Cited by 415Personality Traits and PsychologyCultural Differences and ValuesEvolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior

How universal is the Big Five? Testing the five-factor model of personality variation among forager–farmers in the Bolivian Amazon.

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Gurven, Michael, von Rueden, Christopher, Massenkoff, Maxim, Kaplan, Hillard, Lero Vie, Marino·2013·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Abstract

The five-factor model (FFM) of personality variation has been replicated across a range of human societies, suggesting the FFM is a human universal. However, most studies of the FFM have been restricted to literate, urban populations, which are uncharacteristic of the majority of human evolutionary history. We present the first test of the FFM in a largely illiterate, indigenous society. Tsimane forager-horticulturalist men and women of Bolivia (n = 632) completed a translation of the 44-item Big Five Inventory (Benet-Martínez & John, 1998), a widely used metric of the FFM. We failed to find robust support for the FFM, based on tests of (a) internal consistency of items expected to segregate into the Big Five factors, (b) response stability of the Big Five, (c) external validity of the Big Five with respect to observed behavior, (d) factor structure according to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and (e) similarity with a U.S. target structure based on Procrustes rotation analysis. Replication of the FFM was not improved in a separate sample of Tsimane adults (n = 430), who evaluated their spouses on the Big Five Inventory. Removal of reverse-scored items that may have elicited response biases produced factors suggestive of Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, but fit to the FFM remained poor. Response styles may covary with exposure to education, but we found no better fit to the FFM among Tsimane who speak Spanish or have attended school. We argue that Tsimane personality variation displays 2 principal factors that may reflect socioecological characteristics common to small-scale societies. We offer evolutionary perspectives on why the structure of personality variation may not be invariant across human societies.

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  • The Big Five structure has replicated poorly when lexical analyses are conducted in diverse languages and in several small-scale societies.

    “Similarly, although others have not found as overt problems (see ref. 15), the Big Five structure has replicated poorly when lexical analyses are conducted in diverse languages (16) and in several small-scale societies (17–19).”

    From Simpson’s gender-equality paradox (2025) · cites this paper as [19]

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  1. Cancian F Plattner S Economic behavior in peasant communities Economic anthropology 1989 127 170 Stanford, CA Stanford University Press
  2. Cashdan E Cashdan E Introduction Risk and uncertainty in tribal and peasant societies 1990 1 16 Boulder, CO Westview Press
  3. Chicchon A Chimane resource use and market involvement in the Beni Biosphere Reserve 1992 Gainesville, Florida University of Florida Unpublished doctoral dissertation
  4. Lee K Ashton MC The HEXACO Personality Inventory: A new measure of the major dimensions of personality Multivariate Behavioral Research 2004 39 329 358 26804579
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Authors
Gurven, M., von Rueden, C., Massenkoff, M., Kaplan, H., & Lero Vie, M.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
  • University of New Mexico (US)
Venue
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Published
2013-02
Volume
104
Issue
2
Pages
354-370
ISSN
  • 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1315
OpenAlex
W2114201863
Cited by
415
References
98
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 35 · 2020: 85 · 2019: 42 · 2018: 39 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 1
FWCI
16.73
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Chapman University Digital Commons (Chapman University) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute on Aging (2R01AG024119, 2R56AG024119-06)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Cultural Differences and Values
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
Keywords
Big Five personality model, Tsimane, forager-horticulturalists, indigenous peoples, factor structure, response styles, small-scale societies
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Agriculture, Bolivia, Educational Status, Factor Analysis, Statistical, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Personality, Personality Inventory, Psychometrics, Rural Population, Translations, Reproducibility of Results, Population Groups, Young Adult

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