A new Big Five: Fundamental principles for an integrative science of personality.
Abstract
Despite impressive advances in recent years with respect to theory and research, personality psychology has yet to articulate clearly a comprehensive framework for understanding the whole person. In an effort to achieve that aim, the current article draws on the most promising empirical and theoretical trends in personality psychology today to articulate 5 big principles for an integrative science of the whole person. Personality is conceived as (a) an individual's unique variation on the general evolutionary design for human nature, expressed as a developing pattern of (b) dispositional traits, (c) characteristic adaptations, and (d) self-defining life narratives, complexly and differentially situated (e) in culture and social context. The 5 principles suggest a framework for integrating the Big Five model of personality traits with those self-defining features of psychological individuality constructed in response to situated social tasks and the human need to make meaning in culture.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Different approaches to personality generally assume that personality itself exists within the individual in an objective, third-person sense.
“Regardless of their scope, however, different approaches to personality generally assume that personality itself exists within the individual in an ob jective, third-person sense.”
From Self and identity in personality psychology (2021) · cites this paper as McAdams & Pals, 2006
Characteristic adaptations are more specific than dispositional traits and are contextualized in time, place, and/or social role.
“The second layer consists of a wide assortment of motivational, social-cognitive, and developmental constructs that are more specific than dispositional traits and that are contextualized in time, place, and/or social role (McAdams, 2009; McAdams & Pals, 2006).”
From The Problem of Meaning in Personality Psychology from the Standpoints of Dispositional Traits, Characteristic Adaptations, and Life Stories (2010) · cites this paper as McAdams & Pals, 2006
Personality consists of three layers: dispositional traits, characteristic adaptations, and integrative life stories, evolving in a complex social and cultural context.
“For any individual, personality is a unique arrangement of (1) dispositional traits, (2) characteristic adaptations, and (3) integrative life stories, evolving in a complex social and cultural context.”
From The Problem of Meaning in Personality Psychology from the Standpoints of Dispositional Traits, Characteristic Adaptations, and Life Stories (2010) · cites this paper as McAdams & Pals, 2006
Cites
Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation.
Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.98.2.224 · Cited by 21,995 · see citing works
THE BIG FIVE PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS AND JOB PERFORMANCE: A META‐ANALYSIS
BARRICK, M. R., & MOUNT, M. K. (1991) · Personnel Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.1991.tb00688.x · Cited by 8,689 · see citing works
The construction of autobiographical memories in the self-memory system
Conway, M. A., & Pleydell-Pearce, C. W. (2000) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.107.2.261 · Cited by 4,089 · see citing works
PINKER, S. (1999) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1999.tb08538.x · Cited by 3,738 · see citing works
Making good: How ex-convicts reform and rebuild their lives.
Maruna, S. (2001) · doi:10.1037/10430-000 · Cited by 3,575 · see citing works
Toward a cognitive social learning reconceptualization of personality
Mischel, W. (1973) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/h0035002 · Cited by 3,181 · see citing works
Getting a life: The emergence of the life story in adolescence.
Habermas, T., & Bluck, S. (2000) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.126.5.748 · Cited by 1,743 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Those most salient variations, noted by people in the same way in many different cultures (Church, 2000), may be viewed as comprising a core set of dispositional traits.”
BackgroundFleeson, W. (2001) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.80.6.1011 · Cited by 1,436 · see citing works
Sources of human psychological differences: the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart
Bouchard, T. J., Lykken, D. T., McGue, M., Segal, N. L., & Tellegen, A. (1990) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.2218526 · Cited by 1,373 · see citing works
Evolutionary Personality Psychology
Buss, D. M. (1991) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.42.020191.002331 · Cited by 930 · see citing works
Narrative Identity and Meaning Making Across the Adult Lifespan: An Introduction
Singer, J. A. (2004) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00268.x · Cited by 748 · see citing works
McAdams, D. P. (2006) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195176933.001.0001 · Cited by 627 · see citing works
Self-citationDoes childhood personality predict longevity?
Friedman, H. S., Tucker, J. S., Tomlinson-Keasey, C., Schwartz, J. E., Wingard, D. L., & Criqui, M. H. (1993) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.65.1.176 · Cited by 448 · see citing works
Traits and Stories: Links Between Dispositional and Narrative Features of Personality
McAdams, D. P., Anyidoho, N. A., Brown, C., Huang, Y. T., Kaplan, B., & Machado, M. A. (2004) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00279.x · Cited by 355 · cited 1× · see citing works
“But research has documented important empirical relations between the levels—ways in which traits and motives, for example, relate to narrative identity (e.g., McAdams, 1985; McAdams et al., 2004).”
