Abstract

This personal historical article traces the development of the Big-Five factor structure, whose growing acceptance by personality researchers has profoundly influenced the scientific study of individual differences. The roots of this taxonomy lie in the lexical hypothesis and the insights of Sir Francis Gallon, the prescience of L. L. Thurstone, the legacy of Raymond B. Cattell, and the seminal analyses of Tupes and Christal. Paradoxically, the present popu-larity of this model owes much to its many critics, each of whom tried to replace it, but failed. In reaction, there have been a number of attempts to assimilate other models into the five-factor structure. Lately, some practical im-plications of the emerging consensus can be seen in such contexts as personnel selection and classification. Once upon a time, we had no personalities (Mi-schel, 1968). Fortunately times change, and thepast decade has witnessed an electrifying burst