Boele De Raad

A six-factor structure of personality-descriptive adjectives: solutions from psycholexical studies in seven languages.

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.

Personality in learning and education: a review

The literature relevant to the combined area of personality and education and learning is summarized, covering almost a century of research and theorizing. Different topics considered important from the aspect of education and learning or from the aspect of personality are represented. For personality this means that broad domains such as motivation and disposition are represented, and that reference is made to topics such as achievement motivation, character education, and goal orientation. The first few decades of the century are coloured by the unitary character‐derived construct persistence of motives (Webb, 1915), which has an inherent connection to learning and education. The last three or four decades are characterized by a growing consensus in the personality field about basic constructs such as those represented by the Big‐Five factors. In addition, emerging issues covering the relationship between personality and intelligence and personality, motivation, and achievement‐orientation are described. This review is necessarily incomplete, but most of the central topics in the field of personality and education have been given a place.

Lingua Franca of Personality Taxonomies and Structures Based on the Psycholexical Approach

Data sets from seven original trait taxonomies from different languages, American English, Dutch, German, Hungarian, Italian, Czech, and Polish, are used for a cross-cultural study. The taxonomic procedures, involving culling trait terms from the various lexicons and the construction of representative samples of trait terms, are briefly discussed. Factor structures, presumably Big Five structures, within these languages, based on ratings from an average of about 640 subjects on an average of approximately 430 trait variables per language, are used for comparison. Congruence coefficients are calculated for the corresponding factors in the different languages, based on their independent positions and on their positions after rotations, using the American English solution as target. In a relative sense, the congruences show replicability of the first four American English, Big Five factors in the other languages.

TOWARDS A REFINED STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY-TRAITS

In this article we pursue two goals. The first is a further articulation of the dimensionality of the Dutch trait domain. The second is a detailed mapping of the factorial trait structure, one which includes intelligible and proper niches for various nuances of the trait language and for different interpretations of the main factors of personality language. In realizing these goals, we discuss the reliance on theory in structuring and modelling the domain in question, the type of model to be used, and the comprehensiveness versus the economy of domain representation. The advantages and disadvantages of the simple structure model and the circumplex model are commented upon, and a new framework that integrates these two models is presented. The present results provide confirmation of the existence of five major dimensions that cover the trait domain: (I) Extraversion or Surgency, (II) Agreeableness, (III) Conscientiousness, (IV) Emotional Stability, and (V) Intellect or Openness to Experience. The newly developed representational model, revealing a refined structure of personality characteristics, not only clarifies some of the problems faced in interpreting the Big Five factors, but also forms a starting point for applications.

Only Three Factors of Personality Description Are Fully Replicable Across Languages : A Comparison of 14 Trait Taxonomies

We tested the hypothesis that only 3 factors of personality description are replicable across many different languages if they are independently derived by a psycholexical approach. Our test was based on 14 trait taxonomies from 12 different languages. Factors were compared at each level of factor extraction with solutions with 1 to 6 factors. The 294 factors in the comparisons were identified using sets of markers of the 6-factor model by correlating the marker scales with the factors. The factor structures were pairwise compared in each case on the basis of the common variables that define the 2 sets of factors. Congruence coefficients were calculated between the varimax rotated structures after Procrustes rotation, where each structure in turn served as a target to which all other structures were rotated. On the basis of average congruence coefficients of all 91 comparisons, we conclude that factor solutions with 3 factors on average are replicable across languages; solutions with more factors are not.

The substantive nature of psycholexical personality factors: A comparison across languages

The psycholexical approach to personality structure in American English has led to the Big Five factors. The present study considers whether this result is similar or different in other languages. Instead of placing the usual emphasis on quantitative indices, this study examines the substantive nature of the factors. Six studies in European languages were used to develop a taxonomy of content categories. The English translations of the relevant terms were then classified under this taxonomy. The results support the generality of Big Five Factor III (Conscientiousness). Factors IV (Emotional Stability) and V (Intellect) generally did not cohere. Factors I (Extraversion) and II (Agreeableness) tended to split when this was necessary to produce 5 factors. The analysis was extended to several additional studies.

