Five-factor personality inventories have a competence-related higher-order factor due to item phrasing

This research examines whether the items of some of the most well established five-factor inventories refers to competence. Results reveal that both experts and laymen can distinguish between items that refer to how competently a behavior is performed and items that do not (Study 1). Responses to items that refer to competence create a higher-order factor in the personality inventories (Study 2), and the variability in responses to competence related items in personality self-ratings is best modelled as general factor rather than as also tied to the specific Big Five factors (Study 3 and 4). We suggest that a focused debate on what a personality items should refer to is likely to have considerable positive consequences for both theory and measurement of personality.<br>Data and scripts for all studies (except those data-files that are possible to get from other sources)