychology'', ''51'', 849-857.</ref> ==Openness to Experience== ''Main article: [[Openness to experience]]'' '''Openness''' is a general appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination, curiosity, and variety of experience. The trait distinguishes imaginative people from down-to-earth, conventional people. People who are open to experience are intellectually curious, appreciative of art, and sensitive to beauty. They tend to be, compared to closed people, more creative and more aware of their feelings. They are more likely to hold unconventional beliefs. People with low scores on openness tend to have more conventional, traditional interests. They prefer the plain, straightforward, and obvious over the complex, ambiguous, and subtle. They may regard the arts and sciences with suspicion, regarding these endeavors as abstruse or of no practical use. Closed people prefer familiarity over novelty. They are conservative and resistant to change. ===Sample Openness items=== * I am full of ideas. * I am quick to understand things. * I have a rich vocabulary. * I have a vivid imagination. * I have excellent ideas. * I spend time reflecting on things. * I use difficult words. * I am not interested in abstract ideas. (''reversed'') * I do not have a good imagination. (''reversed'') * I have difficulty understanding abstract ideas. (''reversed'') <ref>[http://ipip.ori.org/ International Personality Item Pool]</ref> ==Conscientiousness== ''Main article: [[Conscientiousness]]'' '''Conscientiousness''' is a tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement. The trait shows a preference for planned rather than spontaneous behaviour. It influences the way in which we control, regulate, and direct our impulses. Conscientiousness includes the factor known as [[Need for Achievement]] (NAch). The benefits of high conscientiousness are obvious. Conscientious individuals avoid trouble and achieve high levels of success through purposeful planning and persistence. They are also positively regarded by others as intelligent and reliable. On the negative side, they can be compulsive perfectionists and workaholics. ===Sample Conscientiousness items=== * I am always prepared. * I am exacting in my work. * I follow a schedule. * I get chores done right away. * I like order. * I pay attention to details. * I leave my belongings around. (''reversed'') * I make a mess of things. (''reversed'') * I often forget to put things back in their proper place. (''reversed'') * I shirk my duties. (''reversed'') <ref>[http://ipip.ori.org/ International Personality Item Pool]</ref> ==Extraversion== ''Main article: [[Extraversion and introversion]]'' '''Extraversion''', also called "extroversion," is characterized by positive emotions, surgency, and the tendency to seek out stimulation and the company of others. The trait is marked by pronounced engagement with the external world. Extraverts enjoy being with people, and are often perceived as full of energy. They tend to be enthusiastic, action-oriented individuals who are likely to say "Yes!" or "Let's go!" to opportunities for excitement. In groups they like to talk, assert themselves, and draw attention to themselves. Introverts lack the exuberance, energy, and activity levels of extraverts. They tend to be quiet, low-key, deliberate, and less involved in the social world. Their lack of social involvement should not be interpreted as shyness or depression. Introverts simply need less stimulation than extraverts and more time alone. ===Sample Extraversion items=== * I am the life of the party. * I don't mind being the center of attention. * I feel comfortable around people. * I start conversations. * I talk to a lot of different people at parties. * I am quiet around strangers. (''reversed'') * I don't like to draw attention to myself. (''reversed'') * I don't talk a lot. (''reversed'') * I have little to say. (''reversed'')<ref>[http://ipip.ori.org/ International Personality Item Pool]</ref> ==Agreeableness== ''Main article: [[Agreeableness]]'' '''Agreeableness''' is a tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others. The trait reflects individual differences in concern for social harmony. Agreeable individuals value getting along with others. They are generally considerate, friendly, generous, helpful, and willing to compromise their interests with others. Agreeable people also have an optimistic view of human nature. They believe people are basically honest, decent, and trustworthy. Disagreeable individuals place self-interest above getting along with others. They are generally unconcerned with others’ well-being, and are less likely to extend themselves for other people. Sometimes their skepticism about others’ motives causes them to be suspicious, unfriendly, and uncooperative. ===Sample Agreeableness items=== * I am interested in people. * I feel others’ emotions. * I have a soft heart. * I make people feel at ease. * I sympathize with others’ feelings. * I take time out for others. * I am not interested in other people’s problems. (''reversed'') * I am not really interested in others. (''reversed'') * I feel little concern for others. (''reversed'') * I insult people. (''reversed'') <ref>[http://ipip.ori.org/ International Personality Item Pool]</ref> ==Neuroticism== ''Main article: [[Neuroticism]]'' '''Neuroticism''' is the tendency to experience negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety, or depression. It is sometimes called emotional instability. Those who score high in neuroticism are emotionally reactive and vulnerable to stress. They are more likely to interpret ordinary situations as threatening, and minor frustrations as hopelessly difficult. Their negative emotional reactions tend to persist for unusually long periods of time, which means they are often in a bad mood. These problems in emotional regulation can diminish a neurotic's ability to think clearly, make decisions, and cope effectively with stress. At the other end of the scale, individuals who score low in neuroticism are less easily upset and are less emotionally reactive. They tend to be calm, emotionally stable, and free from persistent negative feelings. Freedom from negative feelings does not mean that low scorers experience a lot of positive feelings. Frequency of positive emotions is a component of the Extraversion domain. ===Sample Neuroticism items=== * I am easily disturbed. * I change my mood a lot. * I get irritated easily. * I get stressed out easily. * I get upset easily. * I have frequent mood swings. * I often feel blue. * I worry about things. * I am relaxed most of the time. (''reversed'') * I seldom feel blue.(''reversed'')<ref>[http://ipip.ori.org/ International Personality Item Pool]</ref> ==Selected scientific findings== Ever since the 1990s when the consensus of psychologists gradually came to support the Big Five, there has been a growing body of research surrounding these personality traits (see for instance, Robert Hogan's edited book "Handbook of Personality Psychology" (Academic Press, 1997). ===Heritability=== All five factors show an influence from both heredity and environment. Twin studies suggest that these effects contribute in roughly equal proportion.<ref>Jang, K., Livesley, W. J., Vemon, P. A. (1996). Heritability of the Big Five Personality Dimensions and Their Facets: A Twin Study. ''Journal of Personality'', ''64'', 577-591.</ref> An analysis of the available studies found overall heritabilities for the Big Five traits as follows:<ref>Bouchard & McGue, 2003. "Genetic and environmental influences on human psychological differences." ''Journal of Neurobiology'', ''54'', 4-45.</ref> :Openness: 57% :Extraversion: 54% :Conscientiousness: 49% :Neuroticism: 48% :Agreeableness: 42% ===Development=== During young adulthood, a person's ratings on the five factors may change, with average levels of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness typically increasing, and with Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Openness generally decreasing. However, after age 30, researchers have found that stability, not change is the general rule. Both [[longitudinal study|longitudinal]] data, which correlate people's test scores over time, and [[cross-sectional]] data, which compare personality levels across different age groups, show remarkable stability in adulthood.<ref>McCrae, R. R. & Costa, P. T. (1990). ''Personality in adulthood.'' New York: The Guildford Press.</ref> This is not to say that personality as measured on the Big Five cannot change, given life altering circumstances or efforts to do so. It does indicate, however, that after age 30, people generally do not change their personalities very much. ===Sex differences=== Cross-cultural research from 26 nations (''N'' = 23,031 subjects) and again in 55 nations (''N'' = 17,637 subjects) has shown a universal pattern of sex differences on responses to the Big Five Inventory. Women consistently report higher Neuroticism and Agreeableness, and men often report higher Extraversion and Conscientiousness. Sex differences in personality traits are larger in prosperous, healthy, and egalitarian cultures in which women have more opportunities that are equal to those of men.<ref>Costa, P.T. Jr., Terracciano, A., & McCrae, R.R. (2001). "Gender Differences in Personality Traits Across Cultures: Robust and Surprising Findings" ''Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(2)'', 322-331</ref><ref>Schmitt, D. P., Realo, A., Voracek, M., & Allik, J. (2008). Why can't a man be more like a woman? Sex differences in Big Five personality traits across 55 cultures. ''Journal of Personality and Social Psychology'', ''94'', 168-182.