Introduction
Organizations today require assessment tools that combine scientific rigor with practical relevance. The WorkPlace Big Five Profile® meets this need by translating the most empirically validated model of personality—the Five-Factor Model (FFM), commonly known as the Big Five—into a framework designed specifically for workplace applications.
This article outlines the research behind the Five-Factor Model, reviews the major contributors who established it, and summarizes the psychometric evidence supporting the WorkPlace Big Five Profile®.
Origins of the Five-Factor Model
The Lexical Hypothesis and Early Trait Research
The Five-Factor Model emerged from multiple independent research programs conducted across the 20th century. A key early foundation was the lexical hypothesis, which proposes that meaningful psychological differences become encoded in natural language. Psychologists analyzed thousands of trait descriptors, identifying consistent clusters that formed the basis of modern trait theory. Researchers such as Raymond Cattell, Warren Norman, and Lewis Goldberg used factor-analytic methods to distill these descriptors. Over time, five broad, stable domains consistently appeared in diverse samples and methods.
One of the earliest confirmations of the Big Five factor structure came from the work of Ernest Tupes and Raymond Christal, who analyzed personality ratings of U.S. Air Force personnel, demonstrating recurring factors that formed the foundation for modern personality psychology.
Consolidation and Expansion
In the 1980s and 1990s, Paul Costa and Robert McCrae consolidated the Five-Factor Model and established its scientific robustness. They demonstrated that the five major personality domains appear reliably across populations, are stable through adulthood, have genetic and biological components, and correlate meaningfully with life outcomes. Their work cemented the Big Five as the dominant framework in trait psychology.
Large-scale, global studies further validated the Big Five model cross-culturally, showing that the five domains reliably emerge across languages, cultures, and demographic groups.
Development of the WorkPlace Big Five Profile®
Translating the Five-Factor Model for Work
Whereas early Big Five assessments focused on general or clinical use, the WorkPlace Big Five Profile® was specifically developed by Pierce J. Howard and Jane Howard at the Center for Applied Cognitive Studies (CentACS) to measure the Five-Factor Model in the context of work. Their aim was to create a scientifically robust, user-friendly instrument for organizations—one that measures behavioral tendencies directly relevant to job performance and generates actionable insights for leadership, team development, and organizational growth.
Model Structure: Five Supertraits and 23 Subtraits
A defining strength of the WorkPlace Big Five Profile® is its detailed structure. The instrument measures five broad supertraits:
- Need for Stability
- Extraversion
- Originality (Openness)
- Accommodation
- Consolidation
Each of these five is further divided into a total of 23 subtraits (sometimes called facets). This structure allows organizations and practitioners to assess nuanced behaviors relevant to:
- Leadership style
- Communication
- Collaboration and conflict
- Stress response
- Work motivation and habits
Psychometric Evidence Supporting the WorkPlace Big Five Profile®
Reliability
Extensive validation demonstrates that the WPB5P offers strong internal consistency and high test–retest reliability at both the domain and subtrait levels. The factor structure remains stable over time and across populations, reflecting the instrument’s accuracy and consistency.
Validity
Research consistently demonstrates that WPB5P scores align with established Big Five instruments and meaningfully predict workplace-relevant outcomes, including leadership effectiveness, teamwork, communication, decision-making, job satisfaction, and risk of burnout and stress.
Conclusion
The WorkPlace Big Five Profile® rests atop decades of scientific research in trait psychology. Built on the most validated and universally accepted model of personality, the WPB5P integrates scientific rigor, trait-level precision, and relevance for the workplace. Its design enables organizations to make informed, practical decisions about leadership development, team functioning, and talent strategy, supporting meaningful individual and organizational growth.
Further Reading
For further reading and background, see Howard, J. A., & Howard, P. J., “Buddy, Can You Paradigm?” and technical materials available from Paradigm Personality Labs (formerly CentACS).
References
Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) professional manual. Psychological Assessment Resources.
Goldberg, L. R. (1990). An alternative description of personality: The Big-Five factor structure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(6), 1216–1229. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.59.6.1216
Howard, J. A., & Howard, P. J. (1995). Buddy, can you paradigm? Training & Development, 49(9), 28–34.
McCrae, R. R., Terracciano, A., & 78 Members of the Personality Profiles of Cultures Project. (2005). Universal features of personality traits from the observer’s perspective: Data from 50 cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(3), 547–561. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.88.3.547
Paradigm Personality Labs. (2022). WorkPlace Big Five Profile: Technical Manual. https://paradigmpersonality.com/
Tupes, E. C., & Christal, R. E. (1961). Recurrent personality factors based on trait ratings (USAF ASD Technical Report No. 61-97). U.S. Air Force.
