psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

, a facet is a specific and unique aspect of a broader

personality trait In psychology, trait theory (also called dispositional theory) is an approach to the study of human personality. Trait theorists are primarily interested in the measurement of ''traits'', which can be defined as habitual patterns of behaviour, tho ...

. Both the concept and the term "facet" were introduced by Paul Costa and Robert McCrae in the first edition of the NEO-Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) Manual. Facets were originally elaborated only for the

neuroticism In the study of psychology, neuroticism has been considered a fundamental personality trait. For example, in the Big Five approach to personality trait theory, individuals with high scores for neuroticism are more likely than average to be moody ...

openness to experience Openness to experience is one of the domains which are used to describe human personality in the Five Factor Model. Openness involves six facets, or dimensions: active imagination (fantasy), aesthetic sensitivity, attentiveness to inner feelings, ...

, and

extraversion The traits of extraversion (also spelled extroversion Retrieved 2018-02-21.) and introversion are a central dimension in some human personality theories. The terms ''introversion'' and ''extraversion'' were introduced into psychology by Carl J ...

traits; Costa and McCrae introduced facet scales for the

agreeableness Agreeableness is a personality trait manifesting itself in individual behavioral characteristics that are perceived as kind, sympathetic, cooperative, warm, and considerate. In contemporary personality psychology, agreeableness is one of the five ...

and

conscientiousness Conscientiousness is the personality trait of being careful, or diligent. Conscientiousness implies a desire to do a task well, and to take obligations to others seriously. Conscientious people tend to be efficient and organized as opposed to ...

traits in the Revised NEO-PI (NEO PI-R). Each of the

Big Five personality traits The Big Five personality traits is a suggested taxonomy, or grouping, for personality traits, developed from the 1980s onward in psychological trait theory. Starting in the 1990s, the theory identified five factors by labels, for the US English ...

in the

five factor model The Big Five personality traits is a suggested taxonomy, or grouping, for personality traits, developed from the 1980s onward in psychological trait theory. Starting in the 1990s, the theory identified five factors by labels, for the US English ...

contains six facets, each of which is measured with a separate scale. The use of facets and facet scales has since expanded beyond the NEO PI-R, with alternative facet and

domain Domain may refer to: Mathematics *Domain of a function, the set of input values for which the (total) function is defined **Domain of definition of a partial function **Natural domain of a partial function **Domain of holomorphy of a function * Do ...

structures derived from other models of personality. Examples include the

HEXACO model of personality structure The HEXACO model of personality structure is a six-dimensional model of human personality that was created by Ashton and Lee and explained in their book, ''The H Factor of Personality'', based on findings from a series of lexical studies involvin ...

, psycholexical studies, circumplex models (e.g., Goldberg's Abridged Big-Five Dimensional Circumplex), the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), and the

California Psychological Inventory The California Psychological Inventory (CPI) is a self-report inventory created by Harrison G. Gough and currently published by Consulting Psychologists Press. The text containing the test was first published in 1956, and the most recent revision w ...

Five factor model

NEO PI-R

Costa and McCrae originally developed facet scales for neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience to reflect the fact that each broader trait is composed of different aspects of personality. They admit their decisions were somewhat arbitrary and acknowledge that each trait may actually have more or less than six facets. However, they justify their choices with the need for a balance between comprehension and comprehensiveness and research supporting their six facet breakdown of each

Big Five personality trait The Big Five personality traits is a suggested taxonomy, or grouping, for personality traits, developed from the 1980s onward in psychological trait theory. Starting in the 1990s, the theory identified five factors by labels, for the US English ...

. The following table displays the labels used by Costa and McCrae for each personality domain and its constituent facets. * Neuroticism:

Anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

Hostility Hostility is seen as form of emotionally charged aggressive behavior. In everyday speech it is more commonly used as a synonym for anger and aggression. It appears in several psychological theories. For instance it is a facet of neuroticism in ...