BackgroundSelf-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Heckman, J. J., & Kautz, T. (2012) · Labour Economics · doi:10.1016/j.labeco.2012.05.014 · Cited by 2,007 · see citing works
Personality Development: Continuity and Change Over the Life Course
McAdams, D. P., & Olson, B. D. (2010) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100507 · Cited by 931 · see citing works
Self-citationFleeson, W., & Jayawickreme, E. (2015) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2014.10.009 · Cited by 839 · see citing works
“Furthermore, although traits do a reasonable job of describing behavior and identity, even on that front they fall somewhat short (Kandler, Zimmerman, & McAdams, 2014; McAdams & Pals, 2006).”
BackgroundMcLean, K. C., & Syed, M. (2015) · Human Development · doi:10.1159/000445817 · Cited by 743 · see citing works
O'Neil, J. M. (2008) · The Counseling Psychologist · doi:10.1177/0011000008317057 · Cited by 721 · see citing works
Fear of the unknown: One fear to rule them all?
Carleton, R. N. (2016) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.03.011 · Cited by 647 · see citing works
Adler, J. M., Lodi-Smith, J., Philippe, F. L., & Houle, I. (2016) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/1088868315585068 · Cited by 618 · see citing works
The evolutionary genetics of personality
Penke, L., Denissen, J. J. A., & Miller, G. F. (2007) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1002/per.629 · Cited by 610 · see citing works
Adler, J. M. (2012) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0025289 · Cited by 588 · see citing works
Processes of Personality Development in Adulthood: The TESSERA Framework
Wrzus, C., & Roberts, B. W. (2017) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/1088868316652279 · Cited by 559 · see citing works
Lodi-Smith, J., & Roberts, B. W. (2007) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/1088868306294590 · Cited by 513 · see citing works
L2 grit: passion and perseverance for second-language learning
Teimouri, Y., Plonsky, L., & Tabandeh, F. (2022) · Language Teaching Research · doi:10.1177/1362168820921895 · Cited by 503 · see citing works
The empirical structure of narrative identity: The initial Big Three
McLean, K. C., Syed, M., Pasupathi, M., Adler, J. M., Dunlop, W. L., Drustrup, D., Fivush, R., Graci, M. E., Lilgendahl, J. P., Lodi-Smith, J., et al. (2020) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/pspp0000247 · Cited by 358 · see citing works
Self-citationResearch Methods for Studying Narrative Identity: A Primer
Adler, J. M., Dunlop, W. L., Fivush, R., Lilgendahl, J. P., Lodi-Smith, J., McAdams, D. P., McLean, K. C., Pasupathi, M., & Syed, M. (2017) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/1948550617698202 · Cited by 359 · see citing works
Self-citationMcAdams, D. P. (2011) · Handbook of Identity Theory and Research · doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-7988-9_5 · Cited by 346 · see citing works
Self-citationPost‐traumatic growth as positive personality change: Challenges, opportunities, and recommendations
Jayawickreme, E., Infurna, F. J., Alajak, K., Blackie, L. E. R., Chopik, W. J., Chung, J. M., Dorfman, A., Fleeson, W., Forgeard, M. J. C., Frazier, P., et al. (2021) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/jopy.12591 · Cited by 333 · see citing works
Singer, J. A., Blagov, P., Berry, M., & Oost, K. M. (2013) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/jopy.12005 · Cited by 319 · see citing works
The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC): An analysis of methodological and conceptual challenges
Lilienfeld, S. O. (2014) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2014.07.019 · Cited by 248 · see citing works
Park, J., & Woo, S. E. (2022) · The Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1080/00223980.2021.2012109 · Cited by 243 · see citing works
Beyond Screen Time: Identity Development in the Digital Age
Granic, I., Morita, H., & Scholten, H. (2020) · Psychological Inquiry · doi:10.1080/1047840x.2020.1820214 · Cited by 237 · see citing works
“A number of psychologists have suggested that identity itself is constituted by this integrated life story, often referred to as narrative identity (McAdams & McLean, 2013; McAdams & Pals, 2006; Singer, 2004).”
