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Journal of Personality Disorders. 6(4), 343-359, 1992
THE FIVE-FACTOR MODEL
OF PERSONALITY AND ITS RELEVANCE
TO PERSONALITY DISORDERS
Paul T. Costa, Jr., and Robert R. McCrae
The five-factor model is a dimensional representation of
personality structure that has recently gained widespread acceptance among personality psychologists. This article describes the five factors (Neuroticism, Extraversion,
Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness); summarizes
evidence on their consensual validity, comprehensiveness, universality, heritability, and longitudinal stability; and
reviews several approaches to the assessment of the factors and their defining traits. In research, measures of the five
factors can be used to analyze personality disorder scales and to profile the traits of personality-disordered patient groups;
findings may be useful in diagnosing individuals. As an
alternative to the current categorical system for diagnosing personality disorders, it is proposed that Axis II be used for the description of personality in terms of the five factors and for the diagnosis of personality-related problems in affective, interpersonal, experiential, attitudinal, and motivational areas.
Since the adoption of a multiaxial system of diagnosis for mental disorders
(American Psychiatric Association, 1980), clinicians have been asked to indicate the presence or absence of personality disorders in their patients, usually in addition to other mental disorders. A set of 1 1 disorders have been identified and specific criteria established to diagnose each. These
criteria include traits, current behaviors, and historical data intended to
define a particular syndrome.
This categorical, medical model of personality disorders has frequently
been criticized (e.g., Eysenck, Wakefield, & Friedman, 1983; Kato, 1988).
Widiger and his colleagues, in particular, have argued that dimensional
approaches are less arbitrary, more informative, and more consistent with
empirical data on the nature of personality disorders (Trull, Widiger, & Guthrie, 1990; Widiger & Frances, in press). Further, dimensional
From the Gerontology Research Center. National Institute Aging, NIH.
Address correspondence to Paul T. Costa, Jr.. Laboratory of Personality and Cognition. Gerontology Research Center, 4940 Eastern Avenue. Baltimore. MD 21224.
Thanks are due to Thomas A. Widiger for comments on this paper.
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the NIMH Workshop Assessment of
Personality Disorders, March 1991, New York.
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344 COSTA AND McCRAE
approaches to personality disorders emphasize continuity with normal
iations in personality traits and, if adopted, could facilitate an...