Hexaco vs. Big 5 – What’s the Difference?

The most popular personality test in the scientific community is undoubtedly the Big 5 Personality Test. But what many people don’t realize is that it is actually based on a more comprehensive personality model known as the Hexaco Model. Let’s dive deeper into this concept and explore how these two tests can help us better understand our own personalities.

The HEXACO model of personality structure was developed by psychologists Kibeom Lee and Michael C. Ashton in order to assess six distinct personality traits: Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, eXtraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience (HEXACO). The test measures these six traits on a scale from 1 to 10, with higher scores indicating that you possess more of that trait than lower scores.

One key difference between these two tests is in how they measure emotions—the HEXACO does not include an Emotionality factor whereas the Big 5 does. Additionally, while both tests measure the same five core traits (Openness to Experience; Conscientiousness; Extraversion/Introversion; Agreeableness; Neuroticism), they do so using different scales. Finally, while both tests measure core traits equally well overall, some researchers suggest that the HEXACO may be better at measuring extremes in certain areas such as openness or conscientiousness.

Ultimately, both the Hexaco and Big 5 tests can be useful for gaining insight into your own personal strengths and weaknesses as well as those of others around you. However it is important to note that neither test should be used as an absolute guide for understanding yourself or others—personality is complex and nuanced after all! With this in mind it can be helpful to use multiple sources when exploring your own personality or that of someone else’s such as online assessments or psychological counseling sessions with professionals trained in psychology or psychometrics. Regardless of which method you choose however it is always best to remember that no one source will give you an entirely accurate representation so take all results with a grain of salt!