title: Universal features of personality traits from the observer's perspective: data from 50 cultures.
abstract: To test hypotheses about the universality of personality traits, college students in 50 cultures identified an adult or college-aged man or woman whom they knew well and rated the 11,985 targets using the 3rd-person version of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. Factor analyses within cultures showed that the normative American self-report structure was clearly replicated in most cultures and was recognizable in all. Sex differences replicated earlier self-report results, with the most pronounced differences in Western cultures. Cross-sectional age differences for 3 factors followed the pattern identified in self-reports, with moderate rates of change during college age and slower changes after age 40. With a few exceptions, these data support the hypothesis that features of personality traits are common to all human groups.
authors.affiliation: Gerontology Research Center, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Baltimore, MD 21224-6825, USA. mccraej@grc.nia.nih.gov
authors.forename: Robert R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: McCrae
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Terracciano
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001290:Attitude; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003469:Culture; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019370:Observation; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory