Factor structure of English-language personality type-nouns.

Abstract

Although type-nouns (e.g., idiot, hero) are important in person description, lexical studies of personality have concentrated on adjectives. This study tested structural hypotheses using 372 highly familiar English-language type-nouns and descriptions by 607 participants of either themselves, a liked, or a disliked target person. One- and 2-factor structures were most robust, and replicated similar structures found in previous adjectival studies. Additionally, the structure with 8 orthogonal factors had good replicability and applicability within single-gender subsamples; as in previous studies of type-nouns, it included factors corresponding directly to Extraversion and Intellect/Openness, but also to Attractiveness and Masculinity (or Ruggedness). The Big Five was only weakly replicated. Personality taxonomies based on adjectives are unlikely to be comprehensive, because type-nouns have different content emphases.