Cited by 25Personality Traits and PsychologyBullying, Victimization, and AggressionPersonality Disorders and Psychopathology

Trait aggression is primarily a facet of antagonism: Evidence from dominance, latent correlational, and item-level analyses

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Chester, David S., West, Samuel J.·2020·Journal of Research in Personality

Abstract

Trait aggression has been studied for decades and yet remains adrift from broader frameworks of personality such as the Five Factor Model. Across two datasets from undergraduate participants (Study 1: N = 359; Study 2; N = 620), we observed strong manifest and latent correlations between trait aggression and lower agreeableness (i.e., greater antagonism). Trait aggression was also linked to greater neuroticism and lower conscientiousness, but their effect sizes fell beneath our preregistered threshold. Subsequent item-level analyses were unable to articulate trait aggression and agreeableness items into separate factors using the IPIP-NEO, but not the Big Five Inventory. Our findings suggest that trait aggression is accurately characterized as primarily a facet of antagonism, while also reflecting other personality dimensions.

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Authors
Chester, D. S., & West, S. J.
Affiliations
Virginia Commonwealth University (US)
Corresponding author
Chester, David S.
Venue
Journal of Research in Personality
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-12
Volume
89
Pages
104042
ISSN
0092-6566 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3096692879
Cited by
25
References
61
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 1
FWCI
1.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Research in Personality (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
Keywords
trait aggression, antagonism, agreeableness, Big Five personality traits, neuroticism, conscientiousness, dominance, personality facets, IPIP-NEO, Big Five Inventory

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