Personality Trait Structure as a Human Universal

Patterns of covariation among personality traits in English-speaking populations can be summarized by the five-factor model (FFM). To assess the cross-cultural generalizability of the FFM, data from studies using 6 translations of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American psychologist 1997-05, Vol.52 (5), p.509-516
Main Authors: McCrae, Robert R, Costa, Paul T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Basic personality
Cross Cultural Differences
Cross cultural studies
Cross-cultural analysis
Cultural differences
Culture
Factor Structure
Female
Foreign Language Translation
Human
Humans
Language
Male
Middle Aged
NEO Personality Inventory
Personality
Personality inventory
Personality Traits
Psychology
Structure
Surveys and Questionnaires
Traits
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Summary:Patterns of covariation among personality traits in English-speaking populations can be summarized by the five-factor model (FFM). To assess the cross-cultural generalizability of the FFM, data from studies using 6 translations of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 1992 ) were compared with the American factor structure. German, Portuguese, Hebrew, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese samples ( N = 7,134) showed similar structures after varimax rotation of 5 factors. When targeted rotations were used, the American factor structure was closely reproduced, even at the level of secondary loadings. Because the samples studied represented highly diverse cultures with languages from 5 distinct language families, these data strongly suggest that personality trait structure is universal.
ISSN:0003-066X
1935-990X
DOI:10.1037/0003-066X.52.5.509