Abstract
In this study we investigate the usefulness of the instinct-conception for personality trait-research. Of particular interest is the effectiveness-connotation of instincts for personality conceptualizations. In its kind, the study forms an indirect test of the so-called psycholexical approach and its main result, the Big Five personality trait factors. For this, 14,046 instinct-expressions, collected by Bernard (1924) are taken as the starting-point. This large list of instincts is treated according to psycholexical principles, namely by classifying the most relevant instinct-expressions into the recently developed AB5C representation of the Big Five framework. The classification was performed through both primary and secondary factor pole identifications of each instinct-expression and for each Big Five factor. The majority of the personality-relevant instinct terms could be classified in the Big Five system, thus supporting the inclusive potential of the semantics of the Big Five, (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 293-305 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Personality and Individual Differences |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - Aug-1999 |