A General Factor of Personality (GFP) from two meta-analyses of the Big Five: Digman (1997) and Mount, Barrick, Scullen, and Rounds (2005)

By J. Rushton, P. Irwing. 2008

202 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract In two studies, we used structural equation models to test the hypothesis that a General Factor of Personality (GFP) occupies the apex of the hierarchy of personality. In Study 1, we found a GFP that explained 45% of the reliable variance in a model that went from the Big Five to the Big Two to the Big One in the 14 studies of inter-scale correlations ( N = 4496) assembled by Digman (1997). A higher order factor of Alpha/Stability was defined by Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Agreeableness, with loadings of from 0.61 to 0.70, while Beta/Plasticity was defined by Openness and Extraversion with loadings of 0.55 and 0.77. In turn, the GFP was defined by Alpha and Beta with loadings of 0.67. In Study 2, a GFP explained 44% of the reliable variance in a similar model using data from a published meta-analysis of the Big Five ( N = 4000) by Mount, Barrick, Scullen, and Rounds (2005). Strong general factors such as these, based on large data sets with good model fits that cross validate perfectly, are unlikely to be due to artifacts and response sets.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/39c894b1c91dfb16eec502b39c9b307144a60dec

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Citations in the corpus

A General Factor of Personality in 16 sets of the Big Five, the Guilford–Zimmerman Temperament Survey, the California Psychological Inventory, and the Temperament and Character Inventory (2009, methodology): “…Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2, the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire, the EAS temperament scales, and an eclectic set of 35 traits measured agnostic as to the factor structure of personality (e.g., Rushton, Bons, & Hur, 2008; Rushton & Irwing, 2008; Rushton & Irwing, 2009a,b).”
The Circumplex of Personality Metatraits: A Synthesizing Model of Personality Based on the Big Five (2014, background): “It is significant because Rushton and Irwing (2008) first identified the existence of GFP through a meta-analysis of the data that led Digman to the discovery of Alpha and Beta, and then they argued that GFP occupies the highest position in the hierarchical structure of personality, independently…”
The General Factor of Personality and Evaluation (2012, background): “First, many studies have reported a general factor whose defining traits seem to be of similar valence (Musek; Rushton & Irwing, 2008; Rushton & Irwing, 2009a, 2009b, 2009c; Rushton, Bons, Ando, Hur, Irwing, Vernon, et al., 2009).”
Construct validation using multitrait‐multimethod‐twin data: The case of a general factor of personality (2010, methodology): “…correlation between ABias and B-Bias was rSR¼ .51 for self-reports and rPR¼ .35 for peer reports indicating the presence of self- and peer-report-specific general method components which might have yielded a markedly significant GFP within mono-method studies (Musek, 2007; Rushton & Irwing, 2008).”
Testing an Adaptationist Theory of Trait Covariation: Relative Bargaining Power as a Common Calibrator of an Interpersonal Syndrome (2013, background): “…John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ‘latent psychological construct’ that somehow exerts causal effects on many distinct aspects of thought, emotion and behaviour (Digman, 1997; Funder, 2001; McCrae & Costa, 2008; Rushton & Irwing, 2008; see Borsboom, Mellenbergh, & van Heerden, 2003; Cramer et al., 2012).”
The General Factor of Personality, BIS-BAS, expectancies of reward and punishment, self-esteem, and positive and negative affect (2010, unknown): “…Character Inventory, and the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (Erdle, Irwing, Rushton, & Park, 2010; Musek, 2007; Rushton et al., 2009, 2008; Rushton & Irwing, 2008, 2009a, 2009b, 2009c, 2009d; Schermer & Vernon, 2010; Veselka et al., 2009; Veselka, Schermer, Petrides, & Vernon, 2009).”
The General Factor of Personality: A meta-analysis of Big Five intercorrelations and a criterion-related validity study (2010, unknown): “Rushton and Irwing (2008) identified a GFP in the original 14 Big Five studies as mentioned by Digman (1997) and in a meta-analysis (N = 4000) of Mount, Barrick, Scullen, and Rounds (2005).”
The correlation between general intelligence (g), a general factor of personality (GFP), and social desirability (2010, background): “In a variety of data samples and questionnaires, these two factors have been found to have a higher factor in common, the GFP. Rushton and Irwing (2008) reported a GFP in two large samples of the Big Five personality factors.”