The lexical approach to the study of personality structure: toward the identification of cross-culturally replicable dimensions of personality variation.

The structure of personality variation is discussed from the perspective of the lexical approach, which is based on the examination of relations among personality-descriptive adjectives that are indigenous to various languages. The results of this approach--which reveal a cross-culturally replicated set of six dimensions--are described. Specifically, the obtained structure corresponds rather closely to the Five-Factor Model, but differs from that model in the nature of the Agreeableness and Emotionality/Neuroticism factors and also in the existence of a sixth factor known as Honesty-Humility. It is suggested that the emergence of this structure provides support for attempts to establish a cross-culturally generalizable structural model that could summarize normal and abnormal personality variation.