Domains and facets: hierarchical personality assessment using the revised NEO personality inventory

Personality traits are organized hierarchically, with narrow, specific traits combining to define broad, global factors. The Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R; Costa & McCrae, 1992c) assesses personality at both levels, with six specific facet scales in each of five broad domains. This article describes conceptual issues in specifying facets of a domain and reports evidence on the validity of NEO-PI-R facet scales. Facet analysis-the interpretation of a scale in terms of the specific facets with which it correlates-is illustrated using alternative measures of the five-factor model and occupational scales. Finally, the hierarchical interpretation of personality profiles is discussed. Interpretation on the domain level yields a rapid understanding of the individual interpretation of specific facet scales gives a more detailed assessment.

National character does not reflect mean personality trait levels in 49 cultures

Most people hold beliefs about personality characteristics typical of members of their own and others' cultures. These perceptions of national character may be generalizations from personal experience, stereotypes with a "kernel of truth," or inaccurate stereotypes. We obtained national character ratings of 3989 people from 49 cultures and compared them with the average personality scores of culture members assessed by observer ratings and self-reports. National character ratings were reliable but did not converge with assessed traits. Perceptions of national character thus appear to be unfounded stereotypes that may serve the function of maintaining a national identity.

Trait psychology and culture: exploring intercultural comparisons

Personality traits, studied for decades by Western personality psychologists, have recently been reconceptualized as endogenous basic tendencies that, within a cultural context, give rise to habits, attitudes, skills, beliefs, and other characteristic adaptations. This conceptualization provides a new framework for studying personality and culture at three levels. Transcultural research focuses on identifying human universals, such as trait structure and development; intracultural studies examine the unique expression of traits in specific cultures; and intercultural research characterizes cultures and their subgroups in terms of mean levels of personality traits and seeks associations between cultural variables and aggregate personality traits. As an example of the problems and possibilities of intercultural analyses, data on mean levels of Revised NEO Personality Inventory scales from college age and adult samples (N = 23,031) of men and women from 26 cultures are examined. Results showed that age and gender differences resembled those found in American samples; different subsamples from each culture showed similar levels of personality traits: intercultural factor analysis yielded a close approximation to the Five-Factor Model; and factor scores were meaningfully related to other culture-level variables. However, mean trait levels were not apparent to expert raters, casting doubt on the accuracy of national stereotypes. Trait psychology can serve as a useful complement to cultural perspectives on human nature and personality.

Sources of structure: genetic, environmental, and artifactual influences on the covariation of personality traits

The phenotypic structure of personality traits has been well described, but it has not yet been explained causally. Behavior genetic covariance analyses can identify the underlying causes of phenotypic structure; previous behavior genetic research has suggested that the effects from both genetic and nonshared environmental influences mirror the phenotype. However, nonshared environmental effects are usually estimated as a residualterm that may also include systematic bias, such as that introduced by implicit personality theory. To reduce that bias, we supplemented data from Canadian and German twin studies with cross-observer correlations on the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. The hypothesized five-factor structure was found in both the phenotypic and genetic/familial covariances. When the residual covariance was decomposed into true nonshared environmental influences and method bias, only the latter showed the five-factor structure. True nonshared environmental influences are not structured as genetic influences are, although there was some suggestion that they do affect two personality dimensions, Conscientiousness and Love. These data reaffirm the value of behavior genetic analyses for research on the underlying causes of personality traits.

Personality profiles and the prediction of categorical personality disorders

Personality disorders (PDs) are usually construed as psychiatric categories characterized by a unique configuration of traits and behaviors. To generate clinical hypotheses from normal personality trait scores, profile agreement statistics can be calculated using a prototypical personality profile for each PD. Multimethod data from 1,909 psychiatric patients in the People's Republic of China were used to examine the accuracy of such hypotheses in the Interpretive Report of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. Profile agreement indices from both self-reports and spouse ratings were significantly related to PD symptom scores derived from questionnaires and clinical interviews. However, accuracy of diagnostic classification was only modest to moderate, probably because PDs are not discrete categorical entities. Together with other literature, these data suggest that the current categorical system should be replaced by a more comprehensive system of personality traits and personality-related problems.

