Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compile personality-trait words and obtain the scale values of usability, likability, and social desirability of those words. First, approximately 1,000 one-word trait names were compiled from the written materials and the everyday language. Those words were then screened to 785 by the writer and three assistants. 643 college students (male: 331, female: 312) from five regional areas in Korea rated each of those trait words on usability, likability, and social desirability as male and female personality characteristics. The obtained mean ratings and their standard deviations are tabulated. The results revealed that there were significant differences between likability and social desirability ratings on many trait-words. The results also showed the interaction effects between likability and social desirability ratings and sex of the raters. The reliability coefficients of usability, likability, and social desirability ratings, calculated by the product moment correlation, were .81, .99, and .99, respectively. The results were discussed comparing with the previous studies in Korea and abroad. And the implications for use of those scale values were added.