A theory developed using factor analyses of ratings of the words people use to describe personality characteristics, stating that personality is composed of five primary associated dimensions (OCEAN): openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. Research findings on the five factors have revealed the following: they are dimensions, not types, with individuals varying continuously on them (most falling in between the extremes), they are stable over a period of 45 years that begins in young adulthood, they are in part heritable, they are universal in that they have been demonstrated in languages as diverse as German and Chinese, and knowing one’s placement on the factors can be beneficial for therapeutic purposes.
See Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), Extraversion, Latent factor/score/variable, Neuroticism, Surgency, Temperament