The five-factor model and its assessment in clinical settings.

Personality researchers have recently converged on the five-factor model as an adequate representation of the structure of personality traits. This article introduces the factors and the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI), a questionnaire designed to measure the factors and some of the traits that define them. Data on the comprehensiveness of the model and on the reliability, validity, and stability of measures of the factors are reviewed, and correlations between scales from the NEO-PI and two instruments widely used in clinical practice (the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory [MMPI] and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory [MCMI]) are used to illustrate similarities and differences between normal and clinical assessment. Some issues regarding the clinical use of the five-factor model are discussed.     

Perfectionism and the five-factor model of personality

In this study of the discriminant, convergent, and incremental validity of the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R), university students completed the APS-R, additional measures of perfectionism, the NEO Five-Factor Inventory-Form S, and measures of self-esteem and depression. The results revealed expected significant, but not completely overlapping, associations between the APS-R Discrepancy subscale scores and the Five-Factor Model of Personality (FFM) dimension of Neuroticism, and between the APS-R High Standards and Order subscales and the FFM dimension of Conscientiousness. The incremental validity of APS-R scores over FFM dimensions was supported in analyses of self-esteem but not depression. The implications of these findings for further psychometric and clinical studies of perfectionism and facets of FFM dimensions are discussed.     

Assessment of the five-factor model of personality

The five-factor model (FFM) of personality is obtaining construct validation, recognition, and practical consideration across a broad domain of fields, including clinical psychology, industrial-organizational psychology, and health psychology. As a result, an array of instruments have been developed and existing instruments are being modified to assess the FFM. In this article, we present an overview and critique of five such instruments (the Goldberg Big Five Markers, the revised NEO Personality Inventory, the Interpersonal Adjective Scales-Big Five, the Personality Psychopathology-Five, and the Hogan Personality Inventory), focusing in particular on their representation of the lexical FFM and their practical application.     

The cross-cultural generalizability of Zuckerman's alternative five-factor model of personality

The aim of this study was to analyze the cross-cultural generalizability of the Alternative five-factor model (AFFM; Zuckerman, Kuhlman, & Camac, 1988). The total sample was made up of 9,152 subjects from six countries: China, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States. The internal consistencies for all countries were generally similar to those found for the normative American sample. Factor analyses within cultures showed that the normative American structure was replicated in all cultures; however, the congruence coefficients were slightly lower in China and Italy. A similar analysis at the facet level confirmed the high cross-cultural replicability of the AFFM. Mean-level comparisons did not always show the hypothesized effects. The mean score differences across countries were very small.     

Adolescent personality: a five-factor model construct validation

The purpose of this study was to investigate convergent and discriminant validity of the five-factor model of adolescent personality in a school setting using three different raters (methods): self-ratings, peer ratings, and teacher ratings. The authors investigated validity through a multitrait-multimethod matrix and a confirmatory factor analysis correlated trait, uncorrelated method model. With the exception of Emotional Stability, each analysis demonstrated similar patterns and together provided support for the convergent and discriminant validity of the five-factor model structure of adolescent personality. However, among the three raters, self-ratings of personality provided a comparatively weaker method for assessing adolescent personality. The influences of agreement between self and other raters are discussed in relation to contrast, perceiver, and target effects; expert observer effects; the degree of acquaintanceship; and the effect of the social context.     

The five-factor model and driving behavior: personality and involvement in vehicular accidents

Participants completed both the NEO-PI-R personality measure and measures of prior involvement in driving accidents. Significant negative correlations were found between the factor of Agreeableness and the total number of driving tickets received as well as the sum of combined at-fault accidents, not-at-fault accidents, and driving tickets received by participants. Implications and potential future directions for research are discussed.     

Anxiety sensitivity and the five-factor model of personality.

Relations between anxiety sensitivity (AS) and the higher-order and lower-order dimensions of the 'Big Five' model of personality were examined in 317 university students. AS was significantly associated with a number of personality domains and facets of the NEO-PI-R. Regression analyses indicated that only the higher-order domains of neuroticism and extraversion (negatively) and the lower-order N facets of anxiety and self-consciousness, significantly predicted AS. Three lower-order factors within AS were identified and were also compared to NEO-PI-R domains and facets. In a hierarchical regression, the three AS factors significantly predicted variance in a measure of panic-related anxiety after the effects of the six N facets were statistically controlled. Results are discussed in the context of previous work with a Big Three taxonomy of personality and implications for understanding the nature and possible origins of AS are outlined.     

