Behavioral genetics of the higher-order factors of the Big Five

There is empirical evidence that underlying the Big Five personality factors are two higher-order factors which have come to be known as ‘‘alpha’’ (a) and ‘‘beta’’ (b). The a factor is defined by the agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability domains; whereas b is delineated by extraversion and intellect. It has been argued that a and b are important constructs because they bridge the gap between psychometric studies of personality and theories of personality development. However, it is unclear if a and b are constructs that can be reliably reproduced across a diverse range of independent samples. In a sample of 1209 MZ and 701 DZ twin pairs from Canada, Germany, and Japan who completed the NEO-PI-R, factorial analyses of the five NEO-PI-R domains extracted two factors resembling a and b. Subsequent multivariate genetic analyses revealed that this factor structure was a clear reflection of the organizing effects of multiple genetic influences, providing evidence for a and b as stable heuristic devices that can be used to integrate personality measurement and developmental theory. 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 0191-8869/$ see front matter 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2005.11.033 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 604 822 7895; fax: +1 604 822 7756. E-mail address: [email protected] (K.L. Jang). 262 K.L. Jang et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 41 (2006) 261–272