1993/09/01 by Robert R. McCrae · 244 citations
Mathematics · Psychology · #Big Five personality traits #Cognition #Cognitive psychology #Construct (python library) #Creativity in Education and Neuroscience #Developmental psychology #Dimension (graph theory) #Discriminant validity #Facet (psychology) #Feeling #Internal consistency #Mathematics #Mental Health Research Topics #Need for cognition #Openness to experience #Personality #Personality Traits and Psychology #Psychology #Psychometrics #Social psychology
paper · doi:10.2190/h8h6-qykr-keu8-gaq0
published in Imagination Cognition and Personality 13(1), 39-55 (SAGE Publishing)
crossref issued 1993/09/01 · crossref published 1993/09/01 · crossref published-online 1993/09/01 · crossref published-print 1993/09/01 · openalex publication_date 1993/09/01 · crossref created 2005/05/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2026/04/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01 · crossref indexed 2026/08/01
In this article I trace some of the historic roots of the concept of Openness to Experience and provide data on the convergent and discriminant validity of measures of Openness in the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R). Factor analyses demonstrate that facet scales measuring Openness to Fantasy, Aesthetics, Feelings, Actions, Ideas, and Values covary to define a broad dimension of personality; these scales are weakly and inconsistently related to psychometric measures of intelligence and to self-report measures of Intellectance that emphasize academic ability. I illustrate the construct of Openness with a case study and conclude with suggestions for exploring the role of Openness in understanding cognitive traits, consciousness and mental processes, and the interface between cognition and emotion.