The HEXACO Model: All 6 Personality Factors Explained

HEXACO adds a distinct "Honesty-Humility" dimension to the Big Five -- here are its six factors.

H · Honesty-Humility

The dimension that most distinguishes HEXACO from the Big Five. It reflects whether someone tends to exploit or deceive others for personal gain, or holds to honest, fair conduct instead. High: genuinely honest and fair, does not chase unfair advantage, has little interest in showing off status or wealth. Low: flatters or bends rules for personal benefit, has a strong sense of entitlement or drive for material success, tends toward hypocrisy.

E · Emotionality

Resembles the Big Five's Neuroticism, but HEXACO defines it more broadly to include emotional attachment, empathy, and how much someone leans on others for support. High: sensitive to danger or physical pain, seeks emotional support under stress, forms strong emotional bonds with close others. Low: stays relatively calm in the face of danger, does not lean on others emotionally very much, handles separation or loss with relative composure.

X · Extraversion

How energized someone feels around people and how confidently they act in social situations, largely similar to the Big Five's Extraversion. High: enjoys being around people and feels energized by it, acts confidently even around strangers, tends to see themselves as socially appealing. Low: recharges through time alone, finds being the center of social attention uncomfortable, tends to see themselves as not especially socially appealing.

A · Agreeableness

How much tolerance someone extends toward others' mistakes or unfair treatment. In HEXACO, anger management and willingness to compromise sit here, while honesty-related traits are split off into the separate H dimension. High: forgives others' mistakes fairly easily, responds calmly to criticism, looks for common ground even amid disagreement. Low: holds onto grudges over past unfair treatment, reacts sharply to criticism, tends to dig in rather than compromise.

C · Conscientiousness

How systematically and carefully someone acts in pursuit of goals -- nearly identical in definition to the Big Five's Conscientiousness. High: keeps schedules and belongings organized, works steadily toward goals with an eye for thoroughness, weighs decisions carefully before acting. Low: acts spontaneously without much of a plan, tends to get moving only once a deadline is close, makes decisions somewhat impulsively.

O · Openness to Experience

Artistic appreciation, intellectual curiosity, and openness to unfamiliar ideas or people -- largely similar to the Big Five's Openness. High: deeply moved by art and nature, curious about new ideas and intellectual topics, open to unconventional ways of thinking. Low: not especially drawn to artistic or aesthetic experiences, prefers familiar, proven approaches, tends to hold traditional, conventional values.

What is the HEXACO model?

HEXACO was developed by Canadian psychologists Michael Ashton and Kibeom Lee, drawing on lexical research across many languages. The name comes from its six dimensions: Honesty-Humility (H), Emotionality (E), eXtraversion (X), Agreeableness (A), Conscientiousness (C), and Openness to experience (O), each of which breaks down further into four more specific facets.

How is it different from the Big Five?

The biggest difference is that Honesty-Humility exists as its own independent dimension. In the Big Five, honesty- and humility-related traits are scattered across Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, but Ashton and Lee's lexical analyses across languages kept finding these traits clustering together as a distinct factor, which led them to split it out. HEXACO's Emotionality and Agreeableness also differ somewhat from the Big Five's Neuroticism and Agreeableness in content -- a quick temper, for instance, falls under Neuroticism in the Big Five but sits at the low end of Agreeableness (A) in HEXACO.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is HEXACO more accurate than the Big Five?

It is hard to say one is definitively superior. Both models were derived through lexical research and statistical factor analysis, and both are actively studied in academia. That said, HEXACO offers a useful lens if you specifically want to look more closely at honesty- and humility-related traits.

Can a free online test give me an accurate score?

Unofficial online tests are fine for a rough, fun sense of your tendencies, but they are unlikely to be as accurate as a formally validated, standardized assessment. If you want a precise result, an officially recognized test from a research institution is the better option.