Big Five Inventory (BFI)

John, O. P., Donahue, E. M., & Kentle, R. L. (1991). The Big Five Inventory - Versions 4a and 54. Berkeley, CA: University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Personality and Social Research.

	Table of Contents
	Description
	History of Use
	References

Description:

Purpose		The BFI was designed to assess the constellation of traits defined by the Five Factor Theory of Personality. Openness is characterized by originality, curiosity, and ingenuity. This factor is sometimes referred to as Culture because of its emphasis on intellectualism, polish, and independence of mind. This factor is also sometimes referred to as Intellect because of its emphasis on intelligence, sophistication, and reflection. Conscientiousness is characterized by orderliness, responsibility, and dependability. This factor is sometimes referred to as Dependability. Extraversion is characterized by talkativeness, assertiveness, and energy. This factor is sometimes referred to as Surgency. Agreeableness is characterized by good-naturedness, cooperativeness, and trust. While this factor is most commonly called Agreeableness, it can also be seen as a combination of friendliness and compliance. Neuroticism is characterized by upsetability and is the polar opposite of emotional stability. This factor is sometimes scored in the opposite direction and referred to as Emotional Stability. This description of the Big Five is drawn from Digman (1990), Goldberg (1992), and John & Srivastava (1999). The factor structure used by the BFI is described below under sub-scales.
Questions		44 items using 5-point ratings (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree)
Sub-scales		5 sub-scales: Openness Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism
Domain
Psychometrics
Sample items		I see myself as someone who is original, comes up with new ideas. (Openness) I see myself as someone who perseveres until the task is finished. (Conscientiousness) I see myself as someone who is talkative. (Extraversion) I see myself as someone who is helpful and unselfish with others. (Agreeableness) I see myself as someone who is depressed, blue. (Neuroticism)

History of Use:

References:

Scale:

John, O. P., Donahue, E. M., & Kentle, R. L. (1991). The Big Five Inventory - Versions 4a and 54. Berkeley, CA: University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Personality and Social Research.

For more information on the Big 5 and their measurement, see:

Digman, J. M. (1990). Personality structure: Emergence of the five-factor model. Annual Review of Psychology, 41, 417-440. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ps.41.020190.002221

Goldberg, L. R. (1990). An alternative “description of personality”: The Big-Five factor structure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(6), 1216-1229. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.59.6.1216

Goldberg, L. R. (1992). The development of markers for the Big-Five factor structure. Psychological Assessment, 4(1), 26-42. doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.4.1.26

John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). The Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (2nd ed., pp. 102-138). New York: Guilford.

McCrae, R. R., & John, O. P. (1992). An introduction to the five-factor model and its applications. Journal of Personality, 60(2), 175-215.doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.1992.tb00970.x

Uses:

Page, J., M. A. Bruch, et al. (2008). "Role of perfectionism and Five-Factor model traits in career indecision." Personality and Individual Differences 45(8): 811-815. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2008.08.013

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