, Depression,

Self-consciousness Self-consciousness is a heightened sense of awareness of oneself. It is not to be confused with consciousness in the sense of qualia. Historically, "self-consciousness" was synonymous with " self-awareness", referring to a state of awareness that ...

Impulsiveness In psychology, impulsivity (or impulsiveness) is a tendency to act on a whim, displaying behavior characterized by little or no forethought, reflection, or consideration of the consequences. Impulsive actions are typically "poorly conceived, pre ...

Vulnerability Vulnerability refers to "the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally." A window of vulnerability (WOV) is a time frame within which defensive measures are diminished, com ...

* Extroversion: Warmth,

Gregariousness Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in social groups (gregariousness) and form cooperative societies. Sociality is a survival response to evolutionary pressures. For example, when a mother wasp ...

Assertiveness Assertiveness is the quality of being self-assured and confident without being aggressive to defend a right point of view or a relevant statement. In the field of psychology and psychotherapy, it is a skill that can be learned and a mode of communi ...

, Activity, Excitement-Seeking,

Positive Emotions The broaden-and-build theory in positive psychology suggests that positive affectivity, positive emotions (such as happiness, and perhaps Interest (emotion), interest and Anticipation (emotion), anticipation) broaden one's awareness and encourage no ...

* Openness to Experience:

Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

Aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...

Feeling Feelings are subjective self-contained phenomenal experiences. According to the ''APA Dictionary of Psychology'', a feeling is "a self-contained phenomenal experience"; and feelings are "subjective, evaluative, and independent of the sensations ...

Actions Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fi ...

Idea In common usage and in philosophy, ideas are the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophers have considered ideas to be a fundamental ontological category of being ...

Values In ethics and social sciences, value denotes the degree of importance of something or action, with the aim of determining which actions are best to do or what way is best to live (normative ethics in ethics), or to describe the significance of dif ...

* Agreeableness:

Trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another * Trust (bus ...

, Straightforwardness,

Altruism Altruism is the principle and moral practice of concern for the welfare and/or happiness of other human beings or animals, resulting in a quality of life both material and spiritual. It is a traditional virtue in many cultures and a core as ...

, Compliance,

Modesty Modesty, sometimes known as demureness, is a mode of dress and deportment which intends to avoid the encouraging of sexual attraction in others. The word "modesty" comes from the Latin word ''wikt:modestus, modestus'' which means "keeping within ...

, Tender-mindedness * Conscientiousness: Competence, Order, Dutifulness, Achievement Striving, Self-

Discipline Discipline refers to rule following behavior, to regulate, order, control and authority. It may also refer to punishment. Discipline is used to create habits, routines, and automatic mechanisms such as blind obedience. It may be inflicted on ot ...

Deliberation Deliberation is a process of thoughtfully weighing options, usually prior to voting. Deliberation emphasizes the use of logic and reason as opposed to power-struggle, creativity, or dialogue. Group decisions are generally made after deliberation ...

Lexical facets

In contrast with Costa and McCrae's admittedly arbitrary decisions, studies guided by the

Lexical hypothesis The lexical hypothesis (also known as the fundamental lexical hypothesis, lexical approach, or sedimentation hypothesis) is a thesis, current primarily in early personality psychology, and subsequently subsumed by many later efforts in that subfie ...

root facets in the personality language of laypeople. This approach is meant to test, and possibly enhance, the

content validity In psychometrics, content validity (also known as logical validity) refers to the extent to which a measure represents all facets of a given construct. For example, a depression scale may lack content validity if it only assesses the affective dim ...

of the measures used. Using the

Five Factor Model The Big Five personality traits is a suggested taxonomy, or grouping, for personality traits, developed from the 1980s onward in psychological trait theory. Starting in the 1990s, the theory identified five factors by labels, for the US English ...

, Gerard Saucier and Fritz Ostendorf explored each domain's facet structure through lexical studies. Using English and German participants and materials, they found a total of 18 facets, or "subcomponents," of the Big Five. These are: * Neuroticism:

Irritability Irritability (also called as crankiness) is the excitatory ability that living organisms have to respond to changes in their environment. The term is used for both the physiological reaction to stimuli and for the pathological, abnormal or excessi ...

