The Lexical Approach and the Five-Factor Model

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering the historical development, structural models (FFM, HEXACO), empirical findings, Five-Factor Theory (FFT), and clinical applications (ICD-11 PiCD) of trait personality psychology.

Lexical Hypothesis

The proposition, first introduced by Francis Galton (1884), that natural language encodes the most socially relevant and significant personality characteristics, with social importance reflected in word frequency.

Allport & Odbert (1936) Word List

The first systematic psycho-lexical study, which cataloged roughly 18,000 person-descriptive words from an English dictionary and filtered them down to about 4,500 terms describing stable personality traits.

Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF)

A 185-item personality test developed by Raymond Cattell in 1949, created by reducing Allport's trait list to 171 clusters and identifying 16 primary factors using factor analysis.

L-data

Life-record data in Raymond Cattell's measurement triad, derived from observable everyday behaviors and official records of an individual's life history.

Q-data

Questionnaire data in Raymond Cattell's assessment framework, obtained through self-report inventories and subjective rating scales.

T-data

Objective test data in Raymond Cattell's assessment system, gathered from standardized, controlled experimental situations where the participant does not know which trait is being measured.

Dispositional Approach

A trait-theory perspective developed by Costa & McCrae that views traits as biologically rooted, explanatory internal properties that predict personality dynamics, contrasting with purely taxonomic lexical descriptions.

Extraversion (FFM)

A Big Five personality factor characterized by sociability, assertiveness, high activity, excitement-seeking, positive emotionality, and warmth.

Counterdispositional Behavior (Fleeson et al., 2002)

The act of behaving contrary to one's baseline personality trait (e.g., introverts acting extraverted), which was shown to boost positive affect across participants without causing an increase in negative affect or distress.

Compassion vs. Politeness

The two sub-dimensions of Agreeableness: Compassion (empathy, altruism) predicts actively helping victims of unfairness, while Politeness (compliance, modesty, restraint) predicts adherence to social norms without active intervention.

Maturity Principle

The developmental finding that traits reflecting psychosocial maturity—specifically Agreeableness and Conscientiousness—systematically increase across adulthood.

Dark Triad

A group of three overlapping socially adverse personality traits (narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) that all share low Agreeableness as their common Big Five trait.

Conscientiousness (FFM)

A Big Five factor defining self-control, planning, diligence, and task completion; composed of the facets competence, order, dutifulness, achievement-striving, self-discipline, and deliberation.

Healthy Neuroticism

An empirical phenomenon documented by Weston and Jackson (2015) in which high Neuroticism combined with high Conscientiousness leads to improved health-protective behaviors (such as smoking reduction following a medical diagnosis).

Openness to Experience (FFM)

A Big Five dimension encompassing fantasy, aesthetics, feelings, actions, ideas, and values; it serves as the strongest Big Five predictor of creativity and political orientation.

NEO-PI-R

A 240-item comprehensive personality questionnaire released by Costa & McCrae in 1992 providing scores for all five broad factors and six distinct facet subscales per factor.

NEO-FFI

A 60-item short-form inventory published by Costa & McCrae (1989, 1992) designed for quick assessment of the five global personality domains without facet-level subscales.

HEXACO Model

A six-dimensional personality structure formulated by Lee & Ashton (2001, 2007) that incorporates Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, eXtraversion, Agreeableness (vs. Anger), Conscientiousness, and Openness.

Honesty-Humility (HEXACO)

A HEXACO factor assessing tendencies toward sincerity, fairness, greed avoidance, and modesty at the high end, versus manipulation, rule-breaking, entitlement, and status-seeking at the low end.

Emotionality (HEXACO)

A HEXACO dimension characterized by fear of physical harm, anxiety, emotional dependence, and empathy, differing from FFM Neuroticism because angry hostility is relocated to Agreeableness (vs. Anger).

Basic Tendencies (FFT)

In McCrae & Costa's Five-Factor Theory, the biologically conditioned, endogenous capacities and dispositions (the Big Five traits) that remain largely stable after age 30 and are inferred rather than directly observed.

Characteristic Adaptations (FFT)

Concrete, culturally conditioned psychological structures—including acquired skills, habits, attitudes, values, and relationships—produced by the ongoing interaction between basic tendencies and environmental influences.

Self-Concept (FFT)

A specialized characteristic adaptation consisting of an individual's explicit self-schemas, self-evaluations, and personal life narrative or myth that confers meaning and identity.

Objective Biography (FFT)

The cumulative factual record of everything a person actually experiences, feels, and does across their lifetime, encompassing observable actions and emotional reactions to events.

Universal Dynamics (FFT)

The general cognitive, affective, and volitional processes (such as perception, learning, decision-making, and planning) that function identically across all individuals to regulate ongoing adaptive behavior.

Differential Dynamics (FFT)

The principle that universal psychological mechanisms generate differing personal outcomes because their operation is influenced and colored by each individual's distinct basic tendencies.

Socioanalytic Theory (Robert Hogan, 1996)

A theoretical perspective integrating evolutionary psychology, psychoanalytic unconscious drives, and social interaction viewed as a strategic pursuit of status and acceptance.

Dyadic-Interactional Perspective (Wiggins & Trapnell, 1997)

An interpersonal theory of personality based on Sullivan's work that frames individual differences around two foundational social motivations: agency (status) and communion (love).

Negative Affectivity (ICD-11 PiCD)

A trait domain within the ICD-11 Personality Inventory (code 6D11.0) corresponding to high Neuroticism, marked by persistent worry, anxiety, emotional instability, and vulnerability.

Detachment (ICD-11 PiCD)

An ICD-11 PiCD trait domain (code 6D11.1) reflecting the extreme low end of Extraversion, characterized by interpersonal distance, avoidance of social interactions, and affective flatness.

Dissociality (ICD-11 PiCD)

An ICD-11 PiCD trait domain (code 6D11.2) representing extreme low Agreeableness, marked by callous disregard for others' rights, self-centeredness, and exploitative behavior.

Disinhibition (ICD-11 PiCD)

An ICD-11 PiCD trait domain (code 6D11.3) capturing extreme low Conscientiousness, defined by impulsive decision-making, disregard for consequences, and an inability to maintain organized effort.

Anankastia (ICD-11 PiCD)

An ICD-11 PiCD trait domain (code 6D11.4) representing the pathological high extreme of Conscientiousness, characterized by rigid perfectionism, behavioral inflexibility, and strict emotional constraint.