Does personality structure vary across cultures? This research delves into the intricate world of Japanese personality descriptors using a lexical approach to discern the fundamental structure of personality traits in the Japanese language. The study analyzes a comprehensive vocabulary of 463 personality-relevant words, employing self-ratings from 755 individuals to uncover underlying dimensions. Principal component analysis reveals support for several established multi-language personality models, including the Big Two, Big Three, Big Six, and Multi-language Seven. Interestingly, the Big Five model, a cornerstone of Western personality psychology, did not find strong support in the Japanese context. The research emphasizes that the distinctiveness of Japanese personality structure lies not in the emergence of entirely novel traits but in the unique combinations and hierarchical arrangements of subcategories identified in previous studies. This study enriches our understanding of personality by demonstrating the replicability and cultural nuance of personality structure models. The findings underscore the importance of cross-cultural research in personality psychology, highlighting that universal dimensions are expressed through unique combinations.
As a contribution to the European Journal of Personality, this paper fits squarely within the journal's scope by investigating the structure and expression of personality traits. By examining Japanese personality descriptors, the research contributes to cross-cultural understanding of personality and broadens the applicability of existing personality models.