Advances in the assessment of the five-factor model

Recent developments in the assessment of the Big Five and the Five-Factor M odel (FFM) are reviewed. These are centred on six themes, including the con ceptual status of traits, the validity of the lexical hypothesis as a start ing point to examine the main factors of personality, the developmental sta tus of the Big Five, the organisation of traits at the lower level, the pre dictive validity of personality measures, and finally the bandwidth-fidelit y dilemma. Criticisms and developments are discussed from an assessment poi nt of view, examining how the rationale behind the construction of new inve ntories such as the Five Factor Personality Inventory (FFPI; Hendriks, Hofs tee, & De Raad, 1999) and the Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Childr en (HiPIC; Mervielde & De Fruyt, 1999) helps to clarify and (partially) ans wer previously identified problems. The review concludes with a discussion of the future agenda for personality assessment.