The cross-cultural generalizability of Axis-II constructs: an evaluation of two personality disorder assessment instruments in the People's Republic of China

We examined the reliability, cross-instrument validity, and factor structure of Chinese adaptations of the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire (PDQ-4+; N = 1,926) and Personality Disorders Interview (PDI-IV; N = 525) in psychiatric patients. Comparisons with data from Western countries suggest that the psychometric properties of these two instruments are comparable across cultures. Low to modest agreement between the PDQ-4+ and PDI-IV was observed for both dimensional and categorical personality disorder evaluations. When the PDI-IV was used as the diagnostic standard, the PDQ-4+ showed higher sensitivity than specificity, and higher negative predictive power than positive predictive power. Factor analyses of both instruments replicated the four-factor structure O'Connor and Dyce (1998) found in Western samples. Results suggested that conceptions and measures of DSM-IV personality disorders are cross-culturally generalizable to Chinese psychiatric populations.

Personality at midlife: stability, intrinsic maturation, and response to life events

Although developmental theories and popular accounts suggest that midlife is a time of turmoil and change, longitudinal studies of personality traits have generally found stability of rank order and little or no change in mean levels. Using data from 2,274 men and women in their 40s retested after 6 to 9 years, the present study examined two hypotheses: (a) that retest correlations should be no higher than about .60 and (b) that there should be small decreases in Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness, and small increases in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. The study also explored the effects of recalled life events on subsequent personality scores. Results did not support the first hypothesis; uncorrected retest correlations uniformly exceeded .60. This was true for all personality traits, including facets of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness not previously included in longitudinal studies. The hypothesized decreases in Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness were found, but Conscientiousness showed a small decrease instead of the predicted increase. Life events in general showed very little influence on the levels of personality traits, although some effects were seen for changes in job and marital status that warrant further research.

Self-perceptions of stability and change in personality at midlife: the UNC Alumni Heart Study

The finding of personality stability in adulthood may be counterintuitive to people who perceive a great deal of change in their own personality. The purpose of this study is to determine whether self-reported perceived changes in personality are associated with actual changes based on a 6- to 9-year follow-up of 2,242 middle-aged male and female participants of the UNC Alumni Heart Study (UNCAHS). Respondents completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory on two occasions and were asked to reflect back over a 6-year period and assess changes in their personality. The majority of respondents (n = 1,177; 52.5%) reported they had "stayed the same," while 863 (38.5%) reported they had "changed a little" and 202 (9%) reported they had "changed a good deal." Coefficients of personality profile agreement computed to evaluate global personality change for the three perceived change groups were essentially equivalent. Further, directional analyses of domain-specific changes in personality showed that perceived changes were weak predictors of residual gain scores. In an absolute sense, perceptions of stability or change were discordant in 8 of 15 (53%) comparisons. Self-perceptions of change are not an adequate substitute for objective assessments.

Personality psychology and problem behaviors: HIV risk and the five-factor model

Studies of personality and problem behaviors may begin with analyses of the problem and develop hypotheses about personality traits that might be relevant; or they may begin with models of personality and explore links to behavior. Because it is well validated and relatively comprehensive, the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality lends itself to systematic exploratory studies that may sometimes lead to unanticipated findings. In this article, we review a program of research in a high-risk, disadvantaged population that illustrates the utility of the FFM in understanding health risk behavior. Previous analyses showed that behavior associated with the risk of HIV infection can be predicted from the personality dispositions of Neuroticism and (low) Conscientiousness.

Do the dimensions of the temperament and character inventory map a simple genetic architecture? Evidence from molecular genetics and factor analysis

OBJECTIVE

It has been reported that the human temperament dimensions of novelty seeking and harm avoidance are associated with polymorphisms in the D(4) dopamine receptor gene (D4DR) and the serotonin-transporter-linked promoter region (5-HTTLPR), respectively. Although these findings are consistent with Cloninger's hypothesized psychobiological model of temperament and character, many studies failed to replicate these findings. In the present study the authors tested whether the psychobiological model taps the genetic architecture of personality by exploring associations between these candidate genes and the dimensions of the Temperament and Character Inventory and by examining its phenotypic structure.

