The validity of the Big-five as a model for teachersʹ ratings of individual differences among children aged 4–12 years

A sample of 224 teachers rated 10 randomly selected children, aged 4–12, on a set of 25 bipolar scales, making the five factors: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability and Intellect/Openness. Principal component analysis of ratings of kindergarten children (aged 4–6) reveals four of the five factors. The complete five-factor structure emerges from the ratings of primary school children. Conscientiousness accounts for a greater part of the variance than is usually observed in self-ratings of adults. Extraction and Varimax rotation of six factors splits the fifth factor into Intellect and Openness scales. Factor scores for Conscientiousness, Intellect, Openness and Extraversion significantly predict grade point average across three primary school age levels. Multiple regression of grade point average on factor scores indicates that the predictive validity increases from 0.67 to 0.79 from grades 1–6.