<p>My answer to the question on evidence for the GFP provides numerous references on the correlations between the Big 5:</p>

<p><a href="https://psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/2015/what-is-the-support-for-a-global-personality-factor/2019#2019">What is the support for a global personality factor?</a></p>

<p>The key bit of the answer is as follows:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>van der Linden et al 2010</strong> extend the work of Musek (2007) by presenting a meta-analysis of Big 5 intercorrelation matrices
   in order to assess the evidence for a General Factor of Personality.
  Table 2 shows the meta-analytic average scale intercorrelations for the big 5 measures included in the meta-analysis. It shows how across a wide range of measures and measurement procedures, the Big 5 scales moderately intercorrelate. The average absolute unadjusted correlations between the Big Five was 0.23. </p>
</blockquote>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/PX6rA.png" alt="big 1 personality correlations - meta analysis van der linden"></p>

<p>You can also check out other work discussing higher-order factors (typically one or two factor models). These imply a correlation between the Big 5.</p>

<p>To quote my own primer on the Big 5 (Anglim &amp; O'Connor, 2018: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/a78g2/download" rel="noreferrer">https://psyarxiv.com/a78g2/download</a>):</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Researchers have posited one and two factor higher-order models of personality suggesting that the Big Five may not be the broadest meaningful level of personality analysis (Anusic, Schimmack, Pinkus, &amp; Lockwood, 2009; Digman, 1997; Musek, 2007; Veselka et al., 2009). Notably, a single, broad factor (termed the General Factor of Personality; GFP) has been proposed to account for meaningful trait variance at the highest level (e.g., Musek, 2007), although see various critical perspectives (Davies et al., 2015; De Vries, 2011; Revelle &amp; Wilt, 2013) .</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Thus, you could check out those references for further background on one and two-factor models. Such papers will generally also discuss the structure of correlations between the Big 5 and arguments for and against why they are meaningful.</p>

<h3>References</h3>

<ul>
<li>Anglim, J., &amp; O'Connor, P. (2018). Measurement and Research Using the Big Five, HEXACO,
and Narrow Traits: A Primer for Researchers and Practitioners. Australian Journal of Psychology. <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/a78g2/download" rel="noreferrer">https://psyarxiv.com/a78g2/download</a></li>
<li>van der Linden, D., te Nijenhuis, J., &amp; Bakker, A. B. (2010). The general factor of personality: A meta-analysis of Big Five intercorrelations and a criterion-related validity study. Journal of Research in Personality, 44(3), 315-327.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-09T05:32:15.750Z
2018-04-09T05:32:15.750Z
Jeromy Anglim
<p>I'm looking for quantitative research on the correlation between the five dimensions in OCEAN psychometric models. Would appreciate any references.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-31T12:01:25.157Z
See [here](https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Correlation-among-the-Big-Five-personality-traits_tbl1_284349515) for example.
Arnon Weinberg
<measurement><personality>
What are the correlation between the Big 5 (OCEAN) dimensions of personality?
Evan Zamir
# What are the correlation between the Big 5 (OCEAN) dimensions of personality?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-03-19)

I'm looking for quantitative research on the correlation between the five dimensions in OCEAN psychometric models. Would appreciate any references.

**Tags:** measurement, personality

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: See [here](https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Correlation-among-the-Big-Five-personality-traits_tbl1_284349515) for example.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-04-09. Score: 5

My answer to the question on evidence for the GFP provides numerous references on the correlations between the Big 5:

[What is the support for a global personality factor?](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/2015/what-is-the-support-for-a-global-personality-factor/2019#2019)

The key bit of the answer is as follows:

> **van der Linden et al 2010** extend the work of Musek (2007) by presenting a meta-analysis of Big 5 intercorrelation matrices
> in order to assess the evidence for a General Factor of Personality.
> Table 2 shows the meta-analytic average scale intercorrelations for the big 5 measures included in the meta-analysis. It shows how across a wide range of measures and measurement procedures, the Big 5 scales moderately intercorrelate. The average absolute unadjusted correlations between the Big Five was 0.23.

![big 1 personality correlations - meta analysis van der linden](https://i.sstatic.net/PX6rA.png)

You can also check out other work discussing higher-order factors (typically one or two factor models). These imply a correlation between the Big 5.

To quote my own primer on the Big 5 (Anglim & O'Connor, 2018: <https://psyarxiv.com/a78g2/download>):

> Researchers have posited one and two factor higher-order models of personality suggesting that the Big Five may not be the broadest meaningful level of personality analysis (Anusic, Schimmack, Pinkus, & Lockwood, 2009; Digman, 1997; Musek, 2007; Veselka et al., 2009). Notably, a single, broad factor (termed the General Factor of Personality; GFP) has been proposed to account for meaningful trait variance at the highest level (e.g., Musek, 2007), although see various critical perspectives (Davies et al., 2015; De Vries, 2011; Revelle & Wilt, 2013) .

Thus, you could check out those references for further background on one and two-factor models. Such papers will generally also discuss the structure of correlations between the Big 5 and arguments for and against why they are meaningful.

### References

* Anglim, J., & O'Connor, P. (2018). Measurement and Research Using the Big Five, HEXACO,
  and Narrow Traits: A Primer for Researchers and Practitioners. Australian Journal of Psychology. <https://psyarxiv.com/a78g2/download>
* van der Linden, D., te Nijenhuis, J., & Bakker, A. B. (2010). The general factor of personality: A meta-analysis of Big Five intercorrelations and a criterion-related validity study. Journal of Research in Personality, 44(3), 315-327.


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