Exploring the utility of the CPAI-2 in a South African sample: Implications for the FFM

•This study explores the utility of the CPAI-2 in a South African context.•Factor analyses on the CPAI-2 support the replicability of a 4 factor model.•Joint factor analyses of the NEO-PI-R and CPAI-2 support a FFM.•Evidence is also found for a social relational factor.•The findings pave the way for a discussion on expanding the FFM of personality.

The Cross-Cultural Personality Assessment Inventory-2 (CPAI-2) was developed as an alternative instrument to measure personality in Asian cultures based on the argument that available instruments are largely based on the Five Factor Model of personality and may not adequately assess personality in Asian cultures. Research on the CPAI-2 was extended to non-Asian particularly Western cultures but not to African cultures. In this study a sample of 425 South African university students completed both the CPAI-2 and the NEO-PI-R to consider the utility of the CPAI-2 and the four factor model in which the instrument is located in an African context. The results were did not provide conclusive support for the four factor model as conceptualised in the CPAI-2. Support for the five factors of the FFM was evident but the results from both the four and five factor models indicated empirical support for a social relational aspect of personality. Based on these results, this paper argues for the necessity of incorporating social relational elements into the existing FFM and reflects on work done in the South African context which can inform this direction.