A General Factor of Personality in 16 sets of the Big Five, the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey, the California Psychological Inventory, and the Temperament and Character Inventory

In four studies, we tested the hypothesis that a General Factor of Personality (GFP) occupies the apex of the hierarchy. In Study 1, a GFP was found in 16 sets of Big Five inter-scale correlations (N = 6412) which explained 54% of the variance in the two first-order factors. In Study 2, a GFP was found in validation samples from the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey (N = 2917) which explained 36% of the variance in three first-order factors and 21% of the total reliable variance in a model that went from 10 primary traits to 3 higher-order traits to the GFP. In Study 3, a GFP was found in a validation sample of the California Psychological Inventory (N = 6000) which explained 35% of the variance in two second-order factors, 17% of the variance in six first-order factors, and 20% of the total reliable variance in 20 primary traits. In Study 4, a GFP was found in two validation samples of the Temperament and Character Inventory (N = 1285) which explained 49% of the variance in three first-order factors and 24% of the total reliable variance in a model that went from 7 primary traits to 3 higher-order traits to the GFP. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.