METHOD

Of the 946 male and female participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging to whom the Temperament and Character Inventory was administered, 587 were genotyped for a polymorphism with a 48-base-pair repeat in the D4DR gene and 425 were genotyped for a 44-base-pair insertion or deletion in the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism.

RESULTS

There was no significant association between D4DR polymorphisms and novelty seeking. The authors also failed to find an association between 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms and harm avoidance. The factor structure of the Temperament and Character Inventory did not reveal the hypothesized phenotypic structure.

CONCLUSIONS

This investigation produced no support for the temperament-character model at either the biological or psychological level.

Stress and coping research. Methodological challenges, theoretical advances, and clinical applications

Coping is among the most widely studied topics in contemporary psychology. However, the explosion of interest in coping has yielded little and the field is in crisis. This section offers a survey of the state of the art in theory and research on stress and adaptational processes. The four core articles in the section take up, respectively, problems in research design, the neglect of unconscious reactions to stress, the selection of adaptational outcomes, and the link between research on adaptational processes and clinical practice. The final article by Richard S. Lazarus offers a commentary. The present introduction provides the historical backdrop for the section. Then, after a brief overview of research on adaptational processes, the authors summarize the scope and yield of coping research and preview the four core articles in the section. The strengths and limits of individual coping efforts and the need for realistic expectations and redoubled efforts are discussed.

On the invalidity of validity scales: evidence from self-reports and observer ratings in volunteer samples

Because of the potential for bias and error in questionnaire responding, many personality inventories include validity scales intended to correct biased scores or identify invalid protocols. The authors evaluated the utility of several types of validity scales in a volunteer sample of 72 men and 106 women who completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R; P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 1992) and the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ; A. Tellegen, 1978/1982) and were rated by 2 acquaintances on the observer form of the NEO-PI-R. Analyses indicated that the validity indexes lacked utility in this sample. A partial replication (N = 1,728) also failed to find consistent support for the use of validity scales. The authors illustrate the use of informant ratings in assessing protocol validity and argue that psychological assessors should limit their use of validity scales and seek instead to improve the quality of personality assessments.

Nature over nurture: temperament, personality, and life span development

Temperaments are often regarded as biologically based psychological tendencies with intrinsic paths of development. It is argued that this definition applies to the personality traits of the five-factor model. Evidence for the endogenous nature of traits is summarized from studies of behavior genetics, parent-child relations, personality structure, animal personality, and the longitudinal stability of individual differences. New evidence for intrinsic maturation is offered from analyses of NEO Five-Factor Inventory scores for men and women age 14 and over in German, British, Spanish, Czech, and Turkish samples (N = 5,085). These data support strong conceptual links to child temperament despite modest empirical associations. The intrinsic maturation of personality is complemented by the culturally conditioned development of characteristic adaptations that express personality; interventions in human development are best addressed to these.

On the invalidity of validity scales: evidence from self-reports and observer ratings in volunteer samples

Because of the potential for bias and error in questionnaire responding, many personality inventories include validity scales intended to correct biased scores or identify invalid protocols. The authors evaluated the utility of several types of validity scales in a volunteer sample of 72 men and 106 women who completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R; P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 1992) and the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ; A. Tellegen, 1978/1982) and were rated by 2 acquaintances on the observer form of the NEO-PI-R. Analyses indicated that the validity indexes lacked utility in this sample. A partial replication (N = 1,728) also failed to find consistent support for the use of validity scales. The authors illustrate the use of informant ratings in assessing protocol validity and argue that psychological assessors should limit their use of validity scales and seek instead to improve the quality of personality assessments.

Nature over nurture: temperament, personality, and life span development

Temperaments are often regarded as biologically based psychological tendencies with intrinsic paths of development. It is argued that this definition applies to the personality traits of the five-factor model. Evidence for the endogenous nature of traits is summarized from studies of behavior genetics, parent-child relations, personality structure, animal personality, and the longitudinal stability of individual differences. New evidence for intrinsic maturation is offered from analyses of NEO Five-Factor Inventory scores for men and women age 14 and over in German, British, Spanish, Czech, and Turkish samples (N = 5,085). These data support strong conceptual links to child temperament despite modest empirical associations. The intrinsic maturation of personality is complemented by the culturally conditioned development of characteristic adaptations that express personality; interventions in human development are best addressed to these.

