Lecture 3: Structure Change and Stability of Personality 2

How Many Traits Are There?

Historically, there have been numerous models suggesting various numbers of personality traits, ranging from 2 to 30. Ashton's chapter two, page 46, box 22, provides an overview of these different measures.

In 1985, determining the best measure and the number of personality factors needed was an open question. The lexical approach helped to decide how many relevant personality factors exist.

The Lexical Approach

The lexical approach is based on the fundamental lexical hypothesis:

"The most important individual differences in human transactions will come to be encoded as single terms in some or all of the world's languages."

This means that languages contain most of the important individual differences and personality traits because people frequently communicate about others.

Trait descriptors are used to describe people and inform others about their personalities.

The idea is that all relevant personality traits are present in language. By examining language and identifying trait terms, one can find the dimensions of personality and create a model that captures all relevant traits.

History of the Lexical Approach

Gordon Allport proposed this idea in 1884. Baumgarten in Germany (1933) and Allport and Odbert analyzed the English dictionary, finding approximately 18,000 words related to describing personality:

  • 4,500 trait terms

  • 4,500 state terms

  • Approximately 5,200 evaluations (good/bad)

  • Approximately 3,600 miscellaneous words

Allport and Odbert identified 4,500 terms describing traits but lacked methods to reduce these terms into factors.

Raymond B. Cattell used factor analysis on 35 traits or synonyms due to the computational limitations at the time (1940s). He had to calculate correlations by hand.

Cattell found 12 factors initially, then added four more, resulting in the 16PF model, which includes 16 personality dimensions.

Cattell's 16PF Model

The 16 factors in Cattell's model are:

  • Warmth

  • Intellect

  • Emotional Stability

  • Aggressiveness

  • Liveliness

  • Dutifulness

  • Social Assertiveness

  • Sensitivity

  • Paranoia

  • Abstractness

  • Introversion

  • Anxiety

  • Open-Mindedness

  • Independence

  • Perfectionism

  • Tension

Redundancy exists among these factors. For instance, emotional stability, sensitivity, anxiety, and tension are related to neuroticism.

  • Emotional Stability: High scores = level-headed and calm; low scores = irritable and moody.

  • Sensitivity: High scores = touchy or soft; low scores = coarse and tough.

  • Anxiety: High scores = fearful and self-doubting; low scores = confident and self-assured.

  • Tension: High scores = stressed and unsatisfied; low scores = relaxed and cool.

These factors are highly correlated and may form a super-factor, suggesting redundancy.

The Five-Factor Model (FFM) / Big Five

In the 1980s and 1990s, research combined data and found five factors consistently across samples, ages, languages, and nations. These findings emerged across different measures, including trait descriptive adjectives, statements describing feelings, cognitions and behaviors, self-ratings versus peer ratings, and non-verbal measures.

Examples of researchers include:

  • Tupes and Christal (1961)

  • Norman (1967)

  • Costa and McCrae (1980s and 1990s)

  • Goldberg (1990s)

Even puppet interviews arrive at these five factors. For instance, using puppets like Anna (who enjoys birthday parties) and Lisa (who is afraid of other children) to assess children's personality.

The five factors are:

  • Neuroticism

  • Extraversion

  • Openness to Experience (or simply Openness)

  • Agreeableness

  • Conscientiousness

Acronym: OCEAN

Interchangeable Models

The Five-Factor Model (FFM) and the Big Five are generally used interchangeably, though they have slightly different histories.

  • Big Five initially measured emotional stability instead of neuroticism.

  • Big Five initially used "intellect/imagination" instead of "openness to experience."

Now, the models are very similar, and the terms Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness are more frequently used.

The Five Factors in Detail

Neuroticism

Assesses maladjustment versus emotional stability and identifies individuals prone to psychological distress, unrealistic ideas, excessive cravings, and maladaptive coping responses.

  • Sample items: Tense, nervous, unstable, discontented, and emotional.

Extraversion

Assesses the quantity and intensity of interpersonal interaction, activity level, need for stimulation, and capacity for joy. Quantity and intensity are key aspects.

  • Sample items: Talkative, assertive, adventurous, energetic, and bold.

