Are the questionnaire and the psycho-lexical Big Twos the same? Towards an integration of personality structure within the Circumplex of Personality Metatraits

Abstract

The Big Two personality factors were identified independently in questionnaire (Stability and Plasticity) and in psycho-lexical studies (Social Self-Regulation and Dynamism), but despite the close correspondence between them, the existing results are inconclusive as to the degree of their similarity. The presented study involved 692 participants (55.3% females; Mage=31.5, SDage=13.1) who completed a set of instruments measuring the most general personality dimensions to clarify the relationship between the questionnaire and the psycho-lexical Big Twos within the Circumplex of Personality Metatraits (CPM). It was shown that both Big Twos can be deemed slightly different manifestations of the personality metatraits identified within the CPM. Thus, the obtained results suggest a possibility for renewed integration of the questionnaire and the psycho-lexical traditions of research on personality structure.