Why I Advocate the Five-Factor Model: Joint Factor Analyses of the NEO-PI with Other Instruments

Abstract

Although the five-factor model of personality originated in studies of natural language, recent research suggests that it can encompass dimensions of individual differences derived from many of the major schools of personality psychology. This chapter summarizes empirical evidence of the convergence of all these lines of theory and research on the five-factor model, and illustrates the validity of the factors across different instruments and observers and their stability over decades of adult life. These appear to be compelling reasons to adopt the model as a framework for the comprehensive description of personality.