ABSTRACT
The domain of personality trait assessment presents a picture of great confusion, with numerous tests claiming to measure overlapping constructs. Many authors of tests make validity claims on the basis of the most preliminary kinds of reliability and validity studies. Some authors of new tests seem to believe that they have invented a totally new construct and that all other tests are totally irrelevant. Systematic programs based on factor analytic approaches, such as those of Eysenck and Cattell, have shown that there are only limited numbers of broad factors that can be used to describe basic dimensions of personality. But according to the hierarchical model (Royce, 1973), each of these broader dimensions may be subdivided into increasingly specific traits at different levels of description. Even at the broader level, there is still some room for argument as to the exact nature of the more fundamental dimensions of personality and controversy as to whether the tests that claim to measure these fundamental dimensions really do so.