Children's behavioral manifestations of the five-factor model of personality

The present study examined relations between ratings of children's personalities using the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality and behaviors exhibited by children during an interaction with their parents. Ninety-four children (M age = 10.87 years) and their parents participated in a videotaped interaction; children were coded on 64 different social behaviors using a revised version of the Riverside Behavioral Q-Sort. Mothers completed ratings of their children's personalities using the NEO-Five-Factor Personality Inventory (NEO-FFI). Results indicate an intuitive and predictable pattern of relations between children's personalities and their behaviors. Findings suggest that four of the five factors included in the FFM provide an appropriate framework for describing children's personalities. These findings are discussed in terms of their relevance for helping researchers understand children's personalities.     

Evaluating comprehensiveness in personality systems: The California Q-Set and the five-factor model

The analysis of natural language trait names and questionnaire scales has suggested that the five factors of Neuroticism, Extroversion, Openness, Agreeable-ness, and Conscientiousness constitute an adequate taxonomy of personality An alternative approach to comprehensive personality assessment based on clinical judgments is given by the California Q-Set (CQS, Block, 1961) When self-Q-sorts from 403 adult men and women were factored, the five factors closely resembled those found in adjectives, and showed convergent and discriminant validity against self-reports and peer- and spouse-ratings on measures of the five-factor model Results were replicated when interviewer Q-sort ratings were examined for a subset of subjects These findings strongly support the claim to comprehensiveness of the five-factor model     

The five-factor narcissism inventory: a five-factor measure of narcissistic personality traits

This study provides convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity data for a new measure of narcissistic personality traits created from the perspective of the Five-factor model (FFM) of general personality structure. Fifteen scales were constructed as maladaptive variants of respective facets of the FFM (e.g., Reactive Anger as a narcissistic variant of angry hostility), with item selection made on the basis of a criterion-keying approach using results from 167 undergraduates. On the basis of data from 166 additional undergraduates, the convergent validity of these 15 scales was tested with respect to 8 established measures of narcissism (including measures of both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism) and the respective facets of the FFM. Discriminant validity was tested with respect to facets from other FFM domains. Incremental validity was tested with respect to the ability of the FFM narcissism trait scales to account for variance in 2 alternative measures of narcissism, after variance accounted for by respective NEO PI-R facet scales and other established measures of narcissism were first removed. The findings support the validity of these new scales as measures of narcissistic personality traits and as maladaptive variants of the FFM.     

The hoarding dimension of OCD: psychological comorbidity and the five-factor personality model

Although hoarding has been associated with several psychological disorders, it is most frequently linked to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The present study assessed hoarding obsessions and compulsions in 204 individuals with OCD, and evaluated how hoarding was related to obsessive-compulsive symptom severity, psychological comorbidity, and personality as measured by the five-factor model. Results indicated that hoarding in OCD is a dimensional variable that is positively associated with dysphoria, total number of lifetime Axis I disorders, and lifetime histories of bipolar I, PTSD, and body dysmorphic disorder. Hoarding was negatively correlated with the NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R) factor of Conscientiousness and positively associated with the NEO-PI-R factor of Neuroticism. When all personality and psychopathology variables were entered into a regression equation, dysphoria, bipolar II disorder, Conscientiousness, age, and Extraversion emerged as significant predictors of hoarding severity. Recommendations are made for clinicians and for future research.     

The validity of the five-factor model prototypes for personality disorders in two clinical samples

The authors examined the validity of D. R. Lynam and T. A. Widiger's (2001) prototypes for personality disorders (PDs) derived from the facets of the 5-factor model (FFM) of personality in 2 clinical samples. In the 1st sample (N = 94), there was good agreement between the prototypes generated by experts and the profiles reported by patients. These FFM PD similarity scores also demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity with results from a semistructured interview and a self-report measure of Axis II pathology. In the 2nd sample (N = 132), the FFM PD similarity scores demonstrated excellent longitudinal stability and good predictive validity with regard to consensus ratings of PD features. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

The five-factor model of personality traits and organizational citizenship behaviors: a meta-analysis

Using meta-analytic tests based on 87 statistically independent samples, we investigated the relationships between the five-factor model (FFM) of personality traits and organizational citizenship behaviors in both the aggregate and specific forms, including individual-directed, organization-directed, and change-oriented citizenship. We found that Emotional Stability, Extraversion, and Openness/Intellect have incremental validity for citizenship over and above Conscientiousness and Agreeableness, 2 well-established FFM predictors of citizenship. In addition, FFM personality traits predict citizenship over and above job satisfaction. Finally, we compared the effect sizes obtained in the current meta-analysis with the comparable effect sizes predicting task performance from previous meta-analyses. As a result, we found that Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Extraversion have similar magnitudes of relationships with citizenship and task performance, whereas Openness and Agreeableness have stronger relationships with citizenship than with task performance. This lends some support to the idea that personality traits are (slightly) more important determinants of citizenship than of task performance. We conclude with proposed directions for future research on the relationships between FFM personality traits and specific forms of citizenship, based on the current findings.     

