A COMPARISON OF BIG-5 STRUCTURES OF PERSONALITY-TRAITS IN DUTCH, ENGLISH, AND GERMAN

We compare Big-Five factor structures found in Dutch, American English , and German, and present a joint structure. The data consist of self- and peer ratings of 600 subjects with 551 Dutch trait-descriptive adj ectives, 636 subjects with 540 English adjectives, and 802 subjects wi th 430 German adjectives. On the basis of 126 common items, we assess the congruences between the factors as originally published, as result ing from target rotations, and from simultaneous rotations. With the e xception of the Dutch Factor V, the Big-Five factors recur across lang uages in a relative but not in a strict sense. Moreover, at a more det ailed level differences in the positions of the axes are uncovered. By applying a split-sample technique to the three data sets, we verify t hat these differences do not arise through unreliability. Also, few tr ait terms appear to have the same precise meaning across these three l anguages; such labels therefore cannot serve as anchor concepts for an international language of personality. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.