The “H” factor, missing from most models of personality such as Myers-Briggs, refers to honesty and humility. It’s part of a model developed more than a decade ago by two Canadian psychology professors immersed in the “Big Five” personality traits.
Noting that the Big Five were based on hundreds of traits identified in the English language, the two wondered whether the same model would emerge using different languages. When they looked at research from other cultures, they found a sixth group of traits, honesty/humility.
The HEXACO personality model is an acronym for honesty/humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience.
HEXACO adds a dimension to other fields, such as social sciences and neuroscience. By emphasizing honesty, humility, empathy and altruism, HEXACO points beyond psychology to virtue.
— Adapted from The H Factor of Personality, Kibeom Lee and Michael Ashton, Wilfrid Laurier University Press.