scholarly journals Is there a Meaningful General Factor of Personality?

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitri Van der Linden ◽  
Curtis S. Dunkel ◽  
Peiqian Wu
Keyword(s):  
Response Bias ◽  
Big Five ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Practical Relevance ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Social Effectiveness ◽  
General Factor Of Personality ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract Numerous studies and meta-analyses have now confirmed that personality traits tend to correlate such that a general factor of personality (GFP) emerges. Nevertheless, there is an ongoing debate about what these correlations, and therefore the GFP, represents. One interpretation is that the GFP reflects a substantive factor that indicates general social effectiveness or emotional intelligence. Another interpretation is that the GFP merely is an artifact based on measurement or response bias. In the present paper, we elaborate on a selection of topics that are central to the debate about this construct. Specifically, we discuss (a) the GFP in relation to more specific personality dimensions (e.g., Big Five, facets), (b) the validity of the GFP and under what circumstances it seems to ‘disappear’, and (c) the theoretical and practical relevance of the general factor. Overall, the review should provide insight into the nature of the GFP and whether or not it represents a meaningful factor that can contribute to a better understanding of personality.

scholarly journals How Universal Is the General Factor of Personality? An Analysis of the Big Five in Forager Farmers of the Bolivian Amazon

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (7) ◽  
pp. 1081-1097 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitri van der Linden ◽  
Curtis S. Dunkel ◽  
Aurelio Jose Figueredo ◽  
Michael Gurven ◽  
Christopher von Rueden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Big Five ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Personality Factor ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Industrial Countries ◽  
Social Effectiveness ◽  
General Factor Of Personality ◽  
Bolivian Amazon ◽  
Interviewer Ratings ◽  
Personality Models

In various personality models, such as the Big Five, a consistent higher order general factor of personality (GFP) can be identified. One view in the literature is that the GFP reflects general social effectiveness. Most GFP studies, however, have been conducted in Western, educated, industrialized, and rich democracies (WEIRD). Therefore, to address the question of the universality of the GFP, we test whether the GFP can also be identified in a preliterate indigenous sample of Tsimane by using self-reports, spouse reports, and interviewer ratings. In the Tsimane, a viable GFP could be identified and the intercorrelations between personality traits were significantly stronger than in samples from industrial countries. The GFP correlated with the ratings of social engagement. In addition, self and spouse ratings of the GFP overlapped. Overall, the findings are in line with the notion that the GFP is a human universal and a substantive personality factor reflecting social effectiveness.

Beyond the Big Five: The Dark Triad and the Supernumerary Personality Inventory

2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Livia Veselka ◽  
Julie Aitken Schermer ◽  
Philip A. Vernon
Keyword(s):  
Big Five ◽  
Genetic Model ◽  
Model Fitting ◽  
Personality Inventory ◽  
Dark Triad ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Factor Analyses ◽  
General Factor Of Personality ◽  
Big Five Model ◽  
Correlated Factors

The Dark Triad of personality, comprising Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy, was investigated in relation to the Supernumerary Personality Inventory (SPI) traits, because both sets of variables are predominantly distinct from the Big Five model of personality. Correlational and principal factor analyses were conducted to assess the relations between the Dark Triad and SPI traits. Multivariate behavioral genetic model-fitting analyses were also conducted to determine the correlated genetic and/or environmental underpinnings of the observed phenotypic correlations. Participants were 358 monozygotic and 98 same-sex dizygotic adult twin pairs from North America. As predicted, results revealed significant correlations between the Dark Triad and most SPI traits, and these correlations were primarily attributable to common genetic and non-shared environmental factors, except in the case of Machiavellianism, where shared environmental effects emerged. Three correlated factors were extracted during joint factor analysis of the Dark Triad and SPI traits, as well as a heritable general factor of personality — results that clarified the structure of the Dark Triad construct. It is concluded that the Dark Triad represents an exploitative and antisocial construct that extends beyond the Big Five model and shares a theoretical space with the SPI traits.

scholarly journals A General Factor of Personality From Multitrait–Multimethod Data and Cross–National Twins

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 356-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Philippe Rushton ◽  
Trudy Ann Bons ◽  
Juko Ando ◽  
Yoon-Mi Hur ◽  
Paul Irwing ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Big Five ◽  
Total Variance ◽  
General Factor ◽  
School Students ◽  
General Factor Of Personality ◽  
Big Five Model ◽  
Old Japanese ◽  
The Hierarchical Structure