A comparison of big-five structures of personality traits in Dutch, English, and German

We compare Big‐Five factor structures found in Dutch, American English, and German, and present a joint structure. The data consist of self‐ and peer ratings of 600 subjects with 551 Dutch trait‐descriptive adjectives, 636 subjects with 540 English adjectives, and 802 subjects with 430 German adjectives. On the basis of 126 common items, we assess the congruences between the factors as originally published, as resulting from target rotations, and from simultaneous rotations. With the exception of the Dutch Factor V, the Big‐Five factors recur across languages in a relative but not in a strict sense. Moreover, at a more detailed level differences in the positions of the axes are uncovered. By applying a split‐sample technique to the three data sets, we verify that these differences do not arise through unreliability. Also, few trait terms appear to have the same precise meaning across these three languages; such labels therefore cannot serve as anchor concepts for an international language of personality.

A New Taxonomy of Dutch Personality Traits Based on a Comprehensive and Unrestricted List of Descriptors

A list of 2,365 personality descriptive items was selected from a computerized database of the Dutch language. The list included terms from various word classes, such as trait adjectives, trait nouns, and trait verbs, and from expressions in which the meaning was drawn from a combination of words. The items were administered to 1,466 participants, who provided self- or other-ratings. Principal components analyses were performed on both original and ipsatized data. The data set was split to investigate the invariance of the factors. The analyses yielded a final 8-factorial structure that included the Big 5. Three new trait factors were discovered, namely Virtue, Competence, and Hedonism.

Personality traits in learning and education

Personality traits judged relevant for the context of learning and education are identified as a subset of a comprehensive set of 1203 trait descriptive adjectives, constructed by Brokken (1979). The identification procedure is described and relevant statistics are provided. Self- and peer-ratings (N = 400) on the resulting subset of 194 trait adjectives were subjected to principal components analysis. The eigenvalues indicate two factors as being sufficient to capture most of the education relevant meanings. The trait terms judged non-relevant to the context of learning and education were correlated with the two Varimax rotated educational trait factors. The results me circularly expressed in the forms of an Educational Trait Circumplex. The contents of the two factors are discussed relative to the findings in the literature, and the two factors are evaluated against the framework of the Big Five factors.Personality traits judged relevant for the context of learning and education are identified as a subset of a comprehensive set of 1203 trait descriptive adjectives, constructed by Brokken (1979). The identification procedure is described and relevant statistics are provided. Self‐ and peer‐ratings (N=400) on the resulting subset of 194 trait adjectives were subjected to principal components analysis. The eigenvalues indicate two factors as being sufficient to capture most of the education relevant meanings. The trait terms judged non‐relevant to the context of learning and education were correlated with the two Varimax rotated educational trait factors. The results are circularly expressed in the forms of an Educational Trait Circumplex. The contents of the two factors are discussed relative to the findings in the literature, and the two factors are evaluated against the framework of the Big Five factors.

Cross-Culturally recurrent personality factors: Analyses of three factors

This study proceeds from an earlier one that examined the ‘Big Five’ factors (Peabody & De Raad, 2002). That study considered the substantive nature of five factors from six European psycholexical studies. The results supported Big Five Factor III (Conscientiousness), but Factors I (Extraversion) and II (Agreeableness) often split into two factors. Big Five Factors IV (Emotional Stability) and V (Intellect) often failed to appear in coherent form. The failures might cause the splits, with five factors required. For three factors, the splits might not occur, and the three large (‘Big Three’) factors could appear. The present study pursues this implication, using three factors from the same six studies. The factors that split are now generally unified. This supports the Big Three and not the Big Five. This result is generally confirmed for several additional studies. Copyright