The Nomological Net of the HEXACO Model of Personality: A Large-Scale Meta-Analytic Investigation

Abstract

Based on lexical studies, the HEXACO (honesty-humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience) model of personality has been proposed as a model of basic personality structure that summarizes individual differences in six broad trait dimensions. Although research across various fields relies on the HEXACO model increasingly, a comprehensive investigation of the nomological net of the HEXACO dimensions is missing entirely. Thus, it remains unclear whether each HEXACO dimension accounts for individual variation across theoretically relevant outcome criteria. We close this gap through a large-scale meta-analytic investigation, testing whether each HEXACO dimension is uniquely linked to one broad and theoretically relevant outcome domain. Results from 426 individual meta-analyses, 436 independent samples, and 3,893 effect-size estimates corroborate this unique mapping. Specifically, honesty-humility maps onto the outcome domain of exploitation, emotionality onto insecurity, extraversion onto sociality, agreeableness versus anger onto obstruction, conscientiousness onto duty, and openness to experience onto exploration. Overall, the current investigation provides a comprehensive empirical test of the (breadth of) content captured by the HEXACO dimensions and allows for a broad specification of the nomological net of the HEXACO model overall.

Open Peer Commentary and Author's Response

“…By contrast, the six-factor solution offered by the HEXACO model provides a clear pattern with all four variables aligning with the H-H factor (Book et al, 2016;Meere & Egan, 2017;Johnson et al, 2019;Međedović & Petrović, 2015;Zettler et al, 2020). This parsimony offers more theoretical and empirical clarity than the scattered links with the Five-Factor Model.…”

“…Ones & Viswesvaran, 1996) but should perform less well when predicting narrowly defined criteria such as specific behaviors (bandwidth-fidelity trade-off; Cronbach, 1960). If, for example, it became evident that, compared with the B5 factors, HH mostly predicts narrower (proximal) outcomes such as cheating (Zettler, Thielmann, Hilbig, & Moshagen, 2020) but not (distal) life outcomes such as job performance (c.f. Johnson, Rowatt, & Petrini, 2011), this would indicate that HH should be placed on a narrower facet-level.…”

“…Above and beyond addressing the objections raised by Ashton and Lee, the NNA can also be used to examine the interplay of factors within trait models. For example, one could examine how the HEXACO factors differentially and jointly predict relevant outcomes (for a meta-analytical overview, see Zettler et al, 2020). Further, the NNA can be extended by zooming into the focal construct and specifying its state manifestations, the processes by which these manifestations are causally determined, as well as the situational presses that influence them.…”

“…First, there is limited evidence on the double dissociation of Honesty-Humility and Agreeableness. In a recent meta-analysis (Zettler, Thielmann, Hilbig, & Moshagen, 2020), both Honesty-Humility and Agreeableness also accounted for outcomes that are theoretically linked to the corresponding other dimension. Specifically, although Agreeableness yielded its strongest correlation with outcome criteria related to obstruction and reciprocity, respectively (b ρ = .33), it also showed a meaningful relation with exploitation-related criteria (b ρ = .26) that are theoretically linked to Honesty-Humility in particular.…”

“…That is, not only are correlations between Agreeableness and such criteria smaller than for Honesty-Humility and exploitation-related criteria (e.g. , there are also only few studies available using the HEXACO model to predict criteria in the realm of obstruction as compared to criteria in the realm of other outcome domains (Zettler et al, 2020).…”