THE SEARCH FOR THE (BIG-5) IN A NON-INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGE - THE HUNGARIAN TRAIT STRUCTURE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE EPQ AND THE PTS

Abstract

Reservations about the universality of the Big Five trait dimensions concern the number of factors, interpretation, and relevance. Few original personality taxonomies have been constructed: for English (GOLDBERG, 1982), for Dutch (DE RAAD et al., 1988), and for German (OSTENDORF, 1990); cross-language validations with decisive meaning remained within this germanic language group. For a crucial test of the cross-cultural validity of the Five Factor Model, it is important to step outside the Indo-European languages to which the Germanic languages belong. Hungarian is such a language, and at present data for a Hungarian trait structure are available. A comprehensive list of personality descriptors (561 adjectives) from the Hungarian lexicon was used to obtain self-ratings from 400 subjects. In addition, data were obtained on the scales of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and of the Pavlovian Temperament Survey (PT'S). The present results form an independent confirmation of the first four factors of the Big Five. The fifth factor remains somewhat elusive. EYSENCK'S P.E.N. scales and STRELAU'S temperament scales are used as standards for comparing the Hungarian factors. In particular, Extraversion and Neuroticism find support by their relationships to these scales.