HIERARCHICAL ORGANIZATION OF PERSONALITY AND PREDICTION OF BEHAVIOR

Two studies evaluated personality trait measures and Big Five factor m easures for their accuracy in predicting important behavior criteria. The results of both studies showed that the narrower traits and the br oader factors, thought to define 2 levels of a hierarchy of personalit y variables, separately predicted most criterion variables. However, t he incremental validity of the personality trait measures (the degree to which the traits increased the criterion prediction achieved by the factors) was generally much larger than the incremental validity of t he Big Five factor measures. It was concluded that aggregating persona lity traits into their underlying personality factors could result in decreased predictive accuracy due to the loss of trait-specific but cr iterion-valid variance.