Personality Taxonomy

Pan-Hierarchical Five Factor Model: Working taxonomy that recognizes the non-simple structure of personality and incorporates several trait levels: General Factor of Personality, higher-order meta-traits, five factor model, aspects, facets, and compound traits.

Construct names in italics indicate those constructs with consistent loadings on other Big Five factors. Aspects and facets are listed alphabetically since more research is needed to understand how each facet is related to each aspect.

Looking for a particular construct? Use the Search function on the table below to search across all constructs and definitions in the table below. Use the filter fields at the top of each column to search within individual columns. Construct levels are separated by clear bullets (e.g., “◦” separates factors and aspects, “◦◦” separates factors and facets).

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References on this page:

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American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

Connelly, B. S., Ones, D. S., Davies, S. E., Birkland, A. (2014). Opening up Openness: A theoretical sort following critical incidents methodology and meta-analytic investigation of the trait family measures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 96(1), 17–28. doi: 10.1080/00223891.2013.809355.

Davies, S. E. (2014). Lower and higher order facets and factors of the interpersonal traits among the Big Five: Specifying, measuring, and understanding extraversion and agreeableness (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy, http://hdl.handle.net/11299/164781

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Stanek, K. C. & Ones, D. S. (2017). Taxonomies and Compendia of Cognitive Ability and Personality Constructs and Measures Relevant to Industrial, Work, & Organizational Psychology. In D. S. Ones, N. Anderson, C. Viswesvaran, and H. K. Sinangil (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Industrial, Work & Organizational Psychology (pp. 366-407). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing.

von Stumm, S., & Ackerman, P. L. (2013). Investment and intellect: A review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 139(4), 841–869. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030746