Insecurity InSecurity is a Canadian spy comedy television series that aired on CBC Television from 2011 to 2012. The series centres on a team of covert operatives working for the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), a fictional Canadian intelli ...

Emotionality Emotionality is the observable behavioral and physiological component of emotion. It is a measure of a person's emotional reactivity to a stimulus. Most of these responses can be observed by other people, while some emotional responses can only ...

* Extroversion: Sociability, Unrestraint,

, Activity- Adventurousness * Openness to Experience:

Intellect In the study of the human mind, intellect refers to, describes, and identifies the ability of the human mind to reach correct conclusions about what is true and what is false in reality; and how to solve problems. Derived from the Ancient Gree ...

Imagination Imagination is the production or simulation of novel objects, sensations, and ideas in the mind without any immediate input of the senses. Stefan Szczelkun characterises it as the forming of experiences in one's mind, which can be re-creations ...

-Creativity, Perceptiveness * Agreeableness: Warmth- Affection,

Gentleness Gentleness is a personal quality which can be part of one's character. It consists in kindness, consideration and amiability. Aristotle used it in a technical sense as the virtue that strikes the mean with regard to anger: being too quick to anger ...

Generosity Generosity (also called largess) is the virtue of being liberal in giving, often as gifts. Generosity is regarded as a virtue by various world religions and philosophies, and is often celebrated in cultural and religious ceremonies. Scientific ...

Humility Humility is the quality of being humble. Dictionary definitions accentuate humility as a low self-regard and sense of unworthiness. In a religious context humility can mean a recognition of self in relation to a deity (i.e. God), and subsequent ...

* Conscientiousness: Orderliness, Decisiveness-

Consistency In classical deductive logic, a consistent theory is one that does not lead to a logical contradiction. The lack of contradiction can be defined in either semantic or syntactic terms. The semantic definition states that a theory is consistent ...

, Reliability,

Industriousness Diligence—carefulness and persistent effort or work—is one of the seven heavenly virtues. It is indicative of a work ethic, the belief that work is good in itself. In students Bernard et al. suggest that diligence in students is define ...

Abridged Big-Five Dimensional Circumplex

The standard

conceives of personality as a collection of unidimensional, polar scales. In contrast, circumplex models explore personality as it is constructed in the two-dimensional space created by the intersections of these polar scales.

Timothy Leary Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from bold oracle to publicity hound. He was "a her ...

was the first to apply the circumplex to the study of personality. Following Leary's pioneering work in the 1950s, Jerry Wiggins' Interpersonal Circle was one of the most influential early circumplex models of personality. Despite similarities between the Interpersonal Circle and two of the Big Five, it was only later that the work of

Lewis Goldberg Lewis R. Goldberg is an American personality psychologist and a professor emeritus at the University of Oregon. He is closely associated Goldberg, L.R. (1993). The structure of phenotypic personality traits. ''American Psychologist, 48'', 2 ...

with Dean Peabody, and Willem Hofstee and Boele de Raad integrated the circumplex and Five Factor models. The result was The Abridged Big-Five Dimensional Circumplex (AB5C). In place of specific facet labels, Goldberg and his colleagues use

Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

, and

plus and minus signs The plus and minus signs, and , are mathematical symbols used to represent the notions of positive and negative, respectively. In addition, represents the operation of addition, which results in a sum, while represents subtraction, resul ...

corresponding to the two intersecting factors. For example, the facet corresponding to the intersection of

and disagreeableness is represented by "I+II−". The following tables list

adjectives In linguistics, an adjective (abbreviated ) is a word that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives were considered one of the mai ...

associated with the intersections of high scores (+) and low scores (−) on the Five Factors. Corresponding

NEO PI-R The Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) is a personality inventory that assesses an individual on five dimensions of personality, the so-called Big Five personality traits. These traits are openness to experience, conscientiousness, ext ...

labels are provided in

parentheses A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...