Mainstream personality psychology and the study of religion

In this commentary, I make some general observations about the study of personality and religion and some specific comments about individual articles from the perspective of contemporary personality psychology. Most of the authors represented here treat religion as a domain of human experience and behavior that can be understood in terms of familiar personality principles and processes. I therefore urge greater attention to the Five-Factor Model of personality traits, especially Openness to Experience, in understanding religious phenomena. Mainstream psychologists, including longitudinal researchers, behavior geneticists, and epidemiologists, should consider the inclusion of religious variables in their research designs.

Age differences in personality across the adult life span: parallels in five cultures

Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in the United States have shown consistent changes between college age and middle adulthood. There appear to be declines in 3 of the 5 major factors of personality--Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness--and increases in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. To examine cross-cultural generalizability of these findings, translations of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory were administered to samples in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Croatia, and South Korea (N = 7,363). Similar patterns of age differences were seen in each country, for both men and women. Common trends were also seen for the more specific traits that define the major factors. Because these nations differ substantially in culture and recent history, results suggest the hypothesis that these are universal maturational changes in adult personality.

Age differences in personality across the adult life span: parallels in five cultures

Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in the United States have shown consistent changes between college age and middle adulthood. There appear to be declines in 3 of the 5 major factors of personality--Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness--and increases in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. To examine cross-cultural generalizability of these findings, translations of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory were administered to samples in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Croatia, and South Korea (N = 7,363). Similar patterns of age differences were seen in each country, for both men and women. Common trends were also seen for the more specific traits that define the major factors. Because these nations differ substantially in culture and recent history, results suggest the hypothesis that these are universal maturational changes in adult personality.

Adult age differences in personality traits in the United States and the People's Republic of China

Life experiences for corresponding age cohorts in the United States (US) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) have been dramatically different. If cohort effects account for cross-sectional age differences in mean levels of personality traits, different patterns of age differences should be seen in samples from the US and the PRC. The present study examined scores on scales from the California Psychological Inventory (CPI; Gough, 1987) in US (N = 348, age = 19-92 years) and PRC (N = 2,093, age = 18-67 years) samples. Very similar patterns of age correlations were seen. To compare results to other cross-cultural studies, CPI scales were interpreted in terms of the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality; an FFM Age-Relatedness Index based on American data accurately predicted CPI age correlations not only in the US but also in the PRC sample. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that there are universal intrinsic maturational changes in personality.

Heritability of facet-level traits in a cross-cultural twin sample: support for a hierarchical model of personality

The common variance among personality traits can be summarized in the factors of the five-factor model, which are known to be heritable. This study examined heritability of the residual specific variance in facet-level traits from the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. Analyses of raw and residual facet scales across Canadian (183 monozygotic [MZ] and 175 dizogotic [DZ] pairs) and German (435 MZ and 205 DZ pairs) twin samples showed genetic and environmental influences of the same type and magnitude across the 2 samples for most facets. Additive genetic effects accounted for 25% to 65% of the reliable specific variance. Results provide strong support for hierarchical models of personality that posit a large number of narrow traits in addition to a few broader trait factors or domains. Facet-level traits are not simply exemplars of the broad factors they define; they are discrete constructs with their own heritable and thus biological basis.

Interpreting personality profiles across cultures: bilingual, acculturation, and peer rating studies of Chinese undergraduates

Prior research (R.R. McCrae, P.T. Costa, & M.S. Yik, 1996) using a Chinese translation of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory suggested substantial differences between Hong Kong and North American undergraduates. Study 1, with a sample of bilingual Hong Kong students (N = 162), showed that prior findings were not due simply to the translation. Study 2, with undergraduates of European and Chinese ancestry living in Canada (N = 633), suggested that more of the differences were cultural in origin. Study 3, which used peer ratings of Chinese students (N = 99), replicated most Study 2 results, suggesting that exposure to Canadian culture increased openness, cheerfulness, and prosocial behavior and attitudes. Differences in sense of competence and vulnerability to stress appeared to be due to different cultural standards for judging these traits. Together, the 3 studies illustrate an integrated approach to interpreting personality differences across cultures.

