Exploring Personality In SA

Exploring the Personality Structure in the 11
Languages of South Africa
Jan Alewyn Nel,1 Velichko H. Valchev,2
Sebastiaan Rothmann,1 Fons J. R. van de Vijver,1,2
Deon Meiring,3 and Gideon P. de Bruin4
1
2

North-West University, South Africa

Tilburg University, The Netherlands

3

University of Pretoria, South Africa

4

University of Johannesburg, South Africa

ABSTRACT The present study, part of the development of the South
African Personality Inventory (SAPI), explores the implicit personality structure in the 11 official language groups of South Africa by employing a mixed-method approach. In the first, qualitative part of the study, semistructured interviews were conducted with 1,216 participants from the 11 official language groups. The derived personality-descriptive terms were categorized and clustered based on their semantic relations in iterative steps involving group discussions and contacts with language and cultural experts. This analysis identified 37 subclusters, which could be merged in 9 broad clusters: Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability,
Extraversion, Facilitating, Integrity, Intellect, Openness, Relationship
The SAPI, an acronym for the South African Personality Inventory, is a project that aims to develop an indigenous personality measure for all 11 official languages in South
Africa. Participants are Byron Adams (University of Johannesburg and Tilburg University), Gideon P. de Bruin (University of Johannesburg), Karina de Bruin (University of Johannesburg), Carin Hill (University of Johannesburg), Leon Jackson (North-West
University), Deon Meiring (University of Pretoria and University of Stellenbosch),
Jan Alewyn Nel (North-West University), Ian Rothmann (North-West University),
Michael Temane (North-West University), Velichko H. Valchev (Tilburg University), and Fons J. R. van de Vijver (North-West University and Tilburg University).
Special thanks are expressed to Boele de Raad for his comments on the

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