hexacohonesty-humilityagreeablenessjangle-fallacy
HEXACO honesty-humility is separable from Big Five agreeableness
Four German samples (N=3,976) find two-factor models fit better; latent ρ=.33-.51 and incremental validity favor a distinct honesty-humility dimension.
Citation
Thielmann et al. (German samples study) (2025). Journal of Personality (SAGE) — DOI 10.1177/27000710251323583
View source5 min · Updated 2026-08-25
Educational context only, not a diagnosis or clinical assessment. Product-authored items are labeled where validated instruments do not apply.
§ 01 — Findings
What the study found
- Compared single-factor vs. correlated two-factor models for honesty-humility against HEXACO and Big Five agreeableness; two-factor models fit better.
- Latent correlations depended on which agreeableness operationalization was used (.33 HEXACO to .78 for one Big Five Aspects subscale).
- Both traits incrementally predicted criteria beyond the other; facet-level “jingle fallacy” noted for agreeableness.
§ 02 — Encoding
How we encode it
- The first batch left honesty-humility as a science gap. A dedicated hh- bank now exists with items covering sincerity, fairness, greed avoidance, and modesty.
- We will not collapse honesty-humility into agreeableness; it gets its own aggregate and disclosure.