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Contents
- Abstract
- Five- and Six-Factor Solutions
- Purpose of the Present Study
- Method
- Studies Included in the Summary
- Dutch
- French
- German
- Hungarian
- Italian (Rome)
- Italian (Trieste)
- Korean
- Polish
- Interpreting the Factors
- Results and Discussion
- Descriptions of the Factors
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Table 1 factors
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Table 2 factors
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Table 3 factors
- Table 4 factors
- Table 5 factors
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Table 6 factors
- Summary of the Six-Factor Solutions
- Seven-Factor Solutions
- Other Psycholexical Studies of Personality Structure
- General Discussion
- Generality of the Six-Factor Solution
- Cautions Regarding the Six-Factor Solution
- Consequences for the Big Five Structure
Figures and Tables
Abstract
Standard psycholexical studies of personality structure have produced a similar 6-factor solution in 7 languages (Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Polish). The authors report the content of these personality dimensions and interpret them as follows: (a) a variant of Extraversion, defined by sociability and liveliness (though not by bravery and toughness); (b) a variant of Agreeableness, defined by gentleness, patience, and agreeableness (but also including anger and ill temper at its negative pole); (c) Conscientiousness (emphasizing organization and discipline rather than moral conscience); (d) Emotionality (containing anxiety, vulnerability, sentimentality, lack of bravery, and lack of toughness, but not anger or ill temper); (e) Honesty-Humility; (f) Intellect/Imagination/Unconventionality. A potential reorganization of the Big Five factor structure is discussed.
One of the fundamental problems of personality psychology is identifying the major dimensions of personality variation. However, any investigation of the structure of personality characteristics requires a representative sampling of the universe of those variables, and the only strategy that is claimed to provide representative samples is the psycholexical approach to personality structure. According to the assumptions of the lexical hypothesis (e.g., Goldberg, 1990, 1993), a factor analysis of self- or peer ratings on the familiar personality-descriptive adjectives of a given language should reveal the underlying structure of personality characteristics.
During the past decade, several systematic comparisons of the results of psycholexical studies of personality structure have been published (e.g., De Raad, Perugini, Hrebickova, & Szarota, 1998; De Raad, Perugini, & Szirmak, 1997; Peabody & De Raad, 2002; Saucier & Goldberg, 2001). The common denominator of these comparisons has been their emphasis on the five-factor...