Three-Factor Model, Five-Factor Model

David Center

Personality has been called by Abram Kardiner an essential adaptive organization of biological and behavioral functions that is of paramount importance to social life. Psychologists have generated a plethora of personality theories and measures of personality during this century. However, the major contenders at this time appear to be the three-factor model (TFM) and the more recent five-factor model (FFM). The TFM employs these traits: Extroversion, Neuroticism (or Emotional Instability) and Psychoticism. The five traits represented in the FFM are Extroversion, Emotional Instability, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness. The Eysenck model (TFM) is generally preferred for three reasons. First, this theory of personality is strongly supported by a very long and continuous history of research and development. Eysenck's dedication to research on personality has made him the most frequently cited psychologist in the world. Eysenck points out that nearly all large-scale studies of personality find the equivalent of the three traits ...

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