Typological and dimensional approach at comparing the Giessen Test (GT) with the NEO-Five-Factor-Inventory (NEO-FFI)

OBJECTIVES This article reports comparisons of the Giessen Test (GT) with the NEO-Five-Factor-Inventory (NEO-FFI) based on a dimensional as well as on a typological approach. METHOD Data were collected from 1673 subjects (aged between 18 and 96 years) constituting a representative sample of the German population. RESULTS The results indicate only moderate agreement (ranging from .25 to .61) between the subscales of the two personality inventories. The correspondence seems to be somewhat higher, when the typological approach was used instead of the dimensional approach. CONCLUSIONS The typological approach is less dependent on the underlying questionnaires and provides a useful extension of the dimensional approach.