Openness to Experience: Charles S. Peirce's Abduction through the lens of The Five-Factor Model

Charles S. Peirce’s pragmatic inquiry is deeply rooted in the affective and generative qualities of experience. His novel epistemological concept of abduction accommodates an intuitive, presumptive, and affective dimension in common experience, generating hypotheses for further testing. Given the vast body of psychological research available today, this paper explores how a scientifically tenable model of personality might exemplify Peirce’s conceptualization of abduction.

Focusing on the Five-Factor Model (FFM)—arguably the most empirically supported personality framework—I examine how it can illuminate the nature of abduction. Specifically, I argue that the core trait of Openness to Experience serves as a valuable lens for understanding Peirce’s view of inquiry today. Openness, characterized by intellectual curiosity, imagination, curiosity, depth and aesthetic sensitivity [Woo et al., 2014], aligns with Peirce’s emphasis on the abductive primacy of feeling and curiosity in rational inquiry.

I first justify the choice of FFM over psychoanalytic, behavioral, or humanistic models, as its structure closely aligns with Peirce’s methodological approach. Additionally, I focus exclusively on Openness, as it most directly pertains to the experiential engagement Peirce emphasizes.

Two key insights emerge from analyzing Openness through the FFM lens. First, research suggests that approximately half of individuals are genetically predisposed toward inquiry, deeper thinking, and a desire to learn (Kendler & Myers, 2010; Wainwright, Luciano, Geffen, & Martin, 2008). While cultural and environmental factors influence openness, studies indicate a significant genetic basis, meaning that natural participation in an ideal Peircean community of inquiry is not evenly distributed. Some individuals, by temperament, gravitate toward conservatism and less exploratory thinking.

Second, Openness is a multifaceted trait that evolves over time. While intellectual pursuits and aesthetic appreciation remain stable in adulthood, openness to new experiences, values, and emotional depth tend to decline with age (Terracciano, McCrae, Brant, & Costa, 2005). This suggests a divergence between active imagination and attitudinal disposition, raising questions about the long-term viability of Peirce’s fallibilism. If inquirers maintain intellectual curiosity but become less likely to embody it in practice, Peirce’s epistemology may require an anthropological framework that accounts for the increasing rigidity of thought in later life.

Ultimately, this paper argues that FFM’s Openness trait offers practical considerations for Peirce’s vision of abduction First, it highlights that only a portion of the population is naturally inclined to Peirce’s ideal disposition toward sustained inquiry. Second, it features the tension between the "itch" of abduction and the increasing divide between ideation and action over time. Understanding these dynamics can contribute to a contemporary framework of Peirce’s notion of abduction, studying its expressions in diverse intellectual and psychological contexts.