The Cross-Cultural Generalizability of the Five-Factor Model of Personality

TLDR: A review of studies on the cross-cultural generalizability of the Big Five and the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality describes the convergent and divergent results of two main research traditions (i.e., emic and psycho-lexical) on this topic.

Abstract: A review of studies on the cross-cultural generalizability of the Big Five and the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality describes the convergent and divergent results of two main research traditions (“emic” and “etic”) on this topic. The main divergent results relate to the Intellect-Openness dimension. The cross-cultural generalizability of the Intellect-Openness dimension is clearly problematic in the emic and psycho-lexical stream of research but firmly established by the etic stream using imported inventories. After this review of previous research, results of cross-cultural geralizability research on the FFM as assessed by the NEO-PI-R are presented and discussed. Comparisons of Varimax structures in 16 different cultures clearly show the cross-cultural generalizability of Neuroticism, Openness and Conscientiousness. Extraversion and Agreeableness, described as components of the interpersonal circumplex, appear to be more sensitive to cultural context. For some cultures—in Varimax structure—the factorial location of some facets of Extraversion and Agreeableness shift onto the other dimension. All these results are in line with previous research and suggest that the anthropological traditional that emphasizes cultural diversity and the impact of culture on individual psychology probably tends to underestimate the role of cross-cultural invariance in individual differences.