, with adjectives approximating pure Big Five traits (e.g., extraversion, neuroticism) in bold. Empty cells represent impossible combinations (e.g., I+I−) or "blank spaces" (e.g., II+III−) – that is, combinations that are either unimportant or do not naturally appear in language.

Other models

Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire

The

Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire The Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) is a personality test meant to measure normal personality developed by Auke Tellegen in 1982. It is currently sold by the University of Minnesota Press The University of Minnesota Press is a un ...

(MPQ) was developed by Auke Tellegen at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

in the early 1980s. It has been used since its development in the

Minnesota Twin Family Study The Minnesota Center for Twin and Family Research (or MCTFR) is a series of behavioral genetic longitudinal studies of families with twin or adoptive offspring conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota. It seeks to identify and chara ...

. Three of the four broad traits measured by the MPQ contain between three and four facets, or "primary traits." The fourth, "

Absorption Absorption may refer to: Chemistry and biology * Absorption (biology), digestion **Absorption (small intestine) *Absorption (chemistry), diffusion of particles of gas or liquid into liquid or solid materials *Absorption (skin), a route by which ...

," is classified as both a broad trait and a primary trait. In addition to these personality measures, the MPQ contains three scales assessing the

validity Validity or Valid may refer to: Science/mathematics/statistics: * Validity (logic), a property of a logical argument * Scientific: ** Internal validity, the validity of causal inferences within scientific studies, usually based on experiments ** ...

of responses. The "Unlikely Virtues" scale is designed to assess

impression management Impression management is a conscious or subconscious process in which people attempt to influence the perceptions of other people about a person, object or event by regulating and controlling information in social interaction.Sanaria, A. D. (2016). ...

, the "True Response Inconsistency" scale assesses the tendency to answer all questions true (or false), and the "Variable Response Inconsistency" scale assesses inconsistent responses to similar or opposite questions. The following table displays Tellegen's labels for broad traits, primary traits (facets), and the subscales of Absorption. * Positive Emotional Temperament:

Well-being Well-being, or wellbeing, also known as wellness, prudential value or quality of life, refers to what is intrinsically valuable relative ''to'' someone. So the well-being of a person is what is ultimately good ''for'' this person, what is in th ...

, Social Potency, Achievement, Social Closeness * Negative Emotional Temperament: Stress Reaction, Alienation,

Aggression Aggression is overt or covert, often harmful, social interaction with the intention of inflicting damage or other harm upon another individual; although it can be channeled into creative and practical outlets for some. It may occur either reacti ...

* Constraint: Control, Harm-avoidance,

Traditionalism Traditionalism is the adherence to traditional beliefs or practices. It may also refer to: Religion * Traditional religion, a religion or belief associated with a particular ethnic group * Traditionalism (19th-century Catholicism), a 19th–c ...

* Absorption (subscales):

Sentient Sentience is the capacity to experience feelings and sensations. The word was first coined by philosophers in the 1630s for the concept of an ability to feel, derived from Latin '' sentientem'' (a feeling), to distinguish it from the ability to ...

, Prone to

Imaginative Imagination is the production or simulation of novel objects, sensations, and ideas in the mind without any immediate input of the senses. Stefan Szczelkun characterises it as the forming of experiences in one's mind, which can be re-creations ...

and

Altered States ''Altered States'' is a 1980 American science fiction body horror film directed by Ken Russell and based on the novel of the same name by playwright and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky. The film was adapted from Chayefsky's 1978 novel and is his f ...

HEXACO Model

The

HEXACO Model The HEXACO model of personality structure is a six-dimensional model of human personality that was created by Ashton and Lee and explained in their book, ''The H Factor of Personality'', based on findings from a series of lexical studies involvin ...

is a six-factor model of personality. This model was developed in the early 2000s by Michael C. Ashton and Kibeom Lee using lexical studies. The HEXACO Model adds a sixth factor,

Honesty-Humility The Honesty-Humility factor of the HEXACO model of personality is one of the six basic personality traits. Honesty-Humility is a basic personality trait representing the tendency to be fair and genuine when dealing with others, in the sense of co ...

