Cross-cultural search for Big Five: development of a scale to compare personality traits of pre-service elementary school teachers in Turkey and Spain

The main purpose of the current study was to develop a 50-item personality scale in Turkish and Spanish based on Big Five Model of Personality and to assess its construct validity and reliability. We also compared the personality of pre-service teachers enrolled in the department of elementary education in Turkey and Spain. The participants were 555 pre-service teachers enrolled in elementary education programs at a Turkish university (280) and at a Spanish university (275). Results of confirmatory factor analysis supported the construct validity of the scale in both samples. However, 10 items had low factor loadings in their respective dimensions. Thus, they were removed from the scale. Findings regarding the comparison of Turkish and Spanish pre-service teachers revealed that they share similar personality traits; however, significant personality differences between Turkish and Spanish pre-service elementary school teachers emerged. Results of t tests on each dimension of personality revealed that the Turkish pre-service teachers’ Openness and Neuroticism scores were statistically higher than the Spanish pre-service teachers. On the other hand, the Spanish pre-service teachers’ Conscientiousness score was found to be statistically higher than that of the Turkish pre-service teachers.