</ref> ===Birth order=== The suggestion has often been made that individuals differ by the order of their births. Frank J. Sulloway argues that [[birth order]] is correlated with personality traits. He claims that firstborns are more conscientious, more socially dominant, less agreeable, and less open to new ideas compared to laterborns. However, Sulloway’s case has been called into question. One criticism is that his data confound family size with birth order. Subsequent analyses have shown that birth order effects are only found in studies where the subjects’ personality traits are rated by family members (such as siblings or parents) or by acquaintances familiar with the subjects’ birth order. Large scale studies using random samples and self-report personality tests like the [[NEO PI-R]] have found no significant effect of birth order on personality.<ref>Harris, J. R. (2006). ''No two alike: Human nature and human individuality''. WW Norton & Company.</ref> <ref>Jefferson, T., Herbst, J. H., & McCrae, R. R. (1998). Associations between birth order and personality traits: Evidence from self-reports and observer ratings. ''Journal of Research in Personality'', ''32'', 498-509.</ref> ===Culture=== The big five have been replicated in a variety of different languages and cultures. One important study by Ostendorf went back to the original lexical hypothesis using a large set of German trait adjectives. A factor analysis of these traits revealed five large factors that corresponded well to those found by American researchers. <ref>Ostendorf, F. (1990). ''Sprache und Persoenlichkeitsstruktur: Zur Validitaet des Funf-Factoren-Modells der Persoenlichkeit''. Regensburg, Germany: S. Roderer Verlag.</ref> Recent work has found relationships between [[Geert Hofstede]]’s cultural factors, Individualism, Power Distance, Masculinity, and Uncertainty Avoidance, with the average Big Five scores in a country. For instance, the degree to which a country values individualism correlates with its average Extraversion, while people living in cultures which are accepting of large inequalities in their power structures tend to score somewhat higher on Conscientiousness. The reasons for these differences are as yet unknown; this is an active area of research. ==Criticisms== Much research has been conducted on the Big Five. This has resulted in both criticism<ref>[http://content.apa.org/journals/bul/117/2/187 A contrarian view of the five-factor approach to personality description]</ref> and support for the model.<ref>[http://content.apa.org/journals/bul/117/2/216 Solid ground in the wetlands of personality: A reply to Block]</ref> ===Limited scope=== One common criticism is that the Big Five does not explain all of human personality. Some psychologists have dissented from the model precisely because they feel it neglects other domains of personality, such as [[Religion|Religiosity]], [[Machiavellianism|Manipulativeness/Machiavellianism]], [[Honesty]], [[Thrift]]iness, [[Conservatism|Conservativeness]], [[Gender role|Masculinity/Femininity]], [[Snob]]bishness, [[Humour|Sense of humour]], [[Psychological identity|Identity]], [[Self-concept]], and [[Motivation]]. Correlations have been found between some of these variables and the Big Five, such as the inverse relationship between political conservatism and Openness,<ref>McCrae, R. R. (1996). Social consequences of experiential openness. ''Psychological Bulletin'', 120, 323-337.</ref> although variation in these traits is not well explained by the Five Factors themselves. McAdams has called the Big Five a "psychology of the stranger," because they refer to traits that are relatively easy to observe in a stranger; other aspects of personality that are more privately held or more context-dependent are excluded from the Big Five.<ref>McAdams, D. P. (1995). What do we know when we know a person? ''Journal of Personality'', ''63'', 365-396.</ref> In many studies, the five factors are not fully [[orthogonal]] to one another; that is, the five factors are not independent. Negative correlations often appear between Neuroticism and Extraversion, for instance, indicating that those who are more prone to experiencing negative emotions tend to be less talkative and outgoing. Orthogonality is viewed as desirable by some researchers because it minimizes redundancy between the dimensions. This is particularly important when the goal of a study is to provide a comprehensive description of personality with as few variables as possible. ===Methodological issues=== The methodology used to identify the dimensional structure of personality traits, [[factor analysis]], is often challenged for not having a universally-recognized basis for choosing among solutions with different numbers of factors. That is, a five factor solution depends on some degree of interpretation by the analyst. A larger number of factors may, in fact, underlie these