THE 5-FACTOR MODEL .2. RELATIONS OF THE NEO-PI WITH OTHER PERSONALITY-VARIABLES

Trait psychology is entering into a newly flourishing time. The five-f actor model has become a robust alternative in the search for the 'bas ic' personality structure. The present paper is intended to explore th e nomological network of the dimensions contained in Costa and McCrae' s NEO-PI, which has become the most widely used operationalization of the five-factor model in the questionnaire domain. The Spanish version of the NEO-PI was related, in three different broad samples, to socia lly desirable responding measures, to the Eysenck Personality Question naire (EPQ), to several commonly-used clinical scales, and to indexes of risk-related behaviors and unhealthy attitudes. Results support the convergent and discriminant validity of the NEO-PI traits and of most of its facets, and offer implications for defenders of three-factor v s five-factor models of personality. The role of 'response sets' in th e NEO-PI is also discussed.