, to five factors similar to those in the Big Five:

Extraversion The traits of extraversion (also spelled extroversion Retrieved 2018-02-21.) and introversion are a central dimension in some human personality theories. The terms ''introversion'' and ''extraversion'' were introduced into psychology by Carl J ...

Agreeableness Agreeableness is a personality trait manifesting itself in individual behavioral characteristics that are perceived as kind, sympathetic, cooperative, warm, and considerate. In contemporary personality psychology, agreeableness is one of the five ...

Conscientiousness Conscientiousness is the personality trait of being careful, or diligent. Conscientiousness implies a desire to do a task well, and to take obligations to others seriously. Conscientious people tend to be efficient and organized as opposed to ...

, and

Openness to Experience Openness to experience is one of the domains which are used to describe human personality in the Five Factor Model. Openness involves six facets, or dimensions: active imagination (fantasy), aesthetic sensitivity, attentiveness to inner feelings, ...

. Despite these similarities, the facet structures of traits in the HEXACO Model differ from those in the

. In addition to these trait-specific facets, Ashton and Lee have proposed two "interstitial" facets located in the space between traits. The first,

(versus Antagonism), is shared by Honesty-Humility, Agreeableness, and Emotionality. The second, Negative Self-Evaluation, is shared by Extraversion and Emotionality. The following table displays the trait and facet labels used by Ashton and Lee. * Honesty-Humility:

Sincerity Sincerity is the virtue of one who communicates and acts in accordance with the entirety of their feelings, beliefs, thoughts, and desires in a manner that is honest and genuine. Etymology The Oxford English Dictionary and most scholars state ...

Fairness Fairness or being fair can refer to: * Justice * The character in the award-nominated musical comedy '' A Theory of Justice: The Musical.'' * Equity (law), a legal principle allowing for the use of discretion and fairness when applying justice ...

Greed Greed (or avarice) is an uncontrolled longing for increase in the acquisition or use of material gain (be it food, money, land, or animate/inanimate possessions); or social value, such as Social status, status, or Power (social and politica ...

Avoidance,

* Emotionality:

Fearfulness Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear i ...

, Dependence,

Sentimentality Sentimentality originally indicated the reliance on feelings as a guide to truth, but in current usage the term commonly connotes a reliance on shallow, uncomplicated emotions at the expense of reason. Sentimentalism in philosophy is a view in ...

* Extraversion: Social Self-Esteem, Social Boldness,

Sociability Social behavior is behavior among two or more organisms within the same species, and encompasses any behavior in which one member affects the other. This is due to an interaction among those members. Social behavior can be seen as similar to an ...

, Liveliness * Agreeableness: Forgivingness,

Patience (or forbearance) is the ability to endure difficult circumstances. Patience may involve perseverance in the face of delay; tolerance of provocation without responding in disrespect/anger; or forbearance when under strain, especially when faced ...

* Conscientiousness:

Organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

Diligence Diligence—carefulness and persistent effort or work—is one of the seven heavenly virtues. It is indicative of a work ethic, the belief that work is good in itself. In students Bernard et al. suggest that diligence in students is define ...

, Perfectionism,

Flexibility Stiffness is the extent to which an object resists deformation in response to an applied force. The complementary concept is flexibility or pliability: the more flexible an object is, the less stiff it is. Calculations The stiffness, k, of a bo ...

Prudence Prudence ( la, prudentia, Contraction (grammar), contracted from meaning "seeing ahead, sagacity") is the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason. It is classically considered to be a virtue, and in particular one of th ...

* Openness to Experience: Aesthetic appreciation, Inquisitiveness, Creativity, Unconventionality

References

{{Reflist Personality traits Personality tests