The HEXACO Model of Personality Structure and the Importance of the H Factor

Abstract

We give a brief summary of recent research on the structure of personality characteristics, describing the six‐dimensional ‘HEXACO’ model that has emerged as the most accurate representation of that structure. We then discuss the importance of personality as a predictor of socially important criteria, describing a variety of examples involving the Honesty–Humility (H) factor. The H dimension, alone or in combination with other factors of the HEXACO model, is related inversely to a wide array of criteria, including criminal activity and other unethical behaviors as well as materialistic and power‐seeking tendencies.