the point of being “workaholics.” Men and women low in Conscien -
tiousness are more lackadaisical and easygoing and less exacting with
themselves or others.
The NEO-PI-R was developed over a 15-year period, but in the first
years we were concerned with only three factors, or domains —Neuroti -
cism, Extraversion, and Openness (whence the name “NEO”). For
these three domains we also developed measures of more specific traits,which we have called facets because they reflect specific sides or aspects
of the broader domains. Each of the domain scales is composed of sixsubscales that measure these specific facets.
There is an important difference between the domains and the fac -
ets. Researchers coming from many different traditions have agreed on
the importance of the five factors because these broad dimensions recurin most personality measures in one form or another. The finer distinc -
tions within domains, however, are more arbitrary . For example, some
theorists would combine Warmth and Gregariousness into a Sociabilityfacet or break Anxiety down into Tension and Apprehension facets.There is certainly no reason why each domain should have exactly sixfacets. So far, however, no one has come up with a compelling theoreti-cal or empirical basis for identifying facets, although most agree thatsome kind of facet system is necessary to address the subtleties of per-sonality traits (e.g., Paunonen & Ashton, 2001). Our solution was to re-view the psychological literature and choose traits that seemed to coverthe most important ways in which people differed. Although more thansix distinctions could certainly be drawn in each domain, 30 constructsseemed to be pushing the limit for most users to grasp. Our system is acompromise between comprehensiveness and comprehensibility . Aftermany years of use, it seems to be a reasonable approach to the measure -
ment of facets (Costa & McCrae, 1995).
Facets of N, E, and O
Anxiety andAngry Hostility , the first two facets of Neuroticism, are the
dispositional forms of two fundamental emotional states: fear and an -
ger. Everyone experiences these emotions from time to time, but the
frequency and intensity with which they are felt varies from one personto another. Individuals high in the trait of anxiety are nervous, highstrung, and tense. They are prone to worry; they dwell on what mightgo wrong. Hostile people show a corresponding proneness to experi -Measuring Personality 47