Supernumerary personality traits beyond the Big Five: Predicting materialism and unethical behavior

Despite its comprehensiveness, the Big Five model of personality does not adequately assess socially malevolent traits. Its ability to predict certain criteria related to materialism and unethical behavior, for example, may be curtailed. In the present study, several supernumerary traits known to fall outside the Big Five factor space were posited to provide incremental validity in predicting such criterion outcomes. Using self- and informant-reports, we found that supernumerary traits such as seductiveness, (low) thriftiness, and (low) integrity explained variance in relevant criteria not explained by the Big Five factors. These associations persisted even when the criterion variables were assessed 6 months later. Our data support the call to routinely consider variables beyond the traditional Big Five personality factors in order to optimize the prediction and understanding of human behavior. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.