DSM-III-R personality disorders and the five-factor model of personality: an empirical comparison.

The relationship between the five-factor model (FFM) of personality and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (rev. 3rd ed.; DSM-III-R) personality disorders was examined in a sample of 54 psychiatric outpatients. Correlations between raw scores on the NEO-Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) and the number of DSM-III-R personality disorder symptoms rated present using a semistructured interview were computed. In addition, correlations between NEO-PI scores and scores on two self-report personality disorder inventories were also examined to determine which results replicated across instruments. Results indicated that the FFM personality dimensions of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Agreeableness were most apparent in the DSM-III-R conceptualizations of the personality disorders.     

The influence of trait affect and the five-factor personality model on impulse buying

Research into the influence of affect on impulse buying has to date produced contradictory results, partly due to confusion between the potentially discrete influences of, respectively, state and trait affect. Additionally, studies on how the five-factor personality model’s dimensions influence impulse buying have also produced contradictory results. Moreover, while the established link between trait affect and personality suggests dimensions of this latter could account for whatever influence the former has on impulse buying, no study has yet attempted to examine this possibility. We draw on self-regulation theory to examine three unanswered questions: (1) the extent to which trait affect influences impulse buying whilst controlling for state affect; (2) establish which dimensions of the five-factor personality model predict impulse buying; and (3) test whether or not any influence of trait affect on impulse buying is additive to the effects of the five-factor personality model. Analyses of cross-sectional data (n = 842) find that trait affect does have a significant (p < .05) influence on impulse buying controlling for state affect, but that this influence is fully accounted for by the five-factor personality model (p < .001), the extraversion, conscientiousness and neuroticism dimensions of which are found consistently to predict impulse buying.     

Some NEO-PI five-factor personality profiles

The aim of this study was to identify any clusters of score profiles to be found in a college sample of 236 subjects administered the five-factor NEO [Neuroticism, Extroversion, Openness] Personality Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1985). Application of Ward's agglomerative hierarchical procedure to the score profiles disclosed six clusters that were replicated in a K-means partitioning process. The six clusters were then compared by a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with respect to their mean five higher order scores on the Interpersonal Style Inventory (Lorr, 1986). The highly significant F tests provided confirmation of the characteristics of the cluster profiles isolated.     

Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers

Two data sources--self-reports and peer ratings--and two instruments--adjective factors and questionnaire scales--were used to assess the five-factor model of personality. As in a previous study of self-reports (McCrae & Costa, 1985b), adjective factors of neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness-antagonism, and conscientiousness-undirectedness were identified in an analysis of 738 peer ratings of 275 adult subjects. Intraclass correlations among raters, ranging from .30 to .65, and correlations between mean peer ratings and self-reports, from .25 to .62, showed substantial cross-observer agreement on all five adjective factors. Similar results were seen in analyses of scales from the NEO Personality Inventory. Items from the adjective factors were used as guides in a discussion of the nature of the five factors. These data reinforce recent appeals for the adoption of the five-factor model in personality research and assessment.     

Maladaptive personality functioning within the big five and the five-factor model

The five-factor model (FFM) of general personality functioning was derived originally from lexical studies of trait terms within the English language. Many studies have been conducted on the relationship of the FFM to personality disorder symptomatology but, as yet, no lexical study of the representation of maladaptive personality functioning within a language has been conducted. The current study identified the distribution of socially undesirable trait terms within each of the poles of the Big Five and compared this distribution to findings obtained with FFM personality disorder measures. The implications of the results for a FFM of personality disorders and for the FFM assessment of maladaptive personality functioning are discussed.     

The psychotherapeutic utility of the five-factor model of personality: a clinician's experience.

This article summarizes experience using the five-factor model of personality, operationalized by the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI), to facilitate psychotherapy treatment with 119 private-practice, outpatient, psychotherapy patients and their family members over a period of 2 years. Trait theories such as the five-factor model implicitly challenge the premises of much clinical theory, yet they can be useful to clinicians, as they provide a detailed, accurate portrait of the client's needs, feelings, proximate motives, and interpersonal style. I suggest that: Neuroticism (N) influences the intensity and duration of the patient's distress, Extraversion (E) influences the patient's enthusiasm for treatment, Openness (O) influences the patient's reactions to the therapist's interventions, Agreeableness (A) influences the patient's reaction to the person of the therapist, and Conscientiousness (C) influences the patient's willingness to do the work of psychotherapy. Fundamental questions raised by the five-factor model about the nature of psychopathology and psychotherapy are discussed.