Openness to Experience

Assesses proactive seeking and appreciation of experience for its own sake, toleration, and exploration of the unfamiliar.

  • Sample items: Imaginative, creative, curious, reflective, and sophisticated.

Agreeableness

Assesses the quality of one's interpersonal orientation along a continuum from compassion to antagonism. While extraversion assesses the quantity and intensity of interactions, agreeableness assesses the quality.

  • Example: Charlie Brown (high in agreeableness) vs. Lucy (low in agreeableness).

  • Sample items: Kind, cooperative, unselfish, trustful, and generous.

Conscientiousness

Assesses the individual's degree of organization, persistence, motivation, and code-like behavior.

  • Example: Schroeder (from Peanuts), who practices piano all the time.

  • Sample items: Organized, responsible, practical, thorough, and hard-working.

Importance of the Big Five

  • Reduces confusion from different models and measures of personality.

  • Provides a framework or mapping system to understand new personality traits.

Example: Perfectionism

In 1991, a model differentiated three forms of perfectionism:

  1. Self-oriented: Expecting perfection for oneself.

  2. Other-oriented: Expecting others to be perfect.

  3. Socially prescribed: Thinking others expect you to be perfect.

The Big Five framework can be used to understand these forms:

  • Self-oriented perfectionism: High correlation with conscientiousness (Hill et al., 1997).

  • Other-oriented perfectionism: Low correlations with agreeableness.

  • Socially prescribed perfectionism: Positive correlations mainly with neuroticism.

Facets of the Five-Factor Model

Costa and McCrae developed several models, including one with five factors, each measured with six facets.

NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R)

Provides a profile on the Big Five and also on 30 facets (5 factors x 6 facets).

Facets of Neuroticism

  • Anxiety

  • Angry Hostility

  • Depression

  • Self-Consciousness

  • Impulsiveness

  • Vulnerability

Facets of Extraversion

  • Warmth

  • Gregariousness

  • Assertiveness

  • Activity

  • Excitement Seeking

  • Positive Emotions

Facets of Openness

  • Fantasy

  • Aesthetics

  • Feelings

  • Actions

  • Ideas

  • Values

Facets of Agreeableness

  • Trust

  • Straightforwardness

  • Altruism

  • Compliance

  • Modesty

  • Tender-Mindedness

Facets of Conscientiousness

  • Competence

  • Order

  • Dutifulness

  • Achievement Striving

  • Self-Discipline

  • Deliberation

This provides a more detailed description of personality.

Example: Self-Pity

Study in 2002/2003 used the Big Five dimensions and facets to map self-pity.

  • Big Five: Self-pity correlated with neuroticism.

  • Facets of Neuroticism: Self-pity correlated with depression, anxiety, and vulnerability.

This provides a more in-depth understanding of psychological constructs.

Is the Five-Factor Model the Final Answer?

  • Captures Western personality language better than Eastern.

  • Does not replicate all the time.

  • Usually, it's a Big Five plus or minus two.

However, it provides:

  • A useful taxonomic system.

  • A common language to communicate traits.

  • A framework to map and better understand specific personality characteristics and behaviors.

The HEXACO Model

Ashton and his co-workers developed the HEXACO model, which includes a sixth dimension: Honesty-Humility.

Different languages had terms describing honest humility not captured by the Five-Factor Model.

The HEXACO model includes:

  • H: Honesty-Humility

  • E: Emotionality

  • X: Extraversion

  • A: Agreeableness

  • C: Conscientiousness

  • O: Openness

Facets for Honesty-Humility:

  • Sincerity

  • Fairness

  • Greed Avoidance

  • Modesty

Problems with the HEXACO Model

Neuroticism is not the same as emotionality. Only the anxiety facet features in both.

Conclusion

The HEXACO model makes valuable contributions to research, but differences between factors can be confusing, and its importance can be overstated. Most personality researchers use the Five-Factor Model.

Key Concepts

  • Factor analysis basics

  • Lexical approach and fundamental lexical hypothesis

  • Five-Factor Model/Big Five (factors and facets)

  • HEXACO model of personality