Glossary · Five-factor model (FFM)
Five-factor model (FFM)
Synonym for Big Five. The personality framework most psychologists use, which Are We Friends? uses for matching.
The five-factor model (FFM) is the academic-literature name for the Big Five. The two terms refer to the same thing: a five-domain taxonomy of personality (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism) plus the 30 facets underneath those domains.
"FFM" tends to appear in research papers and clinical contexts; "Big Five" is more common in popular writing and consumer products. Both are correct. Are We Friends? uses "Big Five" in member-facing copy and "five-factor model" or "FFM" in research-oriented or technical writing.
The model emerged independently from multiple research traditions in the 1980s — most notably the work of Costa & McCrae and the parallel lexical-tradition work of Goldberg — and is now the dominant framework in personality psychology, supplanting older systems like the 16PF and (in serious research) MBTI.
Related terms
Big Five personality
The five-factor model — Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism — used by Are We Friends? for friend matching.
IPIP-NEO-120
A public-domain 120-item Big Five personality test scoring 30 facets across 5 domains. The instrument Are We Friends? uses.
Myers–Briggs (MBTI)
A 16-type personality system. Friends? doesn't use it — we use the Big Five — but explains how the two map onto each other.
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