The Big Five personality factors as a model for the structure of children's peer nominations

✍ Scribed by Ivan Mervielde; Filip De Fruyt

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 150 KB
• Volume: 14
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0890-2070
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-0984(200003/04)14:2<91::aid-per356>3.0.co;2-z

✦ Synopsis

The validity and usefulness of the ®ve-factor theory of personality as a model for children's peer nominations is assessed. Eighty-nine groups of ten school children, attending the same class, aged 9 to 12 years, nominated the pupil that was the most or the least typical example for 25 bipolar trait pairs, covering the `Big Five' personality factors. Factor analysis of summed and transformed peer nominations for the total sample shows that children's nominations can be represented by three factors: Agreeableness, a combined Extraversion±Emotional Instability component, and a combined Intellect±Conscientiousness factor. A second study with a smaller but independent sample con®rms the factorial structure of the peer nomination scales. The reasons for the less dierentiated peer nomination structure of children and the relevance of multidimensional assessment of peer perception are discussed.