Abstract
This study examined how Affective Orientation (AO) is positioned within the Five Factor model of personality to impact communication processes. Being emotionally guided by one's emotions should not be redundant with the lexically‐driven factors, but should demonstrate conceptual overlap in appropriate areas, a prediction which was confirmed.
AO related only to Extraversion and Neuroticism (n=234) but not to Conscientiousness, Openness, or Agreeableness. Importantly the Five Factor model accounted for 20% of the AO variance, and AO demonstrated factorial independence, suggesting that Affective Orientation is best described at the facet level of the Five Factor model. Females scored significantly higher than males on AO, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Agreeableness.