Where Does Honesty Fit in the Big Five?: A Qualitative Analysis

Honesty plays a large role in personality psychology but there is little time devoted to understanding it. Although honesty is frequently mentioned as a highly desirable trait to have in any type of relationship partner, honesty is currently omitted from the Big Five Factor Model, which is one of the most frequently used tools to assess personality. We investigated honesty to determine whether it fits neatly within the Big Five Model or if the relationship is more complex. We created an online survey which required participants to list traits that both honest and dishonest people have. We categorized the traits that participants generated in association with The Big Five Factors of Personality. Responses did not fit easily into the Big Five Model. Participants frequently characterized an honest person as having traits related to Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Neuroticism. These results suggest that the omission of honesty from the Big Five Model may need further evaluation