The five-factor model of personality traits: An examination based on fuzzy-set theory

• Published in: Shinrigaku kenkyū Vol. 66; no. 6; pp. 401 - 408
• Main Authors: Hayashi, Fumitoshi, Oda, Tetsuhisa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: The Japanese Psychological Association 1996
• Subjects: Fuzzy-set Concurrent Rating method; fuzzy-set theory; person perception; personality traits; the five factor model
• ISSN: 0021-5236; 1884-1082
• DOI: 10.4992/jjpsy.66.401

The purpose of the present study was to examine the five-factor model (FFM) of personality traits in the framework of fuzzy-set theory. Four hundred and thirty-eight undergraduates rated themselves (self-ratings) and their parents (other-ratings) on monopolar scales of fifty personality traits. The data were analyzed with factor analysis and Oda's Fuzzy-set Concurrent Rating (FCR) method (1993b). Results were as follows: (a) The robustness of FFM was confirmed in both self- and other-rating data. (b) The first three factors of FFM clearly corresponded with the basic dimensions of interpersonal cognition proposed by Hayashi (1978). (c) The degree of contradiction found in self-rating data, based on the analysis with the FCR method, was greater than that of other-rating data. These findings suggest that fuzzy-set theory was effective in its application to the analysis of personality and interpersonal cognition in the framework of the five-factor model.