BackgroundLoneliness and Facebook motives in adolescence: A longitudinal inquiry into directionality of effect
Teppers, E., Luyckx, K., A. Klimstra, T., & Goossens, L. (2014) · Journal of Adolescence · doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.11.003 · Cited by 217 · see citing works
Extraversion advantages at work: A quantitative review and synthesis of the meta-analytic evidence.
Wilmot, M. P., Wanberg, C. R., Kammeyer-Mueller, J. D., & Ones, D. S. (2019) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/apl0000415 · Cited by 194 · see citing works
Affect, Behaviour, Cognition and Desire in the Big Five: An Analysis of Item Content and Structure
Wilt, J., & Revelle, W. (2015) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1002/per.2002 · Cited by 187 · see citing works
Dunlop, W. L., & Tracy, J. L. (2013) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0031185 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Personality and Psychopathology: A Stagnant Field in Need of Development
Durbin, C. E., & Hicks, B. M. (2014) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1002/per.1962 · Cited by 173 · see citing works
Chapman, B. P., Hampson, S., & Clarkin, J. (2014) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0034135 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Stories of injustice: Towards a narrative victimology
Pemberton, A., Mulder, E., & Aarten, P. G. M. (2019) · European Journal of Criminology · doi:10.1177/1477370818770843 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Chapman, B., Duberstein, P., & Lyness, J. M. (2007) · The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences · doi:10.1093/geronb/62.6.p343 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Personality traits, loneliness, and attitudes toward aloneness in adolescence
Teppers, E., Klimstra, T. A., Damme, C. V., Luyckx, K., Vanhalst, J., & Goossens, L. (2013) · Journal of Social and Personal Relationships · doi:10.1177/0265407513481445 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Vianna, E., & Stetsenko, A. (2011) · Human Development · doi:10.1159/000331484 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Lilgendahl, J. P., Helson, R., & John, O. P. (2013) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/jopy.12009 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Self and identity in personality psychology
McAdams, D. P., Trzesniewski, K., Lilgendahl, J., Benet-Martinez, V., & Robins, R. W. (2021) · Personality Science · doi:10.5964/ps.6035 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Self-citationUnderstanding Patient Personality in Medical Care: Five-Factor Model
Redelmeier, D. A., Najeeb, U., & Etchells, E. E. (2021) · Journal of General Internal Medicine · doi:10.1007/s11606-021-06598-8 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Self and identity in social anxiety disorder
Gilboa‐Schechtman, E., Keshet, H., Peschard, V., & Azoulay, R. (2020) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/jopy.12455 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
McAdams, D. P. (2010) · The Japanese Journal of Personality · doi:10.2132/personality.18.173 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Self-citationClifasefi, S. L., Collins, S. E., Tanzer, K., Burlingham, B., Hoang, S. E., & Larimer, M. E. (2011) · Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1002/jcop.20457 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
The development of narrative identity and the emergence of personality disorders in adolescence
Shiner, R. L., Klimstra, T. A., Denissen, J. J., & See, A. Y. (2021) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.07.024 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Hong, R. Y., & Paunonen, S. V. (2011) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2011.00683.x · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Do antidepressants change personality?—A five-year observational study
Jylhä, P., Ketokivi, M., Mantere, O., Melartin, T., Holma, M., Rytsälä, H., & Isometsä, E. (2012) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2012.04.026 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Personality and the Varieties of Fictional Experience
Michelson, D. (2014) · Journal of Aesthetic Education · doi:10.5406/jaesteduc.48.2.0064 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
- Authors
- McAdams, D. P., & Pals, J. L.
- Affiliations
- Northwestern University (US)
- ORCID
- McAdams, Dan P.
- Venue
- American Psychologist
- Published
- 2006
- Volume
- 61
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 204-217
- ISSN
- 0003-066X (ISSN-L)
- 1935-990X
- OpenAlex
- W2078706391
- Cited by
- 1,992
- References
- 14
- Citations by year
- 2026: 62 · 2025: 82 · 2024: 95 · 2023: 145 · 2022: 101 · 2021: 160 · 2020: 213 · 2019: 131 · 2018: 132 · 2017: 110 · 2016: 98 · 2015: 95 · 2014: 81 · 2013: 78 · 2012: 87
- FWCI
- 7.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Psychologist (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Foley Family Foundation
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Cultural Differences and Values
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
- Keywords
- Big Five personality traits, dispositional traits, characteristic adaptations, human nature, meaning-making
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Models, Psychological, Personality, Psychology
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
