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A General Factor of Personality: Evidence from the HEXACO Model and a Measure of Trait Emotional Intelligence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

Livia Veselka ,
Julie Aitken Schermer ,
K. V. Petrides ,
Lynn F. Cherkas ,
Tim D. Spector  and
Philip A. Vernon
Livia Veselka
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.
Julie Aitken Schermer
Affiliation:
Management and Organizational Studies, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
K. V. Petrides
Affiliation:
University College, London, United Kingdom.
Lynn F. Cherkas
Affiliation:
Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology Unit, King's College London, United Kingdom.
Tim D. Spector
Affiliation:
Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology Unit, King's College London, United Kingdom.
Philip A. Vernon*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. vernon@uwo.ca
*
*Address for correspondence: P. A. Vernon, Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.

Abstract

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The purpose of the present study was to determine if a general factor of personality (GFP) could be extracted from the six dimensions of the HEXACO model and four factors of trait emotional intelligence. Participants were 1,192 pairs of twins (666 MZ pairs, 526 DZ pairs) between the ages of 19 to 86 years, who completed the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire — Short Form and the HEXACO Personality Inventory — Revised. Principal components analysis yielded a strong GFP accounting for 33% of the variance, on which all variables with the exception of honesty-humility from the HEXACO showed moderate to large loadings. Behavioral genetic (BG) analyses revealed that individual differences in the GFP were entirely attributable to additive genetic and non-shared environmental factors — results that are in accord with previous BG analyses of a GFP. The present study adds to the body of evidence in support of a heritable GFP but an alternative perspective is also discussed.

Keywords

general factor of personalitytwin studyheritability
Type
Articles
Information
Twin Research and Human Genetics , Volume 12 , Issue 5 , 01 October 2009 , pp. 420 - 424
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009