The Heuristic Potential of the Abridged Big-Five Dimensional Circumplex (AB5C) Model: Explaining the Chiasmic Illusion

In two small-scale investigations, chiasmic configurations of personality traits (e.g., Thrifty/Generous/Stingy/Extravagant) derived from the Peabody and Goldberg (1989) Double-Cone model were compared with chiasms derived from the Abridged Big-Five dimensional Circumplex (AB5C) model. To this end, chiasms were decomposed into three kinds of contrasts between traits: content contrast, social desirability contrast, and oppositeness. Inventories of 24 and 90 items, respectively, comparing a Double-Cone contrast and an AB5C-contrast were administered to 12 and 35 subjects, respectively. In both studies, the AB5C chiasms prevailed. As the AB5C model does not generate true chiasms but illusions thereof, we argue that the perception of chiasmic structure is best understood as an illusory phenomenon.