Identifying causes of disagreement between self-reports and spouse ratings of personality

Self-reports and spouse ratings of personality traits typically show less-than-perfect agreement, but powerful moderators of agreement have not yet been identified. In Study 1, 47 married couples completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory to describe themselves and their spouses. Extent of agreement was not consistently moderated by response sets; the age, intelligence, or education of the respondent; or the length or quality of the relationship. In Study 2 these couples were interviewed about reasons for substantial disagreements, and an audiotape was content-analyzed. Sixteen reasons were reliably coded, including idiosyncratic understanding of items, reference to different time frames or roles, and unavailability of covert experience to the spouse. Faking good, assumed similarity, and other variables prominent in the psychometric literature were relatively unimportant. Findings (1) suggest that attempts to improve the validity of self-reports and ratings may need to be refocused and (2) underscore the desirability of routinely obtaining multiple sources of information on personality.

Heritability of facet-level traits in a cross-cultural twin sample: support for a hierarchical model of personality

The common variance among personality traits can be summarized in the factors of the five-factor model, which are known to be heritable. This study examined heritability of the residual specific variance in facet-level traits from the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. Analyses of raw and residual facet scales across Canadian (183 monozygotic [MZ] and 175 dizogotic [DZ] pairs) and German (435 MZ and 205 DZ pairs) twin samples showed genetic and environmental influences of the same type and magnitude across the 2 samples for most facets. Additive genetic effects accounted for 25% to 65% of the reliable specific variance. Results provide strong support for hierarchical models of personality that posit a large number of narrow traits in addition to a few broader trait factors or domains. Facet-level traits are not simply exemplars of the broad factors they define; they are discrete constructs with their own heritable and thus biological basis.

Interpreting personality profiles across cultures: bilingual, acculturation, and peer rating studies of Chinese undergraduates

Prior research (R.R. McCrae, P.T. Costa, & M.S. Yik, 1996) using a Chinese translation of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory suggested substantial differences between Hong Kong and North American undergraduates. Study 1, with a sample of bilingual Hong Kong students (N = 162), showed that prior findings were not due simply to the translation. Study 2, with undergraduates of European and Chinese ancestry living in Canada (N = 633), suggested that more of the differences were cultural in origin. Study 3, which used peer ratings of Chinese students (N = 99), replicated most Study 2 results, suggesting that exposure to Canadian culture increased openness, cheerfulness, and prosocial behavior and attitudes. Differences in sense of competence and vulnerability to stress appeared to be due to different cultural standards for judging these traits. Together, the 3 studies illustrate an integrated approach to interpreting personality differences across cultures.

Effects of two MMPI-2 validity scales on basic scale relations to external criteria

Many clinicians have come to rely on the broad array of validity scales available on the MMPI and the MMPI-2. In this study, we evaluated the utility of 2 MMPI-2 validity scales, the K scale and VRIN scale, in a sample of 692 psychiatric inpatients. Specifically, the effects of the K-correction procedure and the exclusion of protocols based on VRIN scale elevations were examined on the relation between MMPI-2 basic clinical scales and external criteria including both self-report and clinician ratings of psychopathology. Results indicated that the K-correction procedure commonly used with the MMPI and MMPI-2 did not result in higher correlations with external criteria in comparison to non-K-corrected scores. In contrast, MMPI-2 protocols that produced VRIN T-score values > or = 80 generally produced lower correlations with patients self-reports and clinician ratings of psychopathology in comparison to protocols judged to be valid based on VRIN scale results.

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, 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.

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, 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.

Stability and change in personality assessment: the revised NEO Personality Inventory in the year 2000

The Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) consists of 30 facet scales that define the broad domains of the Five-Factor Model of personality. No major revisions of the basic model are anticipated in the near future. Despite their popularity, social desirability and inconsistency scales will not be added to the NEO-PI-R because their validity and utility have not yet been demonstrated. Among possible changes are minor modifications in wording and more extensive adaptations for adolescents and for populations with low reading levels. Contextualized (e.g., work-related) versions of the instrument will be further explored. Many changes are more easily implemented on the computer than the print version of the instrument.

