Two colleagues score almost identically on a standard personality test: both organised, both friendly, both calm under pressure. One of them quietly pads their expenses and takes credit for other people's work. The other wouldn't dream of it. Nothing in their Big Five results explains the difference.
Some researchers think that's because the Big Five is missing a trait. They call it honesty-humility, and it turns out to predict some of the things we care about most in other people: fairness, modesty and whether they'll cheat when nobody's watching. Here's what it is, where it came from and why most tests still leave it out.
What is honesty-humility?
Honesty-humility describes how much a person is willing to treat others fairly, even when they could get away with exploiting them. It's measured through four facets:
- Sincerity: not manipulating or flattering people to get what you want.
- Fairness: not cheating, stealing or bending rules for personal gain.
- Greed avoidance: little interest in wealth, luxury and status for their own sake.
- Modesty: not seeing yourself as superior or entitled to special treatment.
Someone high in honesty-humility tends to be straightforward, fair-minded and unpretentious. Someone low in it is more willing to use flattery, bend rules and chase status, and more likely to feel they deserve more than others.
Low doesn't automatically mean "bad person." Like every trait, it's a spectrum, and most people sit somewhere in the middle.
Where it came from: the HEXACO model
The Big Five was built using the lexical approach: the idea that important personality differences end up encoded in everyday language. Researchers collected thousands of trait words, asked people to rate themselves on them, and looked for clusters.
In the late 1990s and 2000s, psychologists Kibeom Lee and Michael Ashton noticed something in lexical studies across many languages. When researchers looked carefully, six factors kept appearing, not five. The extra one gathered words like honest, sincere, fair, modest and unassuming, and their opposites, such as greedy, sly and boastful.
Lee and Ashton built the HEXACO model around these six dimensions:
| HEXACO trait | Roughly corresponds to | Key difference from the Big Five |
|---|---|---|
| Honesty-Humility | No direct equivalent | A separate trait for fairness, sincerity and modesty |
| Emotionality | Neuroticism | Includes sentimentality and attachment, less about anger |
| eXtraversion | Extraversion | Very similar |
| Agreeableness | Agreeableness | Focuses on patience and forgiveness, includes low anger |
| Conscientiousness | Conscientiousness | Very similar |
| Openness to Experience | Openness | Very similar |
If you'd like a refresher on the original five, our guide to the Big Five personality traits covers each one.
Why most tests leave it out
If honesty-humility is so useful, why doesn't every personality test include it? A few reasons:
- History. The Big Five became the standard decades ago, and a huge body of research, norms and tools is built on it.
- Overlap. Big Five agreeableness already captures part of honesty-humility, especially straightforwardness and modesty, so some researchers see the sixth factor as a reshuffle rather than a discovery.
- Ongoing debate. Psychologists still argue about whether five or six factors best describe personality. Both models fit the data well, and the answer partly depends on which words and methods you use.
So it isn't that the Big Five is wrong. It's that it bundles fairness and modesty in with warmth and cooperativeness, and HEXACO separates them out.
High vs low honesty-humility in everyday life
Here's how the trait tends to show up.
| Situation | Higher honesty-humility | Lower honesty-humility |
|---|---|---|
| Found extra change from a shop | Hands it back | Keeps it, "their mistake" |
| Group project | Shares credit | Quietly takes the spotlight |
| Negotiating | Firm but fair | Willing to bluff or mislead |
| Luxury and status | Mostly indifferent | Strongly motivated by them |
| Flattery | Rarely uses it strategically | Uses it to get ahead |
None of this is about being nice. Someone can be warm and charming yet low in honesty-humility, or blunt and prickly yet scrupulously fair. That's exactly why the separation is useful.
Why honesty-humility matters
At work
Studies have linked low honesty-humility with counterproductive workplace behaviour, such as rule-breaking, theft and misuse of time, often better than the Big Five traits predict it. That's partly why integrity tests used in hiring tend to correlate with this trait alongside conscientiousness.
With money and fairness
In economic games where people decide how much to share, or whether to cheat for a small reward, researchers such as Benjamin Hilbig and Ingo Zettler have found that people higher in honesty-humility tend to behave more fairly, even when they could keep more without any consequence.
The "dark" side
Low honesty-humility overlaps strongly with what psychologists call the Dark Triad: narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. Some researchers argue that low honesty-humility captures much of what those three share, a willingness to exploit others for personal gain. Our explainer on the Dark Triad traits goes into each one.
In relationships
Being with someone who is fair, sincere and unpretentious is easier, and some research links higher honesty-humility with greater trust and fewer exploitative behaviours in relationships. Some studies also find that couples and close friends tend to be fairly similar to each other on this trait.
Does honesty-humility overlap with being "too nice"?
Not really. High agreeableness can come with people-pleasing, conflict avoidance and difficulty saying no, which we explore in the hidden cost of high agreeableness. High honesty-humility is different. It's about refusing to exploit others, not about avoiding friction. A person can be both highly principled and perfectly willing to argue.
Can honesty-humility change?
Like other traits, it's fairly stable but not fixed. Cross-sectional studies suggest that older adults score higher on average than younger ones, in line with the broader pattern of personality maturing with age. Situations matter too: strong norms, transparency and fair systems make honest behaviour easier for everyone, whatever their score.
Our test measures the Big Five, so it won't give you a separate honesty-humility score. But your agreeableness and conscientiousness results will show some of the same ground, and you can take our free personality test to see how those traits look for you.
The bottom line
Honesty-humility is the trait of fairness, sincerity, modesty and low greed. It emerged when researchers found six personality factors, not five, across many languages, and it predicts ethical behaviour, cooperation and the "dark" traits better than the Big Five alone. Most tests skip it out of habit and overlap, not because it doesn't matter.
FAQ
What is the HEXACO model?
HEXACO is a six-factor model of personality developed by Kibeom Lee and Michael Ashton. It includes Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience.
Is honesty-humility the same as agreeableness?
No. They overlap, but agreeableness is mainly about warmth, patience and cooperation, while honesty-humility is about fairness, sincerity and modesty. You can be high on one and average on the other.
What does low honesty-humility mean?
It means a greater willingness to manipulate, bend rules or seek status for personal gain. It's a trait on a spectrum, not a diagnosis, and context strongly shapes how it plays out.
Can I measure honesty-humility with a Big Five test?
Not directly. A Big Five test captures some related qualities through agreeableness and conscientiousness, but a dedicated HEXACO questionnaire is needed for a separate honesty-humility score.
