This study aimed to explore the validity of the Persian 60-statement Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) developed by Costa and McCrae (1992) by employing schema theory and factor analysis. To this end, its 24 reverse statements were rendered positive and administered to six hundred and ten grade three senior high school (G3SHS) students in Mashhad, Iran. The first analysis of the inventory showed that the 254 words and 60 statements of the inventory referred to as schema types and species dropped to 210 and 45, respectively. The acceptable loading of 45 species on factors extracted by principal axis factoring and rotated via Varimax with Kaiser Normalization showed that instead of five factors, 17 genera underlie G3SHS students’ personality, i.e., Extravert, Relaxed, Conscientious, Organized, Thorough-Going, Open, Field-Dependent, Unorthodox, Domineering, Agreeable, Friendly, Welcoming, Respectful, Fast-Paced, Proud, Considerate, and Curious. The results are discussed and suggestions are made for future research.

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