Social consequences of experiential openness

Openness to Experience is one of the 5 broad factors that subsume most personality traits. Openness is usually considered an intrapsychic dimension, defined in terms of characteristics of consciousness. However, different ways of approaching and processing experience lead to different value systems that exercise a profound effect on social interactions. In this article, the author reviews the effects of Openness versus Closedness in cultural innovation, political ideology, social attitudes, marital choice, and interpersonal relations. The construct of Openness and its measures could profitably be incorporated into research conducted by social psychologists, sociologists, political scientists, anthropologists, and historians.

Primary traits of Eysenck's P-E-N system: three- and five-factor solutions

The Eysenck Personality Profiler (EPP), a set of 21 scales measuring primary traits hypothesized to be definers of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Psychoticism factors, was administered to 229 adults together with the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire--Revised (H. J. Eysenck & S. B. G. Eysenck, 1991) and the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R; P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 1992b). Correlations of EPP scales with NEO-PI-R facet scales provided preliminary evidence supporting the convergent and discriminant validity of the EPP scales. However, varimax and targeted validimax factor analyses suggested that some EPP scales were misclassified and that EPP scales could better be understood in terms of the 5-factor model than the intended 3-factor model.

Primary traits of Eysenck's P-E-N system: three- and five-factor solutions

The Eysenck Personality Profiler (EPP), a set of 21 scales measuring primary traits hypothesized to be definers of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Psychoticism factors, was administered to 229 adults together with the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire--Revised (H. J. Eysenck & S. B. G. Eysenck, 1991) and the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R; P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 1992b). Correlations of EPP scales with NEO-PI-R facet scales provided preliminary evidence supporting the convergent and discriminant validity of the EPP scales. However, varimax and targeted validimax factor analyses suggested that some EPP scales were misclassified and that EPP scales could better be understood in terms of the 5-factor model than the intended 3-factor model.

Solid ground in the wetlands of personality: a reply to Block

The five-factor model (FFM) of personality offers a structural organization of personality traits in terms of 5 broad factors. J. Block's (1995) critique of the FFM failed to recognize the utility of a trait taxonomy and the intent of research designed to test the 5-factor hypothesis. In a number of instances he omitted reference to empirical evidence that addresses concerns he raised; this evidence shows strong support for the FFM beyond the lexical and questionnaire traditions he reviews. Many of his suggestions for improving the quality of personality research are valuable, but are likely to be more fruitful when used in conjunction with established knowledge about the structure of personality traits: the FFM.

The Counterpoint of Personality Assessment: Self-Reports and Observer Ratings

In musical counterpoint, two or more different voices sound together in ways that illuminate the possibilities of the musical theme. Similarly, self-reports and observer ratings together may tell us more about personality than either could separately. This article reviews convergence between these two data sources and illustrates ways in which they can be used jointly in personality research to rule out response biases and estimate stability and heritability of personality traits. A measure of profile agreement is introduced and a rule of thumb is proposed for distinguishing agreement from disagreement on specific traits in individual cases. Averaging may be useful when there is agreement about individuals across observers; when there is disagreement, further information should be sought to resolve the competing hypotheses offered by the discrepant ratings.

Depressive symptoms as a nonspecific, graded risk for psychiatric diagnoses

Using data from a 16-year follow-up of a nationally representative sample of 6,913 adults, measures of depressive symptoms were used to predict psychiatric diagnoses taken from hospitalization records. In proportional hazards analyses, two measures of depression were significantly associated with subsequent diagnoses of depression and other psychiatric disorders after statistical control for demographic variables and previous history of psychological problems. Depressive symptoms predicted late as well as early occurrence of psychiatric diagnoses and showed a pattern of increasing risk with increasing scores, even below clinical cutoffs. This pattern of results is consistent with the view that depressive symptoms predict future psychiatric disorders largely because they serve as proxy measures of some chronic vulnerability, such as the normal personality dimension of neuroticism.