five factors. This has led to disputes about the "true" number of factors. Big Five proponents have responded that although other solutions may be viable in a single dataset, only the five factor structure consistently replicates across different studies. A methodological criticism often directed at the Big Five is that much of the evidence relies on self report questionnaires; self report bias and falsification of responses is impossible to deal with completely. This becomes especially important when considering why scores may differ between individuals or groups of people - differences in scores may represent genuine underlying personality differences, or they may simply be an artifact of the way the subjects answered the questions. The five factor structure has been replicated in peer reports.<ref>Goldberg, L. R. (1990). An alternative “description of personality”: The big-five factor structure. ''Journal of Personality and Social Psychology'', ''59'', 1216-1229.</ref> However, many of the substantive findings rely on self-reports. ===Theoretical status=== A frequent criticism is that the Big Five is not based on any underlying theory; it is merely an empirical finding that certain descriptors cluster together under factor analysis. While this does not mean that these five factors don't exist, the underlying causes behind them are unknown. Sensation seeking and cheerfulness are not linked to Extraversion because of an underlying theory; this relationship is an empirical finding to be explained. Several overarching theoretical models have been proposed to cover all of the Big Five, such as Five-Factor Theory and Social Investment Theory. Temperament Theory may prove to provide a theoretical foundation for the Big Five, and provide a longitudinal (life-span) model in which the Big Five could be grounded. ==Further research== Current research concentrates on a number of areas. One important question is: are the five factors the right ones? Attempts to replicate the Big Five in other countries with local dictionaries have succeeded in some countries but not in others. Apparently, for instance, Hungarians don’t appear to have a single Agreeableness factor.<ref>Szirmak, Z., & De Raad, B. (1994). Taxonomy and structure of Hungarian personality traits. ''European Journal of Personality'', ''8'', 95-117.</ref> Proponents state that the problem is that the language does not provide enough variance of the related terms for proper statistical analysis (CITE). Other researchers find evidence for Agreeableness but not for other factors.<ref>De Fruyt, F., McCrae, R. R., Szirmák, Z., & Nagy, J. (2004). The Five-Factor personality inventory as a measure of the Five-Factor Model: Belgian, American, and Hungarian comparisons with the NEO-PI-R. ''Assessment'', ''11'', 207-215.</ref> In an attempt to explain variance in personality traits more fully, some have found seven factors,<ref>Cloninger, C. R., Svrakic, D. M., Przybeck, T. R. (1993). A psychobiological model of temperament and character. ''Archives of General Psychiatry'', ''50(12)'', 975-990.</ref> some eighteen,<ref>Livesley, W. J., Jackson, D. N. (1986). The internal consistency and factorial structure of behaviors judged to be associated with DSM-III personality disorders. ''American Journal of Psychiatry'', ''143(11)'', 1473-4.</ref> and some only three.<ref>Eysenck, H. J. (1991). Criteria for a taxonomic paradigm. ''Personality and Individual Differences'', ''12'', 773-790.</ref> What determines the eventual number of factors is essentially the kind of information that is put into the factor analysis in the first place (i.e. the "Garbage in, Garbage out" principle). Since theory often implicitly precedes empirical science (such as factor analysis), the Big Five and other proposed factor structures should always be judged according to the items that went into the factor analytic algorithm. Recent studies show that seven- or eighteen-factor models have their relative strengths and weaknesses in explaining variance in DSM-based symptom counts in non-clinical samples<ref>Bagby, R. M., Marshall, M. B., Georgiades, S. (2005), Dimensional personality traits and the prediction of DSM-IV personality disorder symptom counts in a nonclinical sample. ''Journal of Personal Disorders'', ''19(1)', 53-67.</ref> and in psychiatric patients.<ref>De Fruyt, F., De Clercq, B. J., van de Wiele, L., Van Heeringen, K. (2006). The validity of Cloninger's psychobiological model versus the five-factor model to predict DSM-IV personality disorders in a heterogeneous psychiatric sample: domain facet and residualized facet descriptions. ''Journal of Personality'', ''74(2)'', 479-510.