The Five Factor Model Of Personality

2254 Words5 Pages

The precise definition of personality has been a point of discussion

amongst many different theorists within many different disciplines since the

beginning of civilization. Personality can be defined as "the distinctive and

characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior that define an

individual's personal style and influence his or her interactions with the

environment" (Atkinson, Atkinson, Smith & Bem, 1993: 525). It can be proposed

that personality psychology has two different tasks. "The first involves

specifying the variables on which individuals differ from one another. The

second involves synthesizing the psychological processes of human functioning

into an integrated account of the total person" (Atkinson et al., 1993: 532).

There are many different theories of personality and many different theorists.

The purpose of this essay is to examine the trait approach, specifically the

five-factor model. Both the development and limitations of the Five-Factor model

of personality shall be discussed.

Trait theory is based on several assumptions. The first assumption is

that any difference between people that is seen as significant will have a name.

Secondly, these names, known as traits, are conceived of as continuous

dimensions. In general, trait theories assume that people vary simultaneously on

a number of personality factors. These traits are of both the conjunctive and

disjunctive form. Therefore, to understand a trait, it is necessary to

understand what a particular trait is and what type of behaviour is evidence of

that trait. (Atkinson et al., 1993). Five factor theorists are one set of trait

theorists. The claim of five factor theorists is that behaviour can be best

predicted and explained by measurement of five dominant personality factors. The

five factor theory is a fairly recent proposal and has its basis in earlier work,

which shall be discussed.

One of the statistical techniques most commonly used in the study of

personality is that of factor analysis:

By identifying groups of highly intercorrelated variables,

factor analysis enables us to determine how many underlying

factors are measured by a set of original variables. In other

words, factor analysis is used to uncover the factor structure

of a set of variables. (Diekhoff, 1992: 333)

A factor analysis will generally show t...

... middle of paper ...

...ratings, the

big five model is extremely useful. If the purpose of the field is also to

investigate observers' attributions about individual differences the five-

factor model is less significant. If the study of personality aims to emphasise

the whole person and the dynamic nature of personality, the model seems to be

only of minor concern. As such, from the view of "multifaceted personology, the

five-factor model is one model in personality... not the model of personality"

(McAdams, 1992: 355).

In conclusion, the support and criticisms of the five factor model are

not as black and white as would be hoped. Each argument has logical reasoning

and can provide evidence to support itself. Each view also has a large number of

supporters. Neither one is necessarily correct, as it is possible for the model

to be applicable at some stages, and not applicable at others. As a result, it

is probable and acceptable to conclude that the five factor theory may or may

not be an appropriate model of personality. Perhaps a comparison of how much

supporting literature there is for each argument is a useful method for deciding

which theory an individual may choose to support.

Open Document