Depressive symptoms as a nonspecific, graded risk for psychiatric diagnoses

Using data from a 16-year follow-up of a nationally representative sample of 6,913 adults, measures of depressive symptoms were used to predict psychiatric diagnoses taken from hospitalization records. In proportional hazards analyses, two measures of depression were significantly associated with subsequent diagnoses of depression and other psychiatric disorders after statistical control for demographic variables and previous history of psychological problems. Depressive symptoms predicted late as well as early occurrence of psychiatric diagnoses and showed a pattern of increasing risk with increasing scores, even below clinical cutoffs. This pattern of results is consistent with the view that depressive symptoms predict future psychiatric disorders largely because they serve as proxy measures of some chronic vulnerability, such as the normal personality dimension of neuroticism.

Genetic and environmental effects on openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness: an adoption/twin study

Previous research has indicated that extraversion and neuroticism are substantially affected both by genotype and environment. This study assesses genetic and environmental influences on the other three components of the five-factor model of personality: Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. An abbreviated version of the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) was administered to 82 pairs of identical twins and 171 pairs of fraternal twins reared apart and 132 pairs of identical twins and 167 pairs of fraternal twins reared together. Estimates of genetic and environmental effects for Openness and Conscientiousness were similar to those found in other studies of personality: Genetic influence was substantial and there was little evidence of shared rearing environment. Results for Agreeableness were different: Genetic influence accounted for only 12% of the variance and shared rearing environment accounted for 21% of the variance. Few significant gender or age differences for genetic and environmental parameters were found in model-fitting analyses.

Psychological research in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging

The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) is an ongoing multidisciplinary study of biomedical and psychosocial aging. Over 1000 men and women are currently active, returning to the Gerontology Research Center every 2 years for a 2.5-day visit. Longitudinal studies of cognitive functioning have shown a variety of patterns of age changes in vigilance, problem solving, divergent thinking abilities, and visual memory. Studies of personality traits have shown stability in both mean levels and individual differences. Future BLSA research will add neuroimaging studies to link personality and cognition to the structure and function of the aging brain.

Agreement of Personality Profiles Across Observers

To assess cross-observer agreement on personality profiles, an Index of Profile Agreement and an associated coefficient, rpa, are proposed which take into account both the difference between the ratings and the extremeness of their mean. Using data from the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R), this coefficient is shown to be superior to Cattell's (1949) rp in identifying matched versus mismatched pairs of peer ratings/self-reports (N = 250) and spouse ratings/self-reports (N = 68). Suggestions are made for the interpretation and use of the two measures of profile agreement for group comparisons and for the interpretation of individual cases. Limitations of the coefficients are also discussed.

An introduction to the five-factor model and its applications

The five-factor model of personality is a hierarchical organization of personality traits in terms of five basic dimensions: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience. Research using both natural language adjectives and theoretically based personality questionnaires supports the comprehensiveness of the model and its applicability across observers and cultures. This article summarizes the history of the model and its supporting evidence; discusses conceptions of the nature of the factors; and outlines an agenda for theorizing about the origins and operation of the factors. We argue that the model should prove useful both for individual assessment and for the elucidation of a number of topics of interest to personality psychologists.

An assessment of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule from the perspective of the five-factor model

We examined the validity of need scales of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) by correlating them with a measure of the five basic factors of personality; we also considered test format as a possible source of invalidity. Three hundred thirty (223 women, 107 men) undergraduate students completed both the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI)--a measure of the five factors--and one of two versions of the EPPS. Results show that both ipsative and normative versions of the EPPS could be meaningfully interpreted within the five-factor model, although the ipsative, forced-choice format of the standard EPPS apparently lowered validity coefficients and decreased convergent and discriminant validity. We argue that the five-factor model can provide a useful interpretive context for evaluating many clinical measures.

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.

Predicting personality in adulthood from college MMPI scores: implications for follow-up studies in psychosomatic medicine

To assess the long-term predictive utility of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) content scales, 1,960 individuals who had completed the MMPI in college in 1964 or 1965 were administered two measures of adult personality, the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) and the Cook and Medley MMPI Hostility scale, in 1988. A comparison group of 274 men and women in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging were given both MMPI and NEO-PI between 1981 and 1987. Predictive correlations between MMPI scales and NEO-PI factors were qualitatively similar to concurrent correlations, but approximately half as large in magnitude. Theoretically, these correlations were interpreted to mean that about half the variance in basic dimensions of personality is stable from college age into middle adulthood. Practically, the relatively modest correlations suggest that predictive studies of medical outcomes probably require large samples, and that baseline data from adults (e.g., over age 30) may be more useful for future studies. The combination of stability and change suggests that the decade of the 20s may be a particularly fruitful time to conduct research on interventions to alter personality and their effects on health outcomes.

