The Personality

Psychopathology Five
(PSY-5)
William P. Wattles, Ph.D.
Francis Marion University

Five-factor model (FFM)

One of the more prominent models in
contemporary psychology is what is known
as the five-factor model of personality.
A dimensional rather than categorical
approach from 1933

 If this hypothesis is correctif we have

truly discovered the basic dimensions of
personalityit marks a turning point for
personality psychology.
McCrae RR, John OP. 1992. An
introduction to the Five Factor Model and
its applications. J. Pers. 60:175 215
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The five-factor model of personality

The five-factor model of personality is a
hierarchical organization of personality
traits in terms of five basic dimensions:
Extraversion, Agreeableness,
Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and
Openness to Experience.

The common variance among

personality traits
can be understood in terms of the five
factors of.

conscientiousness
agreeableness
neuroticism
openness
extroversion-introversion
Costa, P. T. & McCrae, R. R. (1995). Psychological
Bulletin, Vol 117(2), Mar 1995. pp. 216-220.

Current consensus
The five factors are
conscientiousness
agreeableness
neuroticism
openness
extroversion-introversion

CANOE

Current consensus
The five factors are
openness
conscientiousness
extroversion-introversion
agreeableness
neuroticism

OCEAN

Openness
Openness refers to how willing people are
to make adjustments in notions and
activities in accordance with new ideas or
situations
appreciation for art, emotion, adventure,
unusual ideas, imagination, curiosity, and
variety of experience
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Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness refers to how much a
person considers others when making
decisions.
tendency to show self-discipline, act
dutifully, and aim for achievement; planned
rather than spontaneous behaviour.

Extroversion
Extroversion is defined as a trait
characterized by a keen interest in other
people and external events, and venturing
forth with confidence into the unknown.
energy, positive emotions, surgency, and the
tendency to seek stimulation and the
company of others
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Agreeableness
Agreeableness measures how compatible
people are with other people, or basically
how able they are to get along with others
a tendency to be compassionate and
cooperative rather than suspicious and
antagonistic towards others.

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Neuroticism
Neuroticism is a dimension of personality
defined by stability and low anxiety at one
end as opposed to instability and high
anxiety at the other end.
a tendency to experience unpleasant
emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety,
depression, or vulnerability
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 People at the extremes one or more of the five

variables are likely to have some sort of
psychological abnormality associated with that
trait.
People are likely to select their environment in
such a way that this trait is perpetuated.
To keep this cycle from iterating, psychologists
make their patients come to terms with the flawed
trait, allowing the patient to break the cycle
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 Individual differences
Situational constraints
The Big Five personality traits are empirical
observations, not a theory

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Five-dimension model

I. Aggressiveness,
II. Psychoticism,
III. Constraint,
IV. Negative Emotionality/Neuroticism
V. Positive Emotionality/Extraversion

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I. Aggressiveness
Aggressiveness entails dispositional
differences in agonal behavior, particularly
offensive aggression

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I. Aggressiveness
grandiosity versus egalitarianism
If you see yourself on approximately the
same level as most others, this tends to
inhibit aggressiveness, whereas genocide
and less malignant forms of aggression
count heavily on perceptions of differential
worth.
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I. Aggressiveness
The desire for power and influence are also
features of PSY-5 Aggressiveness
Enjoyment of intimidating others to achieve
ones goals.

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II. Psychoticism
Psychoticism assesses the gross
verisimilitude of our inner models of the
outer social and object world.

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II. Psychoticism
Although all of us have illusions,
misperceptions, and mistaken beliefs, only a
few have delusions and hallucinations.
Disconnection from reality, unshared
beliefs, unusual sensory and perceptual
experiences
Feel alienated with unrealistic expectation
of harm
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III. Constraint
Constraint combines features of
Control versus Impulsiveness
Harm-avoidance (physical risk aversion)
Traditionalism (a dimension ranging from
moral conservatism to the orientation of the
libertine).

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III. Constraint
This Constraint dimension is relevant to
personality psychopathology in that it has
obsessivecompulsive personality disorder
at one end and antisocial personality
disorder at the other end

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III. Constraint
Someone low in PSY-5 Constraint would be
impulsive, a risk taker and excitement
seeker.

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IV. Negative
Emotionality/Neuroticism
A broad affective disposition to experience
negative emotions, especially anxiety and
nervousness.

