How do we describe personality?

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How do we describe personality?
Hans Eysenck (d. 9/4/97) Inspired by history,
especially Hippocrates (460-370 bc) and Galen
(129-203 ad)
Low E
Phlegmatic
Melancholic
Low N
High N
Sanguine
Choleric
High E
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How do we describe personality?
Raymond Cattell (1943 d. 2/2/98) The lexical
hypothesis All aspects of human personality
which are or have been of importance, interest,
or utility, have already become recorded in the
substance of language
Allport Odbert (1936) 17,953 words
distinguish the behavior or one human being from
that of another 4,504 words represent
consistent and stable modes or determining
tendencies
Norman (1963) 18,125 words to describe
people 8,081 words not evaluative, ambiguous,
clear, and not physical traits 1,600 familiar
words 75 clusters
Cattell (1957) 171 non-redundant/synonymous
words Factor analysis
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• 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
• I did what had to be done - .10 .75 -.05 .03 .12 .
  00
• 2. I learned to live with it - -.02 .52 .61 -.0
  7 -.08
• 3. I tried to get rid of it - .17 .00 .09 .15
• 4. I accepted that it was there - .71 .11 .08
• 5. I tried to see it in a different
  light - .06 -.04
• 6. I slept more than usual - .59
• 7. I daydreamed about other things -

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Factor A B C D 1. I did what had to be
done .62 .15 .01 -.12 2. I learned to live with
it .03 -.08 .49 .08 3. I tried to get rid of
it .54 .04 -.20 .16 4. I accepted that it was
there .10 .11 .56 .03 5. I tried to see it in a
different light .07 .08 .50 .02 6. I slept more
than usual -.02 .72 .12 -.13 7. I daydreamed
about other things .08 .48 .08 .08
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Raymond Cattell (1943 d. 2/2/98) All aspects of
human personality which are or have been of
importance, interest, or utility, have already
become recorded in the substance of language
16 factors, including Reactive vs. emotionally
stable Relaxed vs. tense Self-assured vs.
apprehensive Tolerates disorder vs.
perfectionistic Shy vs. socially bold Serious vs.
lively Forthright vs. private Dominant vs.
deferential
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How do we describe personality?
Lewis Goldberg The Big 5 E The largest
number of closely related words A The next
largest C And so on N And so on O The
smallest number, loosely related words the
worst-defined factor
Costa and McCrae The Big 3 (plus 2) The
Five-Factor Model N and E The most common
personality dimensions in personality theory O
Accounts for existential theories (e.g.,
self-actualization) Convinced in 1981 by Big 5
research to include A and C
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How do we describe personality?
The Big 5/Five Factors OCEAN Other
structures? NEO CEAN OCEAN PV and NV
(The Big 7 Tellegen) O C eX A nE
Honesty/humility (HEXACO Ashton
Lee) trustworthy, honest, humble, faithful
versus greedy, venal, hypocritical, conceited
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Hofstee, deRaad, Goldberg, 1992
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How do we describe personality?
Why would we have developed language to describe
personality in these five terms? E Can I
dominate this person? A Can I get along with
this person? C Can I work with this
person? N Is this person crazy or
sane? O Can I teach this person? How
might personality have changed during evolution?