Cross-sectional studies of personality in a national sample: 2. Stability in neuroticism, extraversion, and openness

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) Epidemiologic Followup Study were used to examine age differences in neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience. Cross-sectional analyses of data from 10,063 respondents showed that older subjects were slightly lower in neuroticism, extraversion, and openness; that age trends were not curvilinear; and that there were no differences in personality scores that might be attributable to a mild-life crisis or transition. Comparison with data from 654 participants in the Augmented Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (ABLSA) showed that the ABLSA sample was lower in extraversion and higher in openness than the national sample, although the differences were small in magnitude. Results were interpreted to mean that sampling and attrition in this longitudinal sample did not seriously bias results on these personality variables, and that cross-sectional findings from a large probability sample support the conclusion that personality is predominantly stable in adulthood.

Age differences and changes in the use of coping mechanisms

Two cross-sectional studies of coping conducted on 405 men and women aged 21 to 91 in 1980 (McCrae, 1982) formed the basis for longitudinal analyses in 1987. At Time 2, 191 of the original subjects were retested, and data were also gathered from a new sample of 207 men and women. Subjects reported on a single event classified as a loss, threat, or challenge; responses were scored for 28 specific coping mechanisms and 2 broad coping factors. Cross-sectional analyses showed evidence of age or cohort differences in the use of several coping mechanisms, but none of these effects was consistently paralleled by changes in repeated measures and cross-sequential analyses. These findings suggest that aging has little effect on coping behavior in a community-dwelling sample. Retest correlations demonstrated modest stability of individual differences in most coping mechanisms, suggesting that coping responses are in part a function of enduring characteristics of the individual.

Depression as a risk for cancer morbidity and mortality in a nationally representative sample

The relative risks for cancer morbidity and mortality associated with depressive symptoms were examined using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I Epidemiologic Follow-up Study. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale and the depression subscale from the General Well-being Schedule were used as predictors in this 10-year follow-up study of a nationally representative sample. No significant risk for cancer morbidity or mortality was associated with depressive symptoms with or without adjustment for age, sex, marital status, smoking, family history of cancer, hypertension, and serum cholesterol level. These data were also reanalyzed for subjects aged 55 years or older who were retraced by a second follow-up. Neither measure of depressive symptoms was a significant risk for cancer death during the 15-year follow-up interval. These results call into question the causal connection between depressive symptoms and cancer morbidity and mortality.

The structure of interpersonal traits: Wiggins's circumplex and the five-factor model

Using a sample of 315 adult men and women, self-reports on Wiggins's revised Interpersonal Adjective Scales were jointly factored with self-reports, peer ratings, and spouse ratings on the NEO Personality Inventory to examine the relations between the two models. Results suggest that the interpersonal circumplex is defined by the two dimensions of Extraversion and Agreeableness, and that the circular ordering of variables is not an artifact of response biases or cognitive schemata. Circumplex and dimensional models appear to complement each other in describing the structure of personality, and both may be useful to social psychologists in understanding interpersonal behavior.

Reinterpreting the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator from the perspective of the five-factor model of personality

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI; Myers & McCaulley, 1985) was evaluated from the perspectives of Jung's theory of psychological types and the five-factor model of personality as measured by self-reports and peer ratings on the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI; Costa & McCrae, 1985b). Data were provided by 267 men and 201 women ages 19 to 93. Consistent with earlier research and evaluations, there was no support for the view that the MBTI measures truly dichotomous preferences or qualitatively distinct types; instead, the instrument measures four relatively independent dimensions. The interpretation of the Judging-Perceiving index was also called into question. The data suggest that Jung's theory is either incorrect or inadequately operationalized by the MBTI and cannot provide a sound basis for interpreting it. However, correlational analyses showed that the four MBTI indices did measure aspects of four of the five major dimensions of normal personality. The five-factor model provides an alternative basis for interpreting MBTI findings within a broader, more commonly shared conceptual framework.