The Other Big Five : an Evaluation and Validation of a Measure for the Five Elements of Personality from Traditional Chinese Medicine

Managers often use personality assessments to effectively lead teams to determine how to facilitate the best team interactions. However, the available measures of evaluating personality constructs have limitations in cost and applicability. Moreover, all existing measures approach personality constructs from a western perspective causing some workers to feel their cultural heritage does not matter to an organization. In this study, we evaluate the Five Elements of Personality found in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) through an existing but not academically validated measure. After conducting a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), we test correlations against existing western personality constructs to determine discriminant validity.With our findings, we present the Revised Five Element Personality Questionnaire (R-5EPQ), a 15-item questionnaire with three items per personality type to be used by managers and scholars in future endeavors. Additionally, we present ways for managers to utilize the Five Elements of Personality in practice in team settings