AbstractIn three studies, a General Factor of Personality (GFP) was found to occupy the apex of the hierarchical structure. In Study 1, a GFP emerged independent of method variance and accounted for 54% of the reliable variance in a multitrait–multimethod assessment of 391 Italian high school students that used self-, teacher-, and parent-ratings on the Big Five Questionnaire — Children. In Study 2, a GFP was found in the seven dimensions of Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory as well as the Big Five of the NEO PI-R, with the GFPtci correlatingr= .72 with the GFPneo. These results indicate that the GFP is practically the same in both test batteries, and its existence does not depend on being extracted using the Big Five model. The GFP accounted for 22% of the total variance in these trait measures, which were assessed in 651 pairs of 14- to 30-year-old Japanese twins. In Study 3, a GFP accounted for 32% of the total variance in nine scales derived from the NEO PI-R, the Humor Styles Questionnaire, and the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire assessed in 386 pairs of 18- to 74-year-old Canadian and U.S. twins. The GFP was found to be 50% heritable with high scores indicating openness, conscientiousness, sociability, agreeableness, emotional stability, good humor and emotional intelligence. The possible evolutionary origins of the GFP are discussed.

Criterion-related validity of a Big Five general factor of personality from the TIPI to the IPIP

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary N. Burns ◽  
Megan B. Morris ◽  
David A. Periard ◽  
David LaHuis ◽  
Nicholas M. Flannery ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Big Five ◽  
General Factor ◽  
General Factor Of Personality

Evidence for a Heritable General Factor of Personality in Two Studies

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 254-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Livia Veselka ◽  
Julie Aitken Schermer ◽  
K. V. Petrides ◽  
Philip Anthony Vernon
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Big Five ◽  
Genetic Model ◽  
Model Fitting ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Big Five Personality ◽  
General Factor Of Personality ◽  
Components Analysis ◽  
And Behavior

AbstractTwo studies were conducted to see whether a general factor of personality (GFP) could be extracted from different measures of personality. Using samples of twins in both studies also allowed an assessment of the extent to which genetic and/ or environmental factors contributed to individual differences in the GFPs that were found. In Study 1, principal components analysis of the Big Five personality traits in combination with four scales of mental toughness yielded a strong GFP and behavior genetic model-fitting showed that individual differences in this GFP were fully accounted for by genetic and nonshared environmental factors. In Study 2, a GFP was extracted from the Big Five traits in combination with 15 facets of emotional intelligence. Individual differences in this GFP were also fully accounted for by genetic and nonshared environmental factors. These studies add to the growing body of research demonstrating the existence of a GFP and replicate one previous report of its heritability.

scholarly journals The General Factor of Personality (GFP) and Vocational Interests: a Test of Social Effectiveness at the Behavioral and Genetic Level

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitri van der Linden ◽  
Curtis S. Dunkel ◽  
Eveline J. De Zeeuw ◽  
Peiqian Wu ◽  
Dirk H. M. Pelt
Keyword(s):  
Large Data ◽  
Vocational Interests ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Social Effectiveness ◽  
Professional Worker ◽  
General Factor Of Personality ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Genetic Level ◽  
National Merit Twin Study

AbstractPrevious studies have examined how personality models (e.g., Big Five, HEXACO) relate to vocational interests. We adopt a novel approach by testing the associations between personality and vocational interests from the perspective of the general factor of personality (GFP). One interpretation of the GFP is that it reflects social effectiveness. Based on this interpretation, we predicted that the GFP is particularly related to interest in social jobs because people generally tend to be attracted to activities in which they perform well. To test this, we used four large data sets: the Professional Worker Career Experience Survey (study 1a; N = 752), OpenPsychometrics.org (study 1b, N = 108,209), Project Talent (study 2; N = 81,130), and the National Merit Twin Study (study 3: N = 1536 in 768 twin pairs). In each sample, we presented the direct associations as well as the results after using control variables (gender and cognitive ability). In study 1a and 1b, the GFP particularly related to interest in social and enterprising occupations. In study 2, the GFP related to interest in working with people and was also associated with a range of occupational scales involving social aspects. In study 3, the GFP only showed a consistent relation with social interests. This association was present at the phenotypical as well as genetic level. Notwithstanding some variation in findings across the different studies, the overall pattern seems to be in line with the notion that the GFP is positively associated with the preference for more socially laden jobs.

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