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V. Positive
Emotionality/Extraversion
A broad disposition to experience positive
affects to seek out and enjoy social
experiences, and to have the energy to
pursue goals and be engaged in life's tasks.

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 The PSY-5 constructs are models of traits

designed to aid in personality description
and to complement personality disorder
diagnosis with quantitative dimensions.

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PSY-5 Interpretation
The Personality Psychopathology Five
represent five important differences
between adaptive and nonadaptive
personality style.
Interpret low scores only for INTR and
DISC scales
Page 173
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Aggressiveness (AGGR)
High scores
Grandiose
Resentful
Cold
at times cruel.
This scale assesses a
sort of hostile
narcissist.

1. Aggressiveness (i.e.,
is the person
aggressive, assaultive,
rude and uncaring?).

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Psychoticism PSYC)
High scores
have-poor reality
testing
Suspicious
hostile.

2. Psychoticism (i.e.,
does the person have a
healthy contact with
reality, or is the person
likely to have
unrealistic beliefs,
misperceptions, and
psychotic
experiences?).
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Discontraint (DISC)
High scores
insufficient delay of
gratification
Unreliable
Rebellious
Hedonistic
acting out.

3. Constraint (i.e., is
the person responsible
and emotionally
controlled or a
disorganized risk-taker
with little regard for
legality?).

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Discontraint (DISC)

Low scores ( 40)

Self-controlled and not impulsive
Do not take may physical risks
High tolerance for boredom
Tend to follow rules and laws
May prefer structure in therapy
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Negative emotionality/
Neuroticism (NEGE)
High scores:
Worry
Stress
Hypersensitivity
emotional under
control.

4. Negative
Emotionality/Neurotic
ism (NEM; i.e., is the
person tense, anxious,
and likely to
experience negative
affect?).

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Introversion/Low Positive
Emotionality (INTR)
High scores have low
energy, withdrawn,
anhedonia, and low
self-esteem;
Schizoid or
impoverished
emotional life.
Low Positive
Emotionality

5. Positive
Emotionality/Extraver
sion (PEM; i.e., is the
person energetic and
interested in social
contacts or anhedonic
and withdrawn?)

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Introversion/Low Positive
Emotionality (INTR)

Low scores ( 40)

Able to experience joy
Sociable
Lots of energy

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Scale Development
Replicated rational selection was developed
to identify potential items.
One effect of using replicated rational
selection is to build highly obvious rather
than subtle scales.
114 undergraduates

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 No item is used in more than one PSY-5

scale.

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Item example
For example, 95% of the item selectors
trained in the nervous versus calm aspect of
Negative Emotionality/Neuroticism picked
MMPI2 Item 405, I am usually calm and
not easily upset.

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Reliability and Validity

These are enduring personality
characteristics so they should be stable.
PSY-5 scales are generally temporally
stable.

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Reliability and Validity

The college sample total screened sample
size is 2,928 (1,150 men, 1,778 women)
The Psychiatric A sample is a composite
sample of 328 patients (184 men, 144
women) in chronic care

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NEO PI-R,
is a psychological personality inventory; a
240-question measure of the Five Factor
Model:

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Neuroticism
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Anxiety
Hostility
Depression
Self-Consciousness
Impulsiveness
Vulnerability to Stress
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Extraversion
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Warmth
Gregariousness
Assertiveness
Activity
Excitement Seeking
Positive Emotion
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Openness
1.Fantasy
2.Aesthetics
3.Feelings
4.Actions
5.Ideas
6.Values
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Agreeableness
1.Trust
2.Straightforwardness
3.Altruism
4.Compliance
5.Modesty
6.Tendermindedness
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Conscientiousness
1.Competence
2.Order
3.Dutifulness
4.Achievement Striving
5.Self-Discipline
6.Deliberation
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The End

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 Agonal: Associated with or relating to great

pain, especially the agony of death.

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 Verisimilitude: The quality of appearing to

be true or real.

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 Libertine: One who acts without moral

restraint; a dissolute person.

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Surgency
Other synonyms for surgency include dominance,
self-confidence, competitiveness, outgoing,
extroverted, and decisive.
Surgency involves patterns of behavior often
exhibited in group settings and generally
concerned with getting ahead in life.
Individuals lower in surgency prefer to work by
themselves and have relatively little interest in
influencing, controlling, or competing with others.
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