CLARIFICATION OF THE 5-FACTOR MODEL WITH THE ABRIDGED BIG 5-DIMENSIONAL CIRCUMPLEX

This article shows how the Abridged Big Five Dimensional Circumplex (AB5C; W. K. Hofstee, B. de Raad, & L. R. Goldberg, 1992) clarifies disputes about the Big Five or five-factor model. Trait ratings from instruments representing 4 versions of the Big Five (L. R. Goldberg, 1992; R. Hogan & J. A. Johnson, 198 1; R. R. McCrae & P. T. Costa, 1985b, 1987; W T Norman, 1963) were subjected to separate AB5C analyses for 2,148 American and 1,285 German Ss. Replicated results formed standard designation codes representing trait adjectives' primary and secondary factor loadings. These codes unveiled the unique coloring imparted by secondary loadings to different scales proffered by researchers to represent the 5 factors.