</ref> and do not seem to be clearly outperformed by the Big Five. A second question is, which factors predict what? Job outcomes for leaders and salespeople have already been measured, and research is currently being done in expanding the list of careers. There are also a variety of life outcomes which preliminary research indicates are affected by personality, such as smoking (predicted by high scores in Neuroticism and low scores in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness) and interest in different kinds of music (largely mediated by Openness). A validation study, in 1992, conducted by Paul Sinclair and Steve Barrow, involved 202 Branch Managers from the then TSB Bank. It found several significant correlations with job performance across 3 of the Big Five scales. The correlations ranged from .21 - .33 and were noted across 3 scales: High Extraversion, Low Neuroticism and High Openness to Experience.<ref>Sinclair, P. & Barrow, S. (1992)Identifying Personality Traits predictive of Performance. The BPS’s journal on Occupational Testing – Selection & Development Review, SDR - October 1992 Volume 8 (5)</ref> A third area of investigation is to make a model of personality. The Big Five personality traits are empirical observations, not a theory; the observations of personality research remain to be explained. Costa and McCrae have built what they call the Five Factor Theory of Personality as an attempt to explain personality from the cradle to the grave. They don't follow the lexical hypothesis, though, but favor a theory-driven approach inspired by the same sources as the sources of the Big Five. A fourth area of investigation is the downward extension of Big Five theory, or the Five Factor Model, into childhood. Studies have found Big Five personality traits to correlate with children's social and emotional adjustment and academic achievement. More recently, the Five Factor Personality Inventory - Children<ref>McGhee, R.M., Ehrler, D.J., & Buckhalt, J. (2007). Five Factor Personality Inventory - Children (FFPI-C). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.</ref> was published extending assessment between the ages of 9-0 to 18-11. Perhaps the reason for this recent publication was the controversy over the application of the Five Factor Model to children. Studies by Oliver P. John et al with adolescent boys brought two new factors to the table: "Irritability" and "Activity." In studies of Dutch children, those same two new factors also became apparent. These new additions "suggest that the structure of personality traits may be more differentiated in childhood than in adulthood"<ref>John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). [http://www.uoregon.edu/~sanjay/pubs/bigfive.pdf The Big-Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives]. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), ''Handbook of personality: Theory and research'' (Vol. 2, pp. 102–138). New York: Guilford Press.</ref> which would explain the recent research in this particular area. ==See also== *[[16 Personality Factors]] *[[Myers-Briggs Type Indicator]] *[[Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory|NEO-PI]] *[[Personality psychology]] *[[Trait theory]] ==References== <references/> ==External links== * [http://www.uoregon.edu/~sanjay/pubs/bigfive.pdf The Big-Five Trait Taxonomy: History, Measurement, and Theoretical Perspectives] * [http://www.personalityresearch.org/bigfive.html Five-Factor Model] from Great Ideas in Personality * [http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2005/3/25/183037/595 History of the Big 5] from Kuro5hin * [http://www.personality-project.org/ The Personality Project] Good source of references for further reading. * [http://www.personality.cn/ Chinese Personality & Performance at Work Research] Provides some extensive information on Big-5 research in Hong Kong, Singapore and mainland China. * [http://www.psyasia.com/supportsuite/index.php?_m=downloads&_a=view&parentcategoryid=8&pcid=0&nav=0/ PsyAsia Publications Downloads] Downloadable information on Big-5 research conducted by PsyAsia International. * [http://www.signalpatterns.com Signal Patterns] graphical-based website based on Big 5 personality theory * [http://www.youjustgetme.com YouJustGetMe.com] an interactive personality game based on the Big 5 where you can guess people's personalities and have others guess your personality for an accuracy score. * [http://ipip.ori.org International Personality Item Pool] research website containing findings and public domain scales * [http://www.personalitytest.net/ipip/ipipneo1.htm Goldberg's IPIP-NEO] Free Online Big Five Personality Test * [http://www.apa.org/psycarticles/sample.html Five-Factor Model of Personality and Job Satisfaction] [[Category:Personality traits]] [[ar:عناصر الشخصية الخمسة]] [[de:Big Five (Psychologie)]] [[es:Modelo de los cinco grandes]] [[fr:Big five]] [[it:Big Five (psicologia)]] [[he:חמש התכונות הגדולות]] [[ms:Ciri personaliti Lima Utama]] [[nl:Big Five (persoonlijkheidsdimensies)]] [[sv:Femfaktorteorin]]