What Do We Assess when We Assess a Big 5 Trait? A Content Analysis of the Affective, Behavioral, and Cognitive Processes Represented in Big 5 Personality Inventories

TLDR

Personality traits are broad constructs, but it is unclear whether all such traits equally encompass affective, behavioral, or cognitive dimensions. The study examined whether the Big 5 traits differ in their affective, behavioral, or cognitive content. Experts and novices rated items from four major Big 5 inventories for affective, behavioral, or cognitive content, and the inventories and traits were compared on these component assessments. The inventories converged in component coverage, yet the traits differed markedly, indicating that Big 5 traits vary in affective, behavioral, and cognitive emphasis and guiding future research.

Abstract

What are personality traits? Are all “broad” traits equally broad in the constructs they encompass and in the pervasiveness of their effects? Or are some traits more or less affective, behavioral, or cognitive in nature? The present study examined these issues as they applied to the Big 5 traits of Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. Expert and novice raters judged the extent to which items from four popular Big 5 inventories contain behavioral, cognitive, or affective components. Traits and inventories were then compared in terms of their relative assessment of these components. Results indicate convergence among inventories but remarkable differences between traits. These findings have implications for the conceptualization